As the window glided down, her head came into view. “I don't think I can stay awake much longer.” Her eyes had huge dark circles under them.
“There's a stopping place about ten miles ahead. Can you make it that far?”
She nodded. “Is Daniel still awake?”
He smiled, his heart warming. Her first thoughts would naturally run toward the kids. “He nodded off about dusk. He fought it a long time.” He glanced into the interior of the big wagon; both girls were curled together like kittens, the little on her car seat, the older one snuggled against it with an arm across her sister's body. He gave the car door a soft thump and nodded. “See you at the hotel up ahead. We'll get this bunch taken care of there.” Walking back to the truck he tried not to give in to the pain in his stiff leg.
~*~
Inside the big station wagon, Bonnie's stomach muscles tightened as she watched him walk away. Was it insane to trust him?
The lights of the motel came into view. She followed the dark hulk of the truck into the parking lot, as Baya parked outside the office doors. She winced in empathy when he stepped out of the cab and his still-injured knee gave way before he caught himself and walked back to her again.
“I'll go get the room key and be right back,” he told her. “Keep an eye on the truck. I locked it but we don't want to take any chances. Daniel is still asleep.”
She fought her exhaustion for what seemed an age before he came back jangling the key. He jerked his head toward the truck, indicating she should follow him. Once parked outside a glass-fronted room, his long body eased down from the cab again. Her stiff muscles protested as she stood outside the car. Baya pulled the sleeping boy out of the cab and glanced at Bonnie. As he rolled the boy into his arms, he began walking toward her.
“Are you all right?”
“I stiffen up when I sit too long in these seats. I never understand why. The seats are soft and plush but I feel beaten when I get out of them.”
“I feel the same way every morning.” He lowered the sleepy boy to the ground and helped him walk to his mother. As soon as the child's weight leaned against her, she automatically wrapped her arm around his shoulder.
Baya jerked open the door and took a half step backward. “They're so small.” As the words permeated the air, his hushed voice whispered, “I'll be careful with them.” Leaning forward, he tried to mimic her tenderness as he pulled Hope out of the car.
“You open the door.” He straightened up and handed the key to Bonnie. The child in his arms jerked with a whimper as her eyes popped open. He murmured to her gently, and the curly blonde head fell heavily against his shoulder.
~*~
Bonnie opened the door, shuffle-stepped Daniel into the room and pulled back the blankets of the nearest bed to settle him in it. She had pulled his shoes off when she looked around and realized Baya hadn't followed her. Her forehead creased as she walked back to the door.
Outside, Baya leaned against the front fender of the station wagon. Silhouetted against the parking lot lights, his dark, angular leanness contrasted against the rounded body and halo lightness of her little Hope.
Bonnie paused to absorb the picture they made as he reached up to brush a curl from the sleeping cheek. His hand ran gently over her tousled hair. From where she stood in the doorway, Bonnie could almost feel the depth of the breath that expanded his chest and could almost hear the drawn out sigh.
She moved forward slowly. “Do you want me to take her?”
He glanced up, his face almost fierce. “I was just waiting. I didn't want to leave Faith out here without one of us around.” He nodded toward the open car door.
Her lower jaw went slack. He thought of the safety of Faith! She was so use to depending on her oldest that she often treated her like an adult and neglected such safety features.
“I'll get her out.” She walked past him with her head averted, careful not to let him see her surprise or her shame. Sticking her head inside, she reached in and shook Faith. “Get up, honey. Come on. You can't sleep in here. I need to get to the suitcase.”
With her eyes still closed, Faith pushed herself up and moved toward her mother's voice. Bonnie helped pull her out the door and, with arms around her, moved her so the door could be shut. She held the weight slumped against her as they staggered around to the back of the vehicle. She had gotten the door open when Baya appeared again.
“What else do you need?”
“The suitcase is under here.” Bonnie pushed back the floor cover and began tugging on the handle. “If you grab Faith, I'll bring this in.”
