Tears blurred her vision. Had his feelings for her changed that quickly? She supposed his hasty retreat told her all she needed to know. After arguing over her stories and proving how stubborn she was, she’d embarrassed him by inviting him into her bedroom when she wore her nightclothes, with her hair free. She wasn’t fit to be in the company of the preacher, let alone entertain thoughts of a future with him.
But she wanted one. Oh, how she wanted to be Kris’s wife. “But it’s impossible now, anyway,” she sighed, wiping away the streaks of wetness on her cheeks. Adding milk and sugar to the tea on the tray Kris had brought, Maggie took two cookies and crossed to the window seat.
Leopold came out of hiding and jumped up beside her, nuzzling his way into her lap. Stroking his soft fur, she rested her forehead against the windowpane. “Papa, what am I going to do?” Her whispered words fogged the glass. In the moisture she wrote Kris’s name, feeling more a lost child than she had since the death of her mother.
Maggie covered her womb with trembling fingers. She’d known the risk she took when she laid with Albert, but he was her fiancé and insisted it would be fine. But it wasn’t fine and Albert was nowhere to be found.
His betrayal had left Maggie with more to worry about than why she wasn’t feeling well. She was tired, she was worried about Papa, she wasn’t eating right, she was homesick, frightened… She’d come up with excuse after excuse. For the last few weeks, she told herself she’d be fine once she got her father to Denver. Now, with her father buried here in River’s Bend, and her own future uncertain, she had to face facts.
She was carrying Albert’s child.
“Well, Leo, we will simply love my baby enough for my father and Albert combined. Nothing will ever happen to you, little one.” Her whispered vow was fierce in the quiet room.
A soft knock interrupted. Releasing Leo and pushing to her feet, Maggie tightened the sash of her wrapper and opened the door to Franz.
“Gut. I didn’t wake you.”
Maggie forced a smile.
Franz leaned down to pet Leo as the cat left the room. “I want to be sure you are feeling well? Babies take much from their mothers.”
Shocked, Maggie stumbled backward. Franz took her elbow to keep her from falling again and led her to one of the two chairs in her room, leaving the door open to preserve her reputation.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at how unnecessary that was now. If the doctor knew, who else had guessed?
“How…” She sipped at the cool water he offered. “How did you know? I think I only realized it this evening.”
Franz’s smile was gentle. “You forget I am a doctor, ja? And not so very long ago, my wife looked like you do now. In truth, it was Jericho who noticed your pallor.”
“Marshal Hawken,” she sighed, defeated. “Then Mary knows. Everyone will know soon.”
“Do not fret. We are still your friends. You are well?”
“Overwhelmed. Frightened. Lost,” she admitted in a small voice. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” he insisted. “Rebekah needs you, and you need us.”
“But you can’t want a fallen woman in your home,” she protested, squeezing shut her eyes to hold back tears.
“You are not fallen, liebschen. You made a mistake in the man you trusted. You loved him, didn’t you?”
She nodded once. “We were engaged to be married. He promised it was all right, that fiancés often anticipated the vows, and I—God help me, I believed him.”
“Where is this man who stole so much from you?”
“Married to another woman. He was already married when he—when we…”
“Ja, I understand.” Franz patted her arm. “You were lied to, stolen from. It cannot be your fault.”
“He didn’t force me,” she defended Albert, though God only knew why she felt the need.
“Coerced, then. None of it matters to me or to Rebekah, or Martha or any of your friends here. I’m sure of that.”
“What about Kris?” Her rasped question hung in the silence between them.
“Kristoph? Ah.” Franz rose to add a log to the dwindling fire. “You have grown fond of our preacher.”
Maggie nodded. “He is such a good man. But nothing can come of it. Not now. He has his church to consider.”
“Have you told him how you feel?”
“No!” Just the thought of saying it aloud to him had a blush rising. “He asked me to marry him, kind of, but now…I can’t accept.”
“I’m not familiar with this kind of proposal you mention, but I believe he has a right to know before you turn him down. How can he make a choice if he doesn’t know the truth?”
“But I’m carrying another man’s child.”
“Does Kristoph know of this man?”
Maggie nodded. “He knows I was engaged and that Albert was untrue.”
“He was a liar,” Franz interjected. “A scoundrel.”
That had her lips curving slightly upward. “I won’t argue, but, as to the rest?” She felt the weight of Kris’s imagined disapproval settle even heavier on her shoulders.
“Do not take away his right to choose, little one. He has suffered for that in the past. Be honest with him. And know you always have a place here with us.”