“Yep, I was a mighty scared boy.” Falcon got a faraway look in his eyes and was somber when he said, “Ma was ailin’ awhile, so I knew it might happen. She talked herself blue trying to teach me to get by without her. I could hunt, and I’d worked the place with Ma since I was no bigger’n a sprout. I could plant and hoe the garden. I could find berries and nuts, there were roots growing wild. I could fetch ’round a possum or a brace of rabbits, snare a quail, and I sure enough knew how to go fishin’. Whatever I caught, I could skin, cook, and eat. I could make leather out of a hide. I knew how to load my gun and hit what I aimed at. I could use a bullet mold. I got by. But I was so alone my ears echoed like someone shoutin’ down the holler.”

Molly came to his other side and patted him a lot more gently than Wyatt.

Falcon looked to Wyatt on his left, then Molly on his right. “It’s a whole lot better having family about.”

Molly nodded, though some days she had her doubts.

“You got yourself untied.” Falcon turned to look at Wyatt’s arm. “You’re well, then?”

“Seems like it. I’m crazy to get outside. Saddle up a horse and ride. Want to come?”

“Sure. If we’re right, my wife owns half this ranch.”

The two of them grinned at each other and charged outside.

Molly smiled after them. When the back door slammed, her smile faded. She felt . . . Well, Falcon had said it about right. She felt so alone her ears echoed.

She made plans to get on with her life. Find a job.

Then, plotting her escape, she turned to setting the kitchen to rights. All Wyatt’s bandages were scattered about. And there was a noon meal to get. She’d ride to Bear Claw Pass right after she’d cleaned up. She hadn’t heard who replaced Win for the teacher’s job, but she’d make sure to see if they’d found someone. If not there, she’d find a diner that needed a cook. Or a hotel that needed a housekeeper.

Teaching was what she wanted though.

Before she headed for town, she’d see how the noon meal went.

It wasn’t something she was proud of, it made her feel some shame in fact, but she wanted to be thanked for the food. Helped with the food. Appreciated for the clean house, the made-up beds. The scrubbed pots and pans. The laundry and mending. She wasn’t sure quite how she’d ended up running this house alone.

All she knew was it hurt her.