CHRISTMAS SURPRISE

Norah Hess

To Patrice,

my very French son-in-law.

When a handsome stranger appears at her isolated farm looking for work, a lovelorn spinster finds the dark, dreary winter days become as bright and new as the Christmas surprise he brings her.

Chapter One

Upper Peninsula, Michigan, 1887

Jassy Jeffers closed the door to the chicken house and dropped a heavy bar across it. She bent slightly to pick up a pail of milk and a basket holding seven eggs she had taken from a hay-lined lay-box. Then, the pail in her hand and the basket on her arm, she stepped onto a path that had been shoveled clear of snow and walked briskly toward the sturdy cabin from whose chimney smoke drifted lazily in the cold air.

Part way to her warm home, she heard her name called and turned her head and smiled. Two neighbor children, Lela and Amos Anderson, were approaching her astride a mule so old his face had grown white. But he was still strong enough to carry the two youngsters and drag a pine tree behind him.

''Ain't our Christmas tree a beaut?" a rosy-cheeked Amos exclaimed proudly, bringing his elderly mount to a halt. "We picked it out last summer one day when we was bringin' the cows in from the pasture."

Jassy made a big thing out of looking over the tree, then said admiringly, "It is indeed a beaut. It's the most handsome tree I've ever seen."

A pleased smile split Amos's freckled face, and Lela smiled shyly. "Are you going to have a tree this year, Jassy?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Jassy answered. "I can't seem to get the Christmas spirit since Ma and Pa passed away. It doesn't seem worthwhile for just one person."

"But there's Luke," Amos pointed out. "I bet he'd like a decorated tree for Christmas."

Yes, there was Luke, Jassy thought as the boy kicked the mule with his heel and he and his sister rode off with waves of their hands. But who knew what Luke Slater liked or disliked? He was like the hills and the valleys, silent and unfathomable.

As Jassy walked briskly on in the arctic cold that had hung on for the past two weeks, her mind went back to last July when Luke had come into her life.

The day had been hot and humid, not a leaf stirring in the stand of birch back of the cabin as she carried water from the lake to her scorched and dying garden. She was determined to at least save her string beans and tomatoes.

She was carefully pouring water onto a tomato plant, admiring its large firm fruit, when Digger, the old hound, growled a low warning sound. She spun around and gasped.

Three bearded, motley-looking men leered down at her from the backs of rib-thin horses. Two of them were leaning toward each other, talking in undertones.

"What do you men want?" she asked coldly, camouflaging the fear that shook her insides, regretting that she hadn't brought the rifle with her. "If you're hungry, I can give you some meat and bread."

The biggest and dirtiest of the lot, evidently the leader, sneered, "Our bellies are hungry, but we've got another appetite that needs appeasing." He made as if to dismount, and Digger walked stiff-legged toward him, his lips drawn back in a snarl. The bearded one put his hand on the butt of a pistol, shoved in his belt, and warned, "If you don't call the hound off, he's dead meat."

Jassy's fear grew, making her heart pound. These men meant her harm, harm of the worst kind. She shot a glance at the cabin. Could she run fast enough in her long skirt to beat the men to the door, get inside, and drop the bar in place?

As though the man had read her mind. he grinned wolfishly and said, "You'd never make it, gal."

Stiffening her spine, Jassy determined that she wasn't going to stand there like a frightened rabbit and wait for the men to drag her to the ground without a fight. At the same time she knew it wouldn't be much of a battle, pitting her puny strength against three strong men.

Then, as she stood there, a hand clutching Digger's collar, a cold, deadly voice ordered curtly, "Stay right where you are, men."

Simultaneously, she and the riders turned their heads. A man had ridden quietly out of the fringe of the forest and sat watching them.

He was a big man, broad-shouldered, lean-hipped, and dressed in buckskins. Hard-faced, he lounged loosely in the saddle, his hand resting on his thigh only inches from a large knife shoved into its sheath.

There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he asked in icy tones, "Are you men scaring my wife?"

Jassy somehow managed not to betray her surprise that the stranger had claimed her as his wife. She was so relieved, however, she wouldn't have cared if he had referred to her as his horse.

The three men were shaking their heads, vehemently denying that they had any intention of scaring the lady. "We only want to water our horses," the bearded one muttered hastily.

"If I believed that, I'd believe it was going to snow today." The stranger jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "There's a big lake only a few yards away. I'll give you two seconds to get the hell away from here."

"I guess we didn't notice the lake." One of the men tried to laugh but it came out like a croak.

The big man astride the stallion made no response to the obvious lie, but just sat waiting for them to leave. When they had ridden out of sight, in the opposite direction from the lake, Jassy let her breath out in a relieved sigh.

"I can never thank you enough for putting the fear of God in those lowlifes." She gave the stranger a wobbly smile.

He gazed down at her a moment, then asked quietly, "How do you know that I'm not looking for the same thing those men were looking for? Maybe I drove them away because I want you all to myself."

For a moment uneasiness gripped Jassy. Was that why he had seen to it that the others had left? Did he too have rape in mind?

She looked into his clear blue eyes and knew that he would never do violence to a woman. For one thing, he was so handsome he'd never have to resort to forcing himself on a woman. Most would probably be more than willing to make love with him.

Jassy shook her head and said with conviction, "You don't have that in mind."

"How do you know?"

She dropped a hand to Digger's head and said with a grin, "My dog isn't growling at you. He's a good judge of character."

The man grinned back. "I am hungry, though. If you'll give me and my mount a bite to eat, I'll do some work in payment." He ran his gaze over the cabin, then the barn.

Jassy knew he was appraising the run-down condition of the two buildings. She paused but a moment before saying, "Take the stallion to the barn, then come on up to the cabin. I have a pot of venison stew on the fire. It should be done right about now."

He nodded, lifted the reins, and rode toward the building that housed her mule and cow. "The name is Luke Slater," he called over his shoulder.

"Jassy Jeffers," she called back.

He lifted a hand and said, "Glad to meet you, Jassy Jeffers."

Inside the cabin, Jassy swung the crane that held an iron kettle over a bed of red coals to where she could reach it. As she ladled meat and vegetables into a large bowl, she thought of all the things that needed taking care of and wondered which of them she should ask Luke Slater to do in payment for his meal.

So many things had fallen into disrepair over the past two years. There were shutters to be tightened. Some of the stones in the chimney should be recaulked, as well as several places between the cabin's log walls. There were rails to be replaced in the fence that surrounded the pasture and her garden. And the yard gate was hanging by one hinge. She had to lift it up every time she opened or closed it.

The big barn door sagged a bit also. And a couple of rungs were missing from the ladder to the hay loft. Then there was the chicken house. Its roof leaked in a couple of places every time it rained, and the fenced-in area where the chickens were let out in the daytime needed a few sapling poles replaced. Wood creatures had almost clawed through in half a dozen places.

Jassy shook her head. There was so much to be done, so many repairs that her woman's strength couldn't handle. As she sliced bread from a loaf she had baked that morning, she wondered if this Luke Slater would stay on a few days, take care of all those pressing things for room and board. She couldn't pay him anything; she had only enough money put aside for necessities.

A shadow loomed in the doorway and Jassy looked up, pleased to see Luke wiping the dirt off his feet on the small rug in front of the door before stepping onto her clean floor. It showed he'd had a good upbringing. A fast glance at his face showed that he had stopped at the water trough and washed his face and hands. The front of his hair was damp and curling.

He smiled at her, and she motioned him to sit down at the table. "Help yourself, and there's more in the pot if you want it," she said before leaving the cabin to resume watering her plants.

She had debated sitting with him while he ate, to bring up the subject of his working for her a couple of weeks. She figured that a man as proud as he seemed to be would have to be pretty hungry to ask for food and would want to forget nice table manners as he filled an empty stomach.

Jassy had made two trips to the lake with her pail, and had watered the last bean plant when Luke came out of the cabin rubbing a full stomach.

"You're a fine cook, Jassy Jeffers." He grinned at her. "I hope you don't mind, but I helped myself to a cup of coffee. I hadn't had any for a couple weeks."

"That's quite all right." Jassy placed the dipper into the empty pail. "I should have thought and poured you some."

"I'm not one of those men who have to be waited on. I know my way around a kitchen." This last was said with a thin smile.

"My father was like that," Jassy remembered out loud. "When I was little and Ma didn't feel well he'd do the cooking, and even housework if necessary."

"I take it your parents are dead." Luke had seen the sadness in the hazel eyes behind the steel-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

"Yes. A little over two years ago. Typhoid fever took them within two weeks of each other. They drank some bad water from a neighbor's well, the Johnsons. That couple died from the same fever also."

"So you've been carrying on alone."

"I've been trying to, but there's so much I can't take care of."

"Your cabin and barn look relatively new. You haven't lived here long, have you?"

"Only about two years. We came here from Minnesota to get away from warring Indians." Jassy waited for Luke to volunteer where he came from. When he didn't offer any information, she asked, "Are you from around here?"

After a moment Luke shook his head and answered, somewhat reluctantly, "No. I'm from Vermont. I'm also escaping a sort of war." He paused before adding, "A battle that made me end a marriage to a cheating wife."

Jassy looked at his stony face and said sincerely, "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you don't feel too badly about it."

"I don't feel at all bad about it." Luke's face darkened. "I'm only sorry I didn't cut the strings two weeks after I married her instead of wailing over eight months."

"Now," he said in a tone that indicated he wasn't going to say any more about his past, "what can I do to pay for such a good, hearty meal?"

"Well," Jassy laughed, "there's so much that needs fixing around here I don't know what to choose. I feel like a youngster with a penny looking at an array of candy, trying to decide which piece would last longest."

"What about if I fix the shutters on the windows? If a grizzly should come along and decide he wanted to get into the cabin, those broken shutters wouldn't keep him out."

Jassy shivered. That very thing had happened at the Johnsons'. Luckily, they had not been home at the time, but the bear had made a shambles of their cabin. He had come in one window, torn open bags of flour and cornmeal, swept shelves bare, and broken furniture in his rage at not finding anything to eat. He had then left the cabin by breaking through another window.

"Where do you keep your tools?" Luke broke into the thoughts that had taken Jassy back to the past. "If I get started right away, maybe I'll have time to fix the hinges on the barn door. I noticed it's sagging pretty badly. Your animals would be right tasty to a grizzly or a cougar."

"I'd appreciate it if you could," Jassy said, leading the way to the shed where the tools were stored. "I've worried about my mule and cow. There are claw marks from a big cat all over the barn walls. I worry about my chickens too. Their house needs some work done on the roof."

"Jassy Jeffers," Luke said humorously, "you need a husband to keep this place up."

"Well, I don't have one and I'm not looking for one," Jassy snapped and stamped away, leaving her annoyance hanging in the air.

Luke watched her until she went into the cabin and slammed the door, a big grin on his face. Jassy Jeffers was as prickly as a hedgehog, he thought. No wonder she didn't have a husband. She was as plain as a rail fence to begin with, and a bristly disposition wouldn't endear her to a man looking for a wife.

But later as he began hammering at the first shutter, he thought to himself that he had never seen a more beautiful complexion than that of Miss Jassy Jeffers. It was so smooth and creamy-looking, completely flawless. His ex-wife Nell, although unusually attractive, had a coarse-grained skin, marred with several scars left from chicken pox.

He wondered idly if Jassy's skin was soft all over.

Every shutter on the cabin needed work. There were two with hinges so weak he'd had to replace them. Fortunately he found three in the shed, rusty but solid. From the accumulation of odds and ends piled in a corner, Luke guessed that Jassy's father had never thrown anything away.

By the time Luke finished mending the window coverings, the sun was almost ready to set. He had hoped to head out with a couple of daylight hours left so he could find a suitable spot to camp overnight.

His belly rumbled and he said to himself, "I wonder if Miss Prickly will offer me supper before I leave. There was a lot of stew left in the pot."

