“Sit down and make yourself comfortable, Miss Harris. It’ll be a while before we stop.” She sat quickly, twisting so she could look over the side of the wagon at Maggie and Tucker. Her fingers clenched the rough lumber that held her in. Gavin sprang up onto the wagon seat beside his wife. He looked at Dru.

“Ready? You need anything ‘fore we go?”

“I’m fine, Gavin. Let’s go home.” With the rattle of harness and braces, the wagon jerked forward, pulling away from the Overland Hotel. Rachel stared back at her family and friends until she couldn’t see them any longer through the blur of tears. When they stopped to rest and eat their midday meal, Gavin announced that he was going to walk about and stretch his legs. That left the women with time alone to get better acquainted. Rachel was eager to ask Dru about the children, but she wasn’t given the chance.

“You stayed back East for several years, Miss Harris,” Dru said as she handed Rachel a sandwich.

“Why was that?”

“An accident mostly. After completing my schooling, I went home with my friend Georgia to visit her parents in Washington. Professor Abraham—that’s what everyone calls Mr. Fielding—is such a remarkable man, and I was always pestering him with questions. Finally, he asked if I would stay and assist him with some historical research he was doing. I was thrilled to be a part of it.” She took a bite of her sandwich, then continued, unaware of the excitement in her voice.

“Professor Abraham doesn’t have those silly notions about education being wasted on a woman. He would talk to me about anything. He treated all my questions as if they had merit, even the ones that didn’t. I had access to any of the books in his library and could read to my heart’s content.”

“Was it all study and work?” Dru asked.

“Oh, no. Professor Abraham and his wife are invited everywhere, and Georgia and I were forever tagging along to parties and balls. And the Fielding home always had interesting guests coming and going. The professor is the confidante of statesmen and successful businessmen from all over the country. I met so many leaders of industry and politicians in the years I was with them, I couldn’t begin to name them all. It was always interesting, always so stimulating.”

“Then why did you come back to Idaho?” Rachel wasn’t certain how to answer. It was a question she’d asked herself many times in the past six months. Why did she come back?

“I don’t know,” she finally said, her voice soft and thoughtful, the excitement gone as she considered the question once again.

“Is there a special man waiting for you in Boise? Someone you plan to marry?”

“No,” Rachel answered firmly. Dru lifted an eyebrow.

“Are you saying you don’t want to ever get married and have a family?”

“Not at all,” Rachel was quick to respond.

“I do want it… when the time is right.”

“You’ve never been in love, have you, Rachel?” The expression on Dru’s face was strangely wistful. She shook her head.

“No, but I’ve seen what it’s like, living with Tucker and Maggie. That’s what I want it to be like for me. I don’t mean to marry someone just because he’s important or wealthy. I mean to be in love with the man I marry.” She felt a bit silly for the emphatic tone of her voice.

“But,” she continued, “the time isn’t right for that yet, so there’s no point worrying about it. I still have things to do.” She laughed at herself.

“I just don’t know what.” Dru grinned back at her.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so. It sounds absurd, I suppose, but I’ve always had the feeling that something special was going to happen in my life. When I decided to come home, it was because I had a feeling I would find it waiting for me here.” She shrugged.

“If it was, I didn’t find it.” Dru tilted her head slightly to one side as she observed Rachel.

“Perhaps you found it and don’t know it yet.” Rachel smiled and gave a little shake of her head. How could she have found it and not know it? She’d been waiting for that “something” to happen for years. Which was exactly why she was here with Dru now. Because she was tired of waiting and had chosen to go out and make something happen.

“Perhaps,” she said, not wanting to argue a futile point, but certain the woman was wrong. Later that night, Gavin sat beside the dying embers of the campfire and ran his fingers over a worn piece of harness. He would have to do some repairs on it before long. Perhaps, come spring, he’d be able to afford a whole new harness. If he could get the right price for his cows after round-up and if the rest of his herd wintered well, he should be able to… “Mr. Blake?” He glanced up, surprised that he hadn’t heard her approach.

“May I talk to you a moment?” Gavin waved at the log opposite him. She sat down. He noticed the graceful movements of her hands as she smoothed the skirt of her dress over her knees. She lifted a loose strand of pale blond hair and looped it behind her ear. The tip of her tongue moistened her lips as she stared into the red, glowing coals. She looked lovely, despite the long, dusty, tiring day.

