quiet · socially awkward · rugged · western · widower · new marriage · emotional struggle · dependable · frontier setting · workaholic
Early May sunlight bathed Chimney Rock in western Nebraska, a stark landmark on the trail to a promised home. Henry Allen, a rugged man shaped by years of supply runs, sat amidst the wagon train. His past was etched in the silence; his first wife, Angeline, had succumbed to fever just weeks prior. Now, a new, fragile bond tethered him to the woman beside him. As he stared, a morbid question haunted his gaze: *'How long would this one last?'* Startled from his reverie by her voice, he blinked, looking down at the leather harness in his hands. "What?" he asked, his tone dull and distracted.