Luke had just climbed down the ladder when Jassy spoke behind him. "The shutters look good and tight. You've done a fine job. I'll sleep much more comfortably at night from now on."

"I'm sorry I didn't get around to fixing the barn door."

"I've been wondering," Jassy said with a slight hesitation, "if you'd be interested in staying on for a while, shaping the place up for me and chopping some firewood for this coming winter." Her perfect white teeth flashed in a smile. "I must warn you, though, that the winters are bad here in northern Michigan and it takes a lot of logs to keep the cabin warm.

"Also, I want to tell you up front, I can't pay you. I can only feed you and give you a place in the barn to sleep."

Luke thought a minute, then decided, why not? He had no particular destination in mind. He half planned to go on up to Canada and trap during the winter. A month's delay wouldn't make that much difference. And though Jassy wasn't much to look at, she was a damn fine cook.

He smiled at her and said, ''It's a deal. I should be able to whip the place into shape within a month."

Jassy stepped up on the porch and turned to wave at the children one last time. They waved back and she paused a minute to wipe the snow off her shoes before hurrying inside where it was cozy and warm. Luke had gone all round the cabin outside, caulking between the logs, then had done the same thing inside. Not a breath of winter wind could get inside and set one's teeth to chattering. He had worked on the chimney until it now drew better than it ever had for her father.

Inside the cabin she set the egg basket on the table, then removed her shawl, shrugged out of her jacket, and hung them on a peg. She put the eggs with three others in a large gourd she had cured purposely for that use. Placed in the cool larder room with the lid placed tightly over them, the eggs would stay fresh for weeks.

She went to the fireplace where she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot warming on the hearth. She sat down in a rocker to drink it.

As she sipped, her thoughts returned to Luke. She didn't know how it had come about, but Luke's month had stretched into two months, then another, and then another. It was now December and he was still here.

It seemed that every time he planned to move on, something always came up. First, he had insisted that he had to help her harvest the wheat, claiming that it was too much for a woman to do. Then it was time to gather the dry corn and take the yellow ears to the miller to be ground into commeal. He had loaded them into the wagon, along with bags of hulled wheat, and driven off to the mill alone.

That day when he returned home he looked a little cross and hadn't said a dozen words all through supper. When later, sitting in front of the fire, she asked him if anything was wrong, he answered brusquely, "Why should anything be wrong?"

She shrugged and fell silent. But her mind was still full of questions. Was Luke wanting a woman? After all, he was young and virile, had been married and used to the comfort that only a woman could bring a man.

She felt a stab to her heart when that thought entered her mind and she was tempted to throw away the ugly glasses with the plain glass, let her dark red hair fall into its natural curls, and once again wear the colorful dresses hidden away in her wardrobe. She was sick to death of the drab grays and browns she'd worn since her parents' deaths.

But she had felt that the alteration to her looks was necessary as she lived life alone. Not that her plain appearance would keep her safe from some types of men, like those three last summer, but at least she wouldn't be drawing attention to herself, tempting men to come out to the cabin in hopes of sharing her bed for a while.

Jassy gave a small sigh. She guessed it was fortunate after all that she had looked so dowdy that July day when Luke rode into her life. Before two weeks had passed she had learned that he had no use for pretty women. In his words, he wouldn't trust one to give him the right time of day. Had she looked her normal self that day, he would have taken care of her shutters and then ridden away. Chances were, actually, he probably wouldn't have asked her for something to eat in the first place. She knew, however, that regardless of what she might have looked like, Luke would have saved her from those terrible men. He was a very honorable man.

And a very dour one lately, she thought, rising and going to the window to gaze out on the cold, white world. Where had Luke gone today? she wondered. Had he gone hunting, or to the small fur post to kill some time with male friends or female company?

Chapter Two

Jassy awakened to the sharp scent of pine. She frowned, confused. Was a window open in the cabin? Surely not. She'd heard no noise of a cat breaking into the cabin. And even if she had missed that noise, she certainly would have heard the report of the rifle if Luke had shot it.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she suddenly exclaimed, turning over on her back. She had remembered why the pine scent was so strong in the cabin.

Luke had brought home a Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. That was why he had disappeared for a while. She had been stunned when she glanced out the window to see Luke riding across the bare wheat field, his stallion, looking very insulted, dragging the pine tree behind him.

She had thrown a shawl around her shoulders and stepped out onto the porch just as Luke pulled Prince to a halt. He had looked at her, an uncertain smile on his handsome face, and said, "All our neighbors have their trees up, I figured it was time we did the same."

Christmas spirit rushed through Jassy. This Christmas would not be like the last two. She would have someone to share it with. Someone special. Someone she had fallen in love with, she realized in that second. That knowledge so stunned her it took a moment before she could say breathlessly, "It's a lovely tree, Luke."

Luke's smile widened, giving him an almost pleased, boyish look as he untied the pine from the singletree he had fastened on to the stallion.

"Lean it up against the cabin so I can sweep the snow off before you bring it inside," Jassy said, stepping back inside to fetch the broom.

When she came back, Luke took the broom from her. "I'll do it. Do you have a stand for it?"

"There's one somewhere in the storage shed. It's two thin boards crossed and nailed together."

Luke nodded, then said, "You'd better get back inside now before you catch cold."

"Yes, I believe I will," Jassy agreed, but she had never felt warmer in her life. It had been so long since anyone had cared about her welfare.

As she put supper on the table she softly hummed the tune of a song she used to sing with her mother at this time of year.

She was slicing bread when Luke opened the door and carried the tree inside. "Set it over there opposite the fireplace," she directed him when he looked at her questioningly. "That's where we always put our tree."

Luke stood the tree in the corner as told, turned it a few times so that the best side faced the room. "How's that?" He stood back so she could get a clear view of the pine.

"Beautiful!" Jassy exclaimed. "I think it's the nicest tree this cabin has ever known. I can't wait to trim it. I'll pop a big pan of popcorn after supper."

"To string and wind around it." Luke grinned. "That brings back some good memories."

"For me too," Jassy said quietly, then made herself smile brightly as she added, "Supper is ready if you are."

The evening meal had a festive quality, conversation flowing easily between Jassy and Luke. Luke spoke of the holidays spent with his parents in Vermont, how he and his sister had always looked forward to Christmas.

Jassy learned that the sister was married and still lived in the same village where they had grown up, and that Luke had a niece and nephew.

Then, as they drank their coffee, Luke spoke of his ex-wife. "Nell was the prettiest girl in our village. She had long black hair, laughing brown eyes, and teasing red lips. Every single man, and some married ones, chased after her, including me.

"She had always favored red-headed Mike Sullivan over the rest of us. Then one day the Irishman slipped away in the middle of the night and was never heard of again.

"It was then Nell turned all her attention on me. I thought I was the luckiest man in the world when she agreed to marry me."

Luke's face took on a grim look. "From the beginning it was pure hell living with that woman. My first disappointment was finding that she wasn't the virgin she pretended to be. I could have dealt with that had I known which man, or men, had been there before me. But not knowing, every time I talked with a friend I couldn't help wondering if he had been with Nell and was secretly laughing at me.

"On top of everything else, a week after our marriage I realized I was tied to a shrew. She was always complaining, never took an interest in the small cabin Pa and I built for her. It was always a mess, the table was never clear of dirty dishes, the bed never made up. The meals she served were unbelievably bad. I finally ended up cooking most of the meals."

Luke paused to refill his cup from the coffeepot sitting on the table as though he needed its bracing effect to go on. Jassy wondered if she should stop him from continuing the story that had made his face so stony. But she had the feeling that telling it was cleansing his mind of the woman he'd married, so she sat quietly and listened as he continued.

"We'd been married about a month when Nell started having morning sickness. At any rate, that was the first I was aware of it. At first I was happy she was in a family way. I told myself that with a baby to take care of she would settle down, not be so restless, that just waiting for its arrival would make her more content."

Luke shook his head. "She only grew worse as the child grew inside her. As her swollen stomach distorted her figure, and her face and ankles swelled, she became sullen and carped day and night, blaming the little one for causing her to lose her looks.

"It was the worst eight months I ever spent in my life."

Jassy gave him a startled look. "Eight months? You're saying that she had an early delivery?"

"When she went into labor that's what I thought." Luke's lips curved in a mirthless smile. "But when she birthed a strapping baby boy with brick-red hair, I knew, as did everyone else in the village, that it was a full-term baby and that Mike Sullivan had sired it."

Luke turned his head to stare into the fireplace. "It was the last straw. I had already lost any feelings I'd ever had for Nell, had realized early on what a shallow, selfish woman she was. To learn that she had never cared for me, had only used me to give her child a name so that she could keep up the pretense of respectability, was just too much." His lips twisted wryly. "I guess it hadn't occurred to her that her child might have its father's hair.

"At any rate, I'd had enough and I went to the preacher who had married us and had the marriage set aside. The papers are in my saddlebag. The most important thing I own. I saddled Prince then, and here I am, a wiser man. I'll never go near a pretty woman again."

"It's not fair for you to take that attitude," Jassy objected indignantly. "I know a lot of women who are very pretty and are good, decent people. You mustn't compare every attractive woman you meet to your ex-wife."

"Here's the way I look at it," Luke broke in before Jassy could go on. "When a woman has more than her share of good looks, men are always eyeing her, hanging round her. In time she's going to weaken from all that attention and she's going to cheat on her husband."

"You're wrong, Luke Slater," Jassy said, anger in her voice. "My mother was a beautiful woman who men always stared at, and she never looked at another man with romantic notions on her mind."

"Maybe there are rare cases," Luke finally agreed, but Jassy didn't think he meant it. She had heard doubt in his voice.

What were his plans for the future? she wondered. Did he intend to remain single for the rest of his life, or was he going to seek out a plain woman to marry next?

Possibly herself? Jassy's heartbeat picked up at the thought. She smiled inwardly. If so, he'd feel duped again. For beneath her skinned-back hair and wire-rimmed glasses she was the image of her mother, and she was tired of her camouflage. She longed to once again wear her pretty dresses, let her hair fall into its natural curls around her shoulders, and throw away the ugly glasses.

Stop your fanciful thoughts, Jassy Jeffers, she told herself. Luke will never have such feelings for you. When he looks at you he sees a dried-up old maid. You've outdone yourself in looking plain and unattractive.

After giving herself that advice, Jassy stood up and began scraping the table scraps into a pan for Digger. "In time you'll change your mind, Luke," she said. "You'll want a wife and home again. As you said, you're a wiser man now. You'll be able to see beyond a facade, read any falseness that may lay hidden beneath the skin."

Luke cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you have someone in mind, Jassy?" he asked with a wicked, teasing smile, but there was a seriousness deep in his blue eyes.

Jassy became flustered, and in her agitation she knocked a cup to the floor. She hated the red flush she felt rising to her cheeks and prayed that Luke wouldn't notice.

"Of course not," she finally managed, "but there are some very nice women in the area."

"I know," Luke said, finishing his coffee and standing up to go sit before the fire. "It might interest you to know I've got my eyes on one."

Jassy felt as if all the blood had left her body. Luke was already interested in someone to replace his wife. She wondered in dull misery which of the young women in the area Luke had set his sights on.

When she had popped the corn and Luke had helped her string the white kernels on long strings, they talked of inconsequential things. Luke's mood was light and contented, Jassy's dispirited and pensive.

<><><><><><><><><><> 

Jassy put aside her painful thoughts when she heard Luke moving about, then smelled the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee.

After he'd moved into the cabin they'd fallen into a comfortable routine. He rose before she did, built up the fire, and put on a pot of coffee. It was so nice for Jassy, getting up in a warm room and having a cup of coffee before starting breakfast. A ragged sigh escaped her. She was going to miss that, and him, when he married the woman he had his eye on.

She scooted off the bed, yanked the gown over her head, and hurriedly stepped into her underclothes, then dressed in one of her drab dresses. She left her hair in its braid, and put the hated glasses on her nose. She stepped from behind the blanket that cordoned off her bed, anxious to get breakfast out of the way. There were yards of stringed popcorn to drape on the tree, a box of homemade ornaments under the bed. Some were quite old, going back to the time when she was a youngster.

