Archie's guitar held a place of honor in the seat across from Stella. She hadn't been comfortable trusting it to the baggage car behind them.
Hickam narrowed his eyes at the long, jagged break in the wood that had been finely mended, but was still impossible to miss. "Seen better days, hasn't it?"
Stella laughed softly. "I suppose we all have."
Mike looked over at her and smiled. "You're holding up pretty well."
Stella smiled back at him, raising her eyebrows. "High praise from a man of few words," she said softly.
After nearly seventy-two hours of almost constant companionship, Stella felt that she and Mike were now good friends, at the very least. Truth was, she was feeling much more than that, and she hoped it wasn't just gratitude. It had been a long time since she'd felt this way in the company of a man. And Mike seemed to have a little sparkle in his eye too, if she wasn't mistaken.
The trip up to Airdrie with Rebecca and Charlie had been a wonderful buffer. Some of the nervousness Stella and Mike felt at the long road ahead simply evaporated under Rebecca's spacious personality. By the time they said goodbye in Airdrie, Stella and Hickam had found an easy rhythm together.
From Airdrie to Edmonton they had talked effortlessly about Jessie, waiting tables, Hope Valley, and the oil and lumber business. Conversation had been more natural to both of them than they could ever have imagined.
For a time Stella had gazed out the window, and then she'd awakened with the jolt of a separation in the tracks. She'd been sound asleep on Mike's shoulder, and as she'd been in danger of sliding off, he'd put his arm around her to keep her safe. The fact that his arm was now entirely asleep along with Stella made it impossible for him to retrieve it when she looked up at him with sleepy eyes, then a sudden awareness, and a small "oh!"
What saved them any real embarrassment was that they both immediately laughed. It was a moment of revelation that they would react in the same way to a possibly awkward situation. Hickam was trying very hard not to get ahead of himself, but he did find he was thinking that was a good sign for the future.
When they reached Edmonton, they stayed only long enough to hire a wagon and a horse and get on the road to Spruce Grove. Hickam secured his room at the very same boarding house that Archie and Nathan had used, though not the same room. His experience of Mrs. Ledoux, the unforgettably rude landlady of the establishment, was identical to that of Archie and Nathan. Poor Mrs. Ledoux would be the subject of a few conversations Nathan, Archie and Hickam would enjoy as time went by.
They were hungry, so Stella took Mike to the Spruce Café and introduced him to Helen and the cooks. Hickam saw Helen whisper something in Stella's ear, then they both looked directly at him. Stella looked him right in the eye, smiled, and nodded. Mike didn't always pick up on the subtleties of women's conversations, but Helen's subsequent nod and smile gave a signal that looked pretty clear to him. He felt like he'd passed a test of some sort.
After dinner, they started the work at hand. Hickam was such a monumental help to Stella that she now couldn't imagine how she would have done it without him. He'd been a perfect gentleman while they'd spent long hours packing and loading small items of furniture, clothing, lamps, books and kitchen pots, until finally, in the wee hours of the morning, they'd gotten hungry again.
Sitting on the floor eating scrambled eggs and toast at three in the morning might not be considered the height of romance in most circles, but Stella had been charmed by Hickam from every angle. He was funny and sweet and it was evident that he knew absolutely everyone in Hope Valley. It was also clear from his stories that they trusted him as a man to get things done, and they trusted him often.
"So, then, I walked up to Bill and said just exactly what Lee had told me to say. 'Bill, Lee wants your pants.'" Mike's delivery was so deadpan that Stella laughed out loud.
"And what did Bill say?" she asked, still giggling and taking another bite of toast.
Mike frowned, thinking. "Pretty sure he said, 'Excuse me?'"
Stella said, "Well, I might have too. Then what?"
Smiling, Hickam said, "I told him I needed his fanciest pair. And I did say please." Mike finished off his eggs and set the plate aside. He stretched his legs out in front of him on the floor.
"And did he give them to you?"
Mike laughed. "Not right there on the street. But yes, he did, and they fit Jesse, so he and Clara went off to The Nutcracker in fine style."
