“I thought it was. Wasn’t the marriage certificate enough?”

  She looked at him. “No. It isn’t.” She called for her assistant.

  Ben stopped her as she reached for her coat. “Why is it so important to you?”

  Hilde shrugged her arms into her coat and called for Natalie again. “I married you because it was a stipulation to gain my parents’ company. But now that company is in jeopardy. There are many men and women that are going to lose their jobs if I don’t have a husband.”

  “You should have a certificate. That should be enough.”

  Hilde shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. A judge wants me to prove I’m married and to do that I need to appear with my husband in front of another judge. It is either that or take you back to Philadelphia and appear there. He wants to see us together in person.”

  Ben scratched his chin. “I married you for my own reasons. I thought we both wanted to live our separate lives,” he added, as he started to turn away from her. He didn’t want to be close to her, as his mind was waging war between the beauty that was standing before him and the way she was acting. “I never thought I’d see or meet you. And I certainly didn’t think you would meet my daughters.”

  Hilde placed her scarf around her neck. “That is fine, Ben. I will be out of your sight shortly.”

  Natalie came down the hallway, a cookie in her hand. She was followed by Autumn and an older lady with graying hair. “Are you going somewhere?” Natalie asked.

  “Yes. We are leaving.” Hilde looked at her.

  “Leaving? But we just got here.”

  Suddenly the door flew open with a gust and flurry of snowflakes. Two people walked in and shook the snow from their clothes.

  “It is starting to come down harder now,” the man said, taking off his hat. He helped the other person remove a scarf that was wrapped around her face several times. “There, there, mother, we are here now.”

  When the scarf was removed, the woman coughed a few times and took a deep breath of air. The woman caught sight of Hilde and gave a little gasp. “You’re the actress on the train.” Hilde nodded. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked.

  “I was just leaving.”

  “You’re making your wife leave, Benjamin?” Autumn asked, wrinkling her nose as she looked at him.

  “Your wife?” the woman said.

  “Yes,” Autumn said.

  “Why is your wife leaving?” the man asked.

  He looked into the faces of two people he thought he would never see again. “She’s not,” he quickly replied, placing his arm around her shoulders. “We just had an argument. But don’t all couples argue, my love?” he said, looking at Hilde.

  She looked confused and was just about to say something when Anna came running into the room and took one look at the couple and went flying into the older woman’s arms.

  “Ben?” Hilde asked, the question unspoken.

  His wife had just met his in-laws.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning Hilde sat at the breakfast table watching the spoon make ripples in her tea. She stirred once more, then placed the spoon aside to sip from the cup. Ben hadn’t told her exactly what was going on, but she guessed it had something to do with his in-laws showing up.

  Mr. and Mrs. Evans appeared cordial enough, but Hilde recognized that there was definitely some animosity between Ben and the elderly couple.

  She was sitting in the dining area of the hotel and waiting for Ben to come down so they could go see his friend, Michael, in town. Ben was very secretive about what they were doing, and Hilde didn’t think it had anything to do with why she was there.

  They didn’t have a moment to chat the night before. Once he saw the couple, Hilde noticed he gave a look to Helen and then made his excuses on having to go pick up the luggage from the train station before it was buried under the snow.

  That left Hilde and Natalie awkwardly staring at the Evans. When Mrs. Evans inquired how Ben and Hilde had met, she ended up having to step on Natalie’s boot, so the young girl didn’t say anything. Through a friend, was all Hilde would say.

  Helen broke the tension and led Hilde and Natalie to adjoining rooms for the night. She placed Mr. and Mrs. Evans as far away from everyone as she could, on the other side of the hotel.

  When Ben returned with their luggage, he told Hilde to be ready by 9 o’clock in the morning to head to town. She had about 15 minutes before he would meet her. She had another sip of her tea.

  Ben Remington was nothing like she imagined. She realized she didn’t even think anything about what her husband looked like other than his name on the marriage certificate. Then to find out he had two adorable children!

  When she first saw her husband, she was gobsmacked. Never in all the New York parties had she ever had anyone grab her attention the way that Ben Remington did. He wasn’t as handsome as some of the men in New York, but he certainly was rugged.

  He stood a full head taller than herself, was thin with just enough muscles on his arms that his shirtsleeves tightened as he flexed his fists.

  He had light brown hair and deep brown eyes. Hilde would have sworn she saw flecks of gold in them. His lips were thin and thank goodness he didn’t have a beard or mustache. Hilde didn’t like facial hair. It made a man look older than he was.

  Yes, overall, her husband was very pleasing to the eye; but it was a shame his expression wasn’t pleasing at all.

  He looked surprised when she arrived. She couldn’t imagine why, as Mr. Turner was supposed to send word of her arrival.

  Mrs. Evans walked in and poured herself a cup of coffee from the sideboard. She added a splash of cream and sat down across from Hilde. Hilde took the opportunity to study the woman, as she had very limited time to do so the previous night.

  Mrs. Evans was probably a little bit older than her parents. She was a robust type of woman with brown hair that was starting to gray at the sides. Her skin was porcelain with large rosy apples on her cheeks. There were pronounced lines around her eyes and mouth. Her brown eyes were soft but looked very sad. Hilde thought that perhaps she had endured some tragedy and wasn’t quite recovered.

