The proprietor looked up when he entered the lobby. “The ladies are in the dining room.” He waved in the general direction of the double doors that stood open. “The dark-haired one told me to say they couldn’t wait. They were hungry.”
“Thanks.” At noon, Louise had barely nibbled the lunch they’d brought, so hearing she was hungry raised his spirits considerably. Chuckling, he stepped into the room and glanced around, finding her seated with Missy and Miss Rolfe. Sam and Sparky had joined a table full of men. He returned Sam’s friendly wave but ignored the invitation to join them.
He would eat with his wife.
“You’re looking better,” she said when he took a seat across from her.
“So are you.”
She squinted at him. “I wasn’t shot.”
“Nope.” But she’d endured a rough ride for more hours than he cared to contemplate.
A man wearing a soiled apron set a plate of food before him and he dug in. The three ladies had already cleaned their plates. “Food’s good,” he murmured after a bit.
Missy chuckled. Miss Rolfe watched, wide-eyed. Louise rested her chin on elbow-supported hands and grinned.
“What?” He looked around the table. What were they all staring at?
Louise answered. “We were wondering when you’d come up for air.”
He cleaned his plate with a slice of bread and sat back with a sigh. “A man gets hungry, you know. Besides, this might be the last decent meal we see until we reach Fort Macleod.”
At the way her eyes widened and her mouth pulled into a worried frown, he wished he’d kept that bit of information to himself.
Seeing he was finished, the ladies pushed back from the table. He sprang to his feet to assist Louise.
“Thank you,” she said, but her eyes filled with warning.
“What? I’m only being polite.”
“I see.”
But she obviously didn’t. Was she so determined to remind him this arrangement was only temporary?
“I’m going to my room,” Miss Rolfe said.
Missy glanced around, saw nothing to hold her interest. “I have a book to read. Are you coming, Louise?”
Louise sighed. “I feel the need to move about.”
“Would you like to see Fort Benton?” Nate asked. It was dusky out, but there would be lots of activity yet.
She brightened. “Why, yes, I would. Give me a minute to get my coat.” There was a time she would have flown up the stairs, but not now. She held the handrail and labored to the top. In minutes, she reappeared and as carefully made her way down to his side.
He wisely kept any comment to himself and pulled her arm through his. Outside, he led her across the street to the waterfront. “The stern-wheeler brings freight and goods and people up the Missouri to here, then wagons go in every direction like spokes in a wheel.”
“It’s busy.” She watched men hurrying to and fro. One carried a box on his shoulders, another pushed a handcart loaded high enough to block the man’s view, causing the pedestrians approaching him to dart out of the way.
“Why do some of the men have red sashes about their waists?”
He was pleased he could explain. “They’re French Canadians. They use the sashes around their coats. I hear they’re useful for a number of other things, too, like a saddle blanket, rope or towel.”
“It’s nice to see the color.”
As they walked, he kept close to the river and away from the many saloons, though tinny music reached them. “It’s getting cold. Do you want to go back?”
“In a minute.” They were in front of a hardware store with lantern light falling from the window to a bench on the sidewalk. “Let’s sit for a spell.”
She waited until they were both comfortably seated to speak again. “I’ve never gotten a chance to thank you for agreeing to marry me for as long as it takes to get to Eden Valley Ranch.”
He thought to tell her that her continual reminders, whether subtle or obvious, as this one was, weren’t necessary. He hadn’t forgotten the temporary state of their marriage and was quite sure she’d never let him. “Gordie was my best friend. His parents opened their home to me when I felt alone.” More like abandoned, he amended silently. Pa had died and Ma had had to work long hours. Nate had hated being alone at their new house.