Healing Montana Sky by Debra Holland Read Free Book Online Page B

cain’t marry. It be not right.”
    Seeing she was in agreement with him took the edge off Erik’s emotions. But his agitation didn’t die down.
    The minister raised a hand as if to calm them both. “I understand the sentiment, Mrs. Valleau. If I were in your situation. . .where I’d lost my dear helpmate. . . .” He gave a loving glance to his wife. “I don’t know how I would be able to go on. I certainly could not remarry, especially on the day of her death.”
    Erik settled back in his seat.
    “But you two will be living together. . .isolated. . .in a small home. Temptation will exist. Perhaps not for a while, but it will come.”
    Mrs. Norton carefully folded her napkin and set it next to her plate. “And, unfortunately, people will condemn and gossip.”
    Reverend Norton glanced at the baby, sleeping in Mrs. Cameron’s arms, then looked at Henri before his gaze returned to Mrs. Valleau. “Such judgments may affect your reputation and that of your children.”
    Erik flexed his fingers. I’ll beat the tar out of anyone who dares say a word against my daughter!
    Mrs. Valleau waved her hands in a stopping gesture. “No. I be not marryin’ again,” she said, her voice shaking in distress. “Too cruel as to be a judgin’ us.”
    Mrs. Cameron and Mrs. Norton exchanged concerned glances.
    Reverend Norton sighed. “I certainly hope that is true, my dear Mrs. Valleau. However, if you change your mind. . . .”
    Erik set down his fork. “We will not change our minds.” He put conviction into his voice.
    The minister’s suggestion banished the remains of Erik’s appetite, and his meal sat uneasy in his stomach. He noticed Mrs. Valleau had stopped eating, too.
    Her baby pounded his fist on the table. “Baa!”
    Mrs. Valleau rose and picked him up. “Come, mon enfant . We be needin’ to make you cleanlike.”
    “Use the towel by the sink,” Mrs. Cameron said. She eased her way to her feet, the bulk of her pregnancy making her ungainly. Careful not to jar the baby, she handed Camilla to Erik and began clearing the dishes from the table.
    Camilla stared up at him as if fascinated by his features.
    As Erik looked at her little flowerlike face, he thanked God for her survival, yet worry persisted, and he wondered when he’d relax and trust that she was healthy. When she was eighteen? Fifty? He couldn’t imagine this little mite a woman grown.
    The doctor excused himself and left the room, only to return a few minutes later with a cradle, which he set next to Erik’s chair.
    The doctor’s wife rested her hand on the mound of her stomach. “This is an extra one we have. We need it sometimes if a babe is ill,” she said quietly.
    Ah . He cast an anxious glance over his daughter’s face. Her skin had lost the waxen tinge she’d had earlier, but that barely reassured him.
    Mrs. Cameron turned back the blanket in the cradle. “You just set her in there, and I’ll watch over her for you.”
    Mrs. Valleau’s baby fussed a bit. She jiggled him on her hip. “Let me be a nursin’ him. He might be fallin’ asleep again. He be up most of the night.”
    Erik realized he’d have to transport the woman and her children to the farm. “Do you have possessions somewhere?”
    “On the mules. I done left ’em tied up by the church. Didn’t even water ’em, poor things. But we did be stoppin’ at a stream just before town.”
    Erik nodded. “We’ll take care of them before we set out for my farm.”
    “I be havin’ furs that my husband done trapped and cured. I’d like to be tradin’ ’em at the store. I be needin’ things, and I don’t want to go to your house empty handed.”
    Erik was going to retort that he didn’t need anything, but the level of her chin made him stay silent. She had her pride, and far be it from him to step on it.
    While he was in town, Erik knew he needed to pick up some things, too. Nails. A new hammer. He had compiled a list over the last weeks for the next trip to