Luke greeted her with his usual warm smile, then picked up the milk pail. When he left the cabin to milk the cow, Jassy thought, We're almost like a married couple.

But as she washed her face and hands her little inward voice niggled, Except for one thing you are. He isn't sharing your bed, and it doesn't look like he wants to. He's got someone else in mind for that.

''Shut up!" Jassy hissed, and went about preparing breakfast.

<><><><><><><><><><> 

"Some of these are very beautiful, Jassy," Luke said as she handed him an embroidered baby Jesus to hang on the tree. "Did you help your mother to make them?"

"A few of them, I did. But Ma made most of them herself. She was very handy and creative with needle and thread." She held up a white lacy crocheted star. "I think this is her finest piece of work. It goes on the very top of the tree. It's supposed to be like the star that guided the three wise men to the baby Jesus."

Luke carefully took the fragile article in his hands. "How did she get it so stiff? It almost feels like wood."

"She soaked it in sugar water, then stretched and pinned it on a towel to dry."

She grinned at Luke. "I always got to hang it."

"Well," Luke said, grinning back, "this seems to be the last thing to hang on the tree. Pull a chair over here and put your star up there."

Jassy had to stretch a little on the wobbly chair to reach the top. The tree was about eight inches taller than all the others had been. But by standing on her toes she managed to secure the little treasure on the topmost branch.

She ran into trouble when the chair began to totter on one uneven leg and she lost her balance, falling sideways. Luke shot out his hands and caught her around the waist before she hit the floor. She stood facing him a moment, calming her nerves, then started to pull away.

Luke did not lessen his hold on her. Instead he drew her closer and closer until her body rested against his, his sudden arousal pressing against her stomach. She looked up and grew weak at the darkening look of passion in his eyes.

He's going to kiss me, she thought, her pulses racing, and stood on her toes, her lips parted invitingly.

The kiss didn't happen. Luke released her, saying in a cracked voice, "I'm sorry, Jassy, I don't know what came over me."

But I wanted you to kiss me, Jassy almost cried out. Instead she righted the chair. Before she could say anything, a knock sounded on the door. Jassy's hands went to her flushed face, and Luke shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You'd better get it," he said with a humorous grin, sitting down in the rocker and resting an ankle on his opposite knee.

Jassy rubbed her damp palms over her hips, and willing her face not to show the turmoil going on inside her, crossed the floor and opened the door.

The settlement's gossip, Emma Coulson, and her daughter, seventeen-year-old Jemma, stood smiling at her.

"Good morning." Jassy's welcoming smile included both visitors. "Hurry in by the fire." She opened the door wider.

"It sure is cold out there," Emma said, stamping the snow off her boots. Jemma followed her mother's example, craning her neck for a glimpse of Luke, who now stood up.

"Good morning, ladies," he said, coming to help Jemma off with her coat and scarf, sending the plain-faced girl into flustered giggles.

Emma's fat face beamed as he led her daughter to the fireplace and settled her in the chair he had just vacated. A tiny frown etched its way across Jassy's forehead. Was Jemma Coulson the one Luke had his eyes on? The girl was plain enough, although pleasant-looking. She was on the plump side, and after a couple of babies would probably be as fat as her mother.

Once the visitors were settled before the fire, with Luke entertaining them, Jassy set about pouring coffee and placing a platter of cookies on the table. When she had added a bowl of sugar and a small pitcher of milk, she called out, "If you ladies are thawed out, come have some refreshments."

Jemma went into another fit of giggles when Luke assisted her from her seat, keeping a hand on her elbow as they moved to the table.

How can he stand that silly tittering? Jassy thought irritably, taking her seat at the table. She mused later that she might as well have not been there for all the attention she got. Every word and look from her visitors was directed at Luke.

Emma fired so many questions at Luke, he couldn't eat a cookie or take a sip of coffee he was so busy answering her. Where did he come from? she asked. Were his parents still alive? Did he have any brothers or sisters? Did he plan on staying in the settlement?

The three women grew quiet at this question, each waiting eagerly for his reply. Jassy had wondered many times what his plans were. Did he intend to stay on in the settlement, and marry whomever it was he had set his sights on? And if he did, could she bear seeing him with a wife and children?

Neither she nor the others saw the look that Luke shot her before he answered, "I'm not sure yet whether I'll stay or move on. I'll make up my mind after Christmas."

He stood up. "Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I'm going to step outside for some fresh air."

"Stop by for some coffee and cake," Emma invited as Luke pulled on his jacket. "Jemma makes a delicious pound cake."

"I'll bet she does." Luke smiled at the blushing girl. "I'll have to stop by and sample it someday."

When he left with a wave of his hand, it was hard to tell who was more pleased, the beaming mother or simpering daughter.

There was no elation on Jassy's face. Had either woman looked at her she'd have seen pain in Jassy's shadowed eyes.

Her companions left shortly after Luke's departure, and Jassy was glad to see them go. If Jemma giggled one more time, Jassy was afraid she might slap her.

As Jassy went about clearing the table, washing and drying the cups and spoons, her mind was on Luke, re-creating the way he had held her. It had been plain that he wanted her, had meant to kiss her there for a moment. What kept him from it? The woman he intended to marry? He was the type of man who would be true to a woman he cared about.

What could he be doing outside so long? she wondered, hanging up the dish towel. He had been gone for at least an hour. When another half hour passed, she realized he had gone off somewhere. Where? To visit the unknown woman?

Chapter Three

The cold wind knifed through Luke's fur-lined jacket as he reined the stallion onto the snow-packed trail that would lead him to the post. He welcomed the silence that was broken only by Prince's hooves clipping along on the frozen ground. If he'd had to stay another second in the company of Jemma Coulson and her nervous, silly laugh, he would have ordered her to shut up.

I shouldn't have led her on, he thought, feeling a little guilty, but I had to do something. That gimlet-eyed Emma would have noticed right away that something had just happened between me and Jassy. The only thing I could think to do was to throw her off the scent by showing interest in her daughter.

He smiled. Jassy hadn't liked it one bit. She had tried to hide it, but he had seen the tightening of her soft lips when he'd made a big to-do of helping Jemma off with her coat and then leading her to a chair.

Jassy had welcomed the kiss he had almost given her. Reason had come to him only a second before he lowered his mouth to hers. If he had kissed those sweet, red lips, he knew he would sweep her up and carry her to the bed behind the blankets.

And that would have put him only one step above the three men who had meant to rape her last summer. His taking her would be wrong, too. She was ignorant of every aspect of lovemaking. His experienced, stroking hands would have her surrendering to him in minutes.

"And how she would have hated me afterward," he thought out loud. No, Jassy Jeffers's first introduction to lovemaking must be in the marriage bed with a man she loved.

And he wanted to be that man so badly it was driving him half crazy. But did Jassy Jeffers love Luke Slater?

A pair of scampering chipmunks darted across the trail, startling the stallion and causing him to snort and rear up. Luke left off thinking of Jassy as he fought Prince back to the ground.

When the animal calmed down, Luke noted they had arrived at the shallow end of the frozen Sunset Lake. He steered Prince out onto the beaten path across the ice, thinking that Jassy's father had chosen wisely when he bought his tract of land. In the winter when the ice was a foot deep a man could ride straight across the lake instead of traveling halfway around as one had to do in summer.

Of course, when the lake was thawed out a man had only to jump into a boat and row across. That was if he was lucky enough to live at the narrow end of the water. If he happened to live dead center in one of the many stump-dotted clearings, he would have a hard row of it, crossing a hundred-acre lake.

But no matter where a man chose to settle in this vicinity, the land itself was very fertile in this untouched wilderness. He and Jassy had raised and harvested an abundance of food, plenty to see them through the winter.

And as for fresh meat, the deer were so numerous a man didn't have to go far before he could bring one down. He had only one thing to worry about in the winter: getting lost in a sudden blizzard.

Luke hunched his chin in his collar, telling himself that this great white north was a man's paradise. Anything he could desire was here. He could fish and farm in the summer, trap for furs in the winter.

Furs were the reason he was making this cold ride today. A couple of weeks ago he had gone through the beaver hides he had trapped along the lake and had laid aside the thickest and softest of them. He had then taken them to an old woman in the Indian village about a mile away. He'd arranged with her to make them into a jacket for Jassy. It was to be a Christmas gift. That holiday was only a week away, and the old woman had promised she'd have the jacket at the post today.

How would Jassy accept his gift? he wondered. With coolness? With pleasure? Or would she accept it at all? She was a deep one.

Damn, he wished he knew how she felt about him. Sometimes she smiled at him with real affection, other times she held herself aloof, chilling him with her coolness. Her actions today told him that he could arouse her passion.

He wondered if she knew her neighbors were talking about her; about them both. Claiming that they were living together in sin.

As Prince stepped along, Luke wished he and Jassy were living together in the way the gossips meant. He had wanted to share her bed for a long time. Only recently had he wanted it to be in an honorable way, though, as man and wife.

At first he had scorned the idea of ever marrying again. He had tried wedded bliss once and suffered because of it. A man who stumbled over the same stone twice was a fool. It wasn't long, though, before he was arguing with himself that there was no way to compare Jassy with Nell. Nell was loud and selfish and man-crazy, whereas Jassy was a lady in every sense of the word. She was gentle and soft-spoken, her movements graceful even in those awful clothes she wore.

Luke's loins suddenly stirred. Those old-woman clothes Jassy wore hid the most beautiful body he had ever seen.

He had been at the farm a couple of months when one sweltering hot day he decided to go down to the lake and swim to cool off. There was a spot where some willows grew close to the bank, their branches extending out over the water, a perfect place to swim in privacy, stripped to the skin.

When he arrived at the shaded area, he was startled to see that Jassy had had the same idea and was there before him.

She stood with her back to him, in water a little past her ankles, a bar of soap in her hands. She had come to the lake to bathe. He told himself to turn around and leave, but he couldn't take his eyes off the slender back, the narrow waist that flared into gently rounded hips and long, shapely legs. He watched her soap her back and delightful little rear, then gasped when she turned slightly and he saw the profile of proudly jutting breasts.

God! he thought, they're just right to fit in my hands.

He had finally come out of his trance and told himself that it was a shameful thing, watching in secret while Jassy took a bath. He had slipped quietly away, but since then, every time he looked at her he was seeing what lay beneath the drab dresses. The sight of her beautiful body was branded on his mind, a fire in his blood.

He had thought to quench that fire with one of the tavern women at the post, but had never done so. After living with Jassy, who was so clean-smelling, so fresh and flower-scented, the stench of the post women revolted him now, made him wonder how he had ever used their kind in the past.

Luke remembered that Nell hadn't always smelled all that good either. She wasn't one to bathe very often, and in the summer one was aware of it.

As the stallion moved along, Luke thought back to the night he had moved from the hayloft in the barn to his present spot, the loft room in the cabin. The room Jassy had called hers before her parents passed away.

The late November day had been cloudy and windy, the temperature dropping fast. That evening as he walked to the barn after supper the first snowfall of the season roared in. And though he buried himself deep in the hay, and had left all his clothes on, he couldn't stop shivering. When his teeth began chattering, he knew he had to go ask Jassy for some extra covers.

She hadn't gone to bed yet when he rapped on the door, and he saw her peek through the heavy window covering before letting him in. Jassy never took chances.

''What is it, Luke?" she asked anxiously. "Is there a cougar prowling round?"

"No," he answered, grinning wryly. "It's too cold out for beast or man to be out. I was wondering if you could loan me a couple quilts. That cold wind is finding every crack in the barn."

"Of course. Go stand by the fire and warm up while I get them." He was standing in front of the fireplace, gazing down into the flames, wishing that he could curl up in front of them for the night, when Jassy turned from her linen chest, a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know, Luke, it's only going to get colder in the barn as winter wears on," she said, and he had held his breath, afraid that she was going to say that maybe it was time he left her and sought work with a farmer who would give him a warm bed in his cabin.

