“I was thinking...Helen.”
“Helen. It’s beautiful.”
Rose bent to press a soft kiss against Helen’s cheek.
He couldn’t believe how proud he was of her. He quickly stripped the bed linens and fixed the quilt and then helped the mom and baby back to bed.
Exhaustion was clear in every line of Rose’s body. Come to think of it, he was exhausted, too.
Dawn was bursting over the eastern horizon as he drove his weary body out to the lean-to and cared for the horses. He made sure they had food enough and water for the day and then traipsed back inside to stoke the fire.
Rose was drowsing in the bed, but she had to be hungry after her ordeal, so he scrambled up some eggs and toasted some bread and spread the jam over the top.
When he brought it to her in bed, he found she was crying again.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his stomach lurching with alarm. “Are you in more pain?”
She shook her head. She still had one arm curled around the baby lying next to her in the bed, and used the other hand to wipe away her tears. “It’s just...you’ve been so good to me.”
He knew they were both roiling with emotions after the eventful day and night. There would be time for declarations later.
He fed his wife, then she fed the baby and all three of them dropped into an exhausted slumber.
He didn’t know how long it was before he woke to the soft sounds of Helen’s cooing. Rose was deep asleep, her mouth open in peaceful rest, so he got up carefully from the bed without disturbing her and gently extricated the baby from where she lay next to her mama.
Helen didn’t seem to be striking up a fuss to eat, and without a sense of time to judge it by, he thought he’d give his wife a little more sleep before she was needed. He walked across the floor with Helen in his arms, gently bouncing her as he remembered seeing Penny do with Ida and Walt when they had been infants.
He whispered to the little girl, telling her how beautiful she was, just like her mama. How much he loved the both of them. How glad he was that she had gotten here safely. Her rosebud mouth opened in a small yawn. Her blue eyes looked up at him and then the long lashes floated down to rest against her cheeks.
And his heart was completely gone for her the same as it was for her mama.
* * *
Rose wasn’t sure what woke her. Her hand reached to the now-empty space where the baby had slept beside her.
Not there.
Had she imagined birthing Helen? She came fully awake as she pressed her hand against the part of stomach where the baby had rested inside her for all those months. Her stomach was much flatter.
She turned over in the bed, her entire body aching with the movement. Her eyes flew open at the sight she beheld. Davy was asleep in the rocking chair with his head tilted back and mouth slightly open. Soft snores escaped his lips.
Helen was tucked up against his shoulder. Those big hands that were so careful and so gentle holding her tightly to his chest. Both of them were deep asleep.
The baby made a soft sound, almost a coo. Davy murmured to her in his sleep. And then the babe made a louder sound, a more piercing cry and he came fully awake.
He held the baby with care as he brought her to Rose, laying her in Rose’s arms so tenderly that everything inside of her cinched up tight.
“I think this little one needs her ma,” he said. He helped Rose settle some pillows behind her so that she could recline and hold the baby in the most comfortable way.
In the kitchen, he stoked the fire and then moved to the window to glance outside. He rattled around as he prepared a meal for them. He didn’t seem to mind having to do a woman’s job, seemed content to care for her and the baby. And that made her give her heart to him a little bit more.
But she was still afraid, and her roiling emotions wouldn’t allow her to tell him she loved him. Not yet.
He didn’t push. He seemed content to just spend the day with her and the baby as they rested.
It was early evening when hoof beats sounded in the clearing. Davy went to the door and opened it to find Breanna hopping off her horse, her usual boisterous self.
He told her about the baby’s arrival and cautioned her to be quiet, but not before she let out a whoop.
She threw her arms around Davy just inside the door and then tiptoed closer, peeking at the little bundle that Rose held carefully in the rocking chair.
“What did you name her?” she asked, then grinned when they told her. “Helen? Oh, lovely.”
She took a turn holding the baby and then she quickly jumped back on her horse, sure that her mama was going to be angry if she didn’t hear the news right away.
“She’ll be back tomorrow,” Davy predicted. “Probably with the whole clan descending on us.”
* * *
Davy had been right. The entire White family did descend on them the next day.
The men mostly stayed outside visiting in the yard, while the womenfolk congregated inside, where mother and baby could be kept warm. And his pa brought news.
Jonas had returned from his trip to a ranch in northern Wyoming where he’d seen Ricky. Davy’s brother had settled in with the ranch family there. Jonas was stingy with details, claiming it would be up to Ricky to explain when he finally made it home. But Davy deduced that something had happened and Ricky was determined to make restitution, and would stay as long as it took to do it.
If Davy had been on his own with no family to look after, he might’ve gone after his brother himself. Maybe. It had been pretty clear from the way Ricky had left that he hadn’t wanted company.
But Davy did have a family, and he also had the cattle to look after. He desperately wanted to see his brother, but he had responsibilities. Seeing Ricky would have to wait.
