The following morning Josiah stretched, the bed warm and cozy as the cool, morning breeze drifted through the room. He lay there with his eyes closed, not caring what time it was, nor about the day’s chores patiently waiting for him the moment he rose.

He pulled in a deep breath, smelling the sweet scent of lilac from the large bush growing by the porch that filled the room. Overriding even that, though, was the delicious scent of fresh-made coffee. He smiled and threw the covers off.

Quickly dressing, he tugged on his boots and after making a quick trip to the bathroom, he made a beeline to the stove where the coffeepot waited. He poured himself a cup of the steaming coffee and took a sip. “Definitely worth getting married for,” he said to the empty room and leaned against the counter and drank half the cup, all but relishing the burn.

While he tried, his coffee always turned to black sludge, so he rarely drank the brew. He glanced at the table with a quick frown. Two plates had been placed facing one another with the eating utensils on either side of them. Mia had even set napkins in the center of each plate. Not that he was likely to remember to use his. The back of his hand did just as well.

He twisted, glancing at the counter behind him and noticed the empty bowl and spoon lying beside it. The bags of sugar and flour Maria had given them last night to tide them over until they could make the trip to the mercantile were still tied and sitting by the bowl.

Tilting his head, he glanced out the small kitchen window but couldn’t see anyone, so he decided to check outside. The sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight, and unlike most days, the breeze was light and playful. If the weather held, the day would be beautiful. Maybe Mia had decided to drink her coffee on one of the side porches? He couldn’t blame her if she had. With the amazing view and perfect weather, he would, too.

He walked around to the side porch, expecting to see her but the chairs were empty. Worry churned in his stomach. Where would she go? There wasn’t any place around here she hadn’t seen already. He walked to the small barn, making note of how much wood he’d have to cut and plane to expand if he did decide to breed horses. Not to mention add a few cows and a steer or two.

While he liked the idea, he wasn’t really prepared. He had the money, which he’d left in Clay’s care. All he would have to do would be to send him a telegraph from the train station, and the next time Clay went to town, he’d get the message. Although, knowing the Woodward station master, he’d send someone out to the farm with it so Clay would get it immediately. Clay and Sophia, along with his sister Megan and her husband, Bryan, were well-liked in the area. Josiah was thankful he had such a good family.

If he were serious about the horse breeding, he would also need to send a telegraph to Fort Scott and let his friend Paul Daniels know he wanted to buy several of the Comanche-bred horses from his and his wife Anna’s private herd. Comanches were known worldwide for their horse skills as well as their ability to breed the best stock, and if he was going to do this, he wanted to start with the best. Comanche-bred horses, in his opinion, were the best.

Several years ago, Paul had offered to let him purchase a few head to get him started and said the offer would always be there when Josiah was ready. He’d stubbornly refused, thinking he would always remain a Methodist preacher. He shook his head, watching a covey of quail scurry around the base of an old oak as they pecked along the ground for seeds or small insects. He knew better than anyone how quickly life could change. In the blink of an eye, he’d lost his parents and his home: he’d lost everything.

Turning, he went inside and refilled his cup, the silence of the house increasing inside his head along with the worry about his wife. A creaking sound came from upstairs, then he heard muffled laughter. A slow grin spread across his face. He quietly moved up the stairs, following the soft cadence of Mia’s voice and stopped in the doorway of Billy’s new bedroom.

Inside, he found Mia curled up in bed with Billy reading a book. The boy’s black hair stuck up in all directions as if he’d just awakened, but his eyes were alight with joy as he listened to the story.

His wife’s voice lulled him into the plot as the young character, Tom Sawyer, repeatedly got into trouble, and Josiah found himself reliving his own childhood antics while enjoying Billy’s infectious laughter that filled the room.

“That’s enough for today, my young man,” Mia said. “We’re going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out what happens to Tom next.”

Billy’s eyes widened in horror. “Awww! Do we? The story was just getting really good.”

“I bet, if you mind your manners and do everything Mia asks of you today, she might read a bit more tonight before bedtime,” Josiah said with a smile.

Mia’s warm gaze met his. “Oh, I will, will I?”

