Colorado Courtship: Winter of Dreams / The Rancher's Sweetheart. Cheryl St.John

and sat with Tessa in her upstairs getaway. Later the hallway grew chilly, so they decided to move to their rooms where they could stoke their fireplaces.

      Alone in her room with the wind battering the window, Violet was thankful for her job and for a warm place to sleep at night. This home was built of brick, and inside they were safe from the elements. She was comfortable here, and the Hammonds treated her well. Church and Ben Charles’s prayers were new to her, but he and Tessa set great store by God, and Violet had no evidence they were wrong.

      At a tap on her door she stood from her chair, with her shawl wrapped around her, and opened it.

      Ben Charles stood in the hallway, holding an armful of logs. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m afraid I got busy, but I wanted to make sure you had enough wood to last the night.”

      She took a step back. “Thank you. I’m keeping quite warm, thank you.”

      He placed the wood in the bin beside the fireplace and brushed bits of bark from his sleeve, then picked them up and tossed them into the fire. After striding back to the door, he turned momentarily. “Sleep well.”

      She closed the door behind him and listened to his footsteps move away down the hallway. A feeling of well-being akin to nothing she’d ever experienced washed over her.

      She wasn’t sure how she knew it, but she belonged here.

      Chapter Seven

      Ben Charles awoke to the sound of the wind. During the winter months when he wasn’t tending to graves or grounds, he had time to work on headstones. He found it immensely satisfying to create monuments that would last through the ages and bless the families of the departed.

      In his workshop were stacks of flat cut marble and he had been looking forward to time to work on them.

      The tantalizing smells of coffee and bacon drew him to the kitchen, where Violet coached Tessa on cutting circles from a layer of dough. “What are you ladies up to?”

      “Violet’s teaching me to drop doughnuts.” Tessa took two of the circles she’d cut and turned to place them in an enormous skillet of grease.

      The resulting popping sounds and the smell made Ben Charles’s stomach rumble. “I have an idea where you can drop a couple of those doughnuts.” With a grin, he poured himself a cup of coffee.

      “I’ll fix you a plate,” Violet offered.

      He stopped her with a raised hand. “I’ll get my own. You’re busy.”

      The oven held pans of bacon and a platter of pancakes she’d kept warming.

      “I helped make those, too,” his sister called.

      Ben Charles sat to eat, enjoying Violet and Tessa’s chatter as much as the food. “The road must have been too bad for Henry to venture out this morning.”

      “I can’t tell if there’s more snow falling or if all that snow in the air is coming from the roof and the trees,” Violet replied.

      Ben Charles got up for more coffee and stopped at the window. “Looks like a little of both.” He filled his cup. “Will you two be all right today if I fill the woodbins and then go work in my shop?”

      “We’ll be fine,” Tessa answered. “We’re making an applesauce cake after these.”

      He took a doughnut from the plate of finished ones and tasted the warm sugary goodness. “What will you do with extra baked goods we can’t eat?”

      Violet looked up with a stricken expression. “Is this wasteful?”

      “Not at all. I’ve enjoyed every single treat to come out of your kitchen so far. And it’s obviously an excellent learning opportunity for Tessa. She’s enjoying herself, and that makes me happy.”

      “Maybe we can take extras to people in town,” Tessa suggested. “Not today, of course, but when the weather permits.”

      “Good idea.” Ben Charles nabbed another doughnut. “Now I’d better go before I eat the entire batch.”

      “Will you be back at lunch?” Violet asked.

      He caught the expectant look on her face, and his stomach dipped unexpectedly. “Indeed, I will.”

      “What will you be doing today?” Tessa asked.

      “I have a couple of more days’ work before Ivan Chambers’s stone is finished.”

      “May we bring your lunch and watch you for a while?” She turned to Violet. “I love to watch him work. Will you join me?”