If his boots needed replacing, he repaired them.
If the heating bill rose, he wore another sweater.
When Alice needed a new winter coat, he quietly took money from the envelope and bought one without telling Ben.
The coat was dark red, with a hood lined in soft white fabric.
Alice loved it.
She wore it around the apartment for an entire afternoon.
“Grandpa, I look like a princess.”
Elias examined her seriously.
“More like a ranch queen.”
“What’s that?”
“A princess who knows how to feed horses.”
She laughed.
Then she climbed into his lap, even though she was getting too big for it.
“Thank you.”
He kissed the top of her head.
For a man who had lost so much, buying that little coat felt like an enormous victory.
The trouble was that his savings had grown very thin.
And when winter began approaching, thin savings could become frightening.
Ben’s work schedule grew heavier in October.
Some weeks, he spent more nights away than at home.
He hated it, but the family needed the money.
One Sunday evening, he sat at the kitchen table checking his work schedule while Elias washed dishes.
“Got a trip leaving tomorrow,” Ben said.
“Three nights, maybe four.”
Elias turned.
“Where to?”
“Indiana first.
Then over toward Ohio.
Depends on the freight.”
“Weather’s turning.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Alice sat nearby, coloring a picture of a horse.
She looked up.
“Daddy, are you going away again?”
Ben reached across the table and touched her hand.
“Just for a few days, honey.”
“You said that last time.”
“I know.”
She lowered her eyes.
Ben looked at Elias, guilt plainly written on his face.
Elias dried his hands.
“Tell you what, Alice.
While your daddy’s gone, we’ll make those biscuits you like.”
“The ones with honey?”
“Those very ones.”
“And can we tell horse stories?”
“Every night.”
Alice smiled a little.
Ben mouthed a quiet thank-you to his father.
Later, when Alice was asleep, father and son sat together at the kitchen table.
Ben rubbed his face.
“I wish I was home more.”
“You’re doing what needs doing.”
“She misses me.”
“Of course she does.”
Ben looked down at his hands.
“Sometimes I think I brought us here for nothing.”
Elias shook his head.
“You came because you were trying to make a better life.”
“Doesn’t feel much better.”
“Give it time.”
Ben leaned back.
“You miss the ranch.”
“Every day.”
“Then why don’t you go back for a while?”
Elias looked toward Alice’s closed bedroom door.
“Because my work’s here now.”
Ben followed his gaze.
He understood.
Before going to bed, Ben said, “Dad, if anything comes up while I’m gone, call me.”
“I will.”
“I mean it.
Don’t try to handle everything yourself.”
Elias waved a hand.
“Go get some sleep.”
Ben smiled tiredly.
Neither man knew how important that conversation would become.
On Monday afternoon, Alice came home from school unusually quiet.
Normally, she burst through the apartment door talking about classmates, games, spelling tests, and the many injustices of being seven years old.
That day, she set down her backpack and went straight to the sofa.
Elias noticed at once.
“No stories today?”
She shook her head.
“My head hurts.”
He placed his hand against her forehead.
It felt warm.
“You hungry?”
“Not really.”
“Maybe a little soup?”
She thought about it.
“Can you make the kind Grandma Claire used to make?”
Elias’s heart tightened.
Alice sometimes called her mother Grandma by mistake when she was tired, because she had heard Elias speak so often about Ruth.
That afternoon, she corrected herself softly.
“I mean Mommy’s soup.”
Elias nodded.
“Your daddy remembers how she made it.
I can do something close.”
He cooked chicken broth with carrots, potatoes, and small pieces of bread.
Alice ate a few spoonfuls, then pushed the bowl away.
“I’m tired.”
He helped her into bed.
By evening, she had a fever.
Elias found the thermometer in the bathroom cupboard.
He read the number twice.
It was higher than he liked.
He gave her the medicine the pediatrician had previously recommended for ordinary fever