Chapter 17 - Dela Marsh Makes Her Choice
Warren’s arrest did not end the case.
Real endings rarely happened as quickly as stories suggested.
There were hearings.
Depositions.
Bank records.
Witnesses.
Federal investigators traveled between Helena, Butte and Granite Falls.
Judge Harcourt resigned before formal removal proceedings could finish.
Two bank officials pleaded guilty to fraud.
Several property claims were reopened.
Mrs. Hayes, the widow Dela had never met, received word that her ranch seizure would be reviewed.
Warren remained jailed pending trial after prosecutors argued he had threatened witnesses and attempted to destroy evidence.
Dela’s divorce petition was granted faster than Hannah expected.
Warren’s attorneys did not fight it.
They had larger problems.
On the morning Hannah’s telegram arrived, Dela read the same line four times.
DIVORCE FINAL.
Rufus stood near the stove.
“Well?”
She handed it to him.
He read.
Then returned it.
“That it?”
“That’s it.”
“How do you feel?”
Dela considered.
“Quiet.”
“Bad quiet?”
“No.”
She looked around the cabin.
“Mine.”
Rufus frowned.
“What?”
“My life.”
She smiled.
“It feels mine.”
That winter slowly began releasing the mountain.
Icicles shortened.
Snow softened during afternoons.
Creeks became audible beneath ice.
Dela received a small settlement recovered from personal funds Warren had controlled during their marriage.
She surprised Rufus by announcing she would leave the cabin.
He stared at her.
“When?”
“April.”
His face became unreadable.
“All right.”
The answer hurt.
Dela frowned.
“That’s all?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
“Then you leave.”
She became irritated.
“You could object.”
“Why?”
“Because—”
She stopped.
Rufus waited.
“Because you might not want me to.”
His gaze softened.
“Course I don’t want you to.”
“Then say it.”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
Dela’s heart jumped.
“But,” he added, “if you stay because I ask, you’ll always wonder whether you chose it.”
Her irritation disappeared.
Rufus understood her too well.
“I’m going to Granite Falls,” she said.
“For how long?”
“Three months.”
He nodded slowly.
“Hannah offered me work.”
“Law office?”
“Bookkeeping. Helping review property documents connected to Warren’s fraud.”
Rufus’s eyes brightened.
“Your own work.”
She remembered the abandoned mining cabin.
A garden.
Books.
Work.
“Yes.”
“Then go.”
“You’re irritating.”
“Been told.”
She smiled sadly.
“Will you miss me?”
“No.”
Her eyebrows rose.
He lasted three seconds.
“Terribly.”
Dela laughed.
April came.
The day she left, Rufus carried her bag to the wagon.
The same canvas bag.
Now repaired.
Lighter somehow despite containing more.
Bear refused to leave her side.
Rufus eventually dragged him back.
“Traitor.”
Dela knelt and hugged the dog.
“I’ll visit.”
Bear whined.
She stood.
Rufus waited.
Neither knew what to say.
Finally he asked, “Scared?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why is that always your answer?”
“Means you’re doing something that matters.”
She stepped closer.
“Rufus.”
“Yeah?”
“Ask me to stay.”
Pain crossed his face.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.”
The world seemed to stop.
Rufus looked almost angry about having admitted it.
“And because I love you, I’m not making your freedom smaller so mine feels better.”
Dela’s eyes filled.
“You could have said that sooner.”
“Was hoping not to.”
“Why?”
“Terrifying.”
She laughed through tears.
Then kissed him.
“I love you too.”
Rufus closed his eyes briefly.
“But I’m still going.”
“I know.”
“Three months.”
“I know.”
“And if I come back—”
He interrupted.
“When.”
She smiled.
“When I come back, it will be because I choose to.”
“Good.”
Dela climbed into the wagon.
It moved down the mountain.
She watched Rufus until the trees hid him.
Then cried for five miles.
Not because she regretted leaving.
Because she finally understood that love and freedom did not have to be enemies.
In Granite Falls, Dela rented a room.
Her room.
She bought a brass key.
Locked the door the first night.
Unlocked it.
Locked it again.
And smiled.
Hannah proved to be a demanding employer.
Dela loved it.
She examined contracts.
Tracked forged signatures.
Helped locate widows and farmers whose land Warren’s network had taken.
Her skill with numbers became valuable.
By May, Hannah gave her a raise.
By June, people began requesting Dela specifically.
“She understands how these men hide things,” one farmer said.
He had no idea how literally true that was.
Dela wrote Rufus every Sunday.
His replies were short.
Bear misses you.
Roof leaks.
Coffee bad.
Come home soon.
One letter contained only:
Garden deer ate everything.
You were right about Bear.
Traitor.
Dela laughed until Hannah asked what happened.
By July, Dela had made enough money to support herself.
She could rent a permanent apartment.
She could remain in Granite Falls.
She had friends.
Work.
Freedom.
Everything she once wanted.
Then Hannah entered the office carrying a letter.
“For you.”
Dela recognized Rufus’s handwriting.
She opened it.
Dela,
I will not ask you to come back.
I promised myself that.
But there is something you should see before deciding where you want to live.
R.
Inside was a small hand-drawn map.
It showed Rufus’s cabin.
The creek.
The shed.
And beside the cabin, a new structure.
Dela stared.
Hannah looked over her shoulder.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
At the bottom Rufus had written two words.
YOUR OFFICE.
Dela covered her mouth.
Hannah smiled.
“Looks like the mountain man finally learned strategy.”
Dela laughed.
Two days later she boarded the stagecoach toward Timber Crossing.
When the driver reached the switchback, he stopped.
Dela stepped down.
This time no bag was thrown into mud.
This time she looked up the trail and knew exactly how far the cabin was.
She began walking.
May you like
Not because she had nowhere else to go.
Because she had finally discovered where she wanted to return.
