Shooting you while you were threatening folks with a gun ain't a crime in these parts. It's common sense. As two deputies helped the protesting Montgomery down from his horse and toward the jail house, the sheriff turned back to Wyatt and Lillian. You two should get a room at the hotel tonight. I'll need statements from both of you in the morning, and then we can figure out what charges this fella is facing.
Wyatt nodded his thanks, relief beginning to replace the tension that had kept him vigilant throughout the long ride. What about his claims about eastern law taking precedence? Sheriff Davis snorted. Dakota territory has its own laws, and they recognize legal marriages performed here. Besides, from what I hear, eastern courts are starting to take a dimmer view of husbands who beat their wives.
Between that and the charges he's facing for what he did to your ranch hand, Mr. Montgomery is going to have more pressing concerns than pursuing custody claims. That night, in the relative luxury of Clearwater's small hotel, Wyatt and Lillian finally allowed themselves to believe the danger might truly be passed. Emma, exhausted from the journey, slept soundly in a dresser drawer lined with blankets, a familiar makeshift cradle that reminded them of their first days together. "You think it's really over?" Lillian asked as they lay side by side in the hotel bed, her head resting on Wyatt's shoulder.
Not entirely, Wyatt answered honestly. Men like Montgomery don't give up easily, but he'll face charges here first, and that gives us time. Time for what? Time to establish ourselves more permanently. Maybe by some land of our own, somewhere Charles would never think to look.
Wyatt had been considering this possibility for some time, weighing options and opportunities. Henderson mentioned that old Jim Blackwell is looking to sell his place over by Willow Creek good water, decent grazing land, and a solid house already built. Lillian raised herself on one elbow to look at him. You want to have your own ranch? Our own ranch?
Wyatt corrected. I've saved most of my wages over the years. It wouldn't be a grand spread, but it would be ours, free and clear. A place where Emma could grow up safe, where you could maybe start that school you've always wanted. Oh, Wyatt.
Tears filled Lillian's eyes, but they were tears of joy, not sorrow. I never dared dream of such a future. "Is that a yes?" he asked, smiling up at her. "Yes, a thousand times yes." She leaned down to kiss him, pouring all her love and hope into the gesture. As Wyatt held his wife close, his gaze drifted to the sleeping baby nearby the child who had brought them together, whose cries of hunger in the prairie grass had changed the course of his solitary life forever.
From reluctant rescuer to devoted husband and father, his journey had been unexpected but infinitely rewarding. Tomorrow would bring challenges Montgomery's hearing, legal statements, decisions about their future. But tonight, in this quiet room with the two people he loved most in the world, Wyatt Harmon knew with absolute certainty that he had found what many men search for their entire lives and never find, not just a family, but a true home. Spring came to the Dakota territory in a riot of wild flowers and new growth, transforming the landscape much as the past year had transformed the lives of Wyatt and Lillian Harmon. The cabin on their newly purchased ranch near Willow Creek was larger than their previous home with two proper bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, and a front porch where Lillian often sat in the evenings, watching Emma take her first tottering steps in the yard.