“For real.”
“No advertisement?”
“No.”
“No conditions?”
“One.”
“What?”
“You have to keep wearing blue.”
She laughed.
“That is not a condition.”
“It is.”
“Why?”
He leaned closer.
“Because that was the first thing I noticed.”
“I thought you noticed that I wasn't plain.”
“I noticed everything.”
Her smile softened.
She stepped closer.
“And what do you notice now?”
He looked at her.
“Everything.”
Then he kissed her.
This time there was no crowd.
No stagecoach.
No curious children.
No gossiping townspeople.
Only the wind moving through the cottonwoods.
They were married six weeks later.
The ceremony was small.
The town came anyway.
Amos stood beside Silas.
Sheriff Harlan sat in the front row.
Margaret Vale traveled from Denver and cried throughout the entire ceremony.
Eleanor wore the sapphire dress.
Silas wore a clean black coat.
When they exchanged vows, Silas's voice was steady.
Eleanor's was not.
Afterward, the town gathered outside.
Someone played a fiddle.
Someone brought whiskey.
Someone brought cake.
Children ran between the horses.
The stagecoach office remained open late.
As the sun went down, Eleanor found Silas standing alone near the hitching rail.
“You're hiding.”
“Yes.”
“From your wedding?”
“From Amos.”
She laughed.
“He says you're going to dance.”
“I am not.”
“You promised.”
“I promised to marry you.”
“And dance.”
“I don't remember that.”
“You did.”
He sighed.
“Fine.”
He took her hand.
They stepped into the street.
The fiddler began playing.
Silas looked awkward.
Eleanor smiled.
“Just follow me.”
“I don't dance.”
“You're learning.”
“I don't like learning.”
“You do with me.”
He looked at her.
“That is becoming a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because I think I like everything with you.”
Her expression softened.
She rested her hand against his shoulder.
“Then perhaps we should keep learning.”
They danced beneath the fading Wyoming sky.
People watched.
But this time, Silas did not care.
Months passed.
Winter came.
The ranch changed.
Not dramatically.
Silas remained quiet.
He still woke before sunrise.
He still rode in cold weather.
He still preferred the mountains to town.
But he was no longer alone.
Eleanor learned the ranch.
She learned the cattle.
She learned which horses were dangerous.
She learned how to mend a fence.
She learned how to shoot.
She learned which ranch hands could be trusted.
She also opened a small schoolroom for the children of neighboring families.
She kept her elegant dresses for Sundays and town.
During the week she wore practical clothes.