Molly cleared the table with so much help they were in each other’s way.

Then Cheyenne said, “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

Molly turned from the sink and saw Falcon’s back as he followed Cheyenne outside and swung the door shut.

Blinking at the sudden departure, she turned to Wyatt, who was standing there looking like a man who was afraid he’d say the wrong thing and make Molly move out again. He held a towel and a dripping plate, but he wasn’t wiping. He was staring wide-eyed at her.

“Where are they off to? More cattle to move?” Molly asked. “And what did she mean by not knowing how long they’d be gone? I always make plenty for meals, so it doesn’t matter if they turn up at mealtimes.”

Wyatt seemed to come out of whatever strange mood of fear he’d been in. With a somewhat desperate grab at something to talk about, he said, “The house Cheyenne was born in sits on the border of Ma’s land and Grandpa’s. We’ve used it as a line shack.”

“What’s a line shack?” Ranching was eyeball deep in odd phrases.

“We have such a far-flung holding we send a man or two out to cabins we’ve built on the far edges of our property line. They live out there and can check the cattle nearby.”

“And Cheyenne and Falcon might be moving to that cabin to live?” Molly went back to washing dishes, only to find out the cast-iron skillet in her hands was the last. Wyatt made her nervous for some reason. She’d prefer to keep busy.

“They are thinking of it. It’s a nice cabin. Not nearly as big as this, but Cheyenne’s pa was a good builder, and we’ve kept it in good repair. Not sure why they can’t just stay here with me.” Wyatt frowned. It was his little-brother frown, and Molly had felt a little-sister version of it before on her own face. She suspected it’d been on there near full time since Kevin got married.

She rinsed the skillet and handed it to Wyatt, then poured the basins of water down the handy drain hole in the kitchen sink. This really was a nice house.

Thinking desperately of what to do, she filled a pot with water from the hand pump that came right in the kitchen. Then she used that to refill the wells on the stove while Wyatt dried the skillet.

She forced herself to think of the noon meal. She had a nice elk roast Falcon had brought in.