Chapter 13 - “You Were Supposed to Choose Us”
Back at the ranch, Hazel cornered Evelyn.
“You hesitated.”
“Yes.”
“When I asked if you came back for Papa.”
“Yes.”
Hazel’s eyes filled.
“You were supposed to choose us.”
“I did.”
“No. All of us.”
Evelyn sat.
“Hazel, love does not always arrive all at once.”
“But you love him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you say it?”
Because Evelyn was afraid.
Not of Silas.
Of becoming necessary.
Her entire adult life had revolved around caring for people.
Her mother.
Margaret.
Margaret’s child.
Then five Rowan children.
If she married Silas, where did Evelyn end and everyone else begin?
She explained as much as a twelve-year-old could understand.
Hazel listened.
Then said something unexpected.
“Mama used to say Papa made her mad because he thought loving someone meant carrying all their buckets.”
Evelyn smiled.
“That sounds like him.”
“She said sometimes people want to carry their own.”
Evelyn stared at her.
Hazel shrugged.
“So maybe don’t carry ours.”
“What?”
“Stay anyway.”
The simplicity stunned her.
That evening Evelyn spoke to Silas.
“I don’t want to become the woman who fixes everything.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“You say that now.”
“No.”
Silas took her hand.
“I watched Hazel nearly freeze because I was still trying to protect people by telling them what they should feel.”
He shook his head.
“I’m done deciding for people.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“What if I want work of my own?”
“We find it.”
“What if I don’t want another child?”
He blinked.
Then nodded.
“Then we have five.”
“What if I want to go east sometimes?”
“I’ll complain terribly and help you pack.”
She laughed.
“What if I disagree with you?”
“I’ve survived that repeatedly.”
Then his expression softened.
“What if you leave?”
Evelyn squeezed his hand.
“Then you survive that too.”
He nodded.
It was the correct answer.
Two days later, Evelyn attended a town meeting.
The local schoolteacher planned to leave.
There were twenty-three children in the district.
No replacement.
Evelyn had taught before Margaret’s illness.
She applied.
The town board approved.
For the first time, Evelyn had a reason to remain in Wyoming that belonged entirely to her.
When she told Silas, he smiled.
“I suppose this means I’ll have to share you.”
“You never owned me.”
“I know.”
She kissed him.
“You are learning.”
He did not propose.
Not yet.
Instead, spring came.
Snow melted.
The ranch survived.
Children returned to routines.
Hazel began acting twelve instead of thirty.
Thomas attended school consistently.
Clara slept without a lamp some nights.
Bennett learned to milk a cow and exaggerated his expertise.
Eli stopped asking whether Evelyn was leaving every morning.
Then one Sunday after church, Silas stood beside the wagon.
He handed Evelyn the ring.
Not kneeling.
Not dramatic.
“Will you marry me?”
Evelyn looked at five children pretending not to listen.
Hazel’s head was almost inside the wagon curtain.
Thomas stared at the ground too intensely.
Bennett openly watched.
Eli shouted, “Say yes!”
Evelyn laughed.
Then looked at Silas.
“Why?”
His answer came immediately.
“Because I love the life we are building. And I love you when you are helping us and when you aren’t.”
She waited.
“And?”
Silas sighed.
“And because I have discovered that sleeping alone is considerably less appealing than I once claimed.”
Hazel groaned.
Evelyn laughed harder.
Then she said yes.
The children exploded.
But happiness lasted only three days.
Because on Wednesday a woman arrived at the ranch.
She stepped from a carriage.
Looked directly at Silas.
And said:
May you like
“You cannot marry her.”
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