Not hidden anymore.
One night Ben, now grown and preparing to marry, asked about it.
“Was that really under the barn floor?”
“Yes.”
“And Grandpa Vale hid it?”
“Yes.”
Ben looked toward Cole.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Ben smiled.
“So Ma saved the ranch.”
Cole answered immediately.
“Your mother saved half the county.”
Abigail rolled her eyes.
“Exaggeration.”
Cole looked offended.
“Twenty-three original ranches.”
“Some had other evidence.”
“Eleven additional accounts.”
“You remember numbers now?”
“Only when they make you impressive.”
Ben laughed.
Abigail smiled.
Then he asked the question nobody had asked in years.
“Why did Grandpa Vale choose Pa?”
Silence.
Cole and Abigail looked at each other.
Ben frowned.
“What?”
Abigail answered.
“Because everyone else was afraid.”
Cole shook his head.
“That’s not the whole reason.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
Cole looked at Ben.
“Your grandfather wrote that I was the only man in Copper Ridge who had already lost enough reputation to stop being ruled by it.”
Abigail stared.
“You never told me that.”
Cole smiled.
“He also said I looked at you correctly.”
Her heart tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“I asked him.”
“And?”
Cole’s expression softened.
“He said every other man who discussed marrying you asked what burden came with you.”
Abigail swallowed.
“What did you ask?”
Cole looked at her.
“What books she reads.”
The room became quiet.
Abigail felt tears rise.
Even after twenty years he could still surprise her.
Ben looked uncomfortable.
“I should leave.”
“No,” Abigail said.
“Yes,” Cole said.
Ben escaped laughing.
Abigail turned toward her husband.
“You asked my father what I read?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know what you thought about when nobody was insulting you.”
She stared.
Cole shrugged.
“Seemed useful.”
Abigail crossed the kitchen.
She placed her hands on his chest.
“You are occasionally a very good man.”
“Occasionally?”
“Do not become proud.”
He smiled.
“Too late.”
She kissed him.
Age arrived gradually.
Cole’s knees went first.
Abigail’s hands later developed arthritis.
Clara took over much of the accounting office.
Ben managed the ranch.
Their grandchildren filled the kitchen with enough noise to frighten cattle.
Abigail’s body changed.
She remained large.
Older.
Softer.
Slower.
For the first time in decades she noticed herself becoming self-conscious again.
Aging had reopened some old fears.
Cole noticed one evening.
She stood before a mirror adjusting a dress.
He watched from the doorway.
“What?”
Abigail sighed.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m old.”
“So am I.”
“You wear it better.”
Cole laughed.
“Have you seen my knees?”
She looked at him.
He walked closer.
Stopped behind her.