Chapter 15 - The Mountain Wolf Came Looking for His Wife
Eleanor stayed at the Ridgeline Tavern.
Margaret gave her the same storage room.
The cot seemed smaller.
The walls colder.
Everything smelled exactly as she remembered.
Yet Eleanor no longer fit there.
“You’re miserable,” Margaret said.
“I’m employed.”
“You’re miserable and employed.”
“Denver will be different.”
“Probably.”
Eleanor folded a dress.
Margaret watched.
“You love him.”
Eleanor stopped.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I need this.”
“The job?”
“The choice.”
Margaret understood.
“That I believe.”
Eleanor looked toward the window.
No rider.
Three days passed.
Caleb did not come.
Eleanor told herself she was glad.
This was what she wanted.
Freedom.
Proof.
Space.
On the fourth morning, she bought a train ticket.
Departure: six the next day.
That evening the tavern was crowded.
Eleanor served supper because Margaret’s cook was sick.
The door opened.
Conversations stopped.
Caleb Morgan entered.
Snow covered his coat.
His beard was untrimmed.
He looked like he had not slept.
Margaret quietly took the serving spoon from Eleanor.
“Go.”
Eleanor stood still.
Caleb crossed the room.
People watched.
He ignored them.
“I need to talk to you.”
Eleanor lifted her chin.
“You could have come sooner.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was afraid.”
The entire tavern heard.
The Mountain Wolf had just admitted fear.
Eleanor blinked.
“Of what?”
“Your answer.”
Something moved through the room.
Caleb looked around.
Then back at her.
“Outside?”
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
Eleanor crossed her arms.
“You announced you needed a wife in this room.”
Several people laughed nervously.
She continued.
“If you have something to say, say it here.”
Caleb exhaled.
“Fair.”
He removed his gloves.
His hands shook.
Eleanor had never seen Caleb’s hands shake.
“I spent years believing the safest way to live was not to need anyone.”
His voice carried through the silence.
“Then you came to my house.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled.
“You moved my flour.”
A laugh escaped someone.
Caleb ignored it.
“You fixed curtains nobody cared about. Put flowers on the table. Argued about everything.”
Now Eleanor almost laughed.
“You made me angry.”
“Frequently.”
“You made me worry.”
His voice broke slightly.
“And you made that cabin the first place since my mother died that felt like home.”
Nobody moved.
Caleb reached into his coat.
He placed the original contract on the tavern counter.
Eleanor stared.
Then he tore it in half.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Pieces fell between them.
“The contract is finished.”
Eleanor could barely speak.
“I know.”
“The money is yours.”
“I know.”
“The property might still be lost.”
“I know.”
“I don’t care.”
That surprised her.
Caleb stepped closer.
“I care about the mountain.”
He looked at her.
“But not more than you.”
Tears slipped down Eleanor’s face.
He continued.
“You asked what you were to me.”
She remembered.
At the cabin.
After Horace left.
Caleb had been unable to answer.
Now he did.
“You are the person I want to come home to.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Caleb’s eyes never left hers.
“You are the person whose opinion can ruin my entire day because, unfortunately, I care about it.”
Laughter moved softly through the room.
“You are stubborn.”
“So are you,” Eleanor whispered.
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“And if you still want Denver, I will put you on that train tomorrow.”
Her heart twisted.
“I won’t stop you.”
That mattered.
More than any promise.
“But I’m asking now.”
He stepped close enough that only a few inches separated them.
“Not because of the land.”
His voice lowered.
“Not because of my father.”
“Not because of the county.”
Eleanor’s breath shook.
“Stay with me.”
Silence.
“As what?” she whispered.
Caleb’s eyes softened.
“As my wife.”
“You already have one.”
“Then as the wife who chooses me when she doesn’t have to.”
Eleanor cried openly.
Caleb waited.
He did not touch her.
Did not pressure.
Just as he had promised on the first day.
She laughed through tears.
“You took four days to come here?”
“Yes.”
“You are unbelievably slow.”
“I rode through snow.”
“I don’t mean the horse.”
The tavern laughed.
Even Caleb smiled.
Eleanor stepped forward.
Then stopped.
“I still have to go to Denver.”
His face fell.
“For the job?”
“To decline it in person and collect the advance paperwork Margaret sent.”
Margaret suddenly became fascinated with a cup.
Eleanor continued.
“And because I need one night where I know I could leave.”
Caleb nodded slowly.
“Then leave.”
Her heart caught.
“And if you still want me when you come back,” he said, “I’ll be on the mountain.”
Eleanor reached for his hand.
“I already know what I want.”
Caleb stared.
“Then why—”
She smiled.
“Because I want you to know I chose it freely.”
For the first time, Caleb seemed to understand.
His fingers closed around hers.
The next morning, Eleanor boarded the train.
Caleb stood on the platform.
She left.
By choice.
And three days later, she would return by choice too.
But while Eleanor traveled south, someone else arrived in Silver Hollow.
A representative from Consolidated Mining.
May you like
And he carried evidence that threatened North Slope in a way even Rutherford never had.
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