The following week the entire community was geared up for the annual Independence Day parade and picnic. The hands did their chores early Friday morning and headed out.

With Noah's permission to use the supplies, Kate had baked a dozen loaves of bread and baskets of rolls as her contribution. Newt waited on the back porch and when she stepped out, he was ready and eager to carry out her things and load the buggy.

"Thank you for waiting," Kate said.

"The boss told me to. He also said you was to ride in the buggy, not on the wagon, and I was to drive careful-like and not bounce the missus around."

"He said all that?"

"Yes, ma'am, he did. An' he toP all us last night to keep an eye on you, and if you got tired, someone was to bring you home straightaway."

"He is protective of this baby, isn't he?"

"I reckon so, ma'am."

As fate would have it, the day was warmer than all that had preceded it. The sun beat down with a vengeance. Kate stood on Main Street outside Miss Marples' Ice Cream Emporium with the Carpenters.

Luke held a gleeful Rebecca on his shoulders and she clapped as the colorfully decorated wagons and buggies rolled past.

Kate couldn't help thinking about her baby, wondering if Noah would be a good father to the child, if her son or daughter would be loved and lavished upon as Luke's and Annie's daughter was.

At the very least, he would have a lovely home and enough to eat. He would grow up on the ranch and have an inheritance. That was the promise that had brought her here in the first place. The rest-anything more?would merely be icing on the cake.

As the day wore on, Kate was more tired than she wished to admit. She ate little at the picnic and eventually seated herself on a blanket in the shade. The heat was taking a toll on her.

Estelle approached, wearing her oppressive black crinoline, and the fabric of her skirt crackled as she sat beside Kate. She snapped opened a fringed fan and wafted air beneath her chin. "The heat is positively stifling."

Kate nodded.

"Perhaps you should have stayed at home and not exposed yourself to the sun."

"I'm just a little tired."

"You don't look well, dear. Is that man working you too hard? You must come stay with me. I have help."

"No, he doesn't work me at all. I have to look for things to do. He has help, too."

"A chuckwagon cook is not domestic help. He hardly counts."

"There's Marjorie, too. She does laundry and helps clean."

"Nonetheless, it's far too harsh a life for a woman, especially one in your condition."

Kate's feet were swelling inside her shoes and perspiration trickled down her spine. She had the unkind urge to swat Estelle away as though she were a pesky fly. At that moment she just didn't have the stamina to deal with the woman.

Kate didn't think she could make it through another several hours until the fireworks. Even though she'd been anticipating this day for weeks, its appeal had dimmed. She skimmed the crowd for a familiar face.

As she watched, Newt walked toward them with his distinctive bow-legged stride, a jar of lemonade in each hand. Kate smiled when she saw him coming and Estelle turned to see who she'd acknowledged. A frown crossed her features.

"Mizz Cutter, Mizz Cutter," he said, glancing from one to the other, then chuckling. "I sound like I'm repeatin' myself. Thought you'd like a spot of lemonade. It's real sweet and it's cold."

"Thank you, Newt." Kate took the jar. "Sit a moment, won't you?"

"Yes'm." He doffed his hat and knelt on the grass a few feet away.

The lemonade was indeed refreshingly cold and sweet. The best she'd ever tasted.

"If you don't mind me sayin' so, ma'am, you're lookin' a might weary."

"Positively wilted, you mean." She dabbed at her cheeks with a damp handkerchief.

"No offense, ma'am."

Estelle sniffed, got to her feet and left the untouched jar of lemonade abandoned at the edge of the blanket.

Kate watched her go. "Might as well not let a perfectly good drink go to waste."

Newt agreed and drank half the liquid in one gulp. "The boss'll have my hide if I don't offer to take you back to the ranch."

As much as she hated missing any of the celebration she'd been looking forward to, she recognized the wisdom in his offer. "I believe I'll take you up on that ride, Mr. Warren. Would you mind finding Annie Carpenter to tell her I'm leaving, and then come back for me?"

"Right away." He shot up and disappeared into the gathering of townspeople. A few minutes later he returned with Annie at his side and she said goodbye.

Then Newt helped Kate to her feet, walked beside her and helped her into the buggy.

The road seemed dustier than usual, bumpier, and the air was hot and dry. They arrived at the Rockin' C and Noah, having seen their approach, met the buggy in the door yard.

"The missus is tired, boss. I brung her home just like you said."

"Thanks, Newt. Saddle a horse and ride back. I'll put up the buggy."

The young man headed for the barn.

Noah helped Kate to the ground. "Are you feelin' poorly, Katherine?"

