Henry unloaded the feed into the feed room just off the barn when he returned to the ranch, then caught Mic, saddled him up and rode off into the desert to give the situation some thought. It was the first time he’d been on a horse since the colt left over a week before, and as much as he had hoped it would help, he found he actually felt more heartsick than anything else. Between the thought of leaving the ranch and the painful loss of the gray colt, Henry could find no solace in the desert’s vast and open places and ended up returning to the ranch less than an hour after he left.

He wrestled with the decision for the rest of the day, and by the time he sat down for dinner with Jessie that evening, he seemed no further ahead than when he had begun. The two of them sat quietly at the table, with the only sound between them being the ticking of the grandfather clock in the other room.

“Are you okay, Henry?” Jessie asked after long minutes of total silence. “You haven’t said a word since you sat down.”

Henry stopped eating and looked up. “I ran into somebody today,” he said somberly.

Jessie put her fork down and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “An old friend?”

“Well,” Henry put his fork down as well. “Actually, he ain’t really a friend, I guess. More like an old boss. He was someone who helped me out when I needed it.” Jessie sat quietly, having never seen Henry so concerned before. “It’s kind of a long story,” he continued. “But I owe him six months worth of work.”

“Six months?”

“On his place up north. It’s one of the biggest cattle outfits in the country, up near Elko.”

“Are you going to go?”

Suddenly, Henry couldn’t seem to bring himself to look at her. “I guess I figured…I guess I wanted to talk with you about it.”

“Do you want to go?” she asked.

“No, I don’t want to go,” Henry said with a deep sadness in his voice. “But I need to go. It’s the right thing to do.” He paused, and looked at her. “I owe him.”

Jessie’s heart sank. It seemed one of the things she found most attractive about the man—his strong sense of right and wrong—was suddenly going to be the one thing that was going to take him from her. Still, if there was one thing she knew about Henry McBride, it was that he would do the right thing. Whatever his decision, she understood in that moment, sitting at the table with him, that her heart would let her support him through it.

“Would you come back?” she asked.

“I would, if you’d have me back.” His voice was so sincere that it almost hurt her to hear it.

“You have to come back,” Jessie smiled. “This is your home.” She paused for just a second before asking, “Isn’t it?”