Kora pulled her shawl over her head as though ashamed. ‘‘I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I’d already unbound it for the night.’’ She felt like a fool explaining her actions to a stranger. What did she care if he thought she ran completely wild in her own house?

‘‘I’m sorry to call so late, but time is vital at this point.’’ He tried to stand still as she seemed to shrink before his eyes, folding into her huge shawl and moving away from the light.

Winter had never backed away in his life. He’d always silently enjoyed the fear he’d seen in most folks’ eyes since he’d reached his full height. But he backed down now, not wanting to frighten her. He put as much distance between them as the tiny cabin allowed.

‘‘I’m Winter McQuillen, Mrs. Adams. Most folks call me Win for short.’’

She was so far into the shadows, he couldn’t even tell if she was looking at him as he spoke.

‘‘I’m sorry I frightened you. I just have to talk to you, and it can’t wait till morning.’’

Kora took a step toward the rifle Andrew Adams had left beside the fireplace. She knew it wasn’t loaded, but it was her only weapon.

Winter widened his stance, wishing they were outside. This half-dugout seemed little more than coffin-size. It wasn’t easy to propose twice in as many weeks, but at least now no one was watching. ‘‘I’d like you to hear me out before you answer, Mrs. Adams.’’

‘‘Agreed,’’ she whispered.

‘‘I’ve got a ranch not far from here. Good land with enough grass and water to run all the cattle I can handle. Square in the middle of my land is a house. I’m hardworking, twenty-seven years old, and healthy. Couldn’t swear I never take a drink, but I’ve never downed so much I couldn’t get up at dawn and do a full day’s work.’’

Kora watched him closely. He showed no signs of a man who’d been tilting the bottle, but he was certainly making no sense.

‘‘I’d see that no harm came to you by my hand or by any other.’’ Winter recited the words he’d practiced all the way from town. ‘‘I’ve never gone to church, but if you’ve a need, I’ll do my best to take you every Sunday, weather permitting.’’

Kora began to shake her head. Somehow this cowboy must be mad and think he was talking to another. ‘‘I’m sorry,’’ she whispered, not knowing how else to respond.

‘‘I’d give you whatever you needed. When I’m on a drive, my credit’s good at every store in town.’’ Winter took a step toward her. She couldn’t be turning him down! He wouldn’t lose, not this time. Not when all that had ever mattered to him in years was the ranch, and part of that ranch was the house, his house. He’d sworn years ago after losing his mother to Custer’s butchering never to turn loose of anything that was his ever again.

‘‘Name your price, Mrs. Adams!’’

The hollow click of a gun cocking was his answer. For a second Winter wasn’t sure where it was coming from, then Kora stepped out of the shadows with an ancient weapon in her hand.

‘‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, mister.’’ She tried to keep both her voice and her hands from shaking. ‘‘But I don’t want anything you’re selling. I think you’d better leave.’’

Winter slowly moved his hands to the front of his holster and unbuckled his gunbelt. He propped his foot on a chair by the table and pulled the string holding the weapon against his leg, then lifted the Colt, holster and all, toward her.

‘‘If you’re going to shoot me for asking you to marry me, would you mind using a weapon that will do the job and not some antique that looks like it might blow off your hand if you pulled the trigger?’’

Kora lowered the rifle slightly and took another step forward. ‘‘You’re asking me to marry you?’’

‘‘I am.’’ Winter didn’t take his eyes off the barrel.

‘‘But why? You don’t even know me.’’ Curiosity outweighed fear for the first time.

‘‘I have to have a wife by sunup or lose part of what is mine.’’ He could tell she was intrigued, if not interested in the proposal. ‘‘If you marry me, the house in the middle of my land is yours forever.’’

‘‘I don’t believe in forever,’’ Kora whispered.

‘‘Then stay for six months and I’ll buy it from you. Then you can leave. I won’t try to stop you.’’ A touch of hope made him smile and he slowly began restrapping his gunbelt. ‘‘The place will be yours the minute you’re my wife.’’

Kora tilted her head slightly. ‘‘Is this place large enough so that my brother and sister can live with us?’’

‘‘It is,’’ he answered soberly. If she had a little brother and sister she wanted to bring along, that would be no problem for him. They’d probably be company for her when he was on a long drive. He hadn’t expected a widow to come without baggage.

‘‘And the price at the end of six months? Is the house worth enough to buy three tickets to California?’’

‘‘That and more,’’ Win answered with a raised eyebrow.

Kora laid the gun down on the table between them and pressed her palms against her closed eyes. ‘‘This is insane. I can’t marry you.’’

