Dal wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head. “Whatever you said to her, however you helped… I’m glad.”
“Me too,” she said softly, watching as Alex stumbled and John caught her. She heard them laughing, saw them turn to each other and melt into one silhouette. Dropping her head, she blinked at Dal’s hard brown hands clasped at her waist.
Alex had John. Les had Luther. Freddy had a few more days.
The long hard journey was over.
They bedded the herd on the banks of the Smoky Hill River, two and a half miles outside of Abilene, Kansas. In the morning, they would lead the longhorns down the town’s main street to the Great Western loading pens, where the cattle would be counted, weighed on a pair of ten-ton Fairbanks scales, then loaded into railroad cars bound for Chicago.
It was tradition to spend the last night sitting around the campfire, reminiscing about the high and low points of the drive, laughing at exaggerations and the beginnings of new tall tales that would be told around other fires on other drives. Freddy listened as long as she could, then she realized the tears hanging in her eyes were putting a damper on the last-night frivolities.
Silently, she left the campfire and walked out on the range, wanting to see the dark silhouettes of the cattle one last time, wanting to listen to the soft sound of chewing cuds and occasional blowing.
As she had hoped, Dal followed her into the darkness, coming up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist. Together, they listened to the night watch singing end-of-the-trail laments in low melodious voices to the dozing animals.
Each night since Wichita, they had walked away from the fire in search of a place to be alone together. But their lovemaking had possessed a desperate quality that wasn’t wholly satisfying. Tonight, Freddy knew, would be the worst. Tonight would be the last time. Closing her eyes, she leaned against his chest and warned herself not to spoil the last night with tears. There would be time for tears later.
“Dal? I could go to Montana. I’d like ranching, I really know I would. It isn’t like before. Now I know longhorns, and I know what ranching is all about.”
He lowered his head to her ear and kissed her temple. “You’d hate the snow and cold winters. There’s no town large enough to support a theater, Freddy.” After a while, he said, “There must be some ranches near San Francisco.” When she told him she thought the land was largely agricultural, he fell silent for a period. “Maybe there’s something I could do in town.”
“Nothing you would love like you love ranching and cowboying.” It was hopeless and they both knew it. They’d had this conversation before and were just repeating what had already been said, looking for an answer they might have overlooked.
“I love you, Freddy. This is killing me.”
“Oh, Dal. I’m no good at acting, and owning a theater is a stupid idea anyway. Let me come with you to Montana. I can give up everything but you.”
“Freddy? Dal?” Les walked out of the darkness, pushing Alex in her chair. “We want to talk to you.” Freddy reluctantly stepped out of Dal’s arms. “Alex? Tell them what we decided.”
Moonlight gleamed in Alex’s hair as she leaned to set the chair’s brake. “First, I haven’t had a relapse, I just didn’t want to go stumbling across a dark prairie on a new leg looking for you two and falling down every two minutes.”
“They don’t care about that,” Les said impatiently. “Ask them.”
“Ask us what?” Freddy said, frowning.
“I’ll tell it my own way,” Alex said to Les. “John and I will leave for Boston from Abilene, as soon as Luther finishes the paperwork involved with the final settlement of Father’s will. We hope to visit the West from time to time, but we’ll make our home back East.” She glanced at Les. “Les and Luther plan to enlarge Luther’s home and raise their family in Klees. This leaves us with a problem, because Les and I don’t want to sell King’s Walk. Father built the ranch, and he loved it. He set up this drive, I think, because he hoped we would learn to love ranching, too. Les and I do, and Freddy, we think you do, too.”
Oh God. She caught a glimmer of where this was leading. Standing up straight, she fixed her gaze on her sisters’ smiles.