“Probably not.”
That surprised a laugh from her.
The sound startled both.
Gabriel smiled.
Then Tomás began crying.
Rosa looked toward the house.
Gabriel’s smile faded into something gentler.
“I should go.”
Rosa hesitated.
“You came all this way.”
“To tell you about the survey.”
“You could have sent a rider.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Gabriel looked toward the ground.
For the first time, he seemed uncomfortable.
“I wanted to know whether the roof held.”
Rosa stared.
He added, “And whether you were all right.”
A warmth she had not invited moved through her chest.
She disliked it.
Then Lucía began crying too.
Gabriel glanced toward the doorway.
Rosa exhaled.
“You know anything about babies?”
His face went still.
There it was again.
The grief.
Rosa regretted the question immediately.
“Sorry.”
Gabriel looked toward the house.
“My daughter lived six hours.”
Rosa said nothing.
“I held her for perhaps twenty minutes.”
His voice remained steady only because he worked hard to make it so.
“I know very little about babies.”
Rosa’s throat tightened.
“But I know how to heat milk.”
She looked at him.
“And I can hold one if you need both hands.”
Rosa did.
She needed both hands almost every minute of every day.
The offer struck somewhere deeper than the roof.
Not because it was large.
Because it was precise.
Not I can save you.
Not You need a man.
Just:
I can hold one.
Rosa looked toward the crying inside.
Then back at Gabriel.
“Wash your hands.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“You’ve been riding.”
He smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rosa pointed toward the basin.
He obeyed.
When he entered the house, he stopped just beyond the doorway.
Waited.
Rosa picked up Lucía.
Tomás kicked furiously inside the cradle.
She looked at Gabriel.
“Him.”
Gabriel’s color changed.
“You sure?”
“No.”
That made him laugh softly.
Rosa lifted Tomás.
Held him out.
Gabriel took the baby as though receiving something sacred and dangerous.
Too stiff.
Too careful.
Tomás immediately protested.
“Support his head.”
“I am.”
“Not like a crate.”
“I don’t hold many people this size.”
“Clearly.”
Gabriel adjusted.
Tomás quieted.
His tiny fist caught Gabriel’s shirt.