Her next words left him weak with relief. "Maybe you'd better sleep up in the loft room. I should have thought of it before. It's my old room and has a very comfortable bed. Let me light a candle and get some linens and we'll go make up the bed."

As they climbed the ladder that was almost flush against the wall, his eyes remained glued on her hips. It was all he could do to keep his hands off them.

When he stepped up on the hewn wide-plank floor, he discovered a full bedroom. There was a wide bed with a small table beside it, a chest of drawers, a rocking chair, and a waist-high bench on which sat a basin and a pitcher. On the bed lay a ticking woven of cotton and tow, stuffed with hay, and on top of that a ticking filled with feathers.

Together they smoothed on sheets and slipped cases over the pillows. Jassy had gone to her chest of drawers and pulled out the bottom one, taking from it a comforter filled with soft goose feathers.

Jassy had smiled at him and said, "You'll be toasty warm under this."

Luke's lips curved in a humorous grin. She had made him hang blankets around her bed the next morning, giving her some privacy. Miss Jassy Jeffers was a very proper lady, and he would have her no other way.

Just when he had fallen in love with Jassy he couldn't pinpoint. It had happened gradually as they worked the farm together, she right along beside him, doing her share, so unlike Nell who was downright lazy. He had found that it was relaxing, being round Jassy. She never chattered like most women, going on and on about some trival matter. Sometimes an hour would pass with no words spoken between them. It was a comfortable silence, as each thought his own thoughts. And she, like himself, liked her private time.

Jassy wasn't a dour person, though. She had a quick wit, could always see the humorous side of things. He recalled her sparkling laughter the time he slipped in mud and landed hard on his rump. And she was so gentle with youngsters and old people. As he watched her with the little ones, he'd think what a good mother she would make, always adding that he would like to give her a baby.

How much longer, he wondered, could he continue sleeping under the same roof with her and keep his hands to himself? It was gut-wrenching to watch the shadow of her body that the candlelight cast on the blankets as she prepared for bed. He could see her every movement as she pulled her dress over her head, then shed her underclothes and laid them in a neat pile on the chair. It was all he could do not to groan aloud his frustration when she stood bare a moment, every lovely curve silhouetted, before she pulled a gown over her head, hiding her lush body in its soft folds. He knew that she had no idea what she was revealing to him.

The stallion snorted and came to a stop and Luke came out of his reverie. The post stood in front of him.

It stood in an isolated clearing about a hundred yards from the lake. It was a long, low building made of logs, and was divided into two parts. The front of the building held general merchandise that a farmer or a trapper might need. It was also where Bill Dimmer, the owner, bartered with trappers and Indians for the furs they brought in.

A door led into the back part of the building where a man could drink and chat with friends, and if he so desired, accompany a whore to the log house a few yards behind the post.

Luke rode the stallion around to the back of the post where Dimmer had erected a stable of sorts so that a man's mount wouldn't have to stand out in the cold while its owner stayed inside where it was warm. He even provided hay for the animals. Luke dismounted and dragged open the solidly built stable door, one that could withstand a charging cougar.

As he pitched Prince a forkful of hay, he recognized two horses and a mule that belonged to his neighbors. A couple of dogs curled up in a corner opened their eyes to look at him, then went back to sleep.

When Luke entered the post by the front door, Bill Dimmer, short and squat and balding, gave him a genial smile, then motioned toward a dark corner. "She's been waitin' for you since I opened up early this mornin'."

Luke crossed the floor and hunkered down beside an old woman who looked as ancient as primeval rock. "You have finished the jacket, Little Deer?" he asked softly.

Little Deer nodded and reached behind her. She brought forth a beautifully fashioned garment. As Luke took it from her, she gave him a toothless smile and said, "Your woman will not feel a breath of cold air when she wears it."

Luke ran his hand over the soft fur, inspected the seams, ran a gauging eye over the hood, making sure it was big enough to fit over Jassy's heavy head of hair. He smiled at the anxious-looking old woman and said, "You've done a fine piece of work, Little Deer. My woman will be well pleased." He handed her the money agreed upon, plus an extra dollar.

A pleased smile deepened the many wrinkles on the weathered face; then Little Deer jumped to her feet and hurried to the counter behind which Dimmer stood. As Luke went through the door and on to the tavern, she was arguing price on the items she was purchasing. He smiled wryly. That one would get her money's worth.

He was welcomed warmly by the six men leaning against the rough plank bar. He had gotten to know Jassy's neighbors over the summer and liked the hardworking family men. They were always ready to pitch in and help each other, which was the only way a man with a family could survive in this beautiful, harsh land.

However, the four men sitting at a table in a corner didn't greet him with friendly voices. They only directed sullen looks at him. They were trappers who had been drinking since early in the morning and were most likely looking for trouble, Luke thought as room was made for him at the bar.

And it will be me they'll try to release their spleen on, he told himself after ordering whiskey from the burly bartender. He had tangled with one of them a couple of weeks back when he caught the man robbing one of his traps. In fact, the trapper still wore a bruise on his cheekbone where Luke had hit him. He could hear them muttering among themselves, their words salted with obscenities.

Luke and three other men were talking about getting up a pinochle game when the one he had fought with slurred out loudly, "Hey, Slater, we've been wonderin' just how good that skinny, prim and proper Miss Jeffers is in bed. Could you enlighten us? If you give her a good recommendation, maybe we'll go give her a visit."

A burning rage stiffened Luke's body. How dare they say Jassy's name in a tavern? The pewter cup that had been raised partway to his lips was slammed back onto the bar. As the whiskey sloshed out of it, he spun around, facing the drunk.

"You bastard," he ground out, his lips thin and his eyes icy cold. "You're not fit to say her name, let alone in here. I'm going to wipe the floor up with your ugly face."

"Is that right?" The trapper jumped to his feet, his chair going over backward sending the tavern women scampering out to the safety of Dimmer's store.

Raw hatred for each other galvanizing both men into action, they rushed toward each other, their intent to hurt, to maim. The fight didn't last long. When the trapper drew a knife from the top of his boot, Luke ducked beneath the down-plunging blade, and bringing his fist up from his knee, landed it on the point of the trapper's chin.

Disappointment gripped him when his opponent crumbled to the floor, his eyes rolling back in his head. "Damn," Luke swore silently. "I wanted to beat the bastard to a pulp. How can I pummel an unconscious man?"

As he stood over the fallen man, his fists still clenched, Bill Dimmer came rushing into the room, the slatterns crowding behind him. Fixing a fierce look at the fallen man's companions, he ordered, "Get him the hell out of here and all four of you keep goin'. When you learn how to act like decent folk you can come back."

Their faces dark with resentfulness, two of the trappers hauled their limber companion to his feet and dragged him out of the tavern.

"Come on, Slater." Dimmer clapped Luke on the back. "Finish your whiskey and calm down.

Not that you ain't got good reason to be upset," he added.

Luke pushed his way through the men who had gathered to watch the fight, and finished his drink. He ordered another and took it with him when he and three others moved to the table where the trappers had sat and set up a pinochle game.

Guilt gripped Luke so hard he could hardly concentrate on his cards, even found it hard to count points. It was his fault that Jassy's name had been bandied about in a tavern. That day in July he should have ridden away after fixing her shutters. What had kept him there? Had he felt sorry for the plain, bespectacled woman who had so many things that needed repair, things that she couldn't do? Had he immediately liked the little farm and cabin and wished that they were his, or had he, even then, unconsciously felt attracted to the quiet-spoken woman who had hidden her fear from the three men who undoubtedly meant to rape her had he not come along?

Most women would have been crying and begging the men to leave them alone. But she had stood there, fire in her eyes, ready to pit her fragile strength against their brute force. He admired spunk, whether it be in humans or animals.

Luke sighed inwardly. He had to make up his mind about Jassy. Either he had to ride away, or ask her to marry him. Of the two options marriage was what he wanted in the worst way. But did Jassy? If she turned him down, he didn't know how he could handle his disappointment,

be able to ride away from her. She had become a necessary part of his life.

When the other players twitted him about not having his mind on the game, he forced his unsettling thoughts of Jassy from his mind and put all his attention on the cards in his hand. He became so deep into the game that when Dimmer came into the tavern and mentioned that a blue norther was raging outside, he didn't even hear him.

The hanging overhead lanterns were lit and the men played on, intent on the game. Night had come on when the storm quickened and the wind grew to a howling gale.

"What the hell," one of the men swore when a gust of wind blew the side door open. Finally aware of the storm raging outside, they all jumped to their feet, exclaiming in unison, "I've got to get home."

The bartender closed the door and dropped a bar across it. He gave them a grim look and said, "You men ain't goin' anywhere tonight. You wouldn't get ten yards in that white curtain out there before you'd be lost. And if you were lucky enough to find your way, your lungs would be frozen before you reached home."

Each man there knew the bartender spoke the truth. They had heard of such things happening in the frozen north.

As the men stood with worried faces, wondering if their families were all right, Dimmer entered the tavern, a pile of blankets in his arms. He unloaded them onto a table and said, "Feel your way along the wall out there and cover your mounts with these. When you come back, I'll have some venison stew on the bar for you, and more blankets to make pallets with. All you'll have to do is keep the fire going all night and you'll be warm enough."

They thanked the big man, and with Luke carrying a lantern, they felt their way to the stables. In the freezing cold they hurriedly tossed some hay to their mounts, then spread a blanket over each of their backs. When the men fought their way back inside the tavern, the two dogs were at their heels.

Very little was spoken between the men as they ate the tasty stew. Their minds were on their families, wondering if they were all right. Good nights were said, and each man rolled up in a blanket before the fire.

Luke was a long time falling asleep. Was Jassy frightened of the raging wind and blowing snow? She must have lived through blizzards before. He didn't fear for her well-being. She had food in the cabin, and he had stacked almost a cord of wood on the porch. And he'd be home as soon as daylight arrived.

Chapter Four

The sky became overcast around noon and Jassy started making trips to the window, staring down the trail that led to the post. She imagined that was where Luke had gone, since she had discovered that the stallion wasn't in the barn.

She admitted to herself that it wasn't any of her business when Luke left the farm, nor where he went. She did feel, however, it would only be a common courtesy to at least say he was leaving.

She contented herself with the thought that he always came home in time to milk the cow and tend to the animals before he ate a meal. He had a hearty appetite, being such a big man.

Taking a long string of dried beans from a rafter, she placed it in a basin of water to soak up the moisture the sun had dried out of the vegetable. They would go well with the pork roast she planned to serve for supper.

Two hours later the sky was dark and ominous-looking, with great black clouds roiling overhead. The temperature was dropping and a cold wind had risen. Jassy knew beyond a doubt that they were in for a blizzard, a bad one.

With one last look out the window, and seeing no big stallion coming up the trail, she pulled on her heavy jacket, tied a scarf around her head, and stepped outside. She might as well fasten the lead rope that stretched from the porch to the barn while she was thinking about it.

Every farmer had such a rope. During a snowstorm it could be the lifeline between the two buildings. Many a man and woman had become turned around in a blizzard and frozen to death only feet away from their cabin.

Fighting the gale-force wind that sometimes took her breath away, Jassy managed to run the rope to the barn and secure it to the big door. On her return she carried enough wood inside to see her through the night and dumped it in the wood-box.

It was three o'clock when Jassy crumbled dry sage leaves over the piece of pork, added salt and pepper, and slid it into the oven that had been built into one side of the large fireplace. The third time within an hour, she looked out the window hoping to see Luke riding in. She only saw the frozen white pellets of snow that was beginning to fall. She told herself that surely Luke would be home soon.

Four o'clock arrived and the snow was coming down in earnest, and still no sign of Luke. She was becoming concerned. Another hour and he'd be unable to see his way home. As she turned from the window, the lowing of her cow drifted on the wind. She knew that the animal was in pain from a full udder and that she must be milked.

