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Epilogue
April 1883
Sybil took one last look at the little log cabin where she and Brand had spent the winter. Eddie and the Eden Valley cowboys had built it for them as soon as Sybil said she didn’t intend to wait until spring to marry.
“We both know enough about loneliness,” she’d told them all last fall. “I want to share the winter with Brand even if we have to live in a tent.”
Jayne’s eyes had widened in shock.
Mercy had chuckled. “Whatever happened to the little Sybil who lived a safe, comfortable life?”
Sybil’s smile came from the warmth of her heart. “She grew up. She found love and discovered it was worth taking risks to enjoy.”
“You won’t need to do that,” Eddie said. “So long as you don’t object to a small cabin.”
“I have no objections whatsoever.”
Linette had arranged for a preacher to come from the fort, and Sybil and Brand had married the last day of September. Their wedding had been simple. Just the folks from the ranch. She’d worn a new dress at Linette’s and Jayne’s insistence. The pair had labored over it many hours.
Sybil smiled at the remembered pleasure of that day. Honoring her wishes not to have anything fancy, her friends had made her a beautiful gown in a sunset-gold color. Its simple lines made her feel elegant.
Brand was so handsome in his white shirt and dark pants, with his hair neatly trimmed, that her eyes had stung with joy.
Her throat tightened at the thought of saying goodbye to the place where she and Brand had spent so many happy hours together.
She looked about the one-room cabin they’d shared, and prayed Brand had found their time together here as healing as she had.
The bed in the corner had been made, ready to be used by visitors. The stove was cold. She’d polished it until it was black and shiny. The shelves were almost bare. The few books and jars she left behind belonged to Linette. The unlit lamp sat in the middle of the tiny table.
“Goodbye,” she whispered, and turned to wait for Brand.
He pulled a wagon to the doorstep and leaped down to lift her into his arms. He pressed a kiss to her lips before he helped her up to the seat.
Linette, Eddie, Grady and Mercy stood at the bottom of the hill. Cassie and her children waved from the foreman’s house. Jayne raced out and grabbed Sybil’s hands.
“You come and visit often,” she said.
“And you must come and visit us.” She and Brand planned to invite the Eden Valley Ranch folks as soon as the weather permitted them to gather outside.
Amid more goodbyes, Brand and Sybil drove from the yard.
She snuggled against him, eager to share her secrets as soon as they reached their own home.
Brand had purchased land from Eddie, half an hour away to the northwest. Sybil had visited the place many times as Brand worked on their house, but she hadn’t been there in several days.
If not for the joy of Brand’s company and the pleasure of seeing signs of spring around them, she would have found the drive endless, so eager was she to get there.
Brand pulled the wagon to a halt at the break in the trees. “There it is. Our own place. I never thought I’d ever have the privilege of being able to settle down.” He pulled her close. “Nor did I imagine I would ever have a sweet wife like you.”
She kissed him and rejoiced to feel how his arms no longer carried tension in them. It had taken Brand weeks to stop looking over his shoulder for his pa and brother. But now he was finally accepting that his ordeal was over.
They continued onward. Brand pulled the wagon to the front of the new house, a log cabin with a window on either side of the welcoming door. It was three times the size of the one they’d spent the winter in, with three rooms—a big kitchen, a little sitting room and a bedroom.
“We’ll add more rooms as we need them,” Brand had promised.
For the many children they hoped to have. Sybil pictured little boys and girls tumbling from the doorway to greet them.
Brand lifted her down. “Welcome home.” His voice deepened, indicating how much he reveled in this new stage of their lives.
“Wait a minute. I have something to show you.” She retrieved the valise she’d brought from the ranch, and pulled out a book: Western Boys and Girls, by Sybil Bannerman.
