Daniel fought back a smile. Karlee seemed to think she was at a church social. Surely she must know the danger they were in. Unless Jesse brought his wife for the same reason he'd insisted Daniel's come. Assurance.

“Now which one of these men is your Jesse?” Karlee asked AmyAnn.

AmyAnn pointed to her husband.

Holding the baby up, Karlee stood directly in front of the man who once laid, almost dead, on her dining table. “I wouldn't have recognized you, Jesse. You've gained some weight since your funeral.”

Jesse nodded and lowered his rifle. “Yes, Ma'am.”

“And this boy looks just like you,” Karlee added. “The spitting image of his old man.”

The father, barely into his twenties, grinned with pride. “We all think he does, Ma'am.”

Karlee looked at an older version of Jesse standing next to the new father. “And you must be Jesse's pa?”

The man nodded politely.

“I'll bet you're mighty proud of little Rip here,” Karlee said, as if just passing the time. “He's going to grow up to be a fine one.”

These men might be outlaws, wanted criminals planning to rob and murder for their cause, but they were also Southern gentlemen and Karlee reminded them of that fact. One by one, she met each, introducing herself to them and them to her husband. One by one, the rifles lowered and disappeared from view.

When the door sliced open and Wolf passed in, he stood in shock. “What is this, a church supper?” He knew these men, he had fought beside a few of them. He'd had to pull every favor he could to get Daniel, a Northern preacher, allowed to walk in their midst, and now Karlee had turned the secret meeting barn into a parlor.

He moved to Daniel's side and whispered, “We'd better get started before your wife has them singing a round of ‘Dixie.’ ”

Daniel held his hand out to Karlee. She joined him, still holding AmyAnn's baby in her arms.

Wolf cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming tonight. I know it was at great risk for some of you. There's been talk about what to do in retaliation for Altus Blair's death. Before you decide, I want you to hear from Reverend McLain. He's my friend, and he went to the stockade to check on Altus. He was there the night Blair died. He's helped us before. I think we owe him a few minutes.”

Men who had argued bitterly against Daniel coming now stood politely and waited.

Daniel never turned loose of Karlee's hand as he spoke. His normally hesitant speech disappeared. “I'm here, not as a Yankee, or even a preacher, but as a man.” He glanced at Jesse. “A man who'd like to see his children grow up in peace.

“We have to stop cutting into scars. We've all lost enough blood. I saw some of you the night of the fire working together side by side with men you profess to hate. If we stopped the fire in town, we can stop the flames of injustice licking away at what we all know is right and fair.”

Karlee listened in surprise as eloquent words flowed from Daniel unrehearsed, as though straight from his heart. He presented his argument for letting the war die with Altus its last hero. He talked of a future for children where North and South weren't divided. He spoke of the opportunities here in Texas, and how he'd do what he could to help.

Slowly, Karlee realized the man before her, with all his shyness and gruffness toward her, was a gifted teacher. Not a holy, hellfire and brimstone preacher, but a man who believed in brotherly love.

She saw the goodness in him others must have seen all his life. An open heart that would tolerate no injustice. A man almost too kind to live in his time. An intelligence strong enough to allow others to think for themselves.

At first, she swelled with pride, then her cheeks burned. How could this man be the same one who'd touched her in the dark beside the lake an hour ago? How could she ever hope such a man would love her? He'd been either upset or injured all the time she'd known him. She hadn't really seen Daniel McLain. And what she'd experienced up to now must have been the low points in his life while the same memories had been mountains to her.

As Daniel ended his plea, he handed Altus's glasses to the oldest Blair. “Let the war end here. Let your son rest in peace so that little Rip never has to pick up the sword.”

A tear rolled down the elder Blair's weathered face. Daniel gripped the man's shoulder in understanding.

An hour later, the Rebs agreed to consider Daniel's plea. Karlee hugged AmyAnn good-bye and allowed herself to be blindfolded and put back in the buggy with Daniel.

They rode in silence until the guard released them at a safe distance. Daniel took the reins in one hand and put his arm around Karlee in a natural gesture that almost made her cry. He didn't say a word as they drove home. She leaned her head on his shoulder and hoped he thought her asleep.