Bundled to her eyes, a wooden pail in her hand, and Digger at her heels, Jassy fought the wind to the barn. She tossed some hay to the mule and put a good amount of shelled corn in the cow's trough. The animal chomped on it contentedly as the milk was drawn from her.

When Jassy opened the barn door, the pail half full of milk, she gave up her plan to feed her chickens. The snow was falling so thick and heavy that all visibility beyond a foot ahead was shut off. She grabbed hold of the rope, thankful that she'd had the foresight to string it between the two buildings.

Jassy felt that she was halfway to the porch when Digger lifted his head and sniffed, his nose pointed to the right. Just when she thought it might be Luke returning home, Digger's hackles rose; then a deep growl rumbled in his throat. She stared intently in the same direction, then gave a frightened gasp. She could make out the dim shape of a large cougar.

His eyes shone red and his tail lashed from side to side as he inched toward them. She couldn't move until he stopped and crouched on his belly ready to spring. Her muscles were released then and she was yelling, ''Come on, Digger," as she ran as fast as she could, the rope sliding through her gripping hand.

In seconds she was on the porch, her cold fingers fumbling with the latch. It readily lifted and she was inside, pulling the furiously barking Digger behind her. She had just slammed the door shut and dropped the bar when she heard the large cat bounce onto the porch. He lunged against the door, screaming his anger that his prey had gotten away.

The raking of his great paws against the door didn't frighten Jassy. She had no fear that it would give, for it was made of heavy wood and hung on strong hinges.

"But what about the shutters?" she asked herself fearfully. Luke had mended them all, but would they hold against the large animal? He was one of the largest she'd ever seen.

Jassy tried to hush Digger, but the hound was in a rage that equaled the cat's and continued to jump against the door, the cabin ringing with his fierce barking.

She suddenly began to laugh hysterically. She still gripped the milk pail in one hand. Some milk had splashed out in her mad rush to the cabin, but most of it was still inside.

She commanded herself to calm down and placed the pail on the table, thinking with relief that the cow and mule were safe from the cat. She had shrugged out of her jacket and hung up her scarf when the beast started clawing at the shuttered window over the dry sink. Her fingers trembling, and a prayer on her lips that the shutter would hold, she lit the two candles on the table with a flaming twig she carried from the fireplace. The candlelight still didn't push back the darkness enough to please her, so she lit two more and placed them on the mantel.

Hurrying to the door, she took down the rifle that hung above it.

The cat had moved to the window next to her bed and was still screaming his fury as Jassy sat down in a rocker, the loaded rifle lying across her lap. If he did get in, she hoped that she could kill him with one shot. For there was nothing more dangerous than a wounded cougar. He could claw her to death before she could get off another shot.

As she sat on, the wind continued to howl and the snow to hiss against the windows. Digger continued to bark and the cougar to scratch at the shutters. Jassy leaned her head back and thought of Luke. Was he lost out there in that white world, trying to find his way home?

She somehow doubted it. He was the type of man who could take care of himself in any kind of situation. She felt pretty sure that he was holed up somewhere waiting for the storm to pass, or until daylight arrived.

But holed up where? An aggravating little voice inside her reminded her of the niggling question she asked herself every time Luke went to the post. Did he go there to spend some time with men-folk, or did he make that ride to visit one of the tavern women in the cabin behind the post? Was he in bed with one of them right now, cozy in her arms?

She'd had glimpses of those women a few times, their hair all frizzed, their faces painted and their dresses scandalously short, showing their knees, as well as a lot of bosom. Their eyes said they were wise in the ways of pleasing a man in bed.

A thought that Jassy had been pushing to the back of her mind all day wouldn't be denied any longer. Maybe Luke hadn't gone to the post at all. Maybe he had ridden to visit the woman he'd said he had his eye on. Maybe he was bundling with her, warm and cozy beneath a heavy quilt.

Bundling was a winter custom when couples were courting. Of course, they were supposed to keep all their clothes on, which was laughable. Almost every spring there was a young female with child when she took her wedding vows. One needn't strip to make a baby.

Jassy pictured in her mind all the single women in the settlement, trying to decide which one Luke might be interested in. Jemma Coulson's round face kept returning to her. She couldn't believe that Luke would have any serious thoughts about that simpleton.

Jassy jumped to her feet, tired of trying to figure out what Luke's plans were. She had to strain the milk and store it in the cold larder room. Although Digger was still barking, the cat had ceased scratching at the windows. Jassy hoped he had given up and gone away.

A couple of minutes later, the milk in a cloth-covered crock, she opened the storage door and dropped the crock with a scream. The cat had discovered the small window near the top of the ceiling and had broken through the thin sheeting of wood that covered it in the winter. The window was only about ten inches by twelve, just large enough for the cougar to get his head through. He saw her and hissed his frustration that he couldn't pull the rest of his huge body through the opening.

Jassy saw her chance to shoot the animal and darted back into the cabin, almost tripping over the hound who had gone into a frenzy at the sight of the cat. She grabbed up the rifle and dashed back into the larder. The animal was still intent on getting into the small room. She raised the firearm to her shoulder, took careful aim, and squeezed the trigger.

A round hole appeared between the eyes that glared at her; then a split second later the window was empty.

Jassy slumped back against the wall, her legs trembling. As though he knew there was no more danger from the cat, Digger had stopped barking and was now lapping up the spilled milk. She picked up the crock that had broken neatly in half and tossed the pieces into the trash can next to the sink.

Relieved of her fear, Jassy was suddenly hungry. She thought of the roast she had put into the oven at three o'clock and glanced at the clock. It was a little past seven. The pork had been in the oven for four hours and would now be unfit for consumption. She shook her head, remembering the spilled milk. She had certainly wasted a lot of food today.

She put half a pot of coffee on the coals to brew, then fried a slice of ham to make herself a sandwich. She gave Digger a thick slab as well.

After eating the light supper, Jassy opened the door, holding her hand up to shelter the candle against the wind as she stared intently into the white night.

There was no sound, nothing to see but the driving snow. A mood of depression settled over her as she closed the door. She added a log to the fire, changed into her gown, and went to bed, leaving the two candles on the table burning as a guide to Luke if he was lost out there.

She pulled the covers over her head, praying that he was all right wherever he was.

Luke awakened to a gray dawn. His three companions slept on, two of them snoring loudly, as they had done all night. Jassy came immediately to mind. Was she all right? Had she worried when he didn't return home?

He threw back his blanket, rose stiffly to his feet, and walked to the window and looked outside. A smile lit up his face. The storm had blown itself out. However, it had left at least a foot and a half of snow in its wake. There would be drifts up to his waist in some places, and he'd have one hell of a time getting home.

And that he must do as soon as possible. Seeing how much snow had fallen, he had visions of Jassy in dire need of him. Not knowing the purpose of the coiled rope tied to one of the porch's supporting posts, a horrible thought gripped him.

What if she had gone to the barn to milk the cow and tend her mule and then couldn't find her way back to the cabin? What if a cougar or a pack of wolves had come along and attacked her?

Suddenly he couldn't wait to get home. Home. How wonderful the word sounded.

He shook awake his three companions of the night, saying, "Come on, men, the storm is over, let's get going."

The men were immediately awake and on their feet, anxious to get home to their families. They were folding the blankets they had slept on when Dimmer entered the room, a steaming coffeepot in his hand.

"Here's some coffee for you fellers. Can I make you somethin' to eat before you take off? It's colder than billy-be-damned out there."

All four men agreed that a cup of coffee would set well, but that they would wait until they got home to eat.

The bracing brew was quickly drunk, then the men were ready to leave. Dimmer laid four pairs of snowshoes on the bar. "Strap them on, men, you're gonna need them."

With the shoes clamped on their boots, the men thanked Dimmer for his hospitality, then clomped through the door, out into the icy air.

They found their mounts stamping their feet against the cold, white vapor escaping from their nostrils. They saddled their horses and led them outside. They separated then, each man going his own way.

Luke found it slow going at first. Prince floundered several times in drifts up to his chest. At such times Luke had to break through the barriers and pull the stallion through them.

When Luke had fought his way across the frozen lake for about half a mile, he came to a spot where the wind had swept the surface of the ice clear of snow. He peered ahead, and as far as he could see, the ice was clear all the way across the lake. He drew Prince to a halt, unstrapped the clumsy webbed snowshoes, and swung onto the stallion's back. Half an hour later he was emerging from the forest and gazing at the little cabin sitting in its small clearing.

Smoke rose from its chimney, and relief whistled through Luke's teeth. Jassy was all right!

He rode on past the cabin, headed for the barn. There he stabled Prince, gave him and the mule a fork of hay and some corn to the cow. When he had secreted Jassy's Christmas gift up in the hayloft, he began mushing his way through the snow, anxious to get in front of the fire and thaw out.

He was almost there when he saw the cougar tracks. His heart skipped several beats. Was Jassy all right after all? He tried to run in the knee-deep snow but it was impossible. It seemed to take forever to reach the porch and fling open the door.

Jassy awakened at the first pale light of dawn. She lay quietly, listening. There was no howling wind, no hiss of snow against the cabin's walls. The storm had passed sometime during the night.

She leaned up on an elbow and pulled aside one of the blankets that hid her bed from the rest of the room. Her gaze went straight to the wall where outer garments were hung on pegs.

Luke's jacket was not hanging beside hers.

She dropped the blanket and lay back down. She had hoped that maybe he had come home and gone to bed without disturbing her. That would have been hard to do, she reminded herself. Her sleep had been so light and restless she'd have heard the slightest sound. Between worrying if he was lost somewhere in the storm, and wondering who he was sleeping with if not trying to get home, and the image of the cougar's head stuck in the window, she had had very little sleep.

Jassy stared up at the rafters vaguely visible in the semi-gloom of the room. What should her attitude toward Luke be when, and if, he finally came home? Should she be her normal self or should she greet him the way she wanted to ... throw herself into his arms, pull his head down, and press her lips against his?

Her lips curved in a wry smile. She'd shock his boots off if she did that.

One thing she was sure of, she must hide her suspicions that he had spent the night with some woman. That would expose her jealousy, an emotion she had no right to have. It was going to be difficult, though, she knew.

She sat up and reluctantly left the warm covers, and in her bed stockings hurried to the fireplace. Kneeling on the hearth, she raked the dead ashes off the red coals that lay beneath them and added small pieces of wood on them. When they took fire, she added several split logs and soon had a roaring fire going, sending heat out into the room. She went back behind the blanket wall and got dressed in a heavy muslin petticoat and a dark gray woolen dress.

Back in front of the fire, Jassy stripped the stockings she had slept in off her long, smooth legs and drew on black ribbed ones. She was lacing her mid-calf shoes when Digger whined and went to the door, his tail wagging eagerly. He probably has to go outside and lift his leg against a tree, Jassy thought, although that wagging rear end could also mean that Luke had finally come home.

She tied off the laces, hurried to the window, and opened the shutter. She was in time to see Luke leading the stallion into the barn. She hurriedly washed her face in a basin of cold water, catching her breath from the shock of its iciness. She made sure that her hair was skinned back in its usual fashion, then perched the glasses on her nose. Next, she hastily put a pot of coffee to brewing.

Jassy was slicing bacon when Luke burst into the cabin. His eyes wild, a day's whiskers darkening his firm jaw, he looked like a madman as he demanded anxiously, "Are you all right, Jassy?"

Jassy stared at him. He seemed genuinely concerned about her. Would he be that upset about her welfare if he intended to marry another woman?

After telling herself that naturally Luke would care whether or not she was all right, they were friends, weren't they, she smiled at him and answered, ''Yes, I'm fine, Luke."

Luke pulled a chair away from the table and plopped down on it, some of the pallor fading from his face. "I saw cougar tracks out there and I was scared to death the beast might have gotten into the cabin. I didn't know what I'd find in here."

