Eli stood on the porch of his house with a steaming coffee cup in his hands, watching the first rays of the sun break the rim of the mountains. He raised it to his lips and savored the moment, because his days of sleeping in a warm bed and eating home-cooked meals were numbered. Spring had arrived, and as soon as the river ice melted, he’d be leading another wagon train.

He and Mariah had been married a year, though to him it only seemed like days. He turned his head to enjoy the soft murmur of her humming. He couldn’t remember her doing that back in Boise, but she sang or hummed almost all the time now. The scent of biscuits and frying bacon wafted through the open door, and he lifted the coffee cup to his lips.

She’d asked him to build her a house, and he had. It was a bigger, stronger version of the log cabin he’d abandoned back in Crow’s Nest, and they were already planning to add on. Because when he got back in the fall, they’d have a new baby. She’d only told him the week before, and he hadn’t gotten much sleep since.

But he wasn’t scared to leave Mariah behind in Bonanza, because she’d be surrounded by the same people who’d become family on the way up. Naomi Pruett and her kids practically lived at their house, and Mariah was always going over to the little house Naomi was renting. 

Mr. Ybarra had built a stone cabin almost next door. It looked different than anything else in that valley, and some folks didn’t like that he kept sheep. But he built his cabin low and thick-walled, like he said his people built theirs in the old country. He not only didn’t get rid of his sheep, his flock had grown to forty ewes, and he’d just gotten a second pup to keep his collie on its toes.

Abner had made a complete recovery, and was as cussed and impossible as ever. He’d even started hanging around Naomi’s house. When he’d asked Mariah about it, she smiled and looked like she knew a secret she wasn’t going to tell.

Eli sighed and took another sip of coffee. Father Lonnegan hadn’t gone back south with the wagon trains like he usually did, and it had worried him. The last time they’d talked, he’d told Father Lonnegan about the new baby, and the older man had promised to pray for them. 

But he had news of his own. He’d confessed that he could no longer read the small letters of the missal, and had been saying Mass from memory for a long time.

“I’ll write to the bishop before my eyes go dark,” he’d sighed, “and ask for a new priest. But until then, I’m still here, if you need to talk.”

Eli stared at him in amazement. He was only just understanding that Father Lonnegan had made that whole trip from Crow’s Nest mostly blind, and hadn’t said a word.  

“I’ll sure do that, Father,” he replied softly, and put a hand on his shoulder. Father Lonnegan was family now, just like all the other people on that train. He wasn’t going to want for anything in that town. 

“I want you to look after Mariah for me when I’m gone,” he murmured, and Father Lonngan nodded. The older man probably thought he’d be taking care of her, but it was going to be the other way around, and she’d never let him guess it.

Mariah’s voice called to him from inside the house. ”Breakfast’s ready,” she sang out. “Come and eat before it gets cold.”

Eli sighed and finished off his coffee. Yeah, it was going to be hard to leave a warm bed, hot meals, and a loving wife. But this time, he had them to come back to when the trip was over, and the joy of a new baby in his arms would make him forget every cold night and weary day.

“Come on in.”

He turned to go back inside with a smile.

“Coming.”

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