Nothing Short of Wondrous

by Regina Scott

  “He was fortunate. I heard there were a few casualties in Yellowstone.”

  “Fewer than what the Nez Perce sustained before or after.” Kate nodded to the meadow. “This is another good spot for elk and bison. I generally refuse to let my guests head this way with guns, but I suspect the folks at the Fire Hole might feel differently. And they don’t always serve beef in their stew.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Ma! Look!”

  Kate turned to see what Danny had found, and her heart nearly flew from her chest. She couldn’t breathe as the bear ambled out of the woods.

  Will had seldom been this close to a bear, but he knew how to respond should he encounter one. Bess noticed before the other horses. Her step stuttered, and she pulled at the reins as if trying to escape. Upwind of them and across the creek, the black bear’s tan muzzle twitched as its head swung in their direction.

  He glanced at Kate, expecting a lecture. Her eyes were wide and wild, her face white. Before he could speak, she wheeled her mount and rode for her son. “Danny! With me. Now.”

  The other horses started balking, tossing their heads. The bear took a few steps into the meadow.

  “Mrs. Tremaine,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “Slow your mount.”

  She’d already pulled her son off his pony and cradled him against her, but she reined in. Her chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths.

  “Smith, take the pony’s reins and settle your mount. I’ll deal with Mrs. Tremaine and Danny. Turn slowly and move away. No more than a walk, Private.”

  “Are you quite certain we should put that thing at our backs?” Smith’s baritone voice sounded higher than it should.

  “I want to give it no reason to engage,” Will said, turning Bess. When Kate didn’t move, he reached out to shake her reins. “Mrs. Tremaine, an orderly retreat. Now.”

  “Ma?” Danny asked, voice trembling.

  That seemed to wake her. She turned her horse and rode beside Will. Smith took the lead, pulling the pony. They edged along the creek toward the circuit road. Though Will glanced back, the bear did not follow. He thought everyone breathed easier when they reached the ford again.

  “Apparently we should expect to encounter bears in this area,” Smith said, then he paused, as if waiting for Kate to confirm it.

  She said nothing.

  “Black bears, to be precise,” Will supplied for her. “A grizzly has a hump on its back. Correct, Mrs. Tremaine?”

  She hugged her son tight. “Yes.”

  “My pa met a grizzly,” Danny said in a whimper. “He never came back.”

  “My condolences, General Tremaine,” Smith said softly.

  Kate didn’t respond.

  Will wanted to gather her close, hold her as she held Danny. Had she been with her husband when the bear had attacked or only found the body later? Either way, it was no wonder the sight of any bear had shaken her.

  The best he could do was give her time to recover her usual composure.

  “May I help Danny remount?” he asked gently.

  She blinked, then drew in a deep breath. “Yes, thank you.”

  Will dismounted, came around, and held up his arms. Danny slid into them. His face was still peaked, and he clung to Will as he carried him to the pony.

  “A fine animal, General Tremaine,” he said, giving the pony a pat as Danny settled himself into place. “She must have a fine name.”

  “Buttercup,” Danny admitted, accepting the reins from Smith. “But I think she’d be better named Lightning.”

  Will refused to smile at the appellation for the placid pony. “Good name for any mount.”

  Smith raised his brows as Will moved back to Bess. Before mounting, he put a hand on Kate’s skirt. “All right, Mrs. Tremaine?”

  She drew another breath, as if she couldn’t get enough of the cool air. “Yes, Lieutenant Prescott. Thank you.”

  With a nod, he swung up into the saddle and turned Bess south.

  Kate rode beside him, gaze on the distance. A rabbit bounded across the road and paused on the verge, ears sticking up from the tufts of grass. Kate didn’t comment. To the southwest, steam rose among the pines. She didn’t name the pool or offer to show it to them.

  “Private Smith,” he said as they cleared the meadow, “General Tremaine has a skill for reconnaissance. Ask him about the pie at his establishment.”

  “A true delicacy, I take it?” Smith asked behind them.