When they reached the back porch, he kissed her head and said simply, “We're home.”

She climbed down from the buggy and went inside while he took care of the horse. She was dressed for bed when he came into the parlor.

Without a word she crawled beneath the covers and mumbled, “Good night.”

Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed. “What is it?” He knew something was wrong.

“You were good tonight.” She rolled to face him. “No, it was more than that. You were great.”

He brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “You weren't so bad, yourself.”

“What I did was nothing compared to what you did. You opened people's minds with your words.” She swallowed hard, trying not to say the next words. “Folks probably wonder how you could have married me.”

Then Daniel understood. “Karlee, you've had far too much Gerilyn for one day. You're a fine wife, and I'm a lucky man for this marriage. Now go to sleep.”

“Aren't you coming to bed?”

“I've work to do in the study.” He smiled down at her. “Thanks for an interesting evening.”

Karlee closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but the way Daniel had touched her kept drifting through her mind. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but sleeping alone tonight wasn't what she hoped for. She almost wished she could have been the wife who died after knowing the completeness of his love rather than the wife who lived and would never have but a part of him.

At dawn, she awoke still alone. She tiptoed to Daniel's study. He was sound asleep in his comfortable chair, his leg propped on the old box he used as a dresser. Books lay open around him, and a pencil still rested in his fingers. Papers were scattered across his lap and a blue ribbon wound its way across the mess.

Karlee moved closer, watching him sleep. The first rays of sunlight danced in his hair and across the handsome lines of his face. Asleep, he looked much younger. Young enough to still believe in loving.

He was resisting her, she thought, and himself. He had passion in what he said, and what he felt. He'd proved that last night at Caddo Lake. He wanted her, or at least he wanted to touch her, but he kept himself just out of reach. Because May had died, he'd condemned himself to a life without love.

She brushed his hair lightly. A curl circled around her finger. If he were waging battle over feelings for her, she aimed to make it a little harder for him. Karlee loved him more every day and figured she had a lifetime of love stored up.

Thirty minutes later, Karlee placed a cup of coffee beside his chair and knelt in front of him. She'd brushed her hair and scrubbed her face, but left on her nightgown. As she watched him sleeping, she unbuttoned her gown several buttons and leaned forward.

Her lips touched his lightly at first, bringing him into morning slowly. He moved with her, taking her kiss as a part of his dream.

She leaned forward, brushing her body over his arm as the kiss deepened. Her hand slid timidly beneath his open collar and covered his heart. It was pounding. He was alive whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Daniel jerked suddenly, fully awake. “Karlee!” His eyes reflected his surprise at her nearness.

“Good morning,” she answered as she moved only inches away. “I brought you coffee.”

Daniel frowned and plowed his hair back. She could see him growing distant. “Coffee is fine, but you need not wake me so personally.”

“I thought you liked my kisses?” She wasn't being coy, simply asking a question.

He looked away. “I do,” he answered. “But… I can't…”

“You can't what?”

He closed his eyes. “I don't know if I can make you understand. I'm not sure I do.” He turned his face toward the window. “Years ago, I gave my love wholly and completely to another. To sleep with you, to have children with you would be wrong. Don't you see, Karlee? I've nothing to give you but a husband during the day. We'll never share the nights.”

“But last night…” “Last night was a mistake that kept me from sleep most of the night,” he snapped. “I thought I could touch you and get it out of my system. I was wrong. The feel of you still lingers on my hands.”

Karlee smiled. The battle was nearly over, and he didn't even know it. “All right,” she said. “If that's what you want.”

“That's the way it has to be between us.” He sounded so determined, but his words were forced. “I've told you that from the beginning.”

“I agree,” she answered. “Only, since you unbuttoned me last night, don't you think you should button me up this morning?”

Daniel looked at her. First at her eyes, then his gaze lowered to her nightgown with a two-inch opening at her breasts. “I'm not a saint, Karlee.”

“Yes, you are.” She shifted slightly so that her gown opened more. “Saint Daniel. Ready to sacrifice your whole life for the love of one who died. Well, prove it. Button me up.”

Daniel faced her and began at her throat as if the task she asked of him was nothing. But as his hands slid against the sides of her breasts, sweat broke out on his forehead.