“Ben, you’re a grown man now. You go where you please and you do what feels right to you. But it’s important to stick close to your own. Young men your age, they always want to ramble. But when you settle down, settle near your people. If you get the chance to go down to Argentina, stay awhile, have a good look around. Then come back and settle down right here. I’ve known old Strother Swank for thirty years. His daughter is a fine gal. You can’t do better than Belle, even if she does chew tobacco and she barely comes up to your belt buckle. You come back and marry her, we’ll carve out of a piece of the 8T8 for the two of you. I don’t like the notion of you livin your life way out at the end of the world.”

Ben mumbled something about how he liked Wyoming and didn’t want to stay away too long and let it go at that. It seemed like Eli was trying to reach out to him in a way he never had before. He wished he had a better answer.