The next morning Mariette woke up, not sure if she had dreamed the events of the night before. She was lying in a comfortable bed covered with a warm blanket. A small fire burned in the stove in the corner of the room, and it was warm and light from a lamp burned on a low table. It was all very different from her cold bare room at the boarding house, and she lay still. There was a knock on the door, and she held her breath. When it opened, she smiled when she saw Hoss Cartwright. "It's you!" She let out her breath in relief.
Hoss came into the room and sat down next to her. "Of course, it's me, Mari. Who were you expecting?"
Mariette tried to sit up, but Hoss put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I thought I dreamed everything last night, Hoss. When I heard the knock on the door, I thought it was Mrs. Murphy about my rent."
Hoss shook his head. "Now that's just silly, Mari. From now on you just say to yourself that you're safe and warm, and Hoss Cartwright is never going to let anything bad happen to you again. That will stop any dreams about that old - uh, that Mrs. Murphy."
She smiled up at him. "When do we start for home?"
"I thought we'd go tomorrow," Hoss answered. "I sent a telegram to Pa last night, and he expects us in a couple of days. Today I thought you could rest up, and we might visit one of those bookstores Adam likes so much. I need to get him a birthday present, and I thought you'd help me get something he'd like."
"I'd be happy to help you, Hoss." It almost seemed like old times to Mariette.
They heard a knock on the outer door, and Hoss stood up. "That'll be our breakfast." He left and was back in a few minutes with a tray. He put it down on the table, and piled pillows behind Mariette. When she was comfortably situated, he put the tray on her lap and began lifting the covers off the plates. "There now, Miss Mari, you can choose what you want to eat."
Mariette was silent, staring at all the food before her - eggs, flapjacks, ham, sausage, fresh fruit, fried potatoes, biscuits, jam, butter. For a second she felt ill, but she noticed the anxious expression on Hoss's face. "You don't have to eat it all," he said. "I just wasn't sure what you'd like."
She smiled at him then, and helped herself to the fruit. The first bite stayed down, and she felt better. Hoss began eating, and Mariette saw that he really didn't expect her to eat everything on the tray. They talked about Virginia City and people they both knew. They laughed over one of Joe's latest exploits, and Hoss told her about some of Adam's new ideas for the ranch. They had finished breakfast and the silence between them was comfortable when Hoss spoke. "Mari, can I ask you a question?" He seemed timid.
"You can ask me anything," she said.
"When you were sick last year, why didn't you let us know?"
Mariette swallowed hard. "When Jason and I came to San Francisco, I was expecting a child."
Hoss was surprised. "I didn't know that."
"No one knew but me. I didn't tell anyone because I knew that Jason and your father would never have wanted me to come. But I had to be here for Jason, Hoss. He needed me. Even though things didn't work out the way we hoped..." her voice broke. She paused, took a breath, let it out, and continued her story, unable to look at Hoss. "Jason needed an attorney, and that took a lot of the money he'd saved - more than he knew. I found work in a laundry - it paid well, but it was hard heavy work, and it was too much...I lost the child." She stole a look at Hoss and saw tears rolling down the big man's cheeks.
"Oh, Mari, what you've been through," he said. She shifted the tray with the empty plates and bowls off her lap, and reached out for Hoss. He held her and stroked her hair. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I was angry and bitter and hurt and sick, blaming everyone but myself and Jason for the future we'd lost." She leaned back against the pillows and wiped her face and nose with her hankerchief. "Then I began to dream about my parents and Jason. They told me to go back to Virginia City, that there was nothing here in the city for me. I knew they were right, but I'd been so hateful to Adam when he tried to talk to me I thought...well, you know what I thought. When I saw you, it was an answer to a prayer, Hoss. I thought there might be a chance for me."
Hoss smiled at her. "You're a Cartwright, Mariette - oh, I know your last name's DuPont, I mean, Blaine, but you're a Cartwright, and your family is always there for you."
He stood up and picked up the tray. "Why don't you rest a little longer and I'll see about a bath for you?"
She reached up and caught his arm. "Do you believe me about the dreams, Hoss?"
He smiled down at her. "I do, Mari."
He left, and she lay back against the pillows. She closed her eyes and tried to pray. The only words she could think of were "Thank you, Lord, thank you," but they seemed to be enough as she drifted off to sleep.