Every mile seemed to remind her of the humiliating scene outside the general store.
She tried to focus on the countryside.
The cowboy did not force conversation.
He guided the horses around ruts, slowed when the wagon crossed uneven ground, and occasionally glanced toward her to make sure she was comfortable.
After nearly half an hour, she spoke.
“You don't have to pretend you aren't curious.”
He looked at her.
“About what?”
“About why a woman my size came all the way to Montana expecting a man to marry her.”
The cowboy considered his answer.
“I imagine because he asked you.”
She looked at him in surprise.
“Yes.”
“Then that seems a better question for him than for you.”
She turned toward the mountains.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she asked, “Do you always answer questions that way?”
“Only the ones that don't need much explaining.”
She smiled faintly.
The cowboy noticed.
He wanted to keep her smiling.
But he sensed how fragile that small expression was.
He asked whether she had eaten.
“Not since this morning.”
“Then we'll get supper into you.”
“You're very certain of things.”
“Not everything.”
“What aren't you certain about?”
He glanced at her.
“Whether my cook will forgive me for bringing home company without warning.”
The woman laughed.
It was a warm, full laugh that surprised them both.
The cowboy smiled beneath the brim of his hat.
He had remembered that laughter for eighteen years.
But the memory belonged to a girl.
The sound beside him belonged to a woman.
He knew he had to learn who she had become rather than treat her as someone frozen in his past.
By the time the wagon turned through the ranch gate, the sun was disappearing behind the western hills.
The property was smaller than the large cattle spreads surrounding Cedar Run, but it was obviously well maintained.
A sturdy wooden house stood near a stone-lined well.
Beyond it were a barn, a corral, and several fenced pastures.
A creek wound through the lower meadow before disappearing into a stand of cottonwoods.
Horses grazed beneath the trees.
Smoke rose from the cabin chimney.