It had been too long. He'd waited all day and he knew now Jack must not be coming. This had been some cruel joke. Maybe Jack was getting him back for that punch, or maybe Ennis had dreamt the post card in the first place. No, 'cause Alma had seen that, too. She had, right?
Maybe Ennis had dreamt the whole thing, back on the mountain, and it was just his buddy showing up, to buy him beer. Ennis wrapped his memories more tightly around him, the last sacred thing he had, and maybe not real, but his.
Maybe Jack'd gotten lost on the road. Or that cunt truck of his had broke down. Or maybe he'd been hurt, in an accident, or...
No, maybe he just wasn't coming because he hated Ennis. That was better. Ennis held onto that hope to stave off the other, darker fears, until suddenly, as the threatening sky had forecast, a stormy wind broke against the apartment, rattling the windows of the del Mar family home.
The sound of wind faded as the sound of engine drone rose, and Ennis didn't even need to look out the window, thought he did, just in case. He'd figured out a long time ago that the wind always knew about Jack Twist's coming. Ennis flung himself out the apartment door and let the rain the wind had brought drench him, easing the parched space of years that had been his torment without Jack.