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"The pond's all yours, boys. We'll fix you some breakfast now, then we have to get ready. The preacher said he'd be here before lunch. I think that means he wants to eat with us." Cora chuckled.
"Great. See you two in a bit."
They left with their towels and soap, talking all the way out.
"You want to take Elan with you?" Cora called from the open window.
Charlie nodded, "That might be a good idea."
She took Elan out of his chair and carried him to the back porch and handed him to Charlie.
"Thanks sweetheart." Charlie smiled.
She handed him a blanket to lay him on the banks with.
Then she returned to the kitchen with Willa. Willa already made the biscuits and was frying bacon. "Better slow it down, they might be a bit." Cora told her.
"Good idea."
Willa unwrapped her wet hair from the towel and they sat and had coffee together.
"I can hardly believe it. We're getting married!" Willa laughed.
"I feel the same as you. Like a silly schoolgirl." Cora laughed at herself.
"This makes us one big, happy family." Willa sighed with contentment.
"Yes, it does. It is so nice to fill this house up with love once more." Cora said almost mystically.
"It is a big house." Willa smiled at her.
"Now, like I told you, for the first week or two you and Clay can live out in the bunkhouse in the foreman quarters. It has
a nice big bed, and there's a kitchen there too. You want to take Elan with you?"
"I better as he'll need nursing every few hours."
"Of course, but if you want to bring him inside for a while, we can watch him for you."
"Thanks, that would be nice too. I'm so glad you care for him too."
"Care for him, we love him as our own, child." Cora laughed.
"You know," Willa paused to sip her coffee and stare at Cora a moment. "I never thought I'd find anyone."
"Why? Your young, beautiful, why would you think like that?"
"I'm a breed. And usually a breed marries trappers or Indians. I don't know. When I first saw Clay, I couldn't take my eyes from him. He didn't like me, not at first. But I think it was more from the fact that he didn't want a woman tying him down and I'm a woman in his eyes, not a breed."
Cora chuckled. "Yeah, he's been a bachelor a long time. But now I see he was merely waiting for the right lady to fit his needs. And you are that lady."
"I fell in love with him so quickly it scared me. I felt I'd bring them both trouble, and I didn't want that. At one point I was going to leave."
"Well I'm certainly glad you didn't do that. You know you sort of in a round about way, brought me and Charlie back together."
"Oh, how is that?"
"Well, Charlie is the kind of man not to assume. But I knew he thought a lot of me, even when I was married. We'd look at each other. When his wife died, I was afraid to approach him. And he in turn felt the same when Sam died on me too. So, we kept our distance. Then you came along and came to visit. It gave Charlie an excuse to visit too. I'm so glad."