  “The best in Yellowstone,” Danny bragged. “I bet Alberta would give you a piece. If you help me with Lightning when we get back, I’ll ask.”

  “Thanks.” He called up to Will. “Permission to confirm the claim, sir?”

  “Granted,” Will said. “Save some for me.”

  The two rode around him and Kate and headed for the inn.

  She remained silent as they approached the hotel. When they reached the hitching post, Will dismounted and came around to her side. She’d proven she didn’t need help dismounting, but he offered it anyway, and she slid down into his arms. For a moment, he held her, carefully, gently. He knew he should release her, but he couldn’t manage to let go.

  “I’m sorry to hear about Danny’s father,” he murmured. “That’s a hard way to lose a man.”

  Her head came up to brush his chin. “Is there an easy way?”

  At least she was showing some of her usual spirit.

  “I suppose not,” he said. “But he’d be proud of how you’re raising Danny, managing this hotel.”

  She remained in his embrace, as if his presence brought her comfort, and he marveled at the possibility.

  “I’ve done the best I can,” she said. “But I can’t be everywhere, every moment. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Danny.”

  “Nothing happened,” he reminded her. “No one was hurt. You taught us all well.”

  “I didn’t teach Toby,” she said, voice hinting of tears. “He ran after every wonder, no matter whether it could scald him, poison him, or break all his bones.” She shuddered. “I can’t let that happen to Danny.”

  “You protect your son well,” Will assured her. “I see that. All anyone can do is their utmost. No one can ask for more.”

  She laid her head against his chest, as if listening to the sound of his heart. And his heart, the heart he’d buried eight years ago in Oregon, beat harder.

  For her.

  9

  How long had it been since she’d been held? Toby had never been much of a hugger. Too busy doing. For a moment, she closed her eyes, breathed in the scent of warm wool and leather, allowed herself to feel cherished, protected.

  But the feeling was only temporary. She had no claim on this man. He could be called elsewhere at any time. His work could lead him into danger. She wouldn’t survive losing someone else she loved.

  Her heart protested as she pulled away from him, but she ignored the cry. She had responsibilities, to her son, to her inn. That’s what mattered.

  “You better talk to Alberta about that pie before Danny and Private Smith eat it all,” she said, gaze on her horse.

  He didn’t move. “I have a feeling you could use some pie yourself.”

  She might at that, but work sounded a better tonic. “I’ll be fine. We’re expecting that group shortly. I should make sure the rooms are ready.” She gathered the reins and led Aster toward the barn, feeling a bit as if she was running away from her own inn.

  Which was ridiculous.

  She loved her inn, she loved her world. This morning had shaken her, but she couldn’t forget how fortunate she was. She’d never expected to live in such an amazing place. Instead of the skies dark with soot and hemmed in by buildings, she looked up into a heaven so blue it went on forever. Instead of the rattle of lorries and the din of industry, she woke to the song of the yellowthroat and meadowlarks and the rumble and splash of a geyser. Where she had grown up in Boston, the only wildlife visible had been the squirrels in the park. Danny was grow
ing up with elk and bison.

  And bears.

  She shivered. That was the first bear she’d encountered since Toby had died. It had been a year. She’d thought she could handle herself. It hadn’t even been a grizzly. And still, she’d panicked, trapped inside her terror. If Will hadn’t taken command . . .

  She shook off the fear that threatened and headed for the hotel. Will had been there. Danny was safe. And she had work to do.

  So, she kept busy the rest of the day and Saturday. Wakefield and Hoffman brought her six more guests on their way out of the park, and Bassett Brothers deposited three more heading for Old Faithful in the morning.

  She spotted Will and either Private Smith or Private Franklin making the rounds, but she did her best to avoid contact. Bad enough that the lieutenant intruded on her thoughts all too often.

  “Ma?” Danny asked when they were helping Caleb by feeding the chickens Friday. She looked from him to the hens flocking at her feet and hastily shoved her hand in the basket of corn before she and Danny were overcome. Will rode past quietly, head up and gaze over the geysers.

