The train slithered across Mexico's terrain like a speedy black viper, coughing up clouds of smoke and leaving a trail in the sky in its wake. The land had quickly transformed from barren desert and mesas to grasslands and woodlands as the locomotive crossed Butter Bridge and entered America. Jack sat silently in his seat and stared out the window. His mind was a blank slate; he had experienced so much in such a small amount of time…
La Phantasma had finally been defeated. It took several days to bury their fallen brethren, but once that arduous task was complete, Reyes and what remained of his army helped the citizens of Mexico return to their abandoned homes and begin the arduous task of rebuilding their houses and towns. After they repaired what was damaged during La Phantasma's reign of terror, Reyes and his army returned to Escalera and celebrated. It was all that Jack could do to stand being inside Reyes' palace; he was in a constant state of disgust and anger while he was surrounded by such lavish, gaudy decoration. When he could stomach it no longer, he showed himself to the door.
Reyes of course rushed after him and pleaded obsequiously, "Señor Marston, where are you going?"
"Home," Jack growled back without so much as a backward glance. He grasped the door handle firmly and was about to yank it open when Reyes grabbed his arm and turned him around.
"Why leave so early when the party's just started? I have the finest tequila in all of Mexico, and my servants will cook you the best home-made Mexican meal you've ever tasted! Mi casa es su casa, mi amigo. I have plenty of spare bedrooms for you and—"
Jack interrupted him with a cold stare and a terse reply. "With all due respect, Reyes, I think I've overstayed my welcome here in Mexico. My job is done; you've given me the eight-thousand bucks for killing that crazy bitch. Now all I wanna do is get back to my ranch and be done with all this."
"Perdóname, señor, but I must insist you stay, at least for tonight. Surely you must be tired after all that we've been through! ¡Ven conmigo, mi amigo! I will have my servants prepare a meal and open the bottles of some of the finest drink to have ever grace your lips! We shall have a celebration fit for kings such as you and I! I can give you all the food and drink and the finest clothes you so richly deserve, Jack Marston. Just say yes, and it shall be done."
His hand never left the door knob as he turned and faced Abraham. The contempt he felt for the man who was throwing himself and his riches upon him was enough to make his stomach churn—had he partaken in the meal as Reyes offered, Jack would've vomited on the man's shiny black boots. He didn't bother to sound sincere as he grunted back, "As I've said before, mister, I've overstayed my welcome."
And with that, he walked out the door with the reward money slung over his shoulder.
Jack was snapped back to the present as the train car he rode in crossed Butter Bridge; he sucked in air through clenched teeth and tried to breathe through the flare of pain from his battle wounds. Even though he had been properly overseen by Reyes' doctors, he was still in considerable pain. "Son of a bitch," he hissed as he clutched at his injuries.
"Jack?" came a soft voice beside him. "You okay?"
He blinked and looked to his right at his wife, who had apparently awoken and was struggling to sit up. Concern for her well-being overshadowed his pain as he turned and gingerly helped her get into a more comfortable sitting position. "Take it easy, darlin'," he murmured. "Just rest. You're in worse shape than I am."
Maddie snorted, but with her sardonic response came an agonized countenance. She leaned her head back against the seat and panted, trying to withstand the pain as best she could. "I've been through worse, Jack," she breathed, her voice strained with excruciation. "This is nothing."
"Like hell, Maddie. You almost died."
She didn't respond as she closed her eyes and did her best to relax. Her left arm was held in a sling, restricting her movement and forcing her to keep it in place. Her breathing came in pained, short pants; her brow was constantly creased into a grimace.
Jack caressed his wife's cheek with a gentle hand. He felt both sorry for her and was so incredibly relieved that she was somehow miraculously alive—La Phantasma's bullet struck inches away from her heart, and she had bled profusely for a long while as the battle subsided and Reyes's army won. It was several minutes more before a doctor came rushing up to them and did what he could at that time and place. Once he had stopped the bleeding, the doctor led Jack back to the safety of his tent, which was pitched just off the battlefield. Jack carried Maddie the whole way there, despite being shot and bleeding severely. For what seemed like hours, the doctor worked on Maddie's seemingly lifeless body. All the while, Jack sat outside the tent in a teary-eyed mess, doing his best to regain his composure as he hoped and prayed to whatever god there was to spare her and bring her back to him. When at last the doctor was done and walked outside to fetch him, Jack rushed to Maddie's side and knelt there until sunrise. Not once did he leave her side or let go of her hand; not once did he take his eyes off her. It had taken her several days to recover, and when she felt she was strong enough—despite Jack's pleading, of course—she rose from her cot and asked for her horse to be fetched. Jack did her bidding, and fetched his horse as well, and together, they slowly rode to the nearest town, where they caught up with the train that was hauling the people of Mexico back to their homes.