‘‘Why not?’’ Winter leaned closer.

‘‘I don’t know you. I hadn’t planned to ever marry and even if I did, I’ve another half year of mourning.’’ She couldn’t explain to this stranger how all her life she’d been invisible. No man had ever given her a glance. He’d be sorry within hours.

‘‘Did you know Mr. Adams well when you wed him?’’

‘‘No,’’ Kora admitted. She wasn’t about to go into detail about how she didn’t know Andrew Adams at all. This stranger, or anyone else for that matter, would never understand.

‘‘I’ll tell you about me.’’ Winter straightened slightly. ‘‘My mother was Cheyenne, my father Irish. But no man’s ever given me trouble about being mixed blood, at least not more than once.’’ Winter knew he had to be honest now for he’d not have her saying she was tricked. ‘‘If you ask my men, they’ll tell you I’m a tough boss but fair. I don’t ask a man to do something I wouldn’t do myself, and I work as hard as any. If you ask women’’-he thought of Mary Anna’s words-‘‘they’ll tell you I don’t have a heart, so don’t go expecting any affection from me. I’ve no time for things as foolish as love. I’m offering a fair bargain of marriage, for a lifetime if you like, or six months. By the time you’ve finished mourning Mr. Adams, you’ll have enough money to go wherever you like.’’

‘‘Are you saying you’re asking for a marriage in name only?’’ Kora felt her face redden from the neck up. She couldn’t believe she was asking such a thing of a stranger.

Winter hesitated, knowing what he was about to say might very well end his chances. ‘‘No, Mrs. Adams. If I’m going to have to marry, I want a wife.’’ He knew he was embarrassing her, but there could be no misunderstanding. ‘‘I expect us to live together as man and wife. I’ll not sleep with another while we’re married, and I’d expect the same of you.’’

He could tell his words frightened her, but she seemed to be fighting gallantly not to allow her fear to show. Logan had told him there would be bargaining in marriage, so he’d better start before she bolted.

‘‘I know you’re newly widowed, so there’d be no rushing you on my part.’’ He backed down guessing she’d be in California long before she climbed into his bed. ‘‘You can take your time to grieve one husband before you bed another. But as far as the world will know we’re to be truly married.’’

The woman’s face paled so much beneath the black shawl Winter feared she might faint, but she didn’t say a word.

‘‘Marry me, Mrs. Adams, and I’ll do my best to see that you’re never hungry or cold.’’ He could tell by looking around the place that she’d be both soon. ‘‘If all you want in the bargain is to be in California, I’ll see you set up there by summer if you don’t want to stay married.’’

She stared at him and smiled as though he’d just sketched her hopes in the air between them. He wanted to yell at her for wanting so little. Hell, he’d give her a fat bank account if she asked, or trips to Dallas to buy clothes, or horses and a proper buggy.

‘‘Name your terms,’’ he said again. ‘‘But marry me tonight.’’

To his surprise she lifted her chin and stood taller. ‘‘I can’t be bought,’’ she said simply. ‘‘I’m sorry. You’ll have to look elsewhere.’’

‘‘I’m not buying you, I’m offering a bargain we both need. A marriage, right and proper as any. And I’m not saying being my wife will be easy. I won’t promise to make you happy, but I will keep you safe. You’ll own the house and the land around it outright. You can kick me out if I get difficult to live with. I’ll stay in one of the line shacks if I must. I swear the house will be yours and you can come and go as you like, but the ranch is mine.’’

A thousand refusals ran through her mind. Even if she’d wanted another husband, which she swore she never would, the man before her wasn’t what she’d look for. He seemed hard and cold and not even overly friendly when he was proposing. He was too covered in dust to sit at a table in a dugout, and the weapon he wore looked like it never came off.

But he just might be the solution she’d been hoping for. He was offering her a place to live, a refuge for a while. Then, by summer, she’d be in the warm sunshine of California. She’d taken a husband once to find a home. It hadn’t worked, but this time it might, if only long enough for Dan to grow strong enough to travel. Nothing lasted forever, not jobs, or homes, or husbands.

She could survive alone, Kora told herself, but she had to think of Jamie and Dan. They were the reason she’d signed the paper to marry Andrew Adams, and they were her motivation now. ‘‘I’d ask one thing,’’ she whispered, realizing she was demanding a great deal of this stranger.

Winter watched her closely, knowing that she was considering marriage for the first time since he’d suggested it. ‘‘Agreed.’’ He felt his body relax. ‘‘Pack what you need tonight. I’ll send one of the hands for the rest tomorrow. I’ll hitch your horse to the wagon.’’