  “He’s a fine man, that lieutenant,” Alberta went so far as to point out Friday night as Kate leaned against the worktable after serving dinner and watched Danny dig into the chili and corn bread.

  “Is he?” Danny asked, mouth half full.

  “Chew and swallow, please,” Kate advised him.

  “He is,” Ida answered him, elbows on the table and gaze dreamy. “And Private Smith isn’t half bad either.”

  Sarah, moving past with an empty crystal pitcher, wrinkled her nose. “Too bushy. Makes you wonder what he’s hiding under all that hair.”

  Ida tossed her head as she straightened. “Well, Private Franklin is too scrawny. Give me beef to chicken any day.”

  Kate cleared her throat and nodded to Danny, and her maids quickly found other ways to occupy themselves.

  But Danny wasn’t about to let the matter go. “Do you like beef or chicken better, Ma?” he asked her after they’d said their evening prayers that night.

  She wasn’t about to explain what Ida had meant by her comment. “I like whatever Alberta cooks,” she temporized as she sat at the side of his bed to tuck him in.

  He snuggled deeper under the wool blanket. “Me too.”

  She was congratulating herself on escaping the worst of his questions when he added, “But do you think Lieutenant Prescott is handsome?”

  “It’s not for me to say,” she replied, tucking the blanket around his slender frame. Already the nights were cooling, and the heat from the big hearth only reached so far.

  “Why not?” Danny asked with a frown.

  “I have better things to do than gaze about at cavalrymen,” she told him.

  “Do you think I’m handsome?” he asked.

  Kate smiled. “Very handsome. And someday you’ll make a fine husband.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead.

  “Like Pa,” he said. “He was a good husband, wasn’t he?”

  Kate kept her smile in place. “I never complained. Now, get some sleep.”

  “Yes, Ma.” He dutifully closed his eyes. Kate rose and left.

  How she hated not telling Danny everything, but he was so young. He couldn’t understand what went on between a husband and a wife. He didn’t understand his father’s death either. He’d heard a bear had mauled his father. She hadn’t been able to keep the guests or her staff from sharing that news. But she’d prevented him from seeing the mangled body. She still saw it in nightmares.

  He remembered Toby’s engaging side, the laughter, the games. He didn’t understand the many ways Toby had failed her.

  “It was just a card game,” Toby had told her back in Boston when she’d realized they couldn’t pay the grocer. “I’ll win the money back next time.”

  She’d managed to convince him there would be no next time, but she never knew what else would catch his fancy. He had spent rent money on a blind horse because he couldn’t bear to see the animal put down. She had located a farmer willing to accept the poor beast. They’d gone without coal for a month one winter because he had wanted a sled large enough to take the neighbor children for a ride. He gave to every charity, helped anyone who asked, invested in every wild scheme proposed to him, with no thought of how it might affect her or Danny. He’d been throwing scraps to a grizzly he feared might be hungry when it had turned on him.

  No, Toby had not been the best husband, but she missed his smile, his ability to see the silver lining in every cloud.

  Will didn’t seem to be a silver lining sort of fellow. At times, she thought something troubled him. That handsome—well, she could admit it to herself!—face could look remarkably still when he wanted it to, giving away none of his secrets. But somehow she was sure he wouldn’t have gone out in the middle of the night to feed a bear either.

  The way he looked at her, the way he had held her, told her it would be all too easy for him to develop feelings for her. She was halfway to developing feelings for him.

  A shame she could not feel comfortable taking a chance on love again.

  Kate Tremaine didn’t trust him.

  Will shook his head as he rode his circuit with Smith late Saturday morning. He wasn’t sure why he felt so certain of the fact. True, she seemed to be avoiding him. She had to wonder why he’d behaved as he had. He’d kept her at a respectable arm’s length until he’d pulled her close the other day. And what had he offered in the face of her fears?

  All anyone can do is their utmost. No one can ask for more.

  Platitudes he surely hadn’t lived. Platitudes he wasn’t sure he believed.