"Can you promise me somethin'?" Jack asked suddenly.
"What is it, love?"
"Will you finally retire from bounty hunting?"
Her eyes opened instantly, and she turned her head to peer deep into his eyes. "What makes you say that?"
"You were so close to dying, Maddie…" His eyes welled with tears as he continued, "I almost lost you, darlin'. I can't…," he paused to try to swallow down the sob that threatened to leap out of his throat, "…I can't live without you, sweetheart. So please… please say you'll quit being a bounty hunter."
His desperate, pleading stare held her spellbound. She was speechless for a long moment, but after she got over the shock of his raw emotion, she sighed and nodded in affirmation. "Yes, Jack. I think it's time I got done with that."
His shoulders sagged visibly as he sighed heavily with relief and smiled at her. "Thank you, Maddie." He took her hand in his and gave it a grateful squeeze.
She nodded back in response and closed her eyes once more. After a moment of silence passed between them, she asked, "So what now?"
He looked back at her. "Hmm?"
"What happens now, now that this is all over and we're going home?"
"Well…. I was thinkin' we relax for a bit and take some time off. We both need to rest and heal up after that hell of a battle."
"And then what? Do we still go on with our same-old lives, just driving the cattle out to pasture and breaking horses until the end of our days?"
He blinked, not comprehending. "What are you gettin' at, darlin'? I thought you wanted that for us."
She did her best to turn in her seat without upsetting her wound further. "I do, Jack, I do, but what I'm saying is, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna settle down and all that?"
He blinked again and waited for her to continue.
"Are we gonna… well, you know…"
He scoffed, caught off-guard by her out-of-nowhere proposal. "Are you sayin' you want kids? Maddie, that's only if you want that to happen."
"I'm askin' you, Jack." She looked him sincerely in the eyes. "Do you want that?"
He held her gaze a moment longer before glancing down at the floor. He was silent for a time as he contemplated on how to answer one of the biggest questions of his life. The thought of him holding a child—his child—scared him half to death; he was in no way whatsoever prepared for that. But then he recalled Maddie dancing with the little girl at El Presidio and how joyful she appeared. He grinned as he recalled how beautiful she looked holding the girl in her arms and laughing along with her. He remembered the emotion that swelled within him as he watched her and the child, the deep paternal yearning he had never before experienced up until that point. With that recollection came blinding fear and doubt. Would I be a good father? he thought to himself. He frowned as he remembered his own father—would he turn out to be just like him? His doubt morphed into sadness as he thought, Ma and Pa would never get to meet my son or daughter; they'd never get to know their grandparents…
His silence and confounded expression was enough for Maddie to understand. She smirked and took both his hands into hers. As he looked back at her, she said, "We'll see what the future brings, my love. For now, let's just concentrate on getting home."
Jack grinned at her, grateful to have been relieved of such sudden, deep contemplation. However, as his wife drifted off to sleep again, he stared out the window and sat wondering whether or not he'd want to be a father and just what kind of a father he'd be.
His thoughts kept him awake the entire trip back home—the train passed MacFarlane's Ranch and carried them up north through the Pacific Union railroad camp. When the train stopped at Manzanita Post, he awoke his wife and helped her off the train before fetching their horses off of one of the livestock cars. He tethered them to the hitching post beside the train station and saddled them up, and just as the train bellowed a shrill call and slowly left Manzanita Post, he had finished saddling Maddie's horse. It didn't take him long to saddle up Sundance, and after helping Maddie up onto Gypsy's back, he mounted his horse, and together, they rode away at a slow walk towards home.
The plodding of their horses' hooves was the only sound between them as the Marstons rode the last stretch towards home. Jack hadn't stopped thinking about Maddie's question, even as he was saddling the horses, and now as he and his wife rode home in silence, it was tearing him apart inside. Abruptly, he turned in the saddle and looked at his wife.
"Do you think I'd be a good father?"
