“Yes.”
“Water deeds.”
“Yes.”
“Bookkeeping.”
“Yes.”
“Broken shutters.”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“You don’t care about the shutter.”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
The cowboy looked directly into her eyes.
“Because when I leave, I spend too much time thinking about coming back.”
The woman had no answer.
That frightened her.
She stepped away.
Not rejection.
Need.
The cowboy understood.
“I’ll go.”
She looked toward him.
“Thank you.”
He mounted.
Before leaving, he said:
“I meant it.”
“I know.”
That was the problem.
Two weeks later, the past arrived.
A black carriage from town stopped outside the cabin.
The woman saw it through the window.
Her body went cold before the door opened.
Her husband stepped down.
Not former husband.
Legally, still husband.
The man she had left.
Well-dressed.
Clean gloves.
Polished boots completely unsuited to Montana mud.
He looked toward the cabin.
Then toward her.
His expression became the same calm disappointment she remembered.
“You’ve made quite a spectacle.”
The woman stood on the porch.
One hand resting against her belly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Taking you home.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“We’ll discuss this inside.”
“No.”
He approached.
The woman stepped backward.
Then stopped herself.
“My house.”
He paused.
“What?”
“You don’t enter unless I invite you.”
His expression changed.
“You’re my wife.”
“That does not make this your house.”
“It makes your behavior my concern.”
The old language.
Concern.
Correction.
Reason.
The woman’s hands shook.
He saw.
Mistook it for weakness.
“I spoke with people in town.”
he said.
“They’ve told me about the rancher.”
Her face hardened.
“This is not about him.”
“It certainly appears to be.”
“You left me.”
“I sent you to my sister.”
“You told me we would discuss what happened to me after the baby.”
Her husband sighed.
“You always dramatize.”
The phrase nearly broke something inside her.
Then hoofbeats sounded.
The wealthy cowboy approached from the road.
The woman closed her eyes briefly.
Of course.
Of all days.
He dismounted.
Looked at the husband.
Then at the woman.
He read the situation immediately.
“Everything all right?”
Her husband answered.
“Yes.”
The woman answered at the same time.
“No.”
The cowboy’s eyes stayed on her.
Only her.
“What do you need?”
Not what happened.
Not who is he.
What do you need?
The woman breathed.
“I need him off my land.”
The cowboy nodded.
Then looked toward the husband.
“You heard her.”
The husband laughed.
“This is between me and my wife.”
The cowboy did not move.
“She told you to leave.”
“You have no legal standing.”
“Probably not.”
The cowboy gestured toward the road.
“But she does.”
The husband looked toward the woman.
“You’re coming home.”