“Yeah. Especially since we’re twins. We’d always been together. So for the first couple of months after he was gone, I’d pose one of the ridiculous questions that kills the boredom on a drive and the rider to my left would goggle at me as if I was crazy as a loon. I’d gotten so used to Jonas ridin’ next to me that it was weird and sad when he wasn’t. Anyway, I kept on movin’ cattle. Saved my money. I found this place one day searchin’ for strays. Campbell, the guy who owned it, wanted out. None of his livestock had made it through the winter and he was lookin’ for a buyer.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Four years.”
“How old are you?”
He smirked at her. “How old do you think I am?”
“At least thirty-seven,” she teased.
“Funny. I’m twenty-five. How old are you?”
“I turned twenty last month.”
“Practically an old maid, then, huh?”
“Hush, you. Keep going with the Silas saga.”
He sighed. “Let’s see…livin’ out in the middle of nowhere Crook County…oh right. Jonas tracked me down about two years ago. Said he needed a break from chasin’ outlaws and sleepin’ on the ground. Labelle had a job opening for a deputy, but I know it’s boring work. He claims he’s fine here, but I sense his restlessness. He helps out if I ask, but ranchin’ ain’t his thing.”
“And you? Do you ever feel restless?”
Silas lifted his head and studied her. It seemed more than a casual question. “I don’t have the itch to move someplace else. This is my home. But I do get impatient with not havin’ the funds to expand the McKay Ranch as fast as I’d like. So I just gotta bide my time and build my ranch acre by acre.”
Recognition lit her eyes. “That’s why you play cards. To earn money quicker so you can buy more land.”
“Sounds like a good way to end up with less money, don’t it?”
“Not if you’re skillful at it. Which you must be if Zeke West keeps challenging you.”
His chest puffed out a bit at hearing how fast she rose to his defense. “I’m not wastin’ this precious time with you by talkin’ about that idiot. Now it’s your turn to detail Dinah’s life and how you came to be in Crook County.”
Dinah pushed to her knees and reached in the saddlebag to pull out The Time Machine. “Let’s save that story for another time. I’d rather find out what the Eloi and the Morlocks are up to in their story. Now where were we…?”
It was sweet that she’d bookmarked the page with the piece of paper he’d doodled on while he’d been listening to her read last time.
“In a moment I knew what had happened. I had slept, and my fire had gone out, and the cold bitterness of death had come over my soul.”
Silas concentrated on the sound and inflections in her voice. He could listen to her speak for hours.
After several pages of Dinah fidgeting, Silas promised he’d behave if she stretched out beside him and got comfortable.
That’s how Jonas found them: Dinah lying on her front with her ankles crossed behind her and reading from the book as she rested on her elbows, while Silas laid on his side, head propped on his hand, enthralled with her and the story.
Dinah hadn’t jumped up as if they’d been caught doing something wrong when Jonas’s horse thundered up, young Jimmy on another horse behind him. She just pressed her finger to the sentence she’d stopped on so she wouldn’t lose her place when she glanced up.
“What in the devil is goin’ on?” Jonas demanded.
“He’s resting, as per Doc’s recommendation,” she answered coolly.
“Silas was supposed to be resting at Doc’s place until I fetched him. I went there and found out he’d left hours ago.”
“You know that cattle don’t wait until afternoon, Jonas.” Silas sat up and grimaced from the sharp pain. “Dinah helped me with chores and we’ve been out here enjoyin’ each other’s company.”
When Jonas appeared skeptical, Silas held up his hand. “Ain’t it better we’re out here where anyone can see what we’re doin’, rather than us bein’ alone in the cabin, givin’ people a chance to tell tales about what we might’ve been up to? Besides, ain’t no one ever stops by to sit and visit a spell with me.”
“That’s because you’re a damn hermit.” Jonas sighed. “I wasn’t gonna say nothin’ about what you two were doin’.