Winter was a particularly long and harsh one and travelers were few and far in between. After a devastating snowstorm, most of their livestock had frozen to death and with no customers to buy what little product they had, the situation inside the Streicher cabin was bleak and hostile. Pa’s drinking was out of control and reached his all-time low when he snuck off to buy bourbon with what little money they had. Ma continued to do what she did best, cursing others under her breath with little assistance. Kate spent her days in the barn caring for the remaining two female lambs almost like they were her children. When the time came to slaughter the older of the two, she wept for yet another loss. Deeply depressed, her nights were spent in her room, staring out the window and hoping someone would show up to help ease the misery she was living in, at least for a little while.

Thomas continued to beg and plead for their reconciliation, but she couldn’t come to terms with what had happened. She almost enjoyed seeing the heartbreak in his face every single time, convincing herself that it was only a tiny smidgen of what she was experiencing. This went on for weeks until the first spring bulbs pushed their way through the snow, bringing new life to the dormant land, but as if reluctant to disappear for the season, winter had one last surprise storm that April. The horses’ neighs were barely audible through the powerful snowstorm as was Thomas’ yelling instructions to the trio of travelers dismounting their carriage. The man clutching a leather portfolio scrambled to get his wife, daughter, and servant into the cabin while Pa helped Thomas take the horses to the stable.

Upon entering, Kate heard the women complaining about the less than adequate lodging they were forced to stay in that evening. The husband shushed them both when he saw Kate, smiling cordially and thanking her and Ma for saving them from the storm, but she was too busy examining their expensive-looking coats when a tiny coo snapped her out of it. The servant girl was clutching onto a bundled-up baby, holding it against her chest. Kate’s empty heart suddenly felt full again, at least for a moment. As she and Maddalen helped the women out of their frocks, she surmised the young woman around her age was the baby’s mother. The servant girl was ordered to sit by the fire to keep the baby warm while the women settled in. The elaborately draped overskirts they wore sat over a bustle and were covered in ruffles and frills. They were the most decadent dresses the Streicher women had ever seen. The younger one gave Kate a once-over as she watched her hang their coats and run her hand down the softest fur she had ever felt.

“Please don’t touch that. It’s European mink. The body soil will penetrate into the fur,” said the young woman with a haughty tone, removing her leather gloves, revealing a gold ring with a large rectangular purple gemstone and a gold motif carved at the center with what appeared to be a diamond. Both she and the older woman wore gold bracelets with matching drop earrings as well.

“I’m sorry,” said Kate, feeling self-conscious. She removed her apron and tried to flatten out some wrinkles on her simple floral prairie dress. Pa swung the door open and the blizzard sent a shock of cold through the cabin. Thomas came in behind Pa and closed the door with his usual string of curses while he nailed it shut to keep the powerful winds from opening it. Kate rushed over to help him out of his coat and when he removed his hat, the traveler girl’s lips parted as she quietly took in the rugged young man speaking German.

“Danke,” he told Kate as she pulled the coat down his arms, feeling the muscles underneath. They held their gazes for a moment.

It was the first time she had touched him since that awful day and she hadn’t realized until that moment how much she truly missed him. His voice, his face, his body inside of her. She missed every single part of him. Kate needed Thomas like lungs need air. The moment she felt her throat clench, she looked away for fear of sobbing in front of the travelers and hung his coat. Thomas looked at the traveler girl for a moment and turned his gaze to her mother and father, nodding cordially. The husband cleared his throat when he noticed his daughter’s eyes glued to Thomas and introduced himself as Daniel Townsend along with his wife, Anna, and daughter Isabelle.

Jealousy clawed through Kate at seeing the beautiful girl give Thomas a wide smile, imagining how she’d look if she sliced that smile from the corners of her mouth to her ears. Over dinner, an uncomfortable Thomas gave one-word responses to the female travelers, who suddenly developed a keen interest in German history.

“Are you two married?” asked Mrs. Townsend.

Before Thomas had a chance to answer with a yes, Ma beat him to it.

“No. Brother and sister.”