The sudden break in silence and the random question made her flinch. In response to her rider's sudden jump, Gypsy spooked slightly and side-stepped. Maddie reined her back over and urged her onwards abreast of Sundance. She met Jack's gaze as they continued down the road.
"Where the hell is this coming from, Jack?"
"Do you think I'd be a good father?" he repeated, almost pleadingly this time. He searched Maddie's eyes fiercely, desperate to know the truth.
Maddie was speechless for a couple seconds. Blinking in rapid succession, she said, "I'm sure you would be."
"Do you honestly think so? 'Cause I'm thinkin' the way I was raised doesn't make me out to be a good father, much less a good person."
She threw him a chastising look. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, honey. Your past is in the past—how you were raised shouldn't matter. Just so long as you're living in the now and are paying attention to what's currently happening, I think you'll be just fine."
He frowned as he faced forward and looked over Sundance's ears.
"And besides, I think your parents did well with you. You turned out just fine."
"Like hell, Maddie," he scoffed as he looked back at her. "I was raised by an outlaw and a workin' girl. I grew up in a gang. And I became an outlaw, just like my pa, five years ago, or do you not remember how we met?" He scoffed and gestured hopelessly. "Fuck, what am I supposed to say to our kid when they ask how we met? What in God's name am I gonna tell them?"
Maddie merely frowned and shook her head at him. "You're over-reacting, Jack."
"'Over-reacting'?!" he exclaimed. "If anything, I'm under-reacting. Just who do you think you're talkin' to here? Don't you realize that, if we do have kids, and God forbid if—no, when—they figure out their lineage, what are they gonna think about me, about us?"
"Will you just stop, Jack? You're makin' us out like we're the most terrible people on the earth. It's not that bad, honey. No one's family is perfect—just look at my family, for Christ's sake. How do you think I feel about my lineage?" She sighed and shook her head. "As I've said before, your past is in the past, and you shouldn't be lookin' back at it and worryin' about it. Who you were back then and who you are now are two entirely different people. Don't fuss about shit you can't change, Jack. And relax—it's not like I'm pressuring you into anything. What I said back there on that train doesn't mean anything's set in stone. I was just askin' what your thoughts were on the matter."
Jack sighed and bowed his head. "Hell, I don't know what I'm thinkin', Maddie."
"Well, I can tell ya right now you're over-thinkin' about it all, Jack. Just forget about what I said, at least for the time being. We'll cross that bridge when—if—we get to it."
Their conversation stalled and slipped into silence for a time. When it was broken, it was Maddie who spoke up.
"Do you think I'd be a good mother?"
Jack guffawed and pointed over at her. "Now look who's over-thinkin'!" He slapped his thigh and laughed.
Maddie glared over at him. "I'm serious, Jack."
After he overcame his fit of laughter, Jack shrugged and replied, "In all honesty, I think you'd be a great mother. If you're anything like your mama was, I'm sure you'd be just as good as her. Hell, look how you turned out—she did a wonderful job raising you."
Maddie looked down at Gypsy's flowing flaxen mane and smirked. "I suppose so, Jack."
"And I know for a fact if we did have a kid, they'd be just as stubborn and hot-headed as you."
She laughed at this and replied, "Says the man who's just as bad, if not worse, than his wife. You're more hot-headed than a pissed-off mule on a summer day."
Jack bowed his head in defeat and laughed, "Touché, Maddie."
By that time, they had reached the north side of their ranch; they stopped their horses before the gate, and after Jack opened it, Maddie rode through, leading his horse. Once they were through, Jack closed the gate behind him and mounted back up.
Their ranch looked just as it was the day they left: the house looked clean and well-kept, as well as the barn and the fence; the herd of cattle grazed peacefully on their land, just off to the northern corner, with the two paint horses Féileacán and Cloud grazing alongside the cows. The second they were on the ranch, Gypsy and Sundance belted out loud whinnies, and the paints came running. All four horses whickered and nuzzled each other in happy greeting while the cattle paused in their grazing to look up and stare. Two seconds later, their Border Collie Django ran up to them, barking happily and wagging his tail. As the Marstons rode up to the barn and the hitching posts, a familiar voice hollered to them.
"I's wond'rin' when you's gon' show up!"
Eli Jones came walking up to them with a wide smile on his face and a pitchfork in hand. "It's 'bout damn time ya'll's showed back up. Me 'n' tha boys was just reckonin' when you two would get back." He turned and shouted over his shoulder at the barn, "Mahtin! Johnny! Billy! Gitcha asses out here! They's back!"