Billy looked up at her with his sweetest child-like expression. “Oh, please? I promise I’ll behave!”

Mia glanced at him and shook her head. “You do realize I taught children your age in New York City and have years of experience? I know when I’m being played. Dewy-eyes will not work on me, even when they are on your adorable face.” She smiled, tousled his hair and slid off the bed. “If you’re interested in breakfast, I suggest you do something with your hair. It’s sticking up in every which direction—and clean your teeth. I also expect you to keep your room picked up, which means you make your bed.” She speared Billy’s gaze with hers. “Do you think you can do that every day?”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I can do that.”

“Good. Meet us downstairs when you’re done and your breakfast will be the first one cooked.”

Josiah chuckled as he watched Billy jump off the bed and scramble into his clothes then pull the covers up and try to make the bed as neat as it had been before he’d slept in it. Shaking his head, he followed his wife down the stairs and sat at the table, watching her precise movements as she put another plate on the table with a fork and napkin, just like theirs.

“You were excellent with him. How did you know he came back?”

Mia poured the last of the coffee into his cup and, after making more, she set the skillet on the stove to heat before answering. “I didn’t,” she said as she stirred the ingredients and poured the batter for the first hotcake into the skillet. “I had just set the table when I heard something upstairs. I thought maybe an animal had gotten through an open window or a crack in the attic, so I went to check.

“I remembered you had left the back bedroom doors open after we checked them yesterday, but when I got up there, one was closed. I opened it and found Billy asleep in the bed. He was so sweet, curled up on his side with his thumb in his mouth.”

She glanced outside, and he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes, but he kept silent. Instead, he studied the woman standing so strong before him. Really studied her. She had pulled her long brown hair back from her pretty face and woven it into a braid around her head then tied it into a long ponytail at the base of her neck. Every once in a while, she would reach up and smooth her hair over the top of her ears, which made him smile. His hands itched to untie the white ribbon and let it fall loose around her so he could run his fingers through its silky strands.

The style was casual and elegant at the same time and emphasized her high forehead and round chin while trying to hide her ears, although he couldn’t see a reason why. He thought they were cute. Yes, they stuck out a bit, but they had character and suited her. Her brown striped shirt and cotton skirt were pretty but not practical for wearing on a ranch. A schoolroom, yes. Ranch, definitely not. He would need to buy her sturdier clothing and, from the quick glance he caught of her high-heeled lace-up kid-leather boots, they wouldn’t last a week out here either. He did notice the high collars she wore covered the white scars on her back that he’d seen last night. He wanted to ask her about them but knew it was too soon.

She flipped Billy’s second hotcake, buttered them, and had barely set the plate on the table when the boy ran down the stairs, disappeared into the bathroom for a minute, then reappeared and dropped into his chair, a wide grin on his face.

Mia leaned down in front of him, her eyes narrowed as if inspecting his face and nodded. “You did a very fine job. Do you like hotcakes?”

Billy’s eyes widened. “Sure I do. Who doesn’t?”

Mia chuckled. “Should I make you two more then?”

“If you want to.”

“A ‘yes, please’ will do for an answer.”

Billy glanced at Josiah and rolled his eyes but said, “Yes, please.” The moment the next two hotcakes appeared on his plate, he dug in as if he hadn't just devoured the first two.

Josiah finished his breakfast, his stomach blissfully full, and pushed his empty plate away. “That was delicious, Mia. Thank you.”

Mia collected the dirty dishes and let them soak in the soapy water while she wiped the crumbs from the table and put the syrup and butter back in the pie safe. With Josiah’s help, it took half the time to clean up. With one last glance, she dried her hands on the towel, spreading it out on the counter to dry, and let Josiah lead her out to the porch.

He turned to the seven-year-old, who now sat in one of the chairs with the bison gripped in one hand. “Billy, do you know where Summer is?”

Billy’s gaze dropped to the wooden animal. He didn’t answer.

“I thought you both wanted to live here? We talked about it?” Josiah willed the little boy to take the bait and answer. He didn’t like knowing that the nine-year-old girl was out there alone, even if she was used to it. There were too many bad people who would take advantage of her, and if Harjo was correct, there were several still in the area. He wanted to find Summer and bring her home before they found her. Especially if Johnny was, indeed, hanging with them.

