Anna's eyes filled again.
“And the child?”
Samuel placed his hand over hers.
“If the child needs a father, I will be there.”
She leaned across the table and kissed him.
It was not a passionate kiss.
It was a quiet, trembling kiss between two people who had nearly lost one another before they had fully understood what they meant to each other.
When she drew back, Samuel brushed a tear from her cheek.
“There is something else.”
Anna's expression changed.
“What?”
“Thomas was not the only person involved. My uncle Edward arranged the money. He may have been trying to take part of the ranch.”
Anna looked toward the window.
“Is that why Thomas came last night?”
“I think so.”
“Then he may come again.”
Samuel nodded.
“Let him.”
He did not say what he was thinking.
He did not tell her that he intended to uncover every part of the scheme, even if it destroyed his relationship with his brother.
He did not tell her that he was beginning to suspect the lie about his fertility had been only the first step in an attempt to take the land.
And he did not tell her that he had found a forged transfer bearing their father's name.
There would be time for that.
For now, he wanted to sit with his wife, hold her hand, and allow himself to believe that the future had not been stolen from him after all.
The next two weeks brought a strange calm to the ranch.
Samuel continued his work, but he found himself stopping more often to look at the house. He repaired the porch railing, mended a broken latch, and began clearing the small room beside the kitchen.
He told himself he was preparing the room for a guest.
Anna did not challenge him.
She simply placed a folded quilt on the shelf and began sewing curtains from a piece of cream-colored fabric she had saved.
Neither spoke openly about the child until one evening when Samuel found her standing in the doorway of the little room.
She held the unfinished blanket against her chest.
“I used to think I would never be a mother,” she said.
Samuel stood beside her.
“Why?”
“Because no one ever seemed to choose me for anything except my work. I could sew a dress, mend a coat, or sit beside a sick woman all night. People were grateful for what I did, but they never imagined I might want something for myself.”
Samuel looked at the blanket.
“What made you change your mind?”