said. “I need to get him ready for bed.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Would you mind if I heated enough water to give him a little bath?”
The door opened and closed, and Jesse entered in time to hear her request. “You will do no such thing. Sit down and amuse the little guy while I take care of the water.”
She opened her mouth to protest then sat. Fatigue had set in. “I take it the town was quiet.”
“Quiet as church. Good thing, too. Or you would be trying to deal with kettles of hot water.”
Gram snorted. “Do you really think I would have allowed that?”
Jesse seemed to remember his grandmother was in the room and chuckled. “I don’t suppose you would, but now I’m here and I’ll take care of it.” He gave Emily a stern look. “All of it.”
She didn’t know what he meant, but she was too weary to care.
“I’d like to spend a bit more time in my sewing room, so I’ll leave you two to manage.” Gram left the kitchen and soon could be heard singing softly in the other room.
Jesse put water on to heat then went outside and returned with a square washtub. He soon had several inches of warm water in it.
Emily lifted Mikey to her lap, kissed the top of his head and removed his dirty clothes.
With a giggle, he escaped her arms and ran across the room.
Emily was about to chase him when Jesse crossed the room in long strides and scooped the little boy into his arms.
“You little rascal. You come back here.” He tickled Mikey.
Jolly, belly-rolling chuckles indicated the boy’s enjoyment.
Emily laughed too. “He has the best laugh.”
Jesse grinned at her. “Just hearing it makes the world a better place.” He headed for the tub and Emily hurried to join him.
She fully intended to take care of washing Mikey, but Jesse knelt by the tub, too. Their arms brushed.
He looked at her, something warm and sweet in his eyes.
She jerked her gaze to the little boy. She understood what was going on. Lost, without memory, she clung to the man who had saved her. He made her feel safe. But it meant nothing.
Jesse grabbed the bar of soap while Emily sorted out her thoughts. He lathered up the boy and rinsed him off. All the while, Mikey chattered away and splashed.
Emily wiped water from her face and stole a look at Jesse. Liquid dripped from his chin. The front of his shirt was dark with water. He turned his head to wipe his face on his shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. He grinned. “Happy child. Wet adults. Is this the usual mix?”
“I think so.” She held his gaze and caught her breath. Her answer had come swiftly and surely, as if she was speaking from experience. But no memory came. “I’ll wash his hair.” She bent Mikey backward and scrubbed the dirt from his head.
“You certainly know how to handle him.”
She lifted him from the tub and wrapped a towel about him. “I suppose it indicates something. I just wish I knew what.” She stared at the tub of water and remembered laughter and joy. She had bathed a child in a tub like this.
She sat back on her heels. “I remember bathing children.” Her eyes refused to blink as she looked at Jesse. Was it possible Mikey was hers? A sob caught in her throat. How could she forget her own flesh and blood? Not to mention a husband. She looked at her ring finger. Bare. She rubbed it. Could not remember ever wearing a ring. Perhaps she’d never married. That made Mikey...
Pain tore through her insides. Who was she?
Jesse caught her around her shoulders. She leaned into his damp shirtfront.
“You’re tired and overthinking all this. I think a good night’s sleep might be what you need.”
Mikey patted her cheeks. “Mem, mem, mem.”
She realized they were nose to nose, both leaning on Jesse’s chest. At some point, he had taken Mikey from her and she hadn’t even noticed. The realization made the dark hole inside her expand and she shuddered.
Jesse tightened his arm about her and sat her up. “I’ll dress this little man then help you.”
She wasn’t sure what sort of help he meant to offer, but as he put Mikey into a nightshirt, she scrubbed the little boy’s garments in the bath water and rinsed them. She was about to take them outside and hang them on the line when Jesse took them from her. “You take it easy while I do this.”
He led her to a chair, put Mikey on her knee and headed outside with the wet laundry.
She sang a lullaby to Mikey, the tune coming from a distant memory. Was it one her mother had sung to her? And she’d sung to other babies? Like Jesse said, she was trying too hard.
Mikey relaxed against her; his breathing deepened.
Jesse returned, smiled at the little guy asleep on her lap and carried the tub out to dispose of the water.
There went any hope of getting her own bath.
She lifted her chin. Tomorrow she would go with Jesse to turn Mikey over to the Newmans. They would know who she was.
She stiffened inside. What if she didn’t care for what she learned? She sucked in a deep breath. She would face whatever the future held with as much strength as she could muster.
Jesse smiled as he hung the small garments on the line. What a pleasure he’d had bathing and dressing the little guy. Seeing him asleep on Emily’s lap, his blond hair damp from his bath, filled Jesse’s heart with yearning. He blamed the Marshalls for that feeling. They’d all married and ended up with ready-made families, their happiness evident to all.
Jesse did not plan to seek the same. But he had a job to do, taking care of Emily and Mikey until he could see her safely to the Newmans. He would go out there tomorrow and locate the family. He’d take her along because, as she said, when he found the Newmans they would be expecting Mikey, though it bothered him to think they lived close to the rough mining town. He planned to look around Wolf Hollow for a man with silver-tipped boots, but he wouldn’t do that until Emily and Mikey were turned over to the Newmans and safely settled.
He should be happy for them that they had found the family expecting them, but it would be hard to leave Emily in the care of strangers when she didn’t remember who she was. Of course, they might know her. Perhaps seeing them would trigger her memory.
While he thought about the situation, he worked. Perhaps he was being too bold in thinking Emily would enjoy a bath, but he doubted it. He had built Gram a little outdoor washhouse at the corner of her home. It was a place she could do the laundry in the