The rest of Bonnie MacFarlane's ranch hands spilled out from the barn and walked up to Jack and Maddie as they dismounted their tired horses. Jack was quick to dismount Sundance so he could rush over and help his wife off Gypsy, and once they were finally off their horses. The second they turned around, Eli, Martin, Johnny, and Bill circled them and welcomed them home with handshakes and hugs.
Jack held out a hand to Eli and said, "I'm mighty thankful, Eli. Looks like you and the boys kept his place up pretty well while we were gone."
The Negro waved his hand before he took Jack's and shook it. "Ah, it's tha least I can do fo' ya, Mistuh Mawston. Ya'll are like fam'ly." He was quick to dismiss the wad of hundred dollar bills that Jack took out of the reward money bag and held out to him. "Keep ya money, Jack," he said with a humble grin. "There's no need fo' that, mah friend."
Jack shook his head and persisted, "I insist, Eli. Split this between you, Martin, Johnny, Billy, and Bonnie, of course. It's the least I can do for you guys since you did your jobs well. Besides, we're not hurtin' for money, since we got paid by the President of Mexico himself." He opened the bag wider and showed the massive pile of money to Eli and his comrades.
The ranch hands' eyes all bulged. "Jesus, Mary, 'n' Joseph!" Eli proclaimed. "Ya'll gon' be swimmin' in that fo' a while."
"Yeah, that ain't no joke," Johnny scoffed. Beside him, Billy snorted.
"You got that from the President?" Martin asked, his eyes widening further.
Jack and Maddie nodded.
"Good God."
"Like I said, boys, they's gon' be swimmin' in it," Eli repeated.
Jack chortled and replied, "Which is why you should take this." He once again held out the roll of money to him.
"Please take the money, all of you," Maddie added. "We won't be needing this anyways. Like you said, we're swimming in it, so it's no longer an issue."
The Negro and his men considered the money for a short while. "Well, if I's gon' take the money 'n' split it, the least we could do is help ya out a lil' while longah."
Jack shook his head. "That's not necessary—"
Eli held up a hand politely. "Nah, Mistuh Mawston. It's mah turn tah insist, boy. Ya'll just got home from a long ride." He gestured behind them at the house with a nod. "Ya'd best go 'n' freshen up now, ya hear me? We'll take care of ya hosses for ya."
Jack smiled and bowed his head in appreciation. "Alright, then. Thank you."
Hand in hand, the Marstons shuffled over to the house and up the steps onto the porch. They paused to look back over their shoulders to see Eli and his boys unsaddling their horses.
"Ya know, I'm kinda glad Eli was so persistent," Jack scoffed. "I don't know 'bout you, but I'm dead tired."
Maddie snorted and nodded in agreement. "I sure as hell am."
They found their house unsullied and organized, better than how they'd left it, which awed the couple and gave them more relief. To know that they didn't have to clean anything but themselves was an incredible relief. At last, they were able to relax—they took their sweet time undressing, bathing, and changing into clean clothes, a luxury that they hadn't had in what felt like months. They helped change each other's bandages, as their wounds were still very fresh and in need of great care. By the time they had finished up and stepped back outside, the sun had begun to lower itself down nearer to the horizon. Off in the distance, to the west side of their property near the fence, the cattle and horses grazed peacefully in a large herd. It was a beautiful sight to see from their wrap-around porch.
Movement off to the east by the barn caught their attention, and they turned and spotted Eli and his fellow ranch hands saddling up their horses by the hitching posts. Surprised, Jack and Maddie made their way over.
"Headin' out already?" Maddie asked. "Ya'll can stay for supper, ya know."
Eli shook his head and answered, "No, ma'am. We's got ta head back ta Bonnie's. Besides, I reckon you 'n' ya husband wanna spend some time alone together." He flashed her and Jack a suggestive smirk and winked at them. "By the way, when ya'll gon' have chil'ren? Ya got a mighty big house that's sittin' there all empty 'n' such."
Jack was about to shoot back an angry retort, but his wife surprised him by touching his shoulder and giving him a look, hinting that he hold his tongue. She instead spoke for the both of them, and not in the tone he thought she would. With a flush to her cheeks and an embarrassed, hushed tone, she uttered, "We'll see what the future holds, Mister Jones."
