Sheriff Cooper promised Sadie that Gerald would not see daylight for a long time.
I believed him.
Especially after the sheriff told us Darren had been found at a motel two counties over.
He had tried to run.
He had tried to pretend he didn’t know whereGerald was.
But he knew.
And now he was going to answer for it.
The sun came up slowly over the pasture.
Soft gold across the grass.
Like the world had decided to keep turning.
Even after everything.
Sadie stood on the porch, wrapped in a blanket.
Her hair was messy.
Her eyes were tired.
But she was standing.
She was still here.
That was all I could think about.
She was still here.
I walked out of the house with two cups of coffee.
Held one toward her.
She took it with both hands.
“Thank you.”
Her voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
I leaned against the porch railing beside her.
For a while, we just watched the sunrise.
The ranch hands moved carefully around the barn.
Dad was talking to one of the ranch hands near the fence.
It was time for the teenage helpers to go back to school. I will be sad to see them go.
Wolf and Trigger were loading gear into their trucks.
