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“I married your brother, and that makes us sisters-in-law. Even though Tommy is gone, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Emma gave her a smile. Emma always had the kindest smile, and she liked to laugh. At least, she did before Tommy died. Rosie hadn’t heard her laugh very much since then.

Rosie returned the smile and gave a nod. “We will always be sisters. No matter what.”

“Will you be staying for supper, Mr. Benton?” Faith Cooper asked as Colton came downstairs.

“No, I’m having dinner elsewhere, but thank you for asking. I should have made it clear earlier. I know you like to have a count prior to lunch.”

“It’s quite all right. I know it’s usually the exception when you dine with us.” She reached into her apron pocket. “This just arrived before you came downstairs. I was waiting for my husband to return and bring it up.”

She handed him a letter. It was from Walter. Colton took the envelope. “Thank you, I suppose I should read this before heading out.”

“And I need to get back to tending supper.” She departed without another word, leaving Colton to contemplate the letter.

He made his way into the front sitting room, where a couple of the boarders were occupying themselves with a game of chess.

“Evenin’, Benton,” one of the men said, giving him a glance.

“Good evening to you both. Just going to sit a moment and read my letter.” Colton hoped the explanation would discourage further conversation. It did.

He opened the envelope and pulled the two-page letter out.

Walter talked first of a meeting he and Ernest had attended regarding their plans to build an entire city block in Dallas.

The details were as unimportant to Colton as Mrs. Cooper’s grocery list, and so he only scanned the details.

It was the second page that seemed devoted to him.

You must get Emma to marry you. There is far too much at stake, and you owe the family this sacrifice, especially since it was you who allowed Thomas to change his will.

If I were able to do the deed myself, I would, knowing that without control of our own family’s railroad we cannot determine the future.

Now that Ernest and I have moved forward with our plans, we need to sell as soon as possible, for as much money as possible.

We’re leaving this matter entirely in your hands—you have our proxies—but we need for you to be swift to a conclusion.

Use everything at your disposal—even threaten her relationship with Rose, if need be—but marry her before you return.

The last line was more upsetting to Colton than he’d anticipated. He didn’t want Emma to ever believe that he sought her as a wife because of business. He cared too much for her to let that ever be the reason.

He folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

A sense of uncertainty imposed itself upon him.

How was he supposed to move forward? He truly cared for Emma and was doing his best to be there for her, to listen to her when she talked.

The thing was, she wasn’t always one for deep conversations.

Her new trend toward sober reflections and a desire to right the wrongs of the past also tended to make her turn inward.

Her boisterousness was gone. It was as if her wedding day had wiped away all the years of self-focus and playful antics.

Colton supposed that was only right; she was in her late twenties, and most women her age were already married with children of their own.

Still, while he enjoyed this more insightful Emma, he also found her to be more selective with sharing her thoughts.

Colton frowned. He would just have to be more open with his own thoughts, perhaps. Maybe it was time to tell her how he felt.

“Bad news, Benton?”

He looked up at the man who’d addressed him. “No, just business.” He got to his feet and headed for the door.

But it wasn’t just business.

On Saturday, it turned out to be such a nice day that Emma decided to take Rosie to the ranch. Emma wanted to let her experience the place where she had grown up. Rosie was always talking about horses and chickens. She had a fascination with both, and often spoke of wanting to have some chickens.

Mrs. Olson had agreed it would be easy enough to keep a few, so Emma thought she might ask her father to give up a few of his laying hens.

Of course, she’d need to create a coop, but for the time being, they had a small shed with an attached one-room apartment that the previous owner had given over to the gardener.

Maybe they could turn the shed portion into a coop with a little fenced area for the chickens.

Emma would have to speak to the Vogels about who might be available to hire to build it.

They seemed to know who was reliable and who wasn’t.

Maybe they could even suggest a gardener, since the grass was already green and growing.

The trip to the Johnson ranch was quite a distance, and even though things were much more settled in the area, there was still the occasional outlaw or ruffian who caused problems. Because of this, Emma asked Colton to come with them. He readily agreed, much to her surprise.

“What else do I have to do on such a fine Saturday?” he had replied.

Now as they approached the ranch, Emma’s joy was replaced by a wave of regret.

She had been here the previous September for her father’s wedding and even stayed in her childhood room.

Initially, when Emma had heard about her father remarrying, she’d felt indifferent to the matter.

Traveling back for the wedding was done more for Tommy than for herself.

She had wanted to give Tommy time with his dying father, for one thing.

Lawrence Benton had a bad heart that was progressively getting worse.

The doctor had told his sons that it was just a matter of time.

Tommy wanted to avoid his father’s death bed all together, but Emma had told him of her regret regarding her mother and encouraged him to do otherwise.

They could still have plenty of fun together.

And in a way, she had hoped facing his father would mature him a bit more.

She had become engaged thinking Tommy would be less inclined to going out on the town and flirting with other women, but apparently that hadn’t been the case.

After all, there had been Stella. She pushed that thought aside.

Tommy’s infidelity hurt her terribly, but she didn’t want to think about it.

He was gone, and there was no sense holding his sins against him.

The trip to Cheyenne the previous year had come on a whim, but in the back of her mind, Emma had been somewhat troubled at the idea of her father taking another wife.

Her mother hadn’t even been gone a year.

How could he consider such a thing? Truthfully, a part of her had hoped to change her father’s mind about marrying their neighbor.

But from the moment she’d arrived and met Lucille Aldrich again, Emma had found an unexpected comfort in the woman.