Jack was too surprised to speak on his own part that he failed to listen to the rest of the conversation that the men and his wife were holding—all he could do was stare bewildered at Maddie.
As Eli, Johnny, Martin, and Bill mounted up and gathered the reins in their hands, Maddie glanced over at Jack and nudged his ribs to get his attention. "You okay?" she whispered.
He nodded and stammered back, "Y-yeah… Just tired is all."
She frowned, not convinced, but she didn't comment further as she turned and look back at the men who were ready to depart. She smiled graciously up at them all. "You boys have a safe trip home. Give Bonnie our deepest thanks, and tell her we'll visit as soon as we're well rested."
Eli smiled with satisfaction. "That's good ta hear, Missus Mawston. Bonnie's been missin' both of ya. She'd appreciate you two stoppin' by, ya know."
Maddie nodded. "We'll stop by as soon as we can, Eli. I promise. We just gotta get rested up and relax for a bit before we visit."
The Negro smirked and bowed his head. "Sounds like a mighty fine plan, Missus Mawston." He tipped his hat to her and Jack before turning his bay towards the road. "You two take care of yaselves, ya hear?"
"We will, Eli. You do the same."
With a parting smile, Eli and his fellow ranch hands kicked their horses into a canter down the road. They stopped to let themselves out of the fence that surrounded the property, and with one last wave of farewell, they continued down the road and disappeared over the hill in a cloud of dust.
It took no more than a week for Jack to be back to his usual, busy self. He took to the tranquility of repetition on the ranch with gusto, happy to be back at home and taking care of the livestock. He drove the cattle out to pasture every morning and herded them back in at dusk; he continued to work with Cloud, who was proving to be a fine cow horse with incredible speed and stamina; he got back into the habit of writing in the evenings on the porch, a cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other as he wrote. He was practically overjoyed to get up early in the mornings, drink his coffee, and head outside to do chores and whatever else the ranch needed.
Maddie, on the other hand, took to taking it easy—her wound was still very tender and caused her a great deal of pain whenever she tried testing her limits, which she found was housework. Her injury kept her from venturing out and helping Jack with the horses and cattle, and while she yearned to saddle up and ride alongside her husband to drive the herd back and forth from the pasture to the ranch, she realized she wouldn't have been much help, anyways. So she did what she could around the house; whenever cleaning or cooking proved to be too much for her, she would take to lying in bed for a long while and read a book to pass the time until her wound stopped throbbing.
While she was more than happy to be back home, a part of her ached for the open spaces she once roamed in her younger years. She pined for the days of riding Gypsy across the unknown, wild territory; she sighed as she recalled her adventures of bounty hunting. In the evening, while she readied supper, she would stare out the kitchen window and become lost in her fantasies of saddling up Gypsy and riding out to wherever fate felt like taking her. But the second she decided to follow the temptation, her wound would remind her that she was not yet ready for the call of her desires. So she remained the troubled housewife for the time being. When she could stomach it no longer, she brought up her yearnings one night during supper.
Jack immediately knew something was amiss the second she sighed and set her silverware and napkin down. In the middle of chewing a piece of the delicious steak his wife had made, he looked up from his plate and eyed her with concern. "Somethin' wrong, darlin'?" he asked after he swallowed the meat.
She looked him fearlessly in the eyes and said, "We gotta talk."
Jack's heart sank at the dreaded words he always hated to hear. Though she didn't speak those words often, it was still an egregious task to converse with her, even though she was the one who usually did all the talking. Nevertheless, he set his silverware down as well, rested his elbows on the edge of the table, and clasped his hands together expectedly.
"I'm listenin'."
"I want to ride to Blackwater tomorrow, if that's all right with you, Jack."
He blinked, totally thrown off guard. "What for?"
She hesitated to answer. "To… To talk to Archer."
He frowned deeply and exhaled through his nose.
"I know that you met with him after we got back to let him know that La Phantasma was taken care of, but I want to speak to him as well."
"Madeline, I already briefed him on how it all went down. There's no need for the both of us to tell him the same thing."
"But I need to speak with him about…"
Jack blinked. "About what, Maddie?"
"…About the job proposal he offered me a while back ago."
The silence dragged on between them for what seemed like minutes.
"Darlin', you promised me."
"I know, Jack. I know."
