Page 92 of A Rugged Beauty
Abigail remembered Maddie holding the youngest child, still a toddler, wrapped in a blanket this morning near a campfire. How would Maddie feel if the children were left with a family here?
"I don't know your favorite kind of candy," he muttered as he mashed his hat back on his head.
Her brows quirked. "You don't need to spend any money on candy, sir."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "It seems like the kind of information a husband should know about his wife."
Wife. The word spoken in a teasing growl settled in her heart.
She stood and brushed off her dress, reached up and planted one more kiss on his cheek. "If you must know, lemon candy always makes me smile."
He cupped her cheek for a moment and then let her go. “I’ll be back soon."
"I'll be waiting. Husband."
She watched him cross camp. Beyond their safe circle of wagons, the prairie stretched as far as she could see. Enormous. And wild.
There’s a rugged beauty to it, Hollis had said so many days ago, when they’d been alone and lost. She knew that in a few weeks, they’d discover tall mountains waiting for them, a breathless beauty she couldn’t yet imagine. What would the future hold? She couldn’t know, but with Hollis at her side, she would face it with courage.
Hollis and a handful of other travelers were approaching the fort on foot when he noticed another group of wagons sending up aplume of dust. They weren't moving very fast, and he watched for a moment as they began to circle up.
It was a smaller group, and from what he could see, the oxen looked exhausted, dragging. Was the wagonmaster pushing too hard?
"More travelers?" Maddie asked from where she walked a couple of yards away.
"Seems so."
Maddie's eyes skittered over the other wagons and Hollis's mind drifted to Abigail. Where it seemed to want to go every waking second, whether he had business to attend to or not.
Husband. She'd been teasing, but there was a seriousness to the way she'd used the word as a claim.
She was his wife. He was her husband.
Forever.
Everything with her seemed so natural that it felt ridiculous that he'd fought against being with her for so long.
Being with her was easy. It was good. Frighteningly so.
He'd woken this morning from a nightmare where she'd been ripped away from him in the wildfire. It'd taken several minutes for a clear head to prevail, for him to remember the promises that Owen had helped him come to terms with. Remember the goodness of God, who'd brought them together.
It was getting easier to believe in the future he so dearly wanted.
Business complete inside the fort, he joined his fellow travelers at the store, which was crowded and loud.
"Are you the wagonmaster?" A man approached, his hand extended for a handshake. "I'm Will Thatcher. My wagon's been here for ten days for an axle repair. The company my family was traveling with left us behind and we're looking to join up."
For the first time, Hollis noticed a little girl clinging to the man's leg.
Thatcher caught Hollis's curious glance and put his hand on the girls' head. "We lost her mother." he cleared his throat. "Three weeks ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that. We're pulling out in two hours," Hollis said. "One of my captains can meet with you to go over the company rules."
The man nodded with a grateful look, though his smile didn't meet his eyes. Compassion stirred. What a terrible thing to go through.
Hollis found the bolts of fabric and Maddie fingering a calico. She glanced up, then past Hollis. He looked over his shoulder and caught sight of Braddock, who was speaking to a uniformed soldier. As Hollis watched, Braddock slipped several dollar bills into the man's hand.
"Wonder if he mentioned his bribery to Alice," Maddie muttered.