  “Good morning,” Hilde replied.

  Mrs. Evans took a sip of her coffee and nodded to Hilde. “Good morning. I’m afraid I didn’t actually catch your name last night.”

  “Hilde Carter,” Hilde said, offering her hand to the woman.

  Mrs. Evans raised one eyebrow. “You mean Remington, don’t you?” Hilde looked puzzled. “You mean Hilde Remington. After all you are married to Benjamin.”

  Hilde put her fingers to her throat and fiddled with the broach there. “Of course. Hilde Remington. I’m so used to introducing myself as Carter, as it was my maiden name.”

  Mrs. Evans extended her hand. “Mayam Evans. My husband is John.”

  Hilde took the woman’s hand. “Hilde Remington,” she said. “My stage name is Amanda Cartier.”

  Mayam gave a harrumph and released Hilde’s hand. “You sure are a pretty thing.”

  “Thank you. I think,” Hilde said.

  “My daughter was Emily.”

  “Emily is a lovely name.”

  Mayam nodded. “She ran this hotel alongside Ben for years, before she passed.”

  “I am so sorry, Mayam. Was she an employee here?”

  Mayam let out a bark of a laugh. “No, she wasn’t an employee. She was Benjamin’s wife and mother to those two lovely girls.”

  Hilde gasped. Oh, horse feathers, she opened her mouth now, didn’t she?

  Mayam took a sip of her coffee and eyed Hilde, her eyes turning hard. “I find it awkward that you are married to Ben and know nothing about his past wife, or the girls, or even this town.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I talked to the girls last night. They said you arrived just before we did. I knew that because I saw you on the train. They certainly didn’t know that Ben was married.”

  “I was performing in New York,” Hilde offered. “We didn’t have time to tell anyone.”

  “Why did you sleep in a separate room last night?”

  Hilde finished her tea. It had turned cold and she tried not to grimace as she pushed the cup to the side. “I don’t think that is any of your business.”

  “Then when did you get married?” Mayam inquired.

  “Why all these questions?”

  “I came to collect my grandchildren and take them back to Boston.” Mayam pointed a bony finger at Hilde. “I wonder if this is really a marriage at all. If it isn’t, I’m prepared to take my grandchildren away from here as quickly as possible.”

  Hilde gasped. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because they are the only link to my precious daughter. Besides, a single man has no business raising two young ladies. If it was a boy, that might be different, but certainly not two young ladies.”

  “So, you would just take them away from the only family they know?”

  “They have family in Boston. Family that will welcome them and help raise them. So, let me ask you again. Is this a real marriage or just for show?”

  Hilde felt sick to her stomach. This is probably why Benjamin wanted a proxy bride. He didn’t want to risk losing his children. She was saved from answering when Ben came in the room.

  “Are you ready?” Ben asked. He nodded to Mayam. “Mother Evans,” he said.

  “I was just talking to your wife,” Mayam replied, raising her coffee cup to point at Hilde. “She was just about to answer a question before you came in.”

  “What question was that?” Ben wondered.

  Hilde stood and wrapped her hand through Ben’s arm. “Ben and I are still getting to know each other. That is why I was in a separate room last night. He didn’t want to make me feel uncomfortable. As for Emily and the children, perhaps Ben wasn’t ready to talk about them. And finally, in answer to your last question, this is a real marriage. Real in every way.”

  She tugged Ben’s arm and led him out of the room, leaving Mayam at the table to reflect on what Hilde said.

  Ben looked at Hilde as they started the walk back to the hotel. The snow was coming down harder and it was sticking in Hilde’s hair. Ben reached over to brush the snow away as Hilde ducked from his touch.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he let his arm fall to the side.

  “I am funny about people touching me,” she said, brushing the snow out of her hair herself. “I guess that comes from people always trying to touch me in the theater.” Ben watched her give a little shiver. She had a wool coat, but it just went to mid-shin. It was fine for New York, but things were a little colder here in Montana.

  “How about we go to the café and have a cup of coffee and we can talk for a bit.” Ben pointed to the small building on the way out of town. There were only one or two people inside, so it would be a perfect place to talk to her without anyone else listening.

  Hilde nodded. “I think my nose is frozen.” She gave it a little squeeze. “Is it red?”

  She looked adorable feeling the tip of her nose in the cold weather. “Like a rose,” he said.

  She handled the appointment with Michael extremely well. Ben wanted to go and let him know that his in-laws had arrived in town and ask his advice on what he should do.

  Hilde was supportive when necessary and mortified when she heard that the Evans were trying to take the children away from Ben via legal channels.

  Michael suggested that Ben bend over backwards to show them that the children were just fine. Michael’s parting words still rang in Ben’s ears.

  Do everything you can do as a married couple to make sure that the Evans have no doubt in their mind that your marriage is real.

  Ben really didn’t have any objection to acting married to Hilde. After all she was smart, beautiful and cared greatly about people. He was hoping that he might be able to get her to direct some of that energy to himself and the children.

