“By Winter, You’ll Have My Son Growing Inside You” — The Giant Cowboy Vowed To The Lonely Widow

Chapter 2

Three days passed, and the question followed her everywhere. She found herself pausing over the washbasin to study her reflection in the cracked mirror, wondering what the giant had seen that made him believe she could carry the weight of a man’s future. The woman who looked back seemed too thin, too worn, too hollowed out by grief and labor to hold such a hope.

On the fourth morning, she opened her door to find him sitting on her porch steps, a gold pocket watch open in his palm.

“You’ve been waiting long,” she said.

“Long enough to watch the sun come up.” He rose, closing the watch with a soft click. “It’s beautiful country, even in its harshness. A good place to raise children.”

The directness of it stole her breath. “Mr. Stone, I haven’t decided—”

“I know.” He stepped closer, and she smelled leather and pine. “But I need to tell you something that might help you make up your mind.”