He repaired the mechanism but preserved the cracked crystal.
Several weeks later, Elias brought the watch home.
He wound it.
The little hands began moving.
For a long time, he stared.
Ren approached.
"Does it work?"
Elias nodded.
She smiled.
"How does that feel?"
He considered.
Then looked toward the children playing beside the porch.
"Like something I thought was finished has started again."
Ren took his hand.
Elias looked at her.
Then he smiled.
"Not because the past changed."
She nodded.
"Because you did."
He kissed her.
And the broken watch began counting time again.
When Elias turned sixty, his hair had become almost entirely silver.
His beard was thick.
His shoulders remained broad, though years of labor had slowed his movements.
The old injury near his ribs troubled him during cold weather.
Ren teased him about becoming stubborn in his old age.
He reminded her that he had always been stubborn.
Their children were grown.
Their daughter had married a kind man who worked as a teacher.
Their son helped manage the horses and fields.
The porch had become the place Elias loved most.
Every evening, when the work was finished, he sat beside Ren and watched the sun disappear behind the red mountains.
One autumn afternoon, she brought him a cup of coffee.
He accepted it.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
She settled beside him.
For several minutes, they watched the river.
Then Ren asked, "Do you ever regret coming here?"
Elias looked surprised.
"Here?"
She nodded.
"You came looking for land."
He smiled.
"Found some."
She laughed.
"You know what I mean."
He looked toward the distant camp.
Then the cottonwood trees.
Then the home they had built.
"I came west because I thought land would make me belong somewhere."
Ren listened.
He continued.
"I thought if I owned enough ground, nobody could ever tell me to leave."
She rested her hand over his.
"And?"
Elias smiled.
"Turns out a deed wasn't what I needed most."
Ren looked at him.
He raised her hand and kissed it.
"I needed people who wanted me to stay."
Her eyes softened.
He continued.
"I needed to know my father didn't abandon me."
She nodded.
"And I needed a woman brave enough to take off her veil and tell the world she'd make her own choices."
Ren laughed through sudden tears.
Elias smiled.
"Found all three in the same valley."
She leaned against him.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then Ren whispered, "I used to think my face was something I had to hide."
Elias kissed her forehead.
"I know."
She looked up.
"And now?"
He smiled.
"Now?"
She nodded.
Elias gently touched her cheek.
"Now I reckon I've spent thirty years wondering how a man got lucky enough to wake up beside you."
Ren laughed.
"Still flattering me after all this time?"
"Only telling the truth."
She leaned forward and kissed him.
The sun lowered.
The mountains turned gold.