Jassy wanted to ask if he'd have cared had he found her with her throat torn out but knew it would be an inane question. Of course he'd care. He'd care regardless of who might be killed by a wild animal.

She smiled at him again and said, "As you can see, I'm quite all right. But I did have an awful scare. When I was coming from the barn yesterday afternoon, that beast chased me into the cabin, then tried to get inside. The shutters held, thanks to your good work. Then he tried to come through that little window in the larder room.

"That's when I shot him between the eyes."

"You didn't!"

"Yes, I did. You'll find him out there dead in the snow." Her eyes twinkled behind the ugly glasses. "Do you think you could skin him and tan the pelt? He'd look and feel real good in front of the hearth."

"I can skin him and I know an old Indian woman who can cure the hide. I don't know how to do that. I'll take the knife to the critter as soon as I've had breakfast and done the milking."

He looked up at Jassy, apology in his blue eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't here last night to tend to the animals and to keep you from being frightened by the cat. I only intended to play a few games of pinochle with our neighbors. We got so involved trying to beat each other, the first thing we knew the sun had set and a blizzard was raising hell outside. There was no way I could get home."

"You must be starved," Jassy said, not daring to look at him for fear she'd blurt out, "Where did you sleep?"

Luke nodded. "I am a bit. Dimmer gave us some stew for supper and blankets to sleep on in front of the fire. He offered us breakfast before we left this morning, but all we'd take was a cup of coffee. We wanted to get home."

Relief almost rendering her speechless, Jassy managed to get out, "Bill Dimmer is a fine man, feeding you men and letting you sleep before the fire."

"Well, it was a humane thing for him to do, but wouldn't most men do the same thing?"

"I guess so." Jassy felt foolish making such a big to-do over something that any of her neighbors would have done. She hid a tickled grin when he grumped, "I didn't get much sleep. Two of the men snored all night. One on each side of me."

"Maybe you can catch a nap later. You can use my bed."

"I might as well. I sure can't do anything outside."

When Jassy carried the skillet of bacon to the fire, Luke's loins stirred as he watched her bend over the fire. He sure wished that she'd be napping with him.

Chapter Five

Jassy smiled contentedly as she sat before the fire, the knitting needles in her nimble fingers flashing in the firelight as they purled and knit in fashioning a scarf from a ball of dark blue yarn.

She feared the throat protector meant to be a Christmas gift for Luke wouldn't be finished in time. There were only four days left until that holiday, and only a little over half of it was finished.

It had been difficult to knit in secret since Luke was in the cabin most of the time since winter had set in. Almost always she went to bed first. Before Luke retired he liked to see to the banking of the fire for the night, check that the shutters were fastened tight, and let Digger out to visit his favorite tree.

Again Jassy thought how like a married couple they were in so many ways as she carefully untangled a piece of yarn. The only thing missing, as the aggravating little voice inside her delighted in pointing out, was that they didn't sleep together.

Her lips twisted wryly. Luke was sleeping in her bed now. Had been since early this morning.

She glanced at the clock. It was a little after one. He should be stirring pretty soon. She hoped so as she put the yarn and unfinished scarf in her knitting bag. She wanted to bake another batch of cookies for the holiday. She already had two big crocks filled with them in the larder room, plus two mincemeat pies and a fruitcake, all tightly sealed with a plate on top of them. She would slice the cake and serve it to her neighbors when they started stopping in to wish her a merry Christmas. It was the custom in the settlement to visit each other during this time of year.

As Jassy stood up she wondered if Luke would accompany her when she returned her friends' visits. But should he? she wondered. Maybe the neighbors might put some importance to it. As if there were a romance between them.

As she amassed flour and sugar and spices on the table, then went to the larder to get the small crock of butter, it occurred to Jassy for the first time that her neighbors might be talking about her and Luke. A thoughtful frown creased her forehead. They didn't know that Luke slept upstairs in the loft room, did they? Didn't they think that he still slept in the barn?

She thought back, trying to remember if she'd had company who might have seen some evidence that Luke now shared the cabin with her.

She couldn't think of a time, but she'd be careful from now on that none of Luke's clothes were lying around when someone stopped in. Although she knew that she and Luke were perfectly innocent of any wrongdoing, others might not think so.

Jassy was briskly stirring the cookie batter when Luke stepped from behind the blanket, stretching and yawning. He had removed his boots and shirt before lying down on her bed, and she admired his broad shoulders in the close-fitting undershirt. Her gaze traveled up to his hair-tousled head and she grinned. He looked like a big overgrown boy.

"Why did you let me sleep so long?" Luke glanced at the clock.

"I figured there was no point in waking you up since there's nothing you can do to spend the time."

Luke's blue eyes twinkled teasingly. "I could be talking to you. Or," he went on, "I could go visit Jemma and have a piece of the cake her mama says is so delicious."

Jassy felt that Luke was talking in jest, but wasn't too sure. She slid a quick sideways glance at him and found his face perfectly sober.

She didn't respond to his remark right away as she spooned the spicy dough onto a cookie sheet. But inside, pain and jealousy were building.

Then, as though her inner voice was directing her words and actions, she slammed the spoon into the empty bowl and said through clenched teeth, "Why don't you do that? I'm sure I don't care. You can bundle with her until the spring rains for all that it matters to me. And you can go to the post and sleep with a whore for all the difference it would make to me."

Luke's lips drew into a tight line as Jassy's skirts swished angrily as she strode to the fireplace, shoved the dough into the oven, and slammed the door. When she returned to the table and started clearing it, he gave her a hard smile and said, "Maybe I'll just do that! Maybe I'll bundle with Jemma a couple hours first and then go on to the post and sleep with all the whores there."

"Fine! I'm sure it won't be the first time."

"The hell it won't! I've never touched one of those tavern women yet."

Both were out of control now, their voices raised and shouting, when Jassy yelled, "Well, don't let me keep you from doing it now."

Luke opened his mouth to cut back at her, then closed it when a loud rapping sounded on the door. When he spun and went to sit before the fire, Jassy brought a semblance of calm to her face. Whoever was out there, had they heard her and Luke quarreling? she asked herself as she went to the door. And what must they think of the words angrily yelled?

She opened the door and wished it was all a dream. Her neighbors Jake and Sue Ellen Anderson and a stranger stood smiling uncertainly at her. Of all the people in the settlement, this pair was the last she'd want to hear the shouting match that she and Luke had engaged in.

Sue Ellen wasn't one to preach the Bible to a person, but she was a firm believer in people doing what was right. Jassy liked and respected her. She swallowed, to bring some moisture to her mouth that had gone dry, and opening the door wider, she smiled and said, "How nice to see you and Jake, Sue Ellen. Come by the fire."

"We can't stay long, Jassy," Sue Ellen said as she took off her jacket and head scarf. "I don't like to leave the younguns home alone very long. Lela and Amos tend to get into arguments which sometimes lead to hitting each other." She grinned. "And that leads to Jake doing some hitting on their seats."

Sue Ellen turned to the stranger who had taken off his heavy black coat and stood waiting to be introduced. Jassy's eyes widened a bit when she saw the white clerical collar fastened around his neck. A reverend! Where did he come from? There was no preacher among the residents of the settlement.

With a proud smile, Sue Ellen said, "Jassy and Luke, I want you to meet my brother, John Donner. He came for a short visit which has been lengthened because of the blizzard, and we are very happy about it. We don't see him nearly often enough."

John Donner gave Jassy a warm handshake and smile, then turned and offered his hand to Luke, who had risen to his feet.

"Do you have time for a cup of coffee and a slice of my fruitcake?" Jassy asked, her nerves settling a bit.

"Yes, we have time for that," Sue Ellen answered, sitting down at the table. "Then we want to bring up a delicate subject."

Jassy knew intuitively what the delicate subject was. She and Luke living together. But how did they know that Luke now slept in the cabin? They had to be guessing.

Even as she told herself that, however, she saw Sue Ellen looking pointedly at Luke's undershirt, then at his boots lying on the hearth. She knew that next her neighbor would see his razor and shaving mug on the shelf under the small tin mirror. That, if nothing else, was a dead giveaway that he was sharing the cabin full time.

When her company was seated and Jassy was putting out the cake and pouring coffee, Luke pulled up a stool to sit on, leaving the extra chair for Jassy.

Although the Andersons were their normal friendly selves as they drank their coffee and praised the fruitcake, Jassy felt her nerves tightening up again. She glanced at Luke and knew by his taut features that he was uneasy also. He evidently guessed what the delicate subject Sue Ellen had referred to would be.

When the cake was eaten, Jassy pressed her company to have more, putting off as long as she could hearing what was coming. She was sure that Sue Ellen was going to say that it wasn't right for a single man and woman to live together and that Luke should move on.

Would he agree? she wondered. In all likelihood he would. There was Jemma, after all. He'd be welcomed with open arms at the Coulsons'.

Her heart seemed to drop to her feet at the thought. She was so deep in misery she scarcely heard Sue Ellen when she said, "Well, what do you think, Jassy?"

Jassy could only stare at Sue Ellen a moment, the thought of losing Luke still gripping her mind. "I'm sorry, Sue Ellen, but I didn't hear your question."

"It wasn't a question, girl," Sue Ellen said impatiently, "It was a statement. I said that you and Luke should get married."

"Get married!" Jassy exclaimed, her tone so sharp that Digger rushed to her side as though she was in danger. As Luke watched her through eyes that had suddenly narrowed, she asked, "Why should we get married?"

Sue Ellen looked at her reproachfully. "Jassy, you know it's not right for you and Luke to be living together without benefit of marriage. Your mother and father must be spinning in their graves."

"But we're not living together," Jassy denied.

"That's right," Luke spoke up indignantly. "Who says that we are?"

"Only half the settlement, Luke." Jake spoke up for the first time. "Several men have passed by the cabin at night and seen a candle burning in the loft room. Common sense told them that Jassy wouldn't be lighting up an empty room."

There was a long strained silence as Jassy and Luke accepted the fact that their secret was no longer secret.

While Luke cursed inwardly that Sue Ellen had ruined his plan of courting Jassy awhile, then asking her to marry him, Jassy wanted to curl up and die of embarrassment. Luke was a gentleman. Even though his heart was set on another woman, he would do what he thought was right. To marry Jassy Jeffers, save her reputation.

I mustn't let that happen, she thought to herself. I must say firmly that I don't want to marry him. She started to speak, to say she had no desire to get married at the time, but Luke spoke before her.

Taking a long breath, Luke said, "I'll leave in the morning."

Jassy felt as if a fist had been delivered to her chest. Those were the last words she had expected to come out of Luke's mouth. She knew now that above everything else in the world she wanted to be his wife, no matter how she got him. But he must never know that, she added as she forced her features not to show their dismay.

She waited for the Andersons and the preacher to rise, put on their jackets, and say good-bye. She badly needed to get to the privacy of her blanketed corner and let the tears that were choking her run down her cheeks.

But Sue Ellen wasn't satisfied with Luke's announcement. Looking at him, she shook her head and pointed out, "It's too late for you to leave now. The damage is already done. If you go away, Jassy's reputation will be in shreds. She'll never be able to marry a decent man. If you respect Jassy, you must marry her."

Jassy shot a glance at Luke and felt chilled to the bone. His jaw clenched tight, he looked like a cornered animal not knowing which way to jump.

Her pride shattered, she asked herself if marriage to her was that distasteful to Luke. Well, she thought determinedly, no one would ever know how torn up she felt.

''Look," she said sharply, her eyes flashing, "that decision isn't entirely Luke's to make. I have some say in the matter. I would rather remain an old maid and be talked about than to enter into a marriage where there is no love."

"Jassy, what are you saying?" Sue Ellen sounded scandalized. "A woman's good reputation is the most important thing she can own. Love will come to your marriage in time. I can tell that you and Luke like each other, and that's very important."

Jassy wanted to cry out, But Luke has already chosen the woman he wants to marry. He'll end up hating me. She glanced up at Luke to say again that she didn't want to marry him, and caught her breath.

