I want to court you properly, if you'll let me. I want to see where this goes when we're not worried about contracts and gossip and all the reasons it's complicated. He set down his teacup carefully. But I also want you to have a choice. A real choice.
Not one forced by circumstances or duty. So if you want to leave, I'll understand. I'll give you a glowing reference and pay you a bonus and wish you well. But if you want to stay, I want to stay. The words came out before she could second-guess them.
Not because I don't have other options and not because I'm afraid of being alone. But because I found something here that I didn't even know I was looking for. What's that? Home. Purpose.
People who value me for who I am, not what I can do for them. She finally looked up at him. And you. I found you and I don't want to lose that. Ridgewell reached across the table and took her hand.
His palm was calloused from ranch work, warm and solid and real. You won't lose it. I promise you that. Don't make promises you can't keep. I don't.
He smiled slightly. I'm stubborn that way. Good, because so am I. They sat there holding hands across the kitchen table while the wind howled outside and the house creaked around them. It wasn't a proposal, wasn't even really a declaration, just two people who'd been through hell separately deciding to try the road forward together.
The next morning, Evelyn woke up and made breakfast for the household like she did every morning. But when Ridgewell came down and found her in the kitchen, he kissed her forehead in greeting like it was the most natural thing in the world and Lily clapped her hands in delight. "Does this mean Miss Evelyn's staying forever?" the girl asked. "If she wants to," Ridgewell said, looking at Evelyn. "I want to," Evelyn confirmed.
Mrs. Chen, watching from her chair in the corner with her injured ankle propped up, smiled into her tea and said nothing. The last month of the original contract passed in a blur of planning and change. Ridgewell officially offered Evelyn a permanent position as head cook with wages that made her eyes water. But he also made it clear the job and the courtship were separate things. She could have one without the other if she wanted.
She wanted both. The gossip started up again when word got out that Evelyn was staying and that she and Ridgewell were courting. But this time it felt different. She'd proven herself too thoroughly for the old accusations to stick. And frankly, she was too happy to care what people thought.
Thomas came to visit in early March, bringing news that he'd been promoted to general manager at Patterson's boarding house and was seriously courting the owner's daughter. "Look at us," he said, sitting in the main house kitchen while Evelyn made dinner. "Both of us starting over, both of us making it work." "We're not our parents' mistakes," Evelyn said. "We're just ourselves doing the best we can."
"Ma would have liked that philosophy." "Yeah, she would have." Spring came late but fierce, melting the snow and turning the ranch into a mess of mud and new growth. The cattle were brought down from winter pastures and the work intensified as everyone prepared for the busy season ahead. Evelyn's kitchen became even more central to ranch life.