The accusatory tone did not go unnoticed by Kate or Thomas. Pa kept his head down and continued eating or drinking his dinner. That was the most English she had spoken in years and it was done purposely, hoping the rift between her children grew even wider. Kate gave her mother an icy stare, doing her very best to hold back tears.

“Oh really?” said the delighted young woman with a smile. She looked shiny and new, like she had never experienced any kind of strife in her life, which further irritated the black hole growing inside of a tired and gaunt-looking Kate.

She continued to watch the blond beauty interact with her brother, making it a point to let him know she had recently widowed after her wealthy, older husband passed away. Every flirtatious comment and batting of eyelashes felt like a knife being plunged and twisted inside of Kate until the baby’s coos filled the cabin with much-needed hope. Like a moth to a flame, Kate immediately stood up and approached the servant girl, who was changing the infant’s cloth diapers.

“What’s her name?” asked Kate, her voice choking with emotion as she knelt next to them.

“Josephine,” answered the timid young girl with an Irish accent. She looked way too young to be caring for an infant.

Kate gazed at Josephine and smiled at the chubby baby with dark blue eyes. She chanced a glance at Thomas and he was watching her. He too was trying to mask the pain clouding in his features. “May I hold her?” she asked, looking at the mother, who was busy flirting with Thomas.

“Go ahead, she doesn’t really care,” whispered the servant girl, eyeing her boss.

Kate placed one hand under the infant’s head and the other on her lower back before picking her up. “Hello, little one,” she said as she cradled Josephine in her arms and gazed at her, feeling the black hole in her heart begin to shrink. When she felt a tiny hand touch her face, a little whimper escaped Kate’s lips and her eyes welled over.

“Are you all right, miss?” asked the girl with genuine worry.

Kate handed her the infant and nodded, quickly wiping away a fallen tear before abruptly coming to her feet and retreating upstairs.

Mr. Townsend asked Thomas a question about the trail, but he lost his train of thought when she left and struggled to continue speaking. All he wanted to do was follow his beloved. She never came back down and left Ma to clean up everything by herself. Grumbling and muttering curses while she soaked the dirty dishes with cold water, Thomas went up to her, glancing over his shoulder and seeing Pa unrolling a corn husk stuffed mattress for Mr. Townsend.

“You and I need to have another discussion about how things are, not how you think things should be,” he said in a low voice.

Ma felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand, but always defiant, she stopped what she was doing to turn her head and challenge what she considered her biggest mistake in life.

“And how are things? Because she wants nothing to do with you.”

Thomas watched a smile dance on her lips.

“Hmm? When was the last time she even embraced you? When was the last time she lay with you?”

“She’ll come to her senses. That I’m certain of, but that doesn’t concern you. And this is my house. Hers and mine. So next time you flap that mouth of yours, you may end up having to fend for yourself away from this place.” He gestured to Pa. “I wouldn’t count on him following you.”

Ma glared at Thomas and leaned in. “Not a day goes by that I don’t regret drinking more of that fucking tea when I was carrying you.”

He looked at her for a moment before setting his lips into a hard line and nodding. “Why does that not surprise me, dear Mother?” he said, walking away.

Kate was sitting on her bed with the kerosene lamp dimly lit, toying with a lock of her hair and noticing her normally voluminous and bouncy curls were dull and unkempt. When she reached for her brush, the baby rattle momentarily caught her attention and she grabbed it, holding it up to her chest. She knew God was punishing them for their unholy actions and that only angered her more. He had already taken her unborn children. She would be damned if He took anything else from her. Two could play at that game. Kate walked over to her dresser and pulled the top one out, tucking the rattle under a pile of her blouses and taking out her best dress. The ivory one she wore when Thomas took her to Cherryvale. At peace with her decision, she slowly undressed, unbuttoning the front of her dress and letting it fall to the floor. She closed her eyes and for the first time in a long time, smiled. She was determined to have what she wanted and nothing was going to stand in her way ever again. After slipping into the dress, she picked up the brush and fixed her hair, braiding it to one side and finishing up with a spray of rosemary water. Kate sat patiently at the edge of her bed and waited at least an hour for everyone in the cabin to fall asleep. When the last kerosene lamp had died out and the only noise was coming from the winds outside, she stood up, grabbed the box containing Ford’s Queen Anne’s, and placed it on the bed before heading down the stairs in her bare feet.