“Billy?” Mia asked, which seemed to do the trick.

“We do want to live here. Josiah said we could, even before we knew you were comin’.”

Mia turned a questioning gaze to Josiah, one brow raised high on her forehead. He smiled and gave her a small shrug. “I’m so thankful he did, Billy, because I would love for the two of you to live here with us. If Summer is anything like you, I can’t wait to meet her, but for that to happen, we need to go get her first. Can you help us do that?”

Billy studied the bison, turning the wooden carving this way and that, as he made up his mind. Finally, he raised his little face and met Josiah’s worried gaze. “She’s gonna be real mad at me for telling you where she is, but if you have my back, then I’ll tell you where she’s hiding.”

Josiah nodded. “You know I do, little one.”

Billy let out a long sigh then slid off the chair and marched down the stairs. “Come on then. We’re gonna have to walk a ways to get there.”

Mia turned to follow but Josiah grabbed her arm and pulled her against him, holding her to his chest. With his free hand, he wrapped her long, silky hair around his fist. “You are an amazing woman, you know that?”

She shook her head, her gaze locked to his.

He bent closer, taking possession of her mouth, tasting the syrup on her lips and drinking in everything that was Mia. He forced himself to stop and pulled away but only far enough to lean his forehead against hers and catch his breath.

“I love your hair down like this, especially when your cute ears show.”

“You’re crazy," she whispered. “My ears are horrible. They stick out like an elephant’s.”

“They are adorable. I hope our children have ears just like yours.”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “You are out of your mind. I suffered years of ridicule because of these ears. I most certainly do not want our children to deal with the same issues. Their ears will be just like yours—flat against their heads and perfect.”

“Are you two gonna stand there and kiss each other’s faces all day or are we going to go get Summer?”

Mia buried her face in the crook of Josiah’s neck, her shoulders shaking with unbridled laughter.

“We’re right behind you, Billy.” Josiah threaded his fingers through Mia’s as they stepped off the porch steps together and followed the youngster down the road for about a mile.

Billy turned into the trees where a barely visible path wound down to the river. He crossed the water using several large rocks as a makeshift bridge, which took Mia a bit longer to navigate with her high-heeled boots. Once on the other side, the trail widened and they came to an abandoned shack.

Billy placed his finger in front of his lips for them to be quiet then stuck his head inside the dilapidated structure, which was leaning more than it was upright. Two seconds later, he straightened and shook his head.

“She’s not there, and the blanket’s gone.”

“Blanket?” Mia asked. “What blanket?”

“Summer’s gonna kill me already, so I might as well tell you everything,” he muttered. “She was so excited when Josiah said she could pick out stuff for her own room. She’s never had anything of her own before. Only things we’ve been able to call our own was the clothes we’ve worn, and we stole those or pulled ’em out of the garbage. Anyway, when she saw you, Mia, she said you’d make us leave anyway, so she grabbed the quilt from her bed and we left. Said if I got to take the carving with me, she could take the quilt. I couldn’t argue with her.”

Mia frowned at Billy. “Why would she think I’d make you leave just by seeing me?”

“I think it’s because you were so proper—like those ladies at church who’re always lookin’ down at us. They’re the ones who kicked us out of school cuz we couldn’t keep up with the other students.”

Josiah could feel the tension radiating from his wife, so he did the only thing he could and rubbed her back until her trembling eased. “Is there somewhere else she would go?”

“Yeah. There’s another place not too far from here.”

They followed him farther into the forest as the path zig-zagged through the dense trees. Several times, they had to stop and untangle limbs and briars from Mia’s hair and skirt. Finally, they stepped into a small clearing where four or five boulders looked as if they’d been placed on top of each other to form a makeshift house. In the center was a dark entrance.

“You stay here,” Billy said and marched forward. He dropped down on all fours and crawled into the cave. Several minutes passed then he appeared again. This time, Summer crawled out behind him, her quilt clutched in one arm.

She stood beside her cousin, a defiant expression on her face. “I don’t have to live with you if I don’t want to.”

