“None,” Trapper looked down. “I don’t have anything to offer her. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”
“You’ll be a rich man with five hundred dollars in your pocket and I’m offering you a job. I’m in need of a smart man to be in charge of security. Nothing like this is ever going to happen again to my daughters. They said you risked your life to save them.”
“Your daughters can take care of themselves.”
“They will be able to do just that with your help, so what about taking the job?”
Trapper studied the man. “Did your daughters talk you into hiring me?”
“Of course not. No woman could ever run my life.” He smiled. “I did love my wives. All three of them. I acted like I wanted boys, but truth be told, I wouldn’t take ten sons for any one of the girls.”
Trapper kept grinning. “They put some pressure on you?”
“Of course. Anna tried reasoning with me. Catherine told me she wanted you for her foreman when she takes over running this place. But it was Sophia who settled the debate. She said she wouldn’t wear shoes ever, ever again if I didn’t try my best to keep her Tapper around. From what I see, she’s already halfway barefoot as it is.”
Trapper leaned closer. “I’ll make you a deal, Colonel. If Emery says yes to marrying me, I’ll take you up on the job.”
“Good. I’ll have the former foreman’s cabin cleaned out. It’s about the right size for newlyweds.”
“What’s happened to the outlaws I brought in?”
The colonel shrugged. “I had a man ride into Dallas to get a Texas Ranger. He’ll take them in as soon as their wounds heal, and I’ll send a dozen men to ride along to make sure they make it to a trial.”
“You mind if I’m one of the men going along?”
“It’ll be your first assignment.”
The colonel stood, happy with the deal, but Trapper feared the hardest part was yet to come. He had to ask the little widow to marry him first. Since she was already thinking she’d like to have kids with him, he thought he knew what the answer would be.
It was evening before he caught her alone in a big room the housekeeper called the great room. The fireplace was tall enough for a man to stand in, and tonight candles lined the windows. Garland climbed the staircase. The center table was covered with sweets for the neighbors and the employees and their families. It didn’t take long for Trapper to realize the ranch was a small town.
When Emery entered, dressed in a dark-green dress with white lace, she took his breath away. He took her hand and pulled her into the empty study.
“You’re beautiful.” He kissed her hand. “Almost as beautiful as you were that night in the rain.”
“Thank you.”
She seemed so shy now, as if they hadn’t spent three weeks together. As if he hadn’t touched her. As if she hadn’t slept in his arms.
“I don’t know the words, Emery.”
“What words?” Her shy whisper brushed his heart.
“The ones to tell you how much you mean to me. I feel like I’ve been walking around holding my breath all my life and suddenly I’m can breathe. I’ve been half dead for years and you make me want to live forever.”
When she didn’t answer, he looked away. “I don’t have anything to offer. I own a horse and a wagon.” He took a long breath and let it all out. “I do have enough money to buy a little place or the colonel offered me a job. But without you I don’t think I could settle down.”
All at once he couldn’t find the words. He’d lived from day to day, never dreaming for so long he was afraid to wish for more.
She smiled. “What do you really want?”
“I want you to be with me forever. I want to have a bunch of kids. I want to sleep next to you until I die.”
“You have me,” she said so low he wasn’t sure he heard her. “You’ve had me since the day we left Jefferson and you couldn’t be stern with Four. You had me when you let Three be her own person and you let One become a leader. You watched over us all.
“I know who you are, Trapper Hawkins. I saw the truth the first time I saw your blue eyes. You’re a good man. You have everything I want even without the money or the land or even the job. I want you.”
“Any chance you’d marry me?”
She smiled. “You can bet on it.”
As he kissed her, Trapper swore he heard five little girls laughing just outside the window.
“Look, One,” a four-year-old whispered, “Tapper got what he wanted for Christmas.”