Thomas was wide awake and sitting up on the corn husk mattress with his back against the wall. He never slept well when travelers stayed with them and even less when he didn’t have Kate in his arms. When he heard a tiny creak on one of the wooden planks upstairs, his eyes darted to the base of the staircase, waiting. His heart swelled when Kate came into view. The soft glow of the fireplace shone bright enough for him to see the rosy complexion in her face. She looked like her old self again. A smile tugged at his lips the moment she held out her hand for him to take. He followed her upstairs, noticing the box on her bed. Thomas brought his hand to her face, cupping her cheek and taking her in, smiling as he ran his fingers down her long braid to the tip that sat just under her breast. Their eyes spoke volumes that words could never express. In a moment of mutual euphoria, their lips found each other and they began to kiss ravenously, their tongues entwined in a frenzied dance until they were both panting for air. Kate pulled away, her lips swollen and chest rising and falling with each breath. Thomas had an inkling to what she wanted before she even said it. He could see it in her eyes.

“Tell me, love,” he whispered.

Kate leaned in and kissed him softly on his lips before embracing him and whispering in his ear. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed her against his body for a moment, trying to come to terms with her decision. When a small noise in his throat tried to escape, he suppressed it. His mind was racing so fast, he couldn’t tell if it was a sob, a scream, or a laugh. Thomas didn’t have a choice. Truth be told, what Kate wanted was what he wanted, whether he really felt that way or not. She pulled away and the look in her eyes reminded him of the night they killed Billings.

“Can it be done?” she asked, her palms resting over his chest and looking up at him as if he had all the answers.

“Will it bring you happiness?”

“Yes. Will it bring you the same?”

Thomas eyes glistened and he put forth his best smile. “My happiness is weaved into yours. It always has been, Katarina. So, yes, it can and will be done. Not here though, I’ll be gone before sunrise. Do it on the trail,” he said in a barely audible voice, cupping her face and running his thumb over her lips.

The look of sheer joy on her face was enough to quell the dread building inside of him for the terrible misdeed he agreed to do.

Kate felt Ma’s suspicious gaze on her every time she looked out the window. She had to give it to her mother, the woman always knew when something was off. It didn’t matter anymore, though. Maddalen would have to accept it or leave. When Kate heard the faint sound of a horse neighing, she grabbed her coat and bolted out the door. Her heart beat uncontrollably as she rushed to the barn, her feet sinking almost knee high into the snow with each step she took. Frantically swinging the door open and closing it behind her to keep the cold out, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Thomas cradling a tiny bundle, making cooing sounds. Kate slapped her hand over her mouth and quietly sobbed as she approached them.

“I brought our baby home, my love,” he said, handing over the infant girl, who was once named Josephine, before yanking off the blood and snow splattered kerchief covering his face.

Euphoria spread through Kate’s entire body and elevated her soul to heights she didn’t know were humanly possible. She was filled with unconditional love as she gazed at the baby, who was now hers.

“She’s so beautiful, Thomas.”

“Of course she is. She’s yours.”

Kate shifted her gaze to her brother. His eyes were swollen and his nose was red as if he had been crying, but she pushed aside those thoughts and convinced herself it was from the cold.

“The Irish girl, did y—”

“I gave her some of the money he was carrying just like you said. She won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, leaning over to plant a kiss on his lips and resting her forehead against his with her eyes closed. “You’ve saved me again, my brother, my husband, my love.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close, smiling as he observed the newest member of their family wedged between them; a pair of big dark blue eyes staring up.

“I’ll always take care of you, Katarina. You and our daughter.”

“Aveline. Aveline Rose,” declared Kate.

Thomas removed his hat and grinned. “Aveline Rose Streicher.”