“Is there some reason you disapprove of me to teach your daughters, Mr. Blake?” she asked, her eyes suddenly lifting to meet his. “


Is there any reason I should?”

“No… but you do all the same.”

“Dru chose you, Miss Harris. That’s good enough for me.” Her blue eyes widened a fraction, and her head tilted slightly to one side. The slight pucker of her lips told him she thought he was lying. He supposed he was. His fingers tightened on the harness.

“I just don’t think you’re cut out for the place we’re going.”

“Why is that, Mr. Blake?” Irritation caused his voice to deepen.

“Listen, Miss Harris, we don’t have a lot of fancy things. I built the log cabin at our summer range with my own two hands. And the main ranch doesn’t have much more to it. We got a couple of hired hands who help out, and the nearest neighbors in the basin are more than likely a small band of Sheepeater Indians or some of their kin. There won’t be any nice teas to be shared with the womenfolk or dances to go to. Winters can be plenty long, and if you get bored easily, they’ll seem even longer.”

“I can do this job, Mr. Blake,” she insisted. He leaned suddenly forward and grabbed her hand, turning it palm up.

“Look at that lily-white hand. You haven’t done a day’s work in your life. You might’ve been raised on a ranch, but it was a gentleman’s ranch or I miss my guess. That brother-in-law of yours hires on all his help to run the ranch while he plays the judge in town and you sit drinking tea on the front porch. You’re just another spoiled, rich-” She jerked her hand away from him. Her blue eyes were rounded, and she sounded breathless when she spoke.

“That’s not so. We’ve worked hard for everything we’ve got. Tucker built our first house himself, cutting down the trees along the river. I remember just what it was like. We all worked and worked hard. In some ways, it was even harder than the trip west on the wagon train when we were moving every day for months and slept in the rain and walked in the mud and baked in the sun.” She stood up.

“Maybe Tucker does have others running his ranch now, but he’s earned it. And maybe I have been spoiled by his success. Maybe my life the last years has been easier than most, but I’m not afraid of hard work. I can teach your children and I can help take care of your wife.”

“You don’t belong up at the basin,” he growled.

“I’m going to be there, aren’t I, so you and I may as well learn to get along.” With a toss of her head, she turned and hurried toward her bed beneath the wagon. Gavin’s frown deepened as he returned his attention to the harness in his hands. She could say what she wanted. Rachel Harris didn’t belong in the hard life of the Blakes. She would wilt there like a rose without water. He’d be sending her back to Boise by the first snow. He’d be willing to bet on it. He caught a faint whiff of honeysuckle and felt a strange emptiness in his chest. Despite Dru’s frail appearance and admission of ill health, Rachel began to wonder if she’d been wrong about the woman. Every morning Dru was ready to break camp before the crack of dawn. She could scarcely be convinced to rest and have lunch in the middle of the day. And at night, she always insisted they go just one more mile before making camp. Gavin seemed concerned, but he often gave in to her pleas. Rachel, on the other hand, was exhausted and always ready to call it a day long before they actually did. She was hungry for a real meal rather than those hastily prepared over a campfire. She felt wilted and dirty and longed for a bath. A hot bath in the privacy of an upstairs bathroom, like the one at home. Gavin remained taciturn, speaking to her as little as possible. Dru, however, was invariably chatty and friendly. She told Rachel about the Stanley Basin and the beauty of the surrounding mountain ranges. Mostly, though, she talked about her daughters. Her voice was always filled with pride when the topic was Sabrina and Petula. The days seemed both to drag by and to pass all too quickly as the familiarity of Rachel’s home was left farther and farther behind. Still, she couldn’t deny a growing sense of adventure as Dru shared more about their summer range in the Stanley Basin, a valley surrounded by mountains with names like Sawtooth and White Cloud. But despite Dru’s glowing reports of the basin she loved, Rachel wasn’t prepared for the breathtaking panorama that met her gaze late in the afternoon a week after they had left Boise. The valley was tucked, snug and serene, between rugged mountain ranges. A carpet of green grasses waved like the sea beneath a gentle breeze. Late summer wildflowers bobbed their colorful heads. Sage and pine scented the air. Winding its way across the valley floor was a ribbon of water. A thick blanket of pine trees climbed the mountainsides as far as possible, then admitted defeat amidst the jagged crags and towering peaks of the Sawtooth Mountains.