He’d waited too long to leave the Shirack farm. Dusk gathered quickly and it was past his bedtime. He shouldn’t be angry with Bethel’s declaration that she needed friends who understood her situation, but he couldn’t help it. She’d chosen this soldier she’d met once to be a friend over a Plain man standing right in front of her. A man she’d known since childhood. He would have to accept that. He didn’t want to be the one to take care of her, anyway. He’d had enough of that. Hadn’t he? He heaved a sigh and tried to relax into the saddle. The familiar rise and fall of the horse under him soothed his physical tension, but his determination did nothing to fill the empty void in his chest. He had willingly taken care of his parents while others chose their fraas and married. Now his parents were gone and he lived with his brother, watching Silas’s family grow and helping him start a new farm and a new life. Elijah had a good life.