"I confess my feet hurt and my back aches a little. I'd love to cool off and rest."

"Would you like a bath?"

"It's too hot to carry in the tub and heat water."

"Sit in the kitchen and I'll get the tub. The water doesn't need to be hot. Warm'll do."

"Cold would do."

He set about bringing the tub into the kitchen, carrying water and heating a kettle. When everything was set, he ran upstairs and returned with a dress and pile of underclothes. "Don't know anything about women's underpinnings, so I grabbed a fistful."

"They'll be fine, thank you."

"I'll be out on the front porch, making a place for you to rest when you're done."

She watched him go, grateful for someone to take charge and see to her comfort. Shedding her damp clothing and stepping into the water felt so good that tears came to her eyes. For a few minutes, she just sat and let the water soak into her parched skin and sooth her aching body. Occasionally she heard Noah's footsteps on the stairs. Propping her feet on the end of the tub, she could see how swollen they'd become. Her toes looked like little sausages. Finally she picked up the soap and sponge Noah had left for her use and washed.

She hated to leave the cooling water, but she stood and dried herself before stepping out onto toweling.

She selected and donned drawers and a chemise, then a loose dress, and left her feet bare.

She padded through the parlor and discovered the front door open. On the porch, Noah had set up a narrow bed, complete with clean white sheets and the pillows from her own bed. He was just placing a crate with a pitcher of water nearby. She stared in surprise. "Noah! A bed on the porch?"

"It's a bunk from the bunkhouse. I beat the mattress and covered it good. This is the coolest spot of anafternoon. Shade from that tree there and from the porch overhang. You should be comfortable." "Why, I'll feel positively slothful lying about like this."

"It's your job to take care of that baby. You'll be doing your job."

She looked him over then. His shirt was damp down the front, dark circles under his arms. He'd been working while all the hands and the townspeople took a day off. "You went to all this extra work on my account."

"It's my job to take care of you."

"Why don't you go use the bathwater and get yourself cooled off?"

"River's cooler."

"But the tub is right there."

"So it is. Holler if you need anything."

She watched him enter the house before lowering herself to the soft mattress and lying back.

Wind stirred the leaves in the trees and a cricket chirped somewhere nearby. Kate turned onto her side,

made herself comfortable and let her muscles relax. From her position, she could see a hawk circling over one of the pastures. The few clouds in the sky were thin and wispy. Noah's consideration touched her. Kate's eyes grew heavy as she thought about the small kindnesses he showed her. She drifted to sleep wondering what it would be like to be loved as well as cared for.

Chapter Eleven.

W hen Kate woke, the sky was streaked with orange and red. Noah sat in one of the old rockers beside her, one foot absently keeping the chair in motion. He was wearing a faded blue shirt that looked soft, and the gun he normally wore wasn't present. His hair had been washed and combed back away from his face, revealing more of his features than shed ever seen at once before.

She liked his forehead, strong and high. His brows were dark, but nicely shaped, though a white scar slashed the left one in two. The skin at the corner of his eye was puckered and the scar extended into his beard.

She'd grown to like the soft beard that covered the lower half of his face, simply because it was familiar and it characterized him. She wondered what he would look like without it?or if she wanted to know.

Their eyes met.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"I think so." She sat up. "I need to make a trip." Noah leaned forward and pushed her slippers across the floorboards toward her. "Want help?"

"No."

He raised both palms. "Okay."

Kate stepped into the slippers, then walked around the outside of the house to use the privy and returned.

When she got back, Noah had sliced an apple and made two sandwiches. "Hungry?"

"I could eat something."

She picked at her food, but he ate heartily. Belatedly, she realized he was used to a big meal before this time of day.

"Sorry if I spoiled your afternoon. You didn't have to stick around while I slept."

"Didn't mind."

She imagined all the holidays he'd spent here alone while the hands spent lime with their families or in town with friends. He was no stranger to a quiet afternoon.

"Did Levi go into town on holidays like this?" she asked.

He nodded. "He was a lively one. If there was a good time to be had, you could count on him to partake."

How well she knew that now.

"What about your father? Did he join in the festivities?"

Noah seemed to think about it. "Seems he stayed here a lot of the time, too."

"Maybe he stayed to keep you company."

"Maybe."

Kate glanced out across the countryside, appreciated the late sun gleaming from the aspens leaves on the mountains in the distance. "Do you ever want to go other places, see other things?"

He immediately shook his head. "I'd still be me. No matter where I went, I'd take the same situation along. There's no getting away from who I am."

"I guess we'd all like to get away from our situations at some time or another."