He smirked knowingly. "But you still wanna go out and hunt bounties, don't you?"
She shook her head. "No. No, I'm done with that. Like you said, I promised you I would quit that business, and I have, Jack. Truly, I have. But there's just something…missing."
He cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" His eyes widened as he came to a scary realization. "Oh! So… So you're sayin' you wanna…," he swallowed dryly, "…have kids?"
It took her a long while to reply. "That would depend on whether or not you decide to let me take up on Archer's offer."
He stared at her speechless.
Maddie stared back, not knowing what else to say and waiting for her husband to reply. She blinked twice before asking, "So do I have your permission to ride to town, or do you want me to stay at home? It's your call, Jack."
He leaned back in his chair and blinked in rapid succession. He shook his head, and with a furrowed brow, finally uttered, "Maddie…why are you puttin' this all on me? It's your decision, too, ya know."
She shrugged. "I just figured you would be the one to make the best decision. I didn't wanna pull off another reckless stunt without talking to you first."
Jack scoffed and ran a hand over his face. He sighed heavily as he stared down at the table and sat thinking in silence. "While I do appreciate you comin' and talkin' to me first," he said softly, "I just don't feel like I should be making the decision for you. When we got married, we agreed to not have the other in a binding situation, and that's exactly what's goin' on right now." He looked up into her brown eyes. "Maddie, it just feels wrong for me to be callin' the shots and orderin' you around. You're my wife, not my slave." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. After a few seconds of deliberation, he finalized, "I'm okay with you stayin' at home, and I'm also okay with you goin' to talk to Archer. Darlin', I know you—you don't wanna be cooped up here like a housewife. I know you still want to do more than ranch. Honey, if you want to go and talk to Archer, then go. If you wanna stay here and start a family with me, then stay. I'm fine with it either way."
Maddie's jaw dropped open. "You're serious?"
He met gazes with her and nodded. "Of course. Just so long as you're not out bounty hunting, I'm okay with your decision, darlin'."
She smiled gratefully at him.
"Just promise me one thing, though."
"Anything, Jack."
"Promise me you won't go lookin' for trouble if you decide to take the job. I don't want you purposely goin' around town trying to find danger."
"I promise," she chortled.
That evening, after supper was finished and the dishes cleaned, Maddie sat outside on the porch watching the day end in silent contemplation. As the sun began to disappear below the horizon and the world began to darken with the oncoming night, she sat in her rocking chair wrestling with her thoughts. She was about to make one of the biggest decisions of her life…
She frowned as she looked to the horizon, where Blackwater lay just beyond her sight. So what happens now? she thought to herself. What am I to do now? Do I take Archer's offer? The idea of becoming a female police officer made her heart flutter with excitement; it would be a fine job, a wonderful match for her set of skills. Her frown deepened as her hand came to rest on her stomach. Or do I stay at home?
She flinched out of her reverie as the sound of heavy boots upon the wooden porch floor approached. She smirked up at her husband as he came to sit beside her in his rocking chair that sat next to hers. The most adoring glint entered Jack's eyes as he looked at her and gingerly took her hand in his. As he wove his fingers with hers, he leaned in for a soft kiss.
Maddie smiled at him and lifted a hand to caress his scraggly beard—day by day, he looked more and more like his father. The twenty-three-year-old man she was married to looked stunningly handsome, even though his beard and mustache were unkempt and his clothes were dirty from doing chores earlier that evening. She didn't see any of that, didn't pay attention to the stains on his clothes or his father's old dirty hat that adorned his head—she only saw her one and only love, her better half, sitting beside her, and that was all that mattered. She pulled his face closer to hers and kissed him.
After they leaned back in their chairs, they turned their heads to watch the setting sun sink and shower their ranch with a heavenly glow and a bedazzling watercolor-painted sky. Off in the distance, their cattle and horses grazed peacefully. The birds sang their last songs before the day ended and the crickets took over to continue the music of nature. At their feet, their dog Django obediently lay, looking up at them with a happy expression and his tongue lolling out past his teeth. All was as it should be at the Marston ranch…
Maddie grinned as she glanced back at her husband, who was lighting up a cigarette and taking a few drags off it. He must've sensed her eyes upon him, for he turned his head and met gazes with her as he let the smoke come billowing out of his mouth afterwards. She squeezed his hand lovingly; he did the same.
Come what may, Maddie thought. Whatever the future brings, come what may.