“Good.” She kissed Astrid’s head again. “Now let’s go home. Okay? A lot of people are searching for you, and we need to let everyone know you’ve been found.”

She nodded and stood. “I guess I won’t live here at the spring after all, ’cause I need to do my part in helping you be stronger. But I want to come back. It’s a real nice place, Greta. And I think you’ll like it.”

As Astrid started talking about all she’d done during the past few days, Greta whispered another prayer of thankfulness and then met Wyatt’s gaze across the distance. His brows rose, as though he was making sure everything was alright.

She smiled her reassurance, praying everything would be okay. But a part of her couldn’t keep from wondering how she’d be able to make things work out for everyone when there was still so much at stake.

Chapter 25

He’d told Greta he loved her and she hadn’t said anything back. Sitting at the table, Wyatt took another sip of his coffee and tried to douse the sourness in his gut.

“I’m not too tired,” Astrid said through a loud yawn in the other room where Greta was tucking her into bed. “I want to go with you.”

“You need to sleep,” Greta insisted.

During the ride back from the hot spring, Astrid had chattered about her time away, how she’d slept very little at night because she’d been cold and afraid. She’d packed enough food for her and Chase to last a few days, so at least she hadn’t gone hungry. Regardless, when they arrived home, Greta made a meal of eggs, bacon, and roasted vegetables—enough to feed a dozen starving cowpokes. Then she dunked Astrid in a bath, scrubbing away the sulphur from the springs.

Judd had shown up midafternoon. From one of the peaks overlooking the valley, he’d seen the curl of smoke rising from the homestead and had figured there was news or no one would be home. When he’d galloped in and barged into the cabin, Astrid had thrown herself into the old man’s arms, and he held her for a full five minutes before finally letting her go.

When Judd had stalked out of the cabin to the barn, Wyatt was pretty sure he’d seen dampness on the old man’s cheeks. Although Judd rarely spoke of his past, Wyatt knew Comanches had attacked his home, burning down his house with his wife and children locked inside, while making him listen to their tortured screams. Finally, they’d beaten him and left him for dead.

Neighbors had found him and nursed him back to health, but his hair had turned permanently white and his leg had never healed right. Worse were the internal scars.