Nettie sighed as she bent over to kiss the and smooth the dark hair off the forehead of the silent young man. "You made my Casey so happy, young man. The two of you lived most of a whole lifetime in a short time. What I wouldn't give to see the two of you, laughing, blushing, so nervous and excited when you came to tell me . . . Casey promising she would have a real church wedding after she finished her college courses and you promising me you would always take care of Casey and cherish her forever . . ."
Vin watched as a lone tear slid down the careworn face and Nettie's hand shook for a moment.
"Casey fought hard. You keep fighting, too. She would want that." Nettie's voice trembled and she turned away from the heartbreaking sight of the silent JD. Vin opened his arms and she let herself be comforted by him. A last look and Vin took Nettie to her farm, advising her to get some sleep.
Two days later, Casey's service was small, but beautiful. Nettie was proud each of the six men gave poignant examples of Casey that led to laughter and tears and Vin kept close to Nettie. Though the service was hard on everyone, Buck was especially tense as he kept seeing JD's face in the coffin.
After leaving the graveyard, Chris had invited Nettie and the others to his ranch for food and drink. No one was in the mood to eat and Nettie, after visiting with Mary and Inez and Raine, begged off and the women, after cleaning up, took Nettie home.
The men, sitting outside felt the cold discomfort of the white elephant in the atmosphere.
Everyone was afraid to bring up the subject, but as the silence continued, it was Nathan who broke the silence, "Do you think JD would want us to . . ."
Buck threw his glass down, shattering it and causing the other four men to tense. "Don't even start, Nathan! JD will come out of it!"
"Buck, it's been months; I think we should all at least talk about it . . ."
Buck, enraged, jumped up to tower over Nathan. "I'm warning you, Nathan . . ."
Josiah moved, placing a hand on Buck's shoulder. "Buck, please. Avoiding the subject won't help us. We need to talk . . ."
Buck jerked away. "This is JD, Josiah. He will come out of it. I'm never giving up on him and I'm not letting any of you do so, either!"
"Would JD be happy the way he is now? In a coma for the past six months with no signs of regaining consciousness?" Vin asked quietly. "JD was never still. Now he's trapped inside and can't get out."
"But there's still hope, Vin. There's still hope," Buck insisted, his voice now trembling.
"The odds are very small, Buck. Even Ezra wouldn't take that bet."
"It's isn't money, it's JD!" Buck screamed. He got up and left, his truck leaving skid marks from him racing off and the dust cloud blew behind him as the rest of the men slumped back in their chairs.