第 35 页

He was home. Kissing the droplets of water from her nose, her lips, her eyelashes, he murmured, "I love you." Once spoken, the hoarded words reeled one after another. "I love you, I love you, I love you..."

A cheer went up around them.

Stone Man tore his gaze from hers and glanced up. The miners were clustered around them, clapping gleefully and yelling like the madmen they were.

Father Michaels stepped forward. "Will ye be needing a priest?"

Stone Man heard Devon's sharply indrawn breath. He looked down at her, into the finely sculpted face that held his future, and he smiled. "We will. If she'll have me."

Love filled Devon's heart to overflowing. It spilled into her throat, making it impossible for her to say a thing. Tears burned behind her eyes.

"Dev?" She heard the aching fear in his voice. "I'll go to St. Louis if that's what you want. I'm ready to be a husband and a father, ready to build a home. I'll even let you get a goddamn poodle.

Just say we'll be together."

"St. Louis won't be necessary-" At his relieved sigh her smile turned into a grin."But if we're going to spend another winter here, we'll have to discuss the tent."

The rich, melodious timbre of his laughter encased her, rumbled all around her. Reveling in the warm, wonderful sound of it, she thought to herself, tonight. I'll tell him about the baby tonight. Burying her face in the warm, water-dappled crook of his neck, she gave a deep, contented sigh. And began to plan the evening...

Author's Note

The Science of a New Life by Dr. John Cowan, M.D., was first published in 1874 by Cowan & Company Publishers. Some of the headings and chapter titles have been reworded for easier modern interpretation. The al "how-to" information offered to curious virgins, however, remains exactly as Devon would have read it.

About the Author

Kristin Hannah received an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and a degree in law from the University of Puget Sound. It was during the first magical- sleepless-nights of motherhood that she began writing fiction. Two years later A HANDFUL OF HEAVEN won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award for Best Historical Romance by an Unpublished Author. Two months after winning the RITA, the book won the Georgia Romance Writers' coveted MAGGIE award. Kristin lives with her husband and son in the Pacific Northwest.

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