  Michael promised Hilde he would stop by as soon as he knew when the judge could see them. In his lawyer’s mind there was no reason that Hilde and Ben needed to travel to Pennsylvania. It might take a few days because of the weather, but Michael would arrange everything they needed.

  The warm air inside the café hit Ben in the face as he opened the door. He motioned for Hilde to go in first. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she walked towards the back of the café. Ben watched as she took a seat and removed her gloves one finger at a time.

  Ben slid into the small table beside her. Hilde blew on her hands. “It was never this cold in New York,” she said, huffing into her cupped palms.

  “That is because New York is a big city. It doesn’t get as cold because the buildings block the wind.”

  Ben grabbed one of her hands and started rubbing it. Hilde attempted to pull back, but he held fast to it. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as he pulled on each finger before rubbing them between his hands again. Her hands were soft and delicate compared to his which were calloused from hard work.

  The waitress brought two coffees and sat them on the table before retiring to the front of the café with a magazine.

  When Ben felt the warmth seep back into Hilde’s fingers, he took her other hand and did the same.

  “I think if I just place them around the cup, they will warm up quickly enough,” Hilde said.

  Ben lifted her hand to his lips and released it. Hilde looked at him, her eyes wide. “What was that for?”

  Ben shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “It seemed like the thing to do.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes sipping their coffee. Finally, Hilde looked at him. “I guess I’m stuck here for a bit, aren’t I?”

  “At least until we can get in front of the judge,” Ben said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Hilde. If you just want to get your paper and go on to San Francisco, you can do that. Don’t give another thought to what is happening here. I’ll muddle through it.”

  “I can’t bear the thought of you losing your girls. We should probably put on a good front while your in-laws are here.” Hilde touched his hand and Ben grabbed her fingers, wrapping his own around them.

  “We should probably get to know more about each other. Or at least as much as we can before we head back to the hotel.”

  Hilde nodded.

  They spent the next hour learning about each other. Ben told her about growing up in Montana and how his grandfather wanted to own a hotel, but instead he had a house full of children and became a bookkeeper instead.

  Hilde told him about her life growing up, her first audition, finally landing a starring role on Broadway and then finding out about her parents’ death and the stipulation they put in the will to protect the factory from her uncle.

  By the end of the hour, Ben came to realize that he liked Hilde. She was a very kind woman and she stirred up feelings in him he thought were long dead.

  If he knew she wasn’t going to leave to head to San Francisco, he would be tempted to court her seriously.

  They finished up their coffee and Ben placed a few coins down on the table. He helped Hilde put on her coat and took her hand once she had her gloves in place.

  As they were walking back to the hotel Hilde gave his arm a pat. “Tell me about the hot springs.”

  “They come from mineral springs under the ground. We had a terrible storm and a tree fell down. The springs were right underneath that. I cut down the tree and created a wall around and the bathing springs were born.”

  “I bet it is delightful in the wintertime.”

  “It is. The ground doesn’t even freeze where the spring is. The rest of the ground can be completely frozen, but about five feet around the spring the grass is still showing, and snow won’t stick to the ground.”

  “Is the water really warm?”

  Ben nodded. “It is. You should try it while you are here.”

  “I didn’t bring my swimming costume.”

  Ben laughed. He bet she looked delightful in a swimming costume with a bonnet on her head. “It is secluded enough that you don’t need it. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “I think I’m going to take the rest of the day and play in the snow with the girls. Would you like to join us?”

  “Outside? It is terribly cold.” Hilde wiped away the snow that was sticking to her lashes. “What ever would you play outside in the snow for?”

  “You’ve never made a snow angel? Had a snowball fight?” Hilde shook her head. “I can tell you are a city girl.”

  Ben could hear the sounds of Anna and Ella laughing. They must already be playing outside. Ben let go of Hilde’s arm and ran a few steps ahead. He could see the girls playing with Helen and Natalie in the snow. Mrs. Evans stood at the window and watched them.

  Suddenly he felt something hit his back and he turned around. Hilde was packing snow between her gloves.

  “Is that what you mean?” she asked with a mischievous grin. Ben let the earth still while he looked at her. She looked so young and happy. When a second snowball caught him in the chest, he came towards her with his hands curled in the air like a lion about to hunt.

  He took a step forward. She took a step back.

  He reached down and picked up a handful of icy snow and packed it between his gloves. Hilde gave a shriek and ran around him towards the girls. The girls started to laugh when they saw Hilde running towards them.

  Ben dropped the snowball and gave chase. It only took a moment for him to catch up to Hilde and grab her by the waist. He picked her up and swung her around, much to the delight of his daughters.

  When he released her, she stumbled and fell to the ground pulling him with her. Ben landed partially on top of her with a thud. He lifted himself up and looked at her. “Are you alright?”

  “I will be once you get off of me,” she replied with a saucy grin. Ben grinned back. He rolled over, taking her with him.

  The girls came running over and threw snow in the air, letting it fall down over both Hilde and him. Hilde laughed as the girls continued their antics. Ben was about to push her up when he spied Mayam looking out of the window at them.