With an economy of movement, Baya scooped her up into his arms. Her daughter stiffened but before Bonnie could say anything Baya spoke. “It's all right, Faith. Your mother needed both hands and you've had a tough day.” His growl softened to smoothness as he talked to the rigid child. She showed no emotion other than a solemn searching of his face. He smiled. Bonnie pulled the suitcase behind them into the room and rolled it to the low chest against the wall. In the mirror, she watched as Baya put Faith on the bed.
Faith watched him distrustfully as he moved away to help her mother. When he picked up the suitcase to put it on the chest of drawers she rolled to her side and cradled herself around her sleeping sister.
Bonnie looked up at the man beside her, her husband, as surreal as that felt to her. “Thank you.” She whispered.
He frowned down at her briefly. “For what?”
“Helping.” With the lift of one shoulder she turned to watch the sleeping children.
Daniel slept curled on one side an arm thrown behind him awkwardly. The baby sprawled over the middle of the bed, her butt in the air and her face squashed against the mattress. Faith curled against her with arms wrapped protectively over the round figure.
Baya smiled wryly, “I haven't spent much time with kids. Guess it shows. I thought I'd bed down with the boy, and you could sleep with the girls.”
“OK.” She looked at him in gentle surprise. Was this actual cowboy chivalry or was he as nervous as she? “Do you want the shower first?”
He grinned, giving her a mischievous once over.
“It's real good to see you standing upright. Maybe you had better hit the shower first and see if you can get any lingering kinks out. I don't feel too bad right now.”
He looked back at the sleeping children. “Do we need to do anything to get them dressed for bed?”
Bonnie was already opening the big suitcase. “Take off their shoes, and I'll take care of the rest.”
“You go ahead and shower, Bonnie.”
She rummaged around until she gathered up her needed items and hurried toward the bathroom.
~*~
She offered me first dibs
. He paused as he retrieved his duffel, the thought stuck in his mind.
He'd pulled the shoes off the kids and was just coming in from securing the truck and station wagon when she walked out of the bathroom. Her hair was bundled on top of her head, trailing curly damp tendrils onto her pajamas. The pajamas were a light cotton short outfit. She had great legs, long and sun kissed.
He smiled, even though his breath was caught in his chest. He pulled his duffel off the chair by the door, forcing himself to remain casual. “Please say you left me some hot water.”
She grinned. “Really hot.” She pulled a pencil out of the knot, and the hair tumbled around her shoulders. Tangled and disheveled as it was, seeing the slide of its fall to her shoulders hit him in a secret place in his heart. Momentarily frozen in place, he watched her pull a brush through the tangled mess and he longed to touch it. Her gaze met his in the mirror.
“You have the most beautiful hair I've ever seen.” His voice had grown soft and husky, and he moved quickly to the bathroom.
~*~
A blush warmed Bonnie's cheeks before she looked away from the hunger on his face.
Rather than listening to the shower and leaving herself to the memory of his expression, she slipped the children out of their clothes and into some oversized T-shirts. She had just snuggled against Hope in bed when the door opened.
He came out of the bathroom rubbing the water out of his hair. His leanness while clothed hadn't prepared her for the amount of muscle displayed at that moment. Throwing the towel over his shoulder, he pulled a brush out of his black duffel and slicked the wet hair off his face. He brushed his teeth and turned off the light over the sink before moving toward the beds.
He walked to the opposite side of the room. Tossing the towel over a chair, he moved between the beds, pulling off the jeans before slipping under the blankets. With his arm stretched toward the light between them he met Bonnie's gaze. He paused. Time stopped momentarily.
She was certain the warm admiration on his face tinted her skin, she could feel the blush. She looked away, pleasure singing in her veins.
“Goodnight, wife.”
3
The truck ahead of her groaned its way up the mountain. It wasn't even one of the large surrounding mountains, but it almost stopped the vehicle in its tracks. She had been following the swaying orange-and-white monstrosity for too long.