Luke was smiling at her. When he said, "I think we would suit, Jassy," she could only stare at him a moment before muttering, "I suppose we could muddle through somehow."

"Good!" Sue Ellen exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "What about having the wedding on Christmas Eve? Doesn't that sound romantic?"

Romantic? Jassy bit out to herself. Sue Ellen could say some outrageous things sometimes. Here she had just practically forced two people to marry each other against their will and had the nerve to make off that it was a love match.

Not to be completely rolled over by Sue Ellen, Jassy tried to take some control. "Christmas Eve is only two days away. I need more time to get ready."

"Time for what?" Sue Ellen demanded, then teased, "Do you want to sew yourself a white wedding gown?"

When Jassy shook her head and looked at the floor, though that had always been a dream of hers, Luke said in a cold, clipped voice, "Jassy has every right to wear white when she stands up with me."

"Oh, Jassy, I didn't mean that to sound the way it did." Sue Ellen left her chair to come hug Jassy's shoulders. "I was just making a joke. You know as well as I do that no one here in the settlement has ever been married in a special white dress. It would be a waste of hard-earned money to buy the material even if we could get it."

Jassy smiled at her friend, knowing that she truly meant her apology. Sue Ellen often spoke before thinking. But how nice of Luke to set them all straight about her right to wear white when she took her vows with him.

"So," Sue Ellen said with a grin, "what is your excuse not to get married on Christmas Eve? Tell the truth, don't you have all your holiday baking done?" She looked toward the corner where the shapely pine stood. "You even have your tree up. What's so pressing that you can't be ready in two days?"

Everything that Sue Ellen said was true, so Jassy could only give in and say, "Christmas Eve it is."

"Good. Now, what time should we be here, and do you want any of your other neighbors to come along with us?"

Luke answered before Jassy could. "Just you and Jake and the preacher will be fine. I'll be nervous enough with just you folks looking on."

The preacher grinned, and Jake slapped Luke on the back and said with a laugh, "It's hard to give yourself over to a woman's rule, ain't it, Luke?"

Luke would have liked to say that it would be no hardship giving himself over to the gentle Jassy. If only she loved him, he added.

Finally Sue Ellen was ready to go home. She was still talking about the wedding as she drew on her jacket. Jassy didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed when Luke donned his jacket, picked up his rifle, and without a word to her followed their guests outside.

The four of them passed from her view as they went around the corner of the cabin, leaving her with no idea what direction Luke had taken.

Was he going to the post? The sun would set in another hour. Or had he gone to tell the other woman that he was getting married in a couple of days?

Her teeth worried at her bottom lip. If Jemma was the one he had chosen to marry, there would be hard feelings when he married someone else. The Coulsons would probably never speak to her again.

With a long sigh Jassy began to clear the table of the cups and plates and flatware, still pretty much in a daze. She was going to get her heart's desire.

As she went and sat down in front of the fire and picked up Luke's unfinished scarf, she wished that it was Luke's desire to be married to her.

She took up the knitting needles and began knitting and purling. He would be her husband when she gave it to him on Christmas Eve. A rueful smile curved her lips. When she had started the woolen length, she never dreamed that one day she would become Mrs. Luke Slater.

Would she be a wife in name only, she wondered, or would Luke claim his conjugal rights? She knew that men, and some women, didn't have to love the person they made love to. Luke didn't love her, but she remembered she had aroused him that day when he had swept her up against his hard body. She had felt the evidence of it.

Yes, Jassy thought, Luke would want to consummate their becoming husband and wife. She didn't quite know how she felt about that. If Luke loved her, she would look forward to their wedding night as eagerly as he. But knowing that there was no love on his part, she feared she'd feel used.

The knitting needles clicked away, the blue yarn sliding through her fingers. Another four inches and the scarf would be finished.

Luke parted with the Andersons and preacher Donner at the barn. It was with relief that he watched the three walk single file along a narrow, snow-packed trail leading through the forest. Their cabin and holdings were a scant mile away.

Finally he could relax, he told himself as he saddled Prince and led him outside. He didn't think he could have gone on much longer, pretending that Jassy's reluctance to get married didn't bother him. It bothered the hell out of him. He wanted her to want it as much as he did.

And dammit, he felt confident that had he been given time to court her she would have accepted him when he proposed. A closeness had been growing between them, a warmth that he had been nurturing toward the time he'd ask her for her hand.

Now, thanks to Sue Ellen's meddling, Jassy was being forced to a commitment she wasn't ready for. She was bound to resent it, resent him.

Luke swung onto Prince's wide back and nudged him to move out. The thought hit him that there was nothing to say he couldn't court Jassy after they became man and wife. His spirits lifted somewhat, and he put his mind to the reason he was taking this cold ride. He wanted to find and shoot a wild turkey for his and Jassy's Christmas dinner.

Half an hour later Luke pulled Prince in on a small rise at the fringe of the forest. He had an unparalleled view of the valley below. He had picked up on turkey tracks right away and had been following them all this time. He had begun to wonder if he'd ever catch up with them. The sun would set soon and he wanted to get home before darkness came on. Wolf packs would be running then, and Prince would look awfully good to the hungry animals.

He stood up in the stirrups suddenly and stared off to his right. He had heard the gobbling call of a turkey. "Ah ha!" he exclaimed under his breath, sighting several big birds feeding on the seeds of tall grass that rose above the snow. He was close enough to see the red wattles under their necks.

He ran his gaze over the flock a minute, pulling his rifle from its saddle sheath, and gripping the stallion's sides with his knees, signaling it not to move, he brought the fire-piece up to his shoulder. Taking careful aim at a good-sized hen, he squeezed the trigger. She fell over on the ground, her head shot off. The rest of the wild ones ran awkwardly toward a stand of pine, making a raucous noise. A pleased smile on his handsome face, Luke guided Prince down the incline to retrieve his trophy. It would make real good eating on Christmas day. The beginning of his life with plain, sweet Jassy.

Jassy folded and smoothed the blue finished scarf, thinking how warm it would keep Luke's throat. The one he had been wearing had seen better days.

She glanced out the window and was startled to see that the red ball of sun was beginning to sink below the timberline. In another fifteen minutes darkness would be setting in.

She placed the Christmas gift in the sewing basket at her feet and covered it with a small white tea towel. She didn't want Luke to see it until she gave it to him on Christmas Eve.

Rising, she walked to the window on the kitchen side of the room, thinking that Luke had better return soon or he'd be caught out in the dark.

As she stood and gazed through the glass pane, watching a pair of squirrels scurrying about looking for their supper before daylight faded, she began to wonder if Luke even planned on coming home tonight.

A dismaying thought struck her. Maybe Luke wasn't ever coming back. It was possible he had left the area for good in order not to marry her. Jassy was so convinced that she would never see Luke Slater again, a rush of hot tears glimmered in her eyes. "Accept it, Jassy Jeffers," she whispered fiercely, rubbing her eyes. The first words that came out of his mouth when Sue Ellen was badgering him was that he would leave. The rest of the time he just pretended to go along with the meddling neighbor.

She squared her shoulders, reconciling herself to going back to her lonely existence, doing all the chores on the farm besides. Milking the cow was the first in order. As she turned from the window, a movement in the woods caught her notice. She spun back around, her lips parted in a wide smile of thanksgiving.

Luke was riding in, a wild turkey tied to his saddle. He had gone hunting for their Christmas dinner.

Chapter Six

The night before their wedding was to take place, Jassy and Luke sat before the fire, their stockinged feet propped on the hearth.

They had sat this way countless evenings during the winter, but tonight was different. Both were deeply aware that this time tomorrow night they would be man and wife.

The same question was on the minds of each. Would they be sharing the bed in the corner? Would the blankets that had been hung for Jassy's privacy be taken down, folded and put away?

I shouldn't press sharing her bed right away, Luke said in his mind. We haven't even kissed yet. There had been only that one act of intimacy between them, and that had been on his part when Jassy had started falling off the ladder and he had grabbed her, then lost his head and obeyed the dictates of his body to snatch her softness into his arms. She had felt so good, so right, pressed against him. It had been all he could do not to kiss her.

He had known, however, that a kiss wouldn't be nearly enough and had had the good sense to release her while he could still keep his hands from stroking all over her.

Luke wondered now if he should have listened to his conscience that day. If he had followed the urging of his body, they might already be married and there wouldn't be this uneasiness between them.

He came to the conclusion that he would follow Jassy's lead tomorrow night. He would know by her actions whether or not he was to join her in bed.

As Jassy sat beside Luke, gazing into the flames, she thought of what tomorrow would bring and looked forward to it with excitement and reluctance. Although a thrill ran through her every time the thought of marrying Luke crossed her mind, there was the knowledge that he didn't love her.

Was she making the mistake of a lifetime binding herself to a man who wanted to marry another? Damn Sue Ellen Anderson for sticking her nose into something that wasn't her concern. Luke was having the same doubts she had, for she had sensed him looking at her several times and had expected each time for him to say that he had changed his mind about marrying her tomorrow.

A sigh drifted silently through her lips. She was so tired of thinking about it, worrying the whole thing through her mind. When the clock struck nine she pretended a sleepy yawn and stood up. "Good night, Luke," she said in his direction, not looking at him. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Jassy," Luke answered quietly, and as was his habit before retiring, sat and watched the shadows cast on the blankets as Jassy undressed and changed into her gown.

Would she do that in front of him tomorrow night? he asked himself, hoping fervently that she would.

The first part of the day went pretty much in the usual fashion. Luke rose from bed before Jassy, stirred up the fire, and put on a pot of coffee to brew. Then he picked up the milk pail and went to the barn.

As usual, Jassy waited in bed until the room warmed up a bit before rising and getting dressed. And as the day wore on, though each appeared their normal self on the surface, inside they were a bundle of nerves with the unanswered questions running through their minds.

In the early afternoon Jassy baked three loaves of bread and checked a half dozen times on the refreshments she would serve the Andersons and Reverend Donner after the ceremony. There was a platter of thinly sliced ham that she had baked the day before, covered with a cloth so that it wouldn't dry out, and flanking the meat was a dish of sweet pickles she had put up in the summer and a small dish of homemade mustard.

And for her company's sweet tooth there were the cookies, of oatmeal and spice and nuts, plus the fruitcake and mincemeat pies. There would be buttered rum for the men and sweet cider for her and Sue Ellen.

Around three o'clock Luke saddled Prince and disappeared for close to an hour. Jassy immediately began to wonder if he had ridden off to visit Jemma, and to ask herself if that would continue after they were married.

What would she do if that happened? Would she demand that he stop? And would he if she did? When he returned to the cabin whistling softly to himself, she wanted to slap his face. How could he go about, seemingly carefree, while she was so miserable?

At four o'clock Luke milked the cow, fed all the animals, and gathered the eggs. When he had brought in the wood for the night, Jassy put out a light supper of beans and cornbread. They would be having sandwiches later.

By the time supper was eaten and the table cleared, it was time to get dressed for the event that Sue Ellen had insisted upon. She and her husband and brother would be here at five o'clock. Luke lit a candle and carried it up to the loft room, and Jassy carried a lighted one into her makeshift bedroom.

Inside the narrow enclosure Jassy placed the tallow on the bedside table next to the white pitcher and basin, then dithered over her two Sunday-best dresses, trying to decide which to wear. Both were of fine woolen worsted that fitted perfectly her upper body before falling in a soft gathering at her waist.

She gazed at the sky-blue one with its white lace edging on the small collar and cuffs, then switched her eyes to look at the green one with a wide collar of lace which she had crocheted. She had worn neither dress since her parents' passing. Since then it had always been the drab, shapeless dresses she pulled over her head each morning.

She finally decided on the dark green one. It would bring out the green in her hazel eyes. She left it hanging on its peg while she undressed and took up the pitcher and poured water into the basin. Picking up a soft piece of flannel and a bar of rose-scented soap she had made last summer, she began her sponge bath.