Mia laid her hand on Josiah’s arm and gave him a silent plea with her large gray eyes. She took a couple of steps closer to the two children then squatted down, so she would be eye-to-eye with them. “Hello, Summer. My name is Mia. Billy has told me how wonderful you are, and I am so glad I could meet you.”

The shock on Summer’s face told Josiah Mia’s soft-spoken words were the last thing the young girl had expected. Leave it to his wife to figure out what to say. She had continuously surprised him from the moment he’d seen her on the train platform.

“Josiah, Billy, and I are going in to town to get a few things at the mercantile, then going on to Checotah to talk to a man about buying a few head of cattle. We really need your help. You see, I am a total greenhorn when it comes to country living. I grew up in a very large city and know absolutely nothing about animals. I’m actually quite frightened of them, truth be told. Would you be willing to spend some time with us today and lend a hand? I’m certain Josiah and Billy would appreciate it, and I know I would.”

Josiah held his breath and mentally congratulated his wife’s brilliance as Summer slowly nodded.

“Thank you so much, Summer.”

Josiah was dumbfounded. Without knowing Summer at all, Mia seemed to know exactly how to appeal to the girl’s maternal instincts. He watched Summer carefully wad up the quilt so she wouldn’t trip over it and take Billy’s hand in hers, then lead them back through the woods.

A nearby bush rustled, and as he glanced over, he thought he saw the heel of a small boot disappear behind it.

“Josiah, what is it?” Mia asked, her gaze moving to where he’d seen the boot.

“Nothing, iskitini chukfi luma. I thought I saw something, but it was probably just an animal scrounging for food.” He threaded his fingers through hers and brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Have I told you how wonderful I think you are?”

She smiled. “Not in the past thirty minutes, but I like hearing it.”

He pressed her hand against the steady beat of his heart and stared into her pretty gray eyes. “You were amazing with her. With both of them. There are so many forgotten Creek children living on their own out here. After the war, so many families were torn apart and parents killed. It has been hard for the Creeks to find peace again. To trust again.”

“I don’t think it matters where a child lives or what culture they’re from if they’ve lost everything and are alone. Loss is universal, and the only way to overcome it is lots of patience, understanding, and love.”

He followed his wife’s gaze as she watched Summer and Billy walk ahead of them, their new home in the distance. “Children are stronger than adults give them credit for. These two will be fine. They have each other—and now they have us.”

Once they got back home, Josiah hitched up his buckskin to the wagon and everyone piled in for the short trip to Eufaula. The mercantile was small but seemed to have everything they needed. Mia gave her list to part owner of the store, Sam Grayson, who promptly filled it. Josiah saw the children eyeing a few things and added those to their order, as well.

When everything was wrapped and loaded, they headed north to the ranch Harjo had mentioned at dinner the night before. The trip passed uneventfully, and they found themselves eating an early supper of beans and tortillas with the ranch hands and owner, Mr. Calyer, who agreed to sell Josiah six head of cattle and one steer. Thankfully, they agreed to drive the cattle down in a couple of days, which would give Josiah time to build a corral big enough for them to hold them.

On the way home, Josiah counted his blessings, although deep down, he couldn’t help but wonder when the other shoe would drop. Nothing in his life had ever gone so well. Whenever good things happened, bad things usually followed. It had always been that way.

“Are you thinking about what Mr. Calyer said about the thieves?” Mia whispered, her cheek against his shoulder and her face turned up to the night sky. The lights from a million stars reflected in her beautiful eyes.

Josiah glanced over his shoulder, but both children seemed to be asleep. “I would be stupid not to be. Harjo has been following their trail, but they seem to be an elusive bunch. Part of me wonders if Summer or Billy might not know more than they’ve let on. One of the other orphans they know, Johnny, runs with the outlaws. Harjo says the boy's no good and was born that way.”

“What do you believe?”

Josiah leaned down and kissed his wife’s nose. “I don’t know what I believe anymore. Since leaving home, I’ve seen a lot of good and a lot of bad. I guess we will just have to reserve judgment until we meet Johnny ourselves, if and when we ever do.”