The girls were squabbling in the back of the station wagon again. Faith was being domineering, and Hope was digging in for a temper tantrum.
“Faith, stop it!”
“She won't move over,” Faith hissed through clenched teeth.
Bonnie looked into the rearview mirror and saw the frown. An emotional storm was brewing even as they neared the end of their journey. She sighed heavily as she turned her attention back to the road ahead.
Drawn by a glimpse of movement in the mirror, Bonnie could only watch as Hope's hand reached out and yanked Faith's hair. Hope's body hunched against Faith's scream before it even vocalized. Hope began to cry.
“Hope, get up front here.” Bonnie pulled the car over to the side of the road. Now!”
Hope, still weeping, unclipped her carseat buckle and scrambled into the front.
Bonnie's tone softened. “I know you're tired but we're almost there. What do you think is over the hill?”
The child stared at her with angry blue eyes and didn't respond, though Faith popped her head through the front seats. “What?”
“Our new home.”
“Will I have friends?”
“Of course you'll have friends. You've always had friends. People like you.” Bonnie said, her exhaustion coloring the words with false brightness. “Get back in your seatbelt.” She pulled the car back onto the highway.
Gray eyes looked at her through narrowed lashes.
Hope popped her thumb in her mouth.
“Your brother may even find a bunch of friends here, too.” She stopped talking as they crested the hill.
Baya was pulling to the side of the narrow mountain road.
Her spirits dropped to her feet. A breakdown so close to the journey end was too much to bear. She pulled in behind. A prayer that she would not get stuck in the ditch was murmured before she leaned forward to rest her head against the steering wheel.
~*~
The door of the truck opened and Baya slid to the ground and steadied his stiff legs before he turned to pull Daniel out.
Daniel hit the ground running. His body thumped against the station wagon as he yanked the door beside his baby sister open.
“Come on! You can see it!”
Faith opened the back door to jump eagerly out of the car.
She and Daniel ran around to stand in front of the truck.
Baya approached Bonnie's side of the car. Still resting her head she turned to greet him.
“Is there something wrong with the truck?”
“No, come on.” He smiled and held out a hand.
~*~
Stroking the softness of Bonnie's arm, he wanted to ask her about her children and find out whether this softening around his heart was normal. During this journey, he'd learned a little bit about how to intercept a fight by recognizing flash points that set each child off.
Sometime west of the Mississippi, Hope had begun standing next to him during their meals.
When Bonnie asked gently if she wanted them to come to the play area with her, she nodded her head and reached for his hand.
They had shifted their meals to the bright tubes of the playground.
One evening in Colorado, he had been teaching Daniel a song and Hope slipped into his lap. Like the first night on the road, when he'd held her, the soft fragile warmth of her crept into his heart making it expand with a need to protect her.
Bonnie didn't question his hand on her arm, as he spent time remembering the long journey that brought them this far. “Come,” he urged
,
again, returning to the present with excitement. “You'll get to see your entire ranch from here.”
She slid out of the seat.
Hope standing with the other two children, nestled under Faith's arm.
“They were fighting with each other not thirty seconds ago.” Bonnie told Baya.
He chuckled.
Bonnie stretched and drew away from Baya's hand.
Disappointment shuddered through him.
They joined the children at the edge of the highway.
The road ahead curved east while a rutted dirt lane descended its way northwest into a deep and green valley. A stream as wide as a small river ran through the rolling hills before burying itself in the rugged mountain range to the west. Large open areas broke the uniformity of the forest. Far to the north, buildings nestled beneath large trees. It was too far away to distinguish any characteristics of the ranch. All that mattered at the moment was the trip was finished.
Baya pointed toward the greenest area. “The house is over there. The stable is south of it and a little east.”
Bonnie followed the line of the pointing finger where a long barn-like building could be seen. “Stable for cows?”