Upstairs in his room, Luke found it easy to choose what he would wear. It was his black trousers and snow-white shirt with a black string tie, or a pair of clean buckskins. The Indian garb was out. He wanted to look his best when he stood up with Jassy. He wanted their marriage to be as special to her as it was to him.

He could only vaguely remember marrying Nell. All he had been able to think about that day was to get it over with and get her in bed.

Luke sat down on the edge of the bed to draw on the black boots he had polished yesterday. His feelings for Jassy were so different from what he had felt for Nell. Since falling in love with Jassy, he now knew that he had never loved his first wife. What he had mistakenly thought was love had been only lust. There had never been any quiet times with her, when they sat before the fire talking and laughing together. It had never been as it was with him and Jassy. They enjoyed each other's company even when they had nothing to say.

He stood up. All he had left to do was go downstairs, brush his hair, and wait for the preacher.

In her room, Jassy smoothed the skirt down over her shoe tops and buttoned up the five white bone buttons. She took up her brush then and swept it through her hair until the russet-colored tresses fell into deep waves past her shoulders. She hated pulling it back into the knot she'd worn for more than two years, but she was going to keep up her pretense of looking plain until after the marriage. If Luke demanded his rights tonight, her hair would be released and her phony glasses thrown away forever. She was tired of pretending to look so plain when she knew that she wasn't. Her mother and father had always claimed she was the prettiest girl in the settlement.

As she settled the glasses she smiled wryly. Of course they would think so. Emma Coulson probably thought the same thing about their plump daughter, Jemma.

She took a deep breath, parted the blankets, and stepped into the room. Luke raised his head from staring into the fire and glanced at her, then really looked at her.

By God, he thought, Jassy might be plain of face, but her shape could knock a man's eyes out.

He had seen the back of her the time she bathed in the stream, but faced with a front view of her in a dress that fit her almost took his breath away.

Jassy tensed under Luke's close appraisal. Didn't he like her dress? Did he think it too plain for the occasion? He looked so handsome in his black pants and white shirt. He looked a little more tamed somehow.

Then Luke lifted his gaze to her face, and as he thought that she looked almost beautiful despite the severe dressing of her hair and the ugly glasses, his face broke into a slow smile, and Jassy relaxed. He stood up and walked toward her, his hand held out.

''You do me proud, Jassy Jeffers," he said softly.

Jassy smiled up at him as he led her to a chair, but before she could compliment him on his good looks, a rapping sounded at the door. Luke grinned and remarked as he walked to open it, "They're early. Sue Ellen can't wait to see us hitched, to make an honest woman of you."

He swung open the door and Jemma Coulson giggled and said, "Hi yah, Luke."

While Luke gaped at Jemma and her mother, Emma said, "Since you ain't been over to see us, we decided to drop in and say Merry Christmas to you and Jassy."

"Well ... that's nice," Luke managed to say. "Come on in."

Jassy stood beside the chair where Luke had led her, nervously twisting her fingers in the gathers of her skirt. Of all the times for those two to come visiting, she thought. The Andersons and the preacher would be here any minute. What would Emma and Jemma think when they learned that Luke was going to marry Jassy Jeffers instead of Jemma?

"Why are you two all fancied up?" Emma asked as she struggled out of her jacket. "Are you goin' to a party we don't know about?"

Luke looked at Jassy to see if she was going to explain why they were all dressed up, and when she didn't speak but only stood there in confusion, he walked up to her, put an arm around her shoulders, and said, "Jassy and I are getting married this evening."

"Gettin' married?" Jemma's voice was shrill and her eyes wide. "To each other?"

Luke felt a stab of guilt at the dismay in the young girl's voice. By flirting with her that one time to make Jassy jealous, he was now hurting Jemma. He took a deep breath and said gently, "Yes, Jemma, to each other. We'd like for you to be happy for us as we will be for you when you marry one of the young men who eye you every chance they get." He asked God his forgiveness for the lie he'd just told.

"They do?" Jemma looked mollified. "I never noticed any of them lookin' at me." She gave Luke a coy look. ''Do you think I'm pretty, Luke?"

Luke grinned at her and told his second lie. "You're as pretty as a speckled pup, Jemma."

Emma, however, wasn't so easily soothed. She'd never noticed any of the young men looking at her daughter. Her lips finely drawn, she bristled, "When Jemma does get married it won't be a have-to case." She shot Jassy a spiteful look. "She won't have a babe started in her belly."

Luke scowled and Jassy paled at the thinly hidden insult. Jassy looked down at her clasped hands. It was only natural that Emma would think the way she did. Everyone else probably thought the same way.

Jassy lifted her head and stiffened her spine, her chin held proudly. Time would prove Emma and everyone else wrong in their thinking. She'd just have to weather their gossip for a while.

While Jassy had been reconciling herself to her situation, Luke had composed himself and now told his third lie. "That's the way it should be. I'd never marry a woman who let me sleep with her before marriage."

Emma's eyes were still snapping angrily, but before she could respond to Luke's statement, Sue Ellen's laughing voice was heard outside on the porch. Jassy gave a sigh of relief and rushed to open the door.

"You two all ready to tie the knot?" Sue Ellen asked gaily, stepping inside, her cheeks rosy from the cold. As her husband and brother followed her, she spotted Emma and Jemma. Her face showed her surprise as she said, "I didn't know you had been invited to the wedding, Emma. Jassy said she didn't want a big to-do made over it."

"We wasn't invited," Emma huffed, and taking Jemma by the arm she hustled her toward their jackets hanging on the wall. "We'll be goin' now."

"Now that you're here, Emma, why don't you stay?" Jassy followed the irate woman across the floor. "We're going to have refreshments after the ceremony."

"Thank you, but no." Emma refused to be appeased. "We just stopped in for a minute."

"Well, Merry Christmas," Jassy said. "Maybe we'll see you tomorrow."

Emma didn't say yes or no, nor good-bye as she stamped outside. When Jassy closed the door behind mother and daughter, she looked at Sue Ellen. That sprightly woman shrugged her shoulders indifferently as if to say, "Let her go, who cares." She, like all the other women in the settlement, didn't overly care for the Coulson women.

There was a warm glow in Jassy's breast as she helped Sue Ellen off with her hip-length coat. Luke hadn't left her to deal with Emma alone. His warm presence beside her, the gentle pressure of his hand on her shoulder, had given her the courage to lift her head and proudly look Emma in the eyes.

Did she dare hope that Luke cared for her? Something told her that she should.

When everyone had rid themselves of their heavy outer garments and had warmed themselves before the fire, Reverend Donner smiled and said, "Will everyone take their places please."

Sue Ellen moved to stand beside Jassy, and Jake aligned himself beside Luke. The reverend opened his worn Bible and began the often spoken words. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here ..."

When she looked back on it later, Jassy felt sure that it had been a lovely service, but it was all like a dream to her while it happened. She couldn't believe that she was getting her heart's desire. It was almost too much to grasp, that the rest of her life would be spent with the man she loved so dearly.

Evidently she said all the right words at the right time, for suddenly she felt a ring being slipped on her finger and the preacher saying, "You may kiss your bride, Luke."

Luke's kiss was short and gentle, but she knew she had been kissed.

"There, it's done." Sue Ellen practically rubbed her hands together in satisfaction. She kissed Jassy on the cheek, but kissed Luke on the mouth, then laughingly said, "Let's eat now."

Everyone echoed her laugh and sat down at the table. A toast was drunk to the newlyweds; then everyone helped themselves to the ham.

As Jassy nibbled on her sandwich, she looked down at the gold band on her finger. It wasn't new and she wondered where Luke had got it. Sue Ellen saw her examining the ring and with a wide grin reached a hand across the table.

"It's mine, Jassy," she said. "Luke borrowed it until he can buy you your own. The post ran out of them last spring and Dimmer didn't get around to ordering more."

"I wondered where it came from." Jassy smiled and, stripping the ring off her finger, laid it in Sue Ellen's palm.

"It doesn't make you any the less married, wife," Luke teased, putting an arm around her shoulders and hugging her. "Don't go getting any ideas you can kick me out."

Jassy joined in with the following laughter and found herself relaxing. By the time Sue Ellen and the men prepared to leave, she was laughing as heartily as the rest at the bantering.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling as she said Merry Christmas and good night to the departing Sue Ellen and her men-folk. Luke walked out with them, saying that he would be right back.

Jassy used his absence to hurriedly wrap his Christmas gift in brown paper. She had just laid it on his chair when he returned, carrying a clothbound package.

"Merry Christmas, Jassy," he said softly, handing it to her. "I hope you like it."

"A Christmas gift, Luke?" She laughed delightedly, then like an excited youngster pulled at the cloth until the beaver jacket rolled out of it. "Oh, Luke, it's beautiful!" She grabbed the garment up and buried her chin in its softness.

A pleased look on his face, Luke started to sit down in his chair, then saw the package lying there. When he picked it up to set it on the floor, Jassy said, "That's my Christmas gift to you."

"It is?" Luke's face showed that he was touched. He hadn't received a gift of any kind since the death of his parents.

Jassy watched him unwrap the scarf, holding her breath, wondering if he would like it.

His rapt expression told her he was very pleased. He stood up and, wrapping the scarf around his neck, smiled and said, "I expect you noticed I needed a new one."

Jassy returned his smile. "Just like you saw that my jacket was looking pretty worn."

Luke slipped his fingers into his shirt pocket and brought out a sprig of greenery. Holding it up, he asked. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes, it's mistletoe."

"Do you know what it's used for sometimes?"

Jassy knew that custom had it that if a man could catch a woman standing beneath the plant, he was allowed to kiss her. However, she shook her head no, pretending to be ignorant of the practice.

Luke held it over her head. "It means that I can kiss you since you're standing under it." He pulled her into his arms. "That kiss you gave me before was as cold as charity. Let's try it again."

As he brought her softness up against his hard body, his mouth came down to cover hers. The kiss deepened, sending Jassy's pulse to racing, and her hands unconsciously gripped the front of his shirt as she pressed against him.

Breathing hard, Luke put Jassy away from him and whispered hoarsely, "I've wanted you for so long, Jassy. I think I fell in love with you that first day when you were standing up so bravely, defying those three men."

"Really, Luke?" Jassy looked up at him through love-drugged eyes. "It's been that long for me too."

Luke pressed his forehead against Jassy's. "What a pair of fools we've been. Wasting all this time." When Jassy nodded agreement, he said huskily, "I'm going upstairs to get out of these trousers and shirt. Will you be changing clothes also?"

"Yes." Jassy stepped out of his arms, her eyes luminous with happiness. Luke loved her.

Behind the blankets that would come down tomorrow, she quickly changed into her prettiest nightgown, then lifted her hands to release her hair from its tight knot. She started to braid it as she did every night, then dropped her hands. She would let it curl around her shoulders and down her back. Furthermore, she would wear it that way from now on. Luke might as well get used to it. She took off the glasses and threw them against the wall, laughing softly when she heard the tinkling of broken glass. Never again would she wear those ugly things. Something else Luke would have to get used to.

She was lying in the darkness when Luke slid in beside her.

Luke came slowly awake, his arms around his new wife's soft, warm body. He lay quietly, thinking that he was a wiser man than the one who had gone to bed last night. He had learned that making love was so much better when done with someone you loved.

Jassy stirred and turned over on her back. Luke leaned up to gaze at her face in the pale morning sun coming through the window. Wonderment grew inside him as he saw the russet curls spilling over the pillow. When she opened her hazel-green eyes and gave him a slow, slumberous smile, he said accusingly, "You tricked me, Jassy Je ... Slater. You're not plain. You're downright beautiful."

"Do you mind awfully?" Jassy ran a finger around his lips. "I'm still the same woman you fell in love with. I'll always be true to you, you don't have to worry about that."

Luke looked deeply into Jassy's eyes and knew it was true. She was no Nell. She would never bring him shame.

Just before he lowered his lips to hers, he whispered softly, "You are the best Christmas surprise I've ever received."