“You can eat.”
The Cowboy looked at her.
“Sounds almost welcoming.”
“It isn’t.”
He smiled.
That was the first time.
Not broad.
Not charming in the obvious way.
Small.
Private.
The Older Sister hated how much she noticed it.
The table felt too small with him at it.
Three plates.
Rabbit stew.
Cornbread.
Beans.
The lamp made the cabin walls look warmer than they were.
The Cowboy had washed his hands and face at the pump.
His hat rested beside the door.
Without it, he looked younger.
Maybe thirty-eight.
Maybe forty.
Hard to know with men who lived outside.
The Younger Sister spoke first.
“You ever live in a city?”
“Once.”
“Where?”
“Kansas City.”
“What was it like?”
“Loud.”
“That’s all?”
“And crowded.”
The Younger Sister smiled.
“I’d like crowded.”
The Older Sister looked at her.
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“How would you know?”
“You complain when four people come into the general store.”
“That’s because they all know us.”
The Cowboy broke cornbread.
The Younger Sister leaned closer.
“What were you doing there?”
The Cowboy looked at her.
“Reading.”
She blinked.
The Older Sister looked up.
“Reading?”
He took another bite.
“Yes.”
“That is not an occupation.”
“No.”
The Younger Sister smiled.
“You always answer like this?”
“Usually.”
The Older Sister said:
“Convenient.”
The Cowboy looked directly at her.
“You ask questions like you already dislike the answer.”
“I dislike people who hide things.”
“So do I.”
Silence.
Something passed between them.
The Younger Sister saw it.
Of course she did.
She leaned back.
“Have you ever been married?”
The Older Sister nearly dropped her spoon.
“Enough.”
“What?”
The Younger Sister looked innocent.
“You wanted to know whether strangers hide things.”
The Cowboy drank water.
“No.”
“No what?”
“Never married.”
The Younger Sister nodded thoughtfully.
The Older Sister stared at her plate.
The Cowboy looked toward the Older Sister.
“You?”
She lifted her eyes.
“That’s not your concern.”
He nodded once.
“Fair.”
The fact that he accepted the refusal annoyed her.
She was not sure why.
The Younger Sister answered anyway.
“Neither of us.”
The Older Sister kicked her beneath the table.
Her sister winced.
The Cowboy hid a smile.
Dinner continued.
Later, the Younger Sister asked:
“Do you stay anywhere?”
“Sometimes.”