More than anything.
But now she understood that love and trust were not always the same thing.
She looked down at her wedding ring.
Then answered quietly.
"I believe you love me."
His expression softened.
She continued.
"But we still have to find out what being your wife means."
The words hurt them both.
Yet neither tried to take them back.
The neighbor entered a few minutes later, accompanied by his adult son.
They examined the damaged cabin.
Helped secure the broken shutters.
And agreed the wounded rider needed a doctor.
The stranger insisted the men would return.
The mountain man believed him.
By morning, the blizzard had weakened enough for travel.
The wounded visitor rested beside the fire.
The woman prepared breakfast.
Nobody had slept properly.
When her husband entered the kitchen, he found her standing over the stove.
Her blue gown was covered by a white apron.
Her hair had been pinned into a thick braid.
She looked tired.
But composed.
He stopped near the doorway.
"Can I help?"
She glanced toward him.
"Chop the potatoes."
The third knock came so hard that snow shook loose from the lintel, and the woman in the royal-blue dress felt her husband's heart hammer beneath her palm.
He had already gone pale. Now, when the stranger outside called him by the surname he had abandoned seven years earlier, he looked as though the walls of the cabin were closing around him.
“Get behind me,” he whispered.
Weighing 350 kilograms, she moved carefully, planting her feet securely before rising from his lap. She steadied herself against the wide oak chair and faced him. “Not until you tell me whether whoever is outside intends to hurt us.”
The man at the door shouted again. “I was sent by the woman you think you buried! I have her writing. For heaven's sake, open up before they catch me!”
The mountain man crossed to the window. He lifted one edge of the curtain without exposing himself to the storm. A stranger was slumped against the porch post, his hat white with snow, one hand pressed beneath his coat. Beyond him, the trail vanished into a moving wall of darkness.
“Are you alone?” the mountain man called.
“For the moment.” The answer came through chattering teeth. “There are riders behind me. They want the papers.”