JT nodded and came to lay his head against her shoulder. “I love you, Glory. I’m real happy that we’re getting married to Luke.”

She frowned and felt his head. “You’re awfully warm.”

“He was sitting by the stove,” Luke offered.

“True.” She smoothed back her brother’s curls. “Go get ready for bed, and I’ll come tuck you in.”

“Can Luke do it? He’s been telling me this story about a man and his friend who went on an adventure across America. He and his friend made maps and everything.”

Gloriana looked at Luke, who shrugged. “I thought the story of Lewis and Clark was fascinating. Amazing, actually, when you consider they made their trek nearly seventy years ago when there was nothing settled at all.”

“It is fascinating. I wouldn’t mind hearing it myself, but I understand it’s something you boys have going on, and I won’t interfere.” She pulled Sally out of the baby chair. “Besides, I must ready this little miss for her own bedtime.”

They went their separate ways, and Gloriana put Sally to bed and then went back to clean the kitchen. But she couldn’t stop dwelling on the fact that someone out there wanted to divide her family. They wanted to take her happiness from her once again.

Why should it matter so much to Luke’s father that Sally be his? He wouldn’t be the one caring for her. No doubt there would be a nurse and the baby would be hidden away in an opulent room in the old man’s grand house. He would bring her out and show her off from time to time like a beautiful painting or thoroughbred horse. Then he would send her back to live with her caregivers and grow up all alone, devoid of love and a normal family.

“I won’t let that happen,” Gloriana murmured as she finished washing the last of the dishes. No matter what she had to do, she wouldn’t let Mr. Carson do such a horrible thing to Sally.

She picked up a dish towel and suddenly remembered that on the morrow she was to become a bride. It was almost an afterthought, and it amused her that it wasn’t the grand event or monumental moment that she’d always thought it might be. She remembered friends planning their wedding days. They talked and planned constantly until the event was upon them.

Gloriana went to the window and looked out into the dark night. The lake was nothing but blackness in the silence. Nevertheless, she knew it was there. The threats posed in the day seemed doubly so at night. She’d never liked to gaze upon the lake at night, be it at peace or churned up. It was always a dark omen—a silent warning.