He was pensive as he brought in the cradle he’d crafted for little Helen.
Where Rose had been expressive with her emotions on the night she’d birthed Helen, today she’d grown quiet and introspective again.
The Rose that had needed him was gone, leaving only this quiet near-stranger in her place. He tried not to be impatient.
He wanted to share the closeness that his brothers enjoyed with their wives. But he also knew how much Rose had been through. She deserved patience.
He also remembered how his ma had struggled in those early days with each new baby. Getting up in the night could be exhausting, and caring for such a little one was tiring and an emotional burden.
He would win Rose’s love. He just needed time, and more chances to be there for her when she needed him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Over the next days they settled into a routine of sorts.
Rose did her best keep the baby quiet during Helen’s feedings in the night, so that Davy wouldn’t be woken up.
She knew how much Jamie had needed his rest—his temper suffered if his sleep was disturbed. After observing how hard Davy worked, she knew he needed sleep.
A week after Helen was born, Davy had gone out and worked with the cattle all day, not returning until well after dark.
Rose was exhausted herself. Every time she had rocked or walked Helen to sleep and had attempted to lay her down, the baby had woken up. She had wanted to be held the entire day.
Rose felt completely drained, body and spirit.
Finally, it seemed she would get a reprieve, because the baby seemed to want to lie down. She had meant to ask Davy about his day, but she’d just wanted to close her eyes for one moment and soon she’d drifted off.
Too soon, she woke in the dark. Helen was crying.
Rose wanted to cry, too. She dragged her weak, exhausted body to the rocker to feed the baby.
It was dark in the room. Davy didn’t stir.
H
elen nursed but then seemed to push away. When Rose tried to settle the baby back down to sleep, Helen began to wail.
Near tears, Rose stood and tried to walk around the floor with the baby, patting her back the way that usually relieved her gas. That didn’t work either.
She went back to the rocking chair and tried to feed the baby again, but Helen remained unhappy.
And loud.
Tears slipped free as Rose stood up, agitated. She couldn’t do this.
And then Davy was there, standing beside her, his body throwing shadows in the dim light from the stove door.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice trembling with tears that she tried to suppress by swallowing them down.
She was a mess. Her hair was a mess. Her life was a mess. Caring for the baby was taking everything from her.
“I know you need your sleep,” she started. Her tears swelled in her throat so that she couldn’t even finish her sentence. Couldn’t tell him that somehow she would find a way to keep the baby quiet.
“Why don’t you give her to me? Let me take a turn for a while?” He gently extricated the baby from her arms and gave Rose a gentle push toward the bed. “You’re exhausted.”
She hated that she felt so frustrated. She heard Jamie’s voice in her mind, shouting things that made her feel guilty, so guilty.
She just needed a little sleep. Was it so bad to take what she needed?
She slipped into the bed and turned so she could watch him. If he needed to give the baby back to her, she could get up and take Helen.
She watched through slitted eyes as Davy lifted Helen against his shoulder and paced back and forth across the floor, patting the baby on her diapered bottom.
His voice soothed in a slow lullaby. It was so soothing that Rose drifted off despite the baby’s wails.
She woke abruptly sometime later and saw Davy still pacing back and forth across the floor, only now the baby was tucked in the crook of his elbow.
She tried to make a sound, tried to make some noise to tell him to come back to bed. She knew he needed sleep as much as she did, but her mouth didn’t seem to want to form words.
She drifted off again.
When she woke again morning light streamed through the window. She stretched, feeling well rested for the first time since the baby’s birth.
And then panic fluttered in her throat. Where was Davy? Where was Helen?
She threw off the covers quietly and found him once again sprawled in the rocking chair, the baby resting on his lap with one of his big hands across her belly, securing her.
Rose settled back in the bed, just watching them together.
This wasn’t what she’d expected from him. He was so unselfish. His willingness to help in the night just made her heart crack wide open.
She couldn’t contain the love that she had tried to hide from herself.
She hadn’t expected things to be so difficult. Hadn’t expected to have to learn how to hold the baby, how to feed the baby, how to find a few minutes to sleep while the baby slept.
And at every turn, the cowboy had been there for here. Their marriage might’ve started out as a convenience, but it wasn’t that any longer. Not for her.
She was going to give Davy her heart. Not because she was unafraid, but because he deserved it.
She sneaked out of bed and donned the dress that she hadn’t had time to put on for several days. She even enjoyed a few moments to brush and braid her hair.
She moved into the kitchen area of the cabin and, as quietly as she could, began mixing up the one thing she knew she could give him that he liked.
She had just put a batch of the peach tarts in the oven when she dropped a spoon on the counter. Both man and baby woke. Davy yawned widely as the baby started to fuss.
The baby must have been hungry because Rose herself felt uncomfortably full.
