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suspected Griffin had tipped over the crystal glass simply to see what reaction Karl would have. If the boy was hoping for outrage, or a punishing slap, he’d been disappointed. Karl had laughed.
    “I’m glad you did that,” he’d said to Griffin as he swabbed his vest with his napkin. “I couldn’t refuse Dennis’s offer of a bottle of wine to celebrate, but I’ve never really liked the stuff.”
    “Your poor suit!” Grace had exclaimed before shooting daggers at Griffin.
    Karl had merely shrugged. “I don’t expect to be wearing this suit much. It’ll be Levi’s and plaid wool shirts and boots from now on.”
    Hetty had seen the smirk come and go on Griffin’s face and realized she couldn’t let the boy get away with such a prank. “Nevertheless, we shouldn’t allow the stain to set,” she said. “I believe we’re all finished with supper.”
    “We’re supposed to get apple pie for dessert!” Griffin protested.
    “Yes, we
were
going to have apple pie,” Hetty said. “Now I think you’ll agree it would be unwise to force Karl to sit here while his suit gets ruined.” She turned to Karl and said, “Shall we go?”
    Hetty could see Karl was going to relent and stay for dessert, so she rose and said, “Time for bed, children.”
    “Serves you right,” Grace muttered under her breath to Griffin as she got up from her chair.
    Griffin said nothing, simply made a moue in acceptance of how he’d been outmaneuvered.
    Hetty realized that by making Karl’s suit a priority, she’d denied herself the opportunity to escape into the children’s room to ready them for bed, thereby postponing the start of her wedding night. She did pause momentarily by the door to their room and said to Grace, “Don’t stay up late. We have a very long day on the trail tomorrow.”
    “I wish we could stay here a little longer,” Grace said, gazing wistfully at the soft, four-poster bed she and Griffin would be sharing. “I’m so tired of traveling.”
    “Our journey will be over soon,” Hetty promised. “You heard Karl say our new log home will have soft beds for everyone.”
    “I can’t believe Griffin did that,” Grace whispered after Karl had moved across the hall to unlock the door to his and Hetty’s room. “Or that Karl was so nice about it.”
    “It seems we’ve all been very fortunate,” Hetty said. “But if you have any sway at all with Griffin, tell him he shouldn’t push his luck.”
    “I will,” Grace said fervently.
    Hetty hugged the girl, then turned to join Karl, who’d been waiting patiently by the open door to their room, the wine-stained table napkin pressed against his wine-stained vest.
    Her heartbeat ratcheted up as they entered the room and Karl closed the door behind them. The hotel room seemed small, perhaps because so much of it was taken up by the bed. After all the weeks of sleeping under the sky, Hetty felt trapped within the four stifling walls.
    She hadn’t noticed it when she’d changed out of her wedding dress before supper, but she suddenly became aware of the smell of woodsmoke pervading Mrs. Templeton’s navy-trimmed, light blue traveling dress, which the other woman had often worn while sitting by the fire. Hetty suddenly found the smoky smell unbearable.
    Unfortunately, to get rid of the smell, she’d have to remove the dress, and she wasn’t willing to do that. At least, not until it was absolutely necessary.
    Hetty turned away from the waiting, turned-down covers toward Karl, brushed the lapel of his suit coat, and said, “There’s wine on this, too.”
    Karl shrugged out of the jacket and draped it over a nearby ladder-back chair in the corner, then began unbuttoning his vest.
    Hetty realized that if Karl took off everything with a wine stain, he’d soon be standing before her in his smalls. She quickly crossed the room to the pitcher and bowl sitting on a clothes chest, poured some water, then dampened the cloth sitting beside the bowl and crossed back