Chapter 10 - Home
The train rattled slowly along the northern tracks as it crossed the wide, open plains of Montana, the great dome of the sky stretching from horizon to horizon in a vast expanse of blue and gold.
Inside their private compartment, Julian was pressed hard against the glass, pointing excitedly at a distant herd of cattle grazing near a stand of cottonwood trees by the river.
Grace sat across from Ethan, a sketchbook open on her lap, her pencil moving swiftly across the thick paper as she captured the curve of the boy’s shoulder and the vast, empty beauty of the landscape rolling past outside.
Ethan watched her hand move—steady, confident, and completely free. The gold ring on her finger caught the bright afternoon sunlight every time she turned the page, flashing like a small, permanent beacon against the dark wood of the train wall.
“What are you drawing?” Ethan asked, leaning over to rest his chin on her shoulder.
Grace didn’t stop drawing. She simply turned the book slightly so he could see the page.
It wasn’t the landscape, and it wasn’t the train. It was a simple sketch of the kitchen in Seattle: the sun coming through the window, the cinnamon rolls cooling on the counter, and Julian sitting on the floor with his building blocks, stacking them as high as they would go before they inevitably tumbled down in a clatter of wood and laughter.
May you like
“Nothing special,” Grace murmured, her voice soft and steady as the train carried them further and further into the open west. “Just the view.”
Ethan reached out, took her hand, and held it tightly as the train whistled through the long, bright afternoon, leaving the shadows of the past far behind them on the other side of the continent where the stone houses stood empty in the rain.
