Chapter 10 - The Baby Elias Could Not Deny
By spring, Micah had become the center of North Ridge.
Bramble tolerated him.
Ruth adored him.
Thomas claimed the baby could already recognize a horseshoe.
Aayoka claimed Thomas was an idiot.
Elias simply watched his son grow.
Micah remained unusually strong, but perfectly healthy.
The rumors faded.
Reality replaced legend.
Elias learned fatherhood was not made of dramatic moments.
It was waking at two in the morning.
Changing cloth.
Walking the floor.
Repairing a cradle leg.
Making ridiculous sounds because they made a baby laugh.
It was ordinary.
Elias loved it.
Then a letter arrived.
Crowe had requested a deal.
In exchange for a reduced sentence, he would identify every official involved in the land fraud.
One condition:
Elias must testify.
Aayoka saw the old fear return.
“You'll go.”
“What if his men—”
“You'll go.”
“Aayoka.”
“You spent four years wanting justice.”
“I have more to lose now.”
She touched his face.
“That is why courage matters now.”
Elias understood.
He testified.
Crowe was convicted.
Bell received a lesser sentence because of his cooperation.
The stolen properties were restored.
Silver Creek changed slowly.
Not completely.
Towns did not transform overnight.
Neither did people.
But something had shifted.
When Aayoka walked through the general store with Micah, fewer people whispered.
Some apologized.
She accepted some apologies.
Others she did not.
Forgiveness, she reminded Elias, was not a debt victims owed.
Summer approached.
One evening Elias carried Micah to the ridge.
Aayoka joined him.
Below them, Arizona burned gold beneath sunset.
Elias looked at her.
“I have something.”
Aayoka became suspicious.
He handed her a folded document.
She opened it.
A deed.
Half ownership of North Ridge.
Her name beside his.
She stared.
“What is this?”
“Not a proposal.”
“Good.”
“Unless you want it to be.”
She laughed.
Elias continued.
“I don't want you living here because you depend on me. I want you here because you choose it. If you leave tomorrow, half this land remains yours.”
Aayoka's eyes filled.
“You finally understand.”
“Some things.”
She leaned against him.
Micah slept between them.
But peace would face one final test.
Because the following morning, riders arrived from Aayoka's extended family.
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And they had come to ask why she was building a life with the man who had abandoned her.
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