Clapping her hands, Stella said, "A happy ending. But you knew how it sounded when you asked Bill that question, didn't you? About needing his pants?" She leaned back on a packed cardboard box and stretched her legs out next to his.
Mike raised one eyebrow and nodded. "Yes. Of course I did. But you can't imagine the ridiculous things people ask me to do. Not sure why I'm always the one..."
Stella looked at him from under her lashes. "You're always the one because you're kind, and reliable, and intelligent, and you follow through."
He looked at her sideways in his Hickam approximation of playfulness. "And...?"
Smiling softly, Stella said, "And people obviously care about you in Hope Valley."
He stayed silent and waited. Their legs were stretched out side by side on the bare wood floor and he wiggled his foot slightly to touch her leg.
"And..." Stella said, surprising herself by blushing a little. "You're pretty cute..."
Exasperated, Hickam sighed. "Cute." He looked at her. "Just once, could someone call me something other than cute?"
Stella smiled and took another bite of her toast. "What would you like me to call you?"
Mike leaned back and said expansively. "Oh, I don't know. Handsome, debonair, charming... irresistible..."
Stella said, "I know you're joking, but..." She raised her eyebrows. "In your way, you are all of those things."
He looked up to see if she was just teasing him, but her eyes were serious, and her lips weren't formed in a smile. They were slightly parted, and he was having a little trouble looking away from them.
Slowly, a smile started on his face. Then he frowned a little. "Just so I'm clear, are we flirting? Because it feels like we might be." He looked down, unable to hold her gaze any longer. He picked a small piece of paper off of his work pants. "And if we're not, that's fine, it's just that I'm not always the best at knowing that sort of thing, and..."
"Yes," Stella said. Hickam looked up sharply and she smiled at him. "I believe we are."
Mike couldn't control the quick intake of breath that followed. Stella was smart, kind, funny, and prettier than any girl he could ever remember talking to for this long, and she had just admitted to flirting with him. On top of his exhaustion from moving and packing, and the fact that it was three in the morning, he was feeling a little light-headed.
"Oh," he said. He realized his mouth was still open, so he closed it. Suddenly he heard his father's voice in his head. Strike while the iron is hot, boy!
"So," he said, looking down again, "If that's true, then it might not be out of line for me to ask if you would be interested in having dinner with me when we get back to Hope Valley?"
Stella smiled. "I thought this was our first date," she said.
Hickam looked up quickly, and he realized that this time, she was teasing. He laughed, and said, "I might be able to do better than scrambled eggs on the floor."
Stella frowned. "You don't like my eggs?"
Backpedaling furiously, Mike said, "Oh! No, they're delicious..."
Stella smiled, and Hickam tilted his head, taking a breath. "You're having a little fun at my expense, aren't you?"
Feeling remorseful, Stella shook her head. "No, not at your expense." Before she knew what she was doing, she reached over to his leg next to her and put her hand there. As she did, it suddenly felt very intimate, and she pulled her hand back, her cheeks going pink.
She looked up at him and said, "I would love to have dinner with you. When we get back."
The moment of silence that followed felt full of promise and possibilities. Then it became too much for them and both spoke at once.
"I should check the wagon..." Hickam said.
"I should finish up the kitchen..." Stella said.
Both laughed. Hickam said, getting up, "You will learn that awkward silences are my specialty..." He put his hand out for Stella and she reached up and took it. He pulled her up and she stumbled on the edge of the rolled-up rug toward him. His hands ended up on her shoulders to prevent her from falling headlong into his arms, and he immediately regretted his quick reflexes.
Stella pushed the hair that had fallen forward out of her eyes and looked up at him. He was just the right height, and his hazel eyes were focused on her, soft and warm. Stella thought it was definitely a kissable moment and she found herself drawn to him, but she pulled back. Not because she wanted to, but because it was too important.
"Thank you," she said.
He smiled and said quietly, "For saving you from a terrible rug injury, or..."
"For all of it," she said, very sincerely. "I couldn't have done this alone."
