"I'm breathing."
"Then breathe less."
The younger woman laughed.
Elias looked at her.
She immediately covered her mouth.
"Sorry."
He hadn't heard anyone laugh around him in a long time.
The sound stayed with him.
When the beam was finally positioned, the older woman wiped sweat from her forehead.
"I'm Mara Bell."
She pointed to the younger woman.
"My sister Ruth."
Ruth smiled.
"Nice to meet you."
Elias nodded.
Mara looked at the ruined fence.
"Storm tore it down two nights ago."
"Storm?"
"Storm and three men."
Elias stopped.
"Three men?"
Mara's expression hardened.
"They came looking for horses."
"Did they take any?"
"Not yet."
"Yet?"
She looked toward the distant hills.
"They'll come back."
Elias examined the ground.
Fresh hoofprints crossed the grass.
Three horses.
Maybe four.
He crouched beside them.
"These aren't from your stock."
"No."
"How long ago?"
"Yesterday."
Elias stood.
"Then they're watching you."
Ruth's smile disappeared.
Mara reached for the rifle leaning against the cabin wall.
"We know."
Elias looked at the homestead again.
He should leave.
That was what he did.
Help a little.
Ride away.
Forget.
But Ranger had already started grazing.
Elias sighed.
"I'll fix the fence."
Mara raised an eyebrow.
"You?"
"Me."
"Why?"
Elias looked toward the road.
"I don't know."
Mara smiled faintly.
"That's the first honest answer I've heard all week."
He worked until sunset.
By the time the last post was set, Elias's hands were bleeding.
Ruth brought him water.
"You didn't have to do all this."
"I know."
"Then why did you?"
Elias stared at the repaired fence.
"Because it was broken."
Ruth looked at him for several seconds.
"That simple?"
"No."
Before she could ask anything else, Elias walked toward Ranger.
Mara called after him.
"Where are you going?"
"Town."
"There's no town for twenty miles."
"I know."
"Then where are you actually going?"
Elias mounted.
"Somewhere else."
He rode into the fading light.
He told himself he would never see the Bell sisters again.
By midnight, he already knew he was lying to himself.
One Condition
Elias returned the next morning.
He told himself it was because Ranger needed water.
Ranger had plenty.
He told himself he had forgotten something.
He hadn't.
When he reached the homestead, Ruth was standing beside the barn holding a bucket.
She saw him.
Her face brightened before she could hide it.
"You came back."
Elias dismounted.
"For the horses."
"Of course."
Mara emerged from the cabin.
She carried a rifle.
"You said you were leaving."
"I changed my mind."
"Why?"
Elias looked at the sky.
"Weather."
Mara followed his gaze.
The sky was perfectly clear.
Ruth laughed.
Mara shook her head.
"You're a terrible liar."
"I've been called worse."
"Probably deserved it."
He smiled.
It was the first real smile Ruth had seen from him.
She remembered it.
That morning, Elias repaired the north section of the fence.
He worked quickly, efficiently, without wasting words.
Ruth watched him.