Gabriel looked toward her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he glanced at the baby.
"Rose."
He said it softly.
As though testing the sound.
The child moved.
Gabriel smiled.
"Rose Morrow."
Clara began crying.
He looked alarmed.
"Did I say something wrong?"
She laughed through tears.
"No."
He approached.
Still holding the baby carefully.
Clara reached toward them both.
Gabriel knelt beside her chair.
She touched their daughter's cheek.
Then looked toward him.
"I like that."
He smiled.
"So do I."
For several seconds, they simply watched the baby.
Then Clara whispered, "She'll know the truth someday."
Gabriel looked toward her.
Clara continued.
"About Edmund. About how we met. About why I came here."
He nodded.
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"I don't want her to grow up believing something false."
Gabriel's expression softened.
"Neither do I."
For a moment, he thought about the pain of discovering Clara's pregnancy.
The silence.
The anger.
The feeling that he'd been denied the chance to choose with full knowledge.
He didn't want Rose to experience a similar betrayal.
So he looked toward Clara.
"When she's old enough, we'll tell her honestly."
Clara nodded.
"And if she asks why you became her father?"
Gabriel looked toward the tiny face.
For a moment, he seemed thoughtful.
Then he smiled.
"I'll tell her the truth."
Clara's eyes filled.
He continued.
"I loved her mother."
A tear slipped down Clara's cheek.
Gabriel looked toward her.
"And then I loved her."
Clara leaned forward.
Kissed him softly.
Rose stirred between them.
Both laughed.
Then Gabriel rested his cheek against Clara's hair.
For several seconds, they remained together beside the fire.
And the name Rose Morrow began belonging to the house as naturally as the sound of the stove and the wind.
The first weeks after Rose's birth were harder than either of them expected.
The baby didn't understand that Gabriel had cattle to feed.
She didn't care that Clara needed sleep.
She had no interest in the ranch's daily schedule.
She woke when she was hungry.
Cried when she was uncomfortable.
And seemed to possess an extraordinary ability to become restless the moment Gabriel thought the house had finally become quiet.
At first, he was bewildered.
Then exhausted.
Then strangely delighted.
He discovered that a newborn child could make more noise than an entire barn full of restless horses.
Clara laughed whenever he said so.
But she was tired too.
Her body needed time to recover.
Some days, she felt weak.