Riverton, Wyoming

The wedding went off without a hitch and Ennis Del Mar married Alma Beers in a simple ceremony attended by his brother K.E. and sister Maggie. For Alma, her sister Rose was there along with her mother Katrina and a few friends from town. Ennis was there in his finest clothes just short of threadbare going through the motions of shaking hands and nodding and smiling. But, all through the ceremony he couldn't seem to banish the image that kept popping into his head. For some reason he couldn't understand, a pair of sad blue eyes were haunting his every waking moment and more than a few dreams, too.

It's like there were two Ennis's inhabiting the same body. One was starting a new life with Alma and vowed to make her happy, to love and honor her, and to start a family with her as was expected of him. The other was practically dying to see those blue eyes again. To fall so deeply into them he could never find his way back out. To vow to make them always shine and never again shed a tear. The day he left, that part of him almost died. Wanted to just lay on the side of the road and let the vultures pick his heart out it was already broken enough. They could just pull it right out through his skin.

When Junior was born, he was so proud he didn't think his heart could stand the strain. He could see that she took after him right away. Even as a baby she always had a thoughtful look on her face as if thinking about each move she'd make before making it. She was also very quiet, just like her daddy, until she actually had a reason to make a sound. He knew there was nothing wrong with her, but, Alma always insisted there was. She'd always tell him that a child should never be that quiet. Children were always fussy unless they were asleep. Ennis just chalked it up to the fact that Junior, for one reason or another, scared the living hell out of Alma. Course, after Francine was born a year later, Alma was overjoyed. Francine was a screamer. What surprised Ennis the most, though, was that even when Francine annoyed the hell out of Junior with her fussiness, Junior never once complained. She would just go to her sisters crib and rub her tummy or her back till Francine quieted down or Alma got there to feed her or change her diaper.

About a year after Francine was born, Ennis got some bad news in the mail. Stopping at the post office on the way home one day, he found an unexpected letter mixed in with the usual junk mail. The letter was from Mrs. Twist whom he still remembered fondly. Upon reading the letter he felt his stomach tying itself into knots. He was feeling a strange mixture of both sadness and joy that he couldn't explain. On seeing the look on her husbands face, Alma knew something bad must have happened.

"What wrong, Ennis?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just got a letter from and old employers wife. Seems her husband just passed away and her son's down in Texas somewhere. She wants to know if I can come up and help out fer a bit till she can locate her son."

"What about me and the girls? Ennis, I'm real tired of living on a ranch and the girls really have no one to play with. And Francine's asthma isn't getting any better."

"Well, she did ask that I bring my family with me. I really owe the Twist's. They gave me a job when I had no right to expect one. Mrs. Twist's the one that gave me that quilt fer you. Said every husband outta bring his bride a gift fer their wedding. She's a real sweet lady. You'd like her."

"Well, where is this place at?"

"It's a place called Lightnin Flat up near the Montana border. The towns about an hour away from the ranch. I'd really like to be able to help her out, Alma, but, if ya'd rather I didn't then I'll just write her back and tell her I can't make it." Not really sure if I can stand seein' Jack again either. Course, he's doin the rodeo thing so she might not be able to find him. Not sure what it was that happened on the porch that night and not sure I wanna know. What I can't understand though is how com I can't get him out of my head.

"Well, how long do ya think ya'd have to be up there?"

"At least a month or two. Last time I was there the place was barely hanging on. Not sure what kinda shape it's in now."

"Lord, I've never seen Ennis Del Mar beholdin to anyone, so, if ya have to go then go. I can take the girls and stay at my sisters over to Riverton fer awhile. At least that way the girls will have their cousins to play with and Francine'll be closer to the doctor." The only thing I can't understand, Ennis, is why ya'd go out of yer way to help that family when ya never once wanted to do anything I asked ya to do. Why can't ya take care of yer own family like yer supposed to?

"Are ya sure, Alma? I mean I can tell her I can't do it. She'd understand, really."

"No, Ennis, it's alright. Ya go ahead and do it. The girls and I'll be waitin fer ya in Riverton."

That night Ennis started packing things up so that they could leave the next morning. He hadn't yet gotten around to letting Alma know that he'd lost his job that day because the ranch he'd been working at had folded. He'd been planning to go out the next day to find another job, so the letter had come just in time,