She’d been her mother’s best friend, and Emma could still call to mind times when they had shared canning and roundup.

The two women had been inseparable, helping each other until both were weary enough to drop.

They shared stories and laughter in a way that Emma envied.

“This is so beautiful,” Rosie said, craning her neck to take in everything at once.

“It represents a lot of hard work. When we first arrived, there wasn’t any house or other buildings.” Emma remembered it as if it were yesterday.

“Where did you live?”

“We had the wagon, of course, and my father bought a large tent. We lived in that all summer, and by winter we had a very small cabin. It wasn’t much, as I recall, but it suited and got us through. Those early years were pretty hard.”

“I can’t imagine bringing my family to such a wild, open place.” Colton shifted in the seat beside her but kept his focus on handling the team of horses they’d rented for the carriage.

He’d said very little up until now. Rosie had been so excited to talk to him about her studies and all that Mrs. Olson was teaching her that no one else could quite get a word in.

Emma noticed that as he listened, he seemed almost in disbelief.

A couple of times he had muttered under his breath, but Emma wasn’t sure what he’d said.

“It was certainly wild. There were still problems with the Indians, and my mother feared for our lives. Not just because of that, but snakes were plentiful, and wild animals too. Mama worried terribly about rabies.”

“What is that?” Rosie asked.

“It’s a disease that animals can get and pass on to people,” Emma explained. “It’s deadly, although now they have a treatment that helps if you get it quickly enough.”

“Did you ever see Indians?”

“I saw Indians in town, but never here at the ranch. I think they were as afraid of us as we were of them.”

“Why were you afraid of them? Were they bad?”

“Some were very aggressive and didn’t like us coming to buy up the land.

Land that they had been hunting and living on for years before our arrival in the west. There was a very bad war between the Indians and soldiers several hundred miles from here just a little over ten years ago, so people are still rather fearful of what might come.

“Just pull over there, Colton,” Emma directed. She barely waited until he stopped before she jumped down unassisted.

Just then, her father came from the house. “I saw the dust and knew someone was heading our way but never imagined it was you. What are you doing here?” He gave her a powerful hug.

“Rosie wanted to see horses and chickens, and I could think of no better place to bring her than the ranch. I hope you don’t mind us showing up unannounced, but I could hardly telephone to let you know.”

Her father laughed and left her side to help Rosie down from the wagon. “You’re all very welcome here. Colton, good to see you again.”

“Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Good to see you too.”

“Emma!” Lucille called as she came from the house. “What a wonderful surprise.” She quickly joined them and hugged Emma and Rosie at the same time. “Are you hungry? Your father has just come in for lunch. I do hope you’ll join us.”

“Do you have plenty? We did bring a cake that Rosie helped to make. Mrs. Olson assured me that this is one of her finest recipes. It’s a spice cake.”

“With frosting,” Rosie added.

Lucille gave Rosie’s face a gentle touch. “How wonderful. Dessert is always welcome.”

Her father joined in at this. “I’ll say. My sweet tooth would just as soon have dessert and nothing else. However, Lucille made some corn bread and ham steaks that might make me reconsider.”

Lucille laughed. “I fried potatoes, as well, and baked some beans with molasses. It’s Rich’s favorite. There’s plenty of food. Come on inside and wash up.”

“Colton and I will unhitch these horses and be right in,” Emma’s father said, already getting to work.

Emma made her way toward the house with her stepmother, linking arms with her and Rosie.

“It’s just so good to have you here. I’ve hoped you’d come out sometime.

Even prayed for it.” Lucille seemed genuinely delighted by the turn of events.

Emma hadn’t really thought of their visit being all that special.

“Look! Chickens!” Rosie left Lucille’s side and headed toward the cottonwoods, where a few dozen chickens were pecking at the earth.

“She’s taken on a strange fascination for poultry,” Emma said, laughing. “I told her we would see if you could spare a few for us. I’ll still need to build a coop for them, but Rosie is quite excited to take on their care and harvest their eggs.”

“Of course we can spare some. I think that would be a wonderful thing for Rosie. She can learn to watch over another living thing. It’s the best thing for a person to do.”

“She’s doing so well, Lucille. She’s learning so much so fast. It brought tears to my eyes to see how eager she was to read. When I think of all the lost years, it breaks my heart.” Emma knew she meant it for more than just Rosie. Her own wasted time weighed heavy on her.

“Then don’t think on that. The past is the past, and mistakes were made, but you’re helping to right them now.” It was as if Lucille understood perfectly that Emma spoke for herself as well as her friend. “Rosie is going to be just fine. You’ve opened a whole new world to her.”

Emma watched as Rosie approached the chickens, laughing as they skittered away from her. It didn’t stop her from continuing to seek their company.

Lucille put her hand to her mouth. “Rosie, come on to the house. Later we’ll take them some feed, and they’ll soon enough be your friends.”

Rosie pulled up the hem of her calico dress and came at a run. She laughed all the way and gave a little twirl when she reached Emma and Lucille.

“I know ladies aren’t supposed to run,” she told them rather breathlessly, “but today I don’t want to be a lady. I want to have fun.”

Emma laughed. “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do. Besides, today is my birthday.”

“It is,” Lucille said, nodding. “We have a cake now that you’ve brought one, and we can celebrate in grand order.”

“How old are you, Emma?” Rosie asked, still panting from her run.

“Twenty-eight.” She didn’t bother to add that she felt Tommy’s death had added a decade or two on to her years.

She had spent the first twenty-seven years of her life being a child at heart, but now she felt suddenly old.

It was hard to think about most of her friends being married now with several children.