  But he wanted to.

  So, what was he to do about Kate except honor the distance she seemed determined to put between them? She had helped him and his men so much, it felt wrong to ignore her, though she seemed intent on ignoring him. Danny, on the other hand, was always on the veranda, under the hitching post, or out on the geyser field every time Will rode by, as if he’d been listening for the sound of hoofbeats. And he always had a wave or a word for Will.

  “The hotel people are here again,” he confided to Will that morning from the porch bench as Bess paused before the inn to eye the two strange horses tied there.

  Will reined in and tried in vain to see through the open door. “Hotel people?”

  “They own a lot of the hotels in Yellowstone,” Danny supplied. “The fancy one at Mammoth Hot Springs, the big one going up at Old Faithful. They bought Mr. Marshall’s hotel. I heard them tell Ma.” He glanced toward the door. “I hope they don’t buy ours.”

  The same hope surged up inside him. The Geyser Gateway without Kate? Impossible to imagine. But who could blame her if she’d had enough of the wilderness, especially after their recent encounter with a bear?

  Just then, two men, one in a tailored black coat and trousers, the other in buckskins, came out of the hotel and started down the steps. The fancy fellow’s face was red, his mouth set in a hard line. The guide’s smile could only be called a smirk. He nodded respectfully to Will, but his client breezed past to untie his horse.

  Kate followed them out onto the porch and watched them leave, hands on the hips of her plaid skirt.

  “Did you say no?” Danny asked.

  Her look dropped to her son. “I’m not selling the Geyser Gateway. This is our home.”

  Danny flattened himself onto the bench, as if his spine had turned to pudding. “Oh, good.” He straightened. “Can I ride patrol with Lieutenant Prescott?”

  “Wood?” she asked.

  “Can’t I stack it later?” he wheedled.

  She jerked a thumb toward the back of the property. “You know the rules.”

  His sigh was heavy enough to down a few trees all on its own. “No fun before chores. Good thing your mother didn’t come out to Yellowstone with you, Lieutenant Prescott. She probably wouldn’t let you patrol until you washed the dishes.”

  “Daniel Tobias Tremaine,” Kate said
, “git!”

  He got.

  “Maybe it is a good thing my mother never followed me to a post,” Will said, watching him trudge around the inn.

  “Why?” Kate challenged him. “Was she a tyrant too?”

  He returned his gaze to hers. Her eyes were a smoky gray in the shadow of the porch. “No, ma’am. I thought she was the hardest-working person I would ever meet, until I met you.”

  Her hands fell. “There’s a lot to be done running a hotel.”

  “Then why not sell? Take the money and go somewhere safer for you and Danny.”

  She waved her hand after the disappearing businessman and his guide. “Because they offered me a pittance. They know how hard it is to overwinter. They thought I’d give in now.”

  “You could probably find someone to make you a better offer,” Will said, though everything in him urged him to stop arguing and let her stay. “Lots of companies want a part of Yellowstone.”

  “Too many companies,” she said primly. “I had three letters this season from the Virginia City Outfitters. The first offered a decent price. The second increased it. The third warned me I’d regret not agreeing to their terms.”

  Will shook his head. “They must never have met you, or they would have known not to threaten an independent woman.”

  “Very true. But I know what would happen if I sold the Geyser Gateway to opportunists like that. Cattle and sheep grazing in the meadows instead of elk. Trinkets tucked into geysers to be sold to tourists once the things crust up enough.” She shuddered. “No, it’s best for Danny and best for Yellowstone if I stay.”

  “And what’s best for Kate Tremaine?” Will asked.

  She stepped out into the sunlight, gazed up into the sky. “Being here. This is home.”

  Once more, he wanted to reach for her, hold her, soak up some of the warmth that glowed about her. But this time, the comfort would be all his. Her presence, that sky, the whoosh of a geyser as it shot up, even the whiff of sulfur on the breeze—all tugged at him, pulled him closer than he’d ever been pulled before.

  “Home.” The word left his mouth before he could stop it.