Lara nodded.
“With Elias. And with our employees.”
He studied the buildings.
The expanded kitchen.
The storage cellar.
The new smokehouse.
The wagons marked with the Whispering Pines name.
Then he looked at his sister.
“I never imagined you could do something like this.”
Lara smiled sadly.
“I know.”
Thomas lowered his eyes.
“That may be the worst thing about me.”
She considered.
“It's one of them.”
He gave a small, ashamed laugh.
Then he climbed into the wagon.
Before Elias drove him toward Deadwood, Thomas turned.
“Lara?”
“Yes?”
“I'm proud of you.”
She stood quietly.
For most of her life, she had wanted those words.
She had imagined them changing something fundamental inside her.
Now they arrived after the need for them had passed.
She nodded.
“Thank you.”
The wagon moved down the snowy road.
Lara watched until it disappeared beyond the trees.
Elias returned two hours later.
He found her sitting beside the kitchen window.
“You all right?”
She nodded.
“I think so.”
He sat beside her.
“Regret helping him?”
“No.”
“Regret sending him away?”
She thought carefully.
“No.”
Elias took her hand.
“You did right.”
Lara leaned against his shoulder.
“I spent so long wanting him to approve of me.”
“I know.”
“And now he finally does.”
Elias kissed the top of her head.
“How does it feel?”
She watched the snow fall.
“Smaller than I expected.”
He smiled.
“Maybe because your life got bigger.”
Lara turned toward him.
Then laughed softly.
“Yes.”
She rested her forehead against his.
“Perhaps that's exactly it.”
Spring arrived late that year.
The last major snowstorm struck in March, burying the northern pasture beneath two feet of fresh snow.
But when the thaw finally came, it transformed Whispering Pines almost overnight.
The river widened.
The meadows turned green.
The cattle moved into the lower grazing fields.
Wildflowers appeared along the fence lines.
And the roads reopened to travelers.
By April, the kitchen business had expanded beyond anything Lara initially imagined.
What began as a few meals for neighboring ranch hands had become a regional food operation serving cattle crews, stagecoach passengers, freight drivers, mining camps, and families living far from reliable markets.
Two wagons delivered preserved meals and bread three times each week.
A dedicated smokehouse prepared meat for long journeys.
The root cellar had been enlarged.
A second kitchen stood beside the original farmhouse, equipped with sturdy worktables, large iron stoves, and shelves built specifically for Lara's recipes.