She hadn't quite tamed the curls that had fallen in her eyes, so Mike smoothed them back. "I've enjoyed it," he said softly. They were still standing very close to each other, and Mike very badly wanted to kiss her. But at three in the morning, inside her now-bare apartment after a long day of hard labor, it just didn't feel appropriate somehow.
Hickam took a deep breath and let go of her shoulders. "Well, the train leaves in..." He looked at his watch. "...five hours."
Reluctantly, he moved away from her. "We still need to get the last few boxes into the wagon, get Jessie's horse from the stables, and make our way to Edmonton. I say we stay up and sleep on the train."
Stella smiled and nodded. "I agree," she said, taking the dishes to the wash basin.
"I really have enjoyed this, Stella," Hickam said, coming up behind her with their water glasses.
She turned and suddenly they were face to face again.
"So have I," she said. And without hesitating, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Then she turned back to the basin and finished up the dishes. She knew he stood behind her for a long moment, because she could feel him there.
But she did wish she could see his smile.
When the train arrived in Hope Valley, there was a large welcome party waiting. The reasons were multi-faceted. There was a small household to unload into the wagon and get over to the row house, Jessie couldn't wait to introduce Sunset to Allie, and word had somehow spread that there might be some courting going on, and Hickam might be involved.
That last item was news in Hope Valley. So a few of the people who happened to wander over to the train station, like Florence Blakely, just might have been hoping for a glimpse of the girl that could possibly get Hickam to hang up his bachelorhood.
Stella stepped off the train with one arm through Hickam's, and the strap holding the guitar over her other shoulder. They were disheveled, exhausted, wrinkled and dusty, and both wore smiles that said they didn't much care.
Kevin was there to help lead Sunset to the livery where she would be stabled. He'd already talked to Chuck Stewart about conjunctiva, Sunset's eye disease, and knew that she would need to be isolated until he could determine if she was contagious or not.
As the boxes were loaded in the Grant's wagon, Elizabeth watched as Stella carefully removed the guitar from her shoulder and handed it gently to Archie. Over the hubbub and the noise of the train, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but after Stella hugged him and began to help with the unloading, Archie brought the guitar over to her.
"I'd be grateful if you would hold this for me, Elizabeth," he said. "I'd like to help load the wagon, and this is a fragile old girl. She's pretty special to me."
Elizabeth took it gently. "I'd be honored, Archie," she said. She knew that sometimes a guitar is not just a guitar – sometimes it's also a symbol of loss and redemption, of getting things back that we've left behind, and of memories that can't be easily replaced.
After loading a chair in the wagon, Nathan walked past Elizabeth and saw what she was holding. The look on his face was one of rediscovering an old friend.
He couldn't resist. Nathan took it from her tenderly and put the strap around his neck. His left hand went naturally to the frets and his right strummed softly. It needed tuning, and his memory served him well as he turned the pegs by tiny increments, leaning his head down so he could hear as he plucked the strings.
Then he sighed and looked at Elizabeth. She saw the same look she'd seen so many times as they walked and rode the ranch in Airdrie, as they stood in the small graveyard, or as he ran his fingers along the books on the shelves in his small bedroom there.
Memories. Some good, some bad, which led to a bittersweet, fond melancholy in Nathan. It was only the memories of his sister, his twin, his other half, that produced this look on his face.
Elizabeth reached up and touched his face gently. "Did you play this with Sarah?" she asked softly.
Nathan nodded. "We sang together. I played," he said simply. His eyes focused on thin air, on something very far away. "She had a sweet voice. She sang harmony." He smiled and looked at Elizabeth. "Red River Valley. But her favorite was The Water is Wide."
Smiling, Elizabeth said, "Maybe you can play it for me sometime?"
Nathan began to come back to his surroundings and he could hear the noise and activity around him in the station. He needed to keep helping to load the wagon.
There will be time for this later.
Nathan took the strap from around his neck and handed the guitar back to Elizabeth.
He smiled and kissed her tenderly. "I'll play it if you learn the harmony."