Molly had her pretty blue dress on again, the one sprinkled with white flowers. Win wore a neat black riding skirt with a pleated white shirtwaist. Wyatt looked at the two of them. Win with dark curls, blushing pink cheeks, and bright blue eyes brimming with tears. Molly with hair so fair it was more white than yellow. Fine hair she wore in a tidy bun on the top of her head, but with wisps escaping, framing her face, accenting her lighter blue eyes. Studying them, Wyatt hoped they worked things around to make themselves a family. Win and Molly needed one.

Win’s arms came around Molly’s neck from the side, so her left arm crossed Molly’s chest. Molly reached up and held on to that arm.

Then the crying started. Win only.

Molly wasn’t much of a crier, but Win seemed to have a talent for it.

“I’m leaving now.” Molly clutched Win’s arm. Wyatt thought it looked like her hands were acting the exact opposite of her words. She was leaving, but she really didn’t want to.

“I swear to you, Molly”—Kevin, sitting directly across the dinner table from her, jabbed a finger right toward her nose—“I will follow you over there and ruin it.”

Win hung on, sniffling.

Molly patted Win’s forearm. “Let go, Win. I won’t be harmed because—”

“Because I’m going with her.” Wyatt had been thinking about it, even talked about it, but until this moment, he hadn’t realized his mind was made up.

“What?” Win raised her head and drew a sleeve across her eyes. “That makes no sense. Pa won’t believe you would move over there with Molly.”

“Your pa lost almost all his hands. His foreman put out the word for more help, but I don’t think he’s found it. Leastways I’m sure he’s still shorthanded. I’ll go over and sign on. I plan to tell him I’m fed up with life here.” Wyatt loved the RHR, and no one with a functioning brain would believe otherwise. Lucky enough for him that Hawkins didn’t seem to use what few brains he had . . . except to harm women.

His jaw tightened. “I’ll tell your pa I plan to strike out farther west in the spring, but I don’t want to cross the mountains in the winter. I’ll say I’m mad as blue blazes about the new brothers as good as stealing my land, and I won’t spend another hour under the same roof.”