‘‘Would you like dessert on the porch?’’ Kora asked when Winter returned from helping Cheyenne up the stairs. ‘‘I made apple pie.’’

He followed her to the long porch running the length of the back of the house. They moved away from the side where the sunroom’s light shone across the porch. Dan sat in his room beside a half-eaten meal.

Kora hugged herself, as if cold, as she looked in on her brother. ‘‘He’ll start his night walk soon, then turn out the light. Sometimes he sleeps in the chair, sometimes in bed. Once in a while he even goes to the barn and curls up in the back of a wagon. But he’ll be up by dawn for his morning walk. If I don’t have his breakfast waiting for him when he returns, he won’t eat a thing until dark.’’

‘‘Has it always been like this?’’

‘‘Pretty much. I don’t remember what he was like at first. I was too young. He and Mother somehow worked out the pattern, and it hasn’t changed no matter where we move or what the weather. I’m not even sure he knows Mama died. During the day he takes his chair places to sit… usually where the least people are. I was surprised when he moved it upstairs to Cheyenne’s room.’’

‘‘What happened to him?’’

‘‘We have little idea. Mom said once he was just a boy when he left, and for a while he wrote of battle after battle. Then not a word for over a year. The man who brought him home said someone told him they just found him sitting in a battlefield among the bodies.’’

‘‘There are hospitals for people like him, Kora. Doctors who might help.’’ Winter sat on the porch railing and shoveled a large piece of warm apple pie into his mouth.

‘‘Would they have clean clothes laid out every morning in the same place where he left the dirty ones? Would they only feed him things he’ll eat like eggs and bread? Would they let him walk, never interrupting his path?’’

He couldn’t see her face, but he guessed the things she didn’t say and suddenly he was voicing them aloud. ‘‘Would they check on him every night? Would they put a log on the fire so it wouldn’t go out? Would they cover him with an extra blanket?’’ Winter set the pie down forgotten. ‘‘Would they kiss him good night in his sleep?’’

‘‘I don’t kiss him good night!’’ Kora snapped as she walked farther away from the window’s light.

Winter was suddenly angry. All the special attention he thought she was paying him was nothing more than she was doing for her war-scarred brother. She’d made the pie for him because she knew he loved apples. She laid out his clothes. She kept him warm.

He looked across the wide yard to the barn and bunkhouse. Several lights were still on. More than likely a few of his men were in the dark on the porch of the bunkhouse smoking one last cigarette before turning in for the night.

Glancing at Kora in the dim light, he knew this was not the place for private talk. Their voices could drift on the breeze too easily.

He leaned against the porch banister and pushed all emotion aside. ‘‘You said you wanted to talk to me?’’

Kora was as far away from him as the porch railing would allow.

‘‘If we’re to get through the next few months, you have to stop avoiding me,’’ she whispered.

‘‘What?’’

She moved a few feet closer. ‘‘I said, you’re avoiding me.’’

‘‘What?’’ he answered again.

‘‘You heard me,’’ she said as she came closer. ‘‘You’re not as deaf as Dan.’’

Winter smiled. ‘‘I’m glad you recognize some difference.’’

Kora was within three feet of him now. ‘‘Jamie says you’re sorry you married me with all the trouble over Andrew Adams, and you’re trying to ignore me away.’’

‘‘That doesn’t work.’’ Winter laughed. ‘‘If it did, Jamie would be weeks gone.’’ He unfolded his arms. ‘‘Are you aware you always call the man Andrew Adams?’’

‘‘Answer my question first,’’ she replied.

‘‘All right. No. I’m not avoiding you. I’ve got a lot of work to do. With spring comes a great deal of work on top of watching for sick cattle.’’ He knew even as he said the words that they were a lie not only to her, but to himself. He had been avoiding her. Not with much success. Logan always managed to find him and give him a rambling report of all she’d done. In the old man’s eyes, Kora was becoming a saint.

She moved to the railing a foot away from him now and stared out into the night. ‘‘Jamie says you don’t want to get used to me being around. She doesn’t know about our bargain, but she’s guessing.’’

