Chapter 16 - The Cowboy's Final Promise
Wade hated being treated like an invalid.
Rosalie hated pretending she wasn't frightened.
Eventually they stopped doing both.
“Are you afraid?” she asked one night.
“Yes.”
The honesty relieved her.
“So am I.”
“Good.”
Rosalie stared.
Wade smiled.
“You said that when Eleanor was coming.”
“You've waited decades to use that against me?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
Winter settled over Willow Creek.
Children and grandchildren visited.
Vivien stayed often.
One evening Wade asked Rosalie to bring the cedar box.
Inside lay the brooch.
He picked it up.
“Again?”
Rosalie understood immediately.
“Again.”
He placed the silver flower in her palm.
“Rosalie Bennett Hollis, will you accept this with no obligation whatsoever?”
She began crying.
“You ridiculous man.”
“Is that yes?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
Wade lived until March.
Snow melted.
Cottonwood Creek ran high.
Rosalie sat beside him before dawn.
“Rosalie?”
“Yes?”
“You chose me.”
She bent closer.
“Every day.”
His eyes closed.
Then opened once more.
“Thank you.”
His hand relaxed before sunrise.
Rosalie remained beside him.
Grief did not arrive dramatically.
It simply occupied everything.
At Wade's funeral, ranchers, teachers, former pupils and families from across Wyoming gathered.
Rosalie wore the wild rose brooch.
Afterward Eleanor asked her to move in.
“No.”
“Mother.”
“I have a house.”
“You'll be alone.”
“Alone isn't the same as lonely.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“You taught me that.”
Rosalie continued living.
She taught occasionally.
Traveled.
Visited grandchildren.
Argued with administrators.
Two years after Wade's death, she opened his desk.
Inside was an envelope.
Rosalie opened it.
Wade had written:
If you're reading this, I finally managed to leave before you. Don't follow too quickly. You always did have work to finish.
Rosalie laughed through tears.
He knew her.
There was indeed work unfinished.
The Bennett house still accommodated teachers.
But Rosalie wanted something larger.
Something for women who had nowhere to go because someone else had already decided what their lives should become.
May you like
She knew exactly what to build.
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