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On his tenth evening spent at the house with the family, Gregory chose to sit directly beside her on the parlor sofa. Helene told herself not to put too much store in that, but her heart didn’t entirely listen. She’d resigned herself to the knowledge that she’d fallen rather head over heels for this man she hardly knew. She was sensible enough not to entirely lose her head over him, but she was also vulnerable enough to hope he felt something for her—anything remotely resembling her own preference.

Gregory leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. “Bianca let me in on a little secret.”

A secret? Helene’s heart stopped. Surely Bianca hadn’t made the same discovery her brother had regarding Helene’s feelings for this man. “What secret is that?” she managed to whisper.

“It seems Liam is quite an accomplished musician.”

Relief surged through her. She could even look at him without feeling as though she were ready to crumble—although the realization that he sat so very close set her insides fluttering. “Liam plays the guitar,” she acknowledged. “He is quite good at it.”

Gregory motioned across the room with a quick twitch of his head. “I convinced him to play for us tonight.”

She was impressed. “How did you manage that? He doesn’t generally like to play, and I can’t say that you are his favorite person.”

He smiled. Oh, how that smile made her feel like giggling despite being well past the age when such a thing was even remotely acceptable. “I posed my invitation as something of a challenge,” he explained. “The poor boy couldn’t resist.”

“That was underhanded, Gregory.” She smiled through the halfhearted reprimand.

“Perhaps.” He leaned lazily against the sofa back, his arm outstretched along the top. “But he’s so determined to prove his worth through work that he seems to have lost the ability to enjoy himself.”

Helene sighed in dismay at the truth of that statement. She’d tried so hard the past six months to help Liam feel at home, but he never seemed truly at ease. “I don’t know how to convince him that he’s wanted and appreciated without working himself to the bone.”

“It may be that hard work is something he values in himself.”

There was undeniable wisdom in that. She watched Liam as he tuned his guitar and wondered for perhaps the hundredth time if she was hindering more than helping him. She’d never been a mother but now had two children in her keeping. Her own mother had spent much of the past months too distraught to offer any insights.

Gregory’s arm slipped from the back of the sofa down around her shoulders. Her heart thudded as he pulled her closer to him. “I can see that you are fretting yourself into knots over this,” he whispered. “But let me tell you this: Liam speaks highly of you when it’s only the two of us out working. He’s far too protective of you and Mrs. Bowen to be anything but dedicated to you both.”

Some of the ever-present tension in her shoulders eased at his words. She leaned a little against him. “They’ve lost so much in their short lives. I don’t want to add to their burdens.”

“You are a good woman, Helene Bowen, just as I thought you were.”

A deep sigh surged through her at his compliment. She’d been more or less on her own since moving west with her mother five years earlier. Josiah had been off fighting in the war then. The uncle they’d come to Nebraska to live near had moved farther west shortly after they’d arrived. Gregory’s soothing company was a balm to her lonely soul. How long she’d waited for someone to enter her life whom she could trust.

She sat beside him, with his arm about her shoulders, perfectly content for the first time in years. She couldn’t predict where their connection would take them. Perhaps she’d find reason over the long growing and harvest seasons to keep him at a distance. Perhaps she would discover in him a soul mate, someone who would stay around even after his employment was over. She didn’t know which it would be but chose in that moment to simply enjoy his company and hope for the best.

Liam had, apparently, finished tuning his guitar. He launched into a jaunty, fast-paced tune. Bianca tapped her feet in time to the music, smiling contentedly.

Mother stepped up to the sofa, a steaming cup in her hand. “Coffee?” She held the mug out to Gregory.

“Thank you, Mrs. Bowen.” He accepted the cup with a smile. As Mother walked to her rocking chair by the mantel, Gregory turned to Helene. “She didn’t bring you any coffee, but you’re welcome to this cup if you’d like.”

“I’ll never sleep tonight if I drink coffee this late,” she answered. “But thank you for offering.”

Gregory settled into his corner of the sofa, coffee in hand and his free arm still around her shoulders. He wouldn’t do that if he weren’t at least a little bit interested in her. Would he?

Don’t think about this too hard. Just enjoy it.

Liam strummed through a couple of tunes, his expression lighter than Helene remembered seeing in all the months he’d been here.

“Do you know ‘Old Dan Tucker’?” Gregory asked at the first lull in music.

Liam smiled and began playing the song.

Bianca clapped her hands gleefully. “I love this one.”

Gregory grinned at her. “I never could resist a golden-haired angel.” He set his coffee on the end table and stood. Helene immediately missed his one-armed embrace.

He crossed to where Bianca sat and held out his hand. She jumped up and took his hand. Gregory danced her around the room, spinning her about. The two of them laughed and smiled. Helene pulled her feet onto the sofa beside her and watched the magic Gregory was weaving over Liam and Bianca.