‘‘Jamie’s only rattling,’’ Winter said, very much aware of her nearness. ‘‘I’m not much interested in what Jamie says.’’

Kora leaned on the railing, arching her back slightly. ‘‘I’ll try to be considerate.’’

Win was starting to hate that word.

The far-off sound of a horse and buggy chimed through the night. Winter slipped his arm around Kora’s waist as they both watched the darkness. There were a hundred things that needed saying between them, but the feel of her back resting lightly against his chest was enough for the present.

After a few minutes a buggy pulled up to the back and Jamie jumped out and broke into a dead run until she spotted them on the porch. She slowed to a stroll.

Moving off the porch toward her, Win yelled, ‘‘I thought you were staying in town.’’

‘‘I thought you died!’’ Jamie shouted angrily. ‘‘I guess that’s what we both get for thinking.’’

He laughed, guessing her anger was directed at someone else other than him. He looked into the darkness of the buggy.

‘‘Evenin’, Doc.’’ Winter tried to hide the surprise from his voice. He’d have bet ten to one on the gambler.

‘‘Evenin’,’’ Steven Gage mumbled with controlled anger. ‘‘Wyatt was out of town tonight, so I thought I’d bring Jamie home.’’

‘‘Is that why she’s so mad? The gambler’s out of town?’’ Winter thought about shouting to his sister-in-law that the gambler was probably running for another state after knowing her for days.

‘‘No,’’ Gage mumbled with uncharacteristic rage. ‘‘She’s upset because we stopped a while back to look at the stars.’’

Running his fingers through his hair, Winter tried to listen without laughing. He’d heard this before. Stargazing seemed to be Jamie’s favorite pastime. ‘‘She didn’t like that?’’

‘‘Oh, she liked it fine until I went and did a foolish thing like asking her to marry me.’’ The doc’s voice rose. ‘‘Then she called me every name she could think of and accused me of trying to put her in chains. She says she’s never speaking to me again as long as she lives.’’

Win almost felt sorry for the doctor. He was a good man who didn’t know how lucky he was. ‘‘Don’t worry, Doc. It won’t last. I can almost promise you she’ll be talking to you sooner than you’d like.’’

Gage shrugged. ‘‘Guess I’m out of practice when it comes to women.’’

‘‘I’m not sure practicing helps.’’ Winter laughed. ‘‘You’re welcome to spend the night if you like.’’

‘‘No, thanks. I’ve got a man to check on in the Breaks Settlement. I promised the old woman they call Rae that I’d take a turn sitting with him tonight. But thanks for the offer. I’ll stop by tomorrow and look in on Cheyenne before I head back to town.’’

Winter waved the doc off. ‘‘Be careful.’’

When he looked back at the house, Kora was inside. He could hear Jamie shouting about how the gambler had left her for some sudden business and she was never speaking to him again.

From the corner of the house Dan walked out of the shadows. Winter fell into step with the silent man, and they walked in a wide circle without either seeming to notice the other.

When Dan finally returned to the sunroom, Winter went to his study. As he closed the door, he noticed a large slice of pie and a glass of milk by the fire. Part of him wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that he wasn’t Dan, then run up the stairs and prove to Kora just how alive he was. But the reasonable part told him to sit down and eat the pie, then close his eyes and try to sleep. Yet Kora wouldn’t leave his thoughts. Somehow, she’d tiptoed into his life. Her soft words and gentle ways had passed through the barbed wire around his feelings. If he believed in luck, he’d say all his luck was riding on her staying in his life.

FOURTEEN


KORA SNUGGLED INTO HER WARM COVERS AND watched the night sky. In a few minutes it would be time to get up and start the day, but right now was a quiet time when she listened to the music of a sleeping world. She could hear coyotes howling, horses moving in the corral, the house creaking slightly as it shifted in the wind. A few clouds threatened rain, but only managed to deliver enough moisture to occasionally cause a few drops to fall from the roof.

Rising and walking to the window, Kora watched the apple trees slow dancing in the shadows and the windmill beside the barn turning in time as it pumped water.

Far into the night a light flickered like a firefly who hadn’t yet found its mate. Kora watched as the light drew closer.

From the shadows of darkness, came a rider dressed in black.