She moved to take her from Davy, but let her hand rest on his shoulder for a prolonged moment. She leaned down to press a kiss on her husband’s lips.
It must’ve been the first time that she had initiated a kiss. With one other hand still securing the baby to his lap, he let his opposite hand rest on the nape of her neck as he returned her kiss.
“What was that for?” he asked as she moved back.
“Just because.” She couldn’t keep the flush from rising up in her cheeks as she gathered up the baby.
Davy stood, stretching with his arms over his head.
“You should go back to bed,” she said.
“I’m all right.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve been up many a night working pulling calves or when an animal was sick or such.”
He splashed his face with water from the basin and scrubbed off with a towel. Coming fully awake, she realized she liked it like this. With Davy in his shirtsleeves and relaxed.
The moment felt like they were a real family because he made them so.
* * *
The smell of baking fruit began to waft through the cabin and set Davy’s mouth to watering.
“Is that what I think it is?” he asked. Peach tarts.
Rose smiled softly, running one gentle finger over the baby’s cheek.
“Maybe.” She grinned up at him, and his stomach twisted in a most amazing way. “I wanted to do something to thank you for staying up with the babe last night and for everything you’ve done over these last days favoring me and taking care of me.”
He let his fingers run over the downy hair on top of Helen’s head.
“That’s what a pa does for his little one,” he said. He pressed a kiss on Rose’s forehead. “I’m going to go out and check the horses. Let them out in the paddock. I’ll be back in a few minutes for my reward.” He grinned and walked out the door.
He was stunned to find wolf tracks crossing between the paddock and the lean-to. He tracked them back into the woods.
How brave did the animal have to be to come down here while his pa and brothers had been driving their wagons and horses in?
He thought to tell Rose not to let the little white dog out. He didn’t want it to get eaten by a wolf. Maybe he should even send it down to the homestead with Breanna the next time she came.
If the wolf was getting more daring it could mean it was injured or just looking for an easy meal. Or it could be a mean one. He didn’t need that animal coming around and making trouble for his herd.
Especially with the new baby around.
He ended up leaving the horses inside the lean-to and returning to the cabin for his rifle. He told Rose what was going on and then he needed to take care of this varmint once and for all. She looked worried but didn’t stop him.
He tracked the wolf across the newly fallen snow. Hours later, chilled and ready to come in out of the cold, Davy finally returned to the cabin his rifle slung over his shoulder.
Rose met him just inside the cabin door. She held the baby against her shoulder and met him with a kiss.
“You two all right?” he asked.
“Yes. Just worried about you. Did you get it?”
“He won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Her face crumpled a little bit. “It was such a majestic animal.”
He’d hated to have to do it, but an animal that was hunting their herd could only be a danger.
Then she firmed her lips and her chin jerked up slightly. “Did you check the cattle? Are they all there?”
He nodded. “All accounted for. We’ll have a good profit in the spring. There will be enough money to build you and the baby a nice house wherever you want to put it.”
He paused. He’d been thinking on this idea in the quiet of the day today. “If you want to find a place close to town...”
She motioned him to the table, moving away to lay th
e now-sleeping baby on the bed.
He took off his coat and hat and put them where they belonged and sat down, grateful for the warmth inside the cabin. And even more grateful for the cup of coffee she pressed into his hands.
She set a plate of those sweets he loved so much on the table in front of him.
He couldn’t resist locking his arm around her waist and pulling her down to sit on his lap. She went stiff for a moment but then relaxed against his chest.
He was surprised and elated when her arms curled over his shoulders.
“What are you doing?”
“Just needed a special hug from my wife.” He nuzzled the side of her neck and a shiver went through her. “You didn’t answer my question. Where do you want to live? We can’t stay up here forever. It’s too far from town.”
She laid her cheek against the top of his head. Her fingers feathered through the hair at the nape of his neck and this time shivers went down his spine.
“I think we should say close to your family. Don’t you think so?”
His heart thudded loud against the inside of his chest, so loud he was afraid she could hear it.
“I just want you to be happy.”
“I’m starting to feel like I could be happy with your family around,” she replied. “They’re not as bad as I thought at first.”
He chuckled. “Breanna’s winning you over, isn’t she?”
“Maybe,” she whispered, and then paused. “Or maybe it’s her brother.”
He wrapped his arm behind her back and snatched one of the pastries from the plate, unable to resist any longer. He popped the entire thing into his mouth and once again the sweet dessert melted on his tongue.
“It’s almost as good as a kiss from a Rose.”
She laughed and pushed on his shoulders, but he tightened his arm around her waist.
“You should warm up a little,” she said. “And enjoy your snack.”
He grinned at her, feeling ornery. “I’ll enjoy it more if you stay here with me.”
She shook her head again. And leaned forward and smacked a kiss on his mouth. “You’re incorrigible.”
Her Convenient Cowboy Page 21
