Page 142 of The Mountain Echoes

Ah fuck!

I sit beside her. Neither of us speaks for a while.

Then I hand her the folded sales sheet.

She unfolds it with trembling fingers, eyes skimming the numbers. When she reaches the final tally, her breath catches.

“This…this is enough,” she whispers. “More than enough.”

“Y’all did this—you and Earl. Tomas, Nadine, Vera.”

“I didn’t go.” She stares out across the dark pasture. “I stayed here. What kind of rancher does that?”

“The kind who lost someone she loved.” I wrap an arm around her. “The kind that’s strong enough to know her team has her back.”

We sit there for a long while, just the two of us.

“Wanna go inside?” I ask her.

I peer into her eyes in the light of the moon. There’s sadness and grief, but also renewal—like something cracked open in her, and the light finally got in.

“Earl…he wasn’t scared of nothing.”

“He was one ornery son of a bitch,” I agree, the corner of my mouth tugging into something like a smile.

She leans her head against my shoulder, voice soft. “I remember him yelling at me when I was eight for feeding the calves too early. Said I was spoilin’ ‘em for life. But then I caught him sneaking apple slices to a gimpy steer like it was the most natural thing in the world.”

“Man had a bark like barbed wire and a heart like a hay bale—rough on the outside, soft if you knew where to look.”

She breathes out a quiet laugh, and it warms the space between us.

“I think he knew this place was gonna make it,” she whispers. “I think he believed in me before I did.”

I pull her in closer. Her hand finds mine, fingers lacing tight. And in the quiet, under that wide Colorado sky, we let Earl’s memory settle between us.

When we get back to the ranch house, Duke and Elena are waiting in the kitchen with Nadine. Vera hasgone to be with her son, who is heartbroken that his surrogate grandpa has passed.

Everyone is feeling the loss of Earl. And interestingly, no one has mentioned Hudson.

“We’re so sorry.” Elena hugs Aria. “So, so sorry.”

Duke nods at me. “Didn’t get to catch up with you at Gunnison.”

“I wanted to get back to Aria.”

We sit around the table. Aria looks frail, as does Nadine.

“Any news from Celine?” Elena asks.

Aria shakes her head. “The sheriff said she’s been notified about Hudson’s…of him being gone.”

I grab her hand, squeeze.

“You made believers out of a lot of folks today,” Duke says. “Hell, Larry Welch bid on one of your yearlings and got him, too.”

Larry Welch is one of the most discerning ranchers in Colorado. He has a place up near Aspen. His interest is a stamp of approval.

Any other day, this would make Aria perk up. Today, she’s sitting slumped. I know she’s struggling with understanding the value of keeping the ranch if it brought about the death of Earl. There’s no way around grief and her feelings; she’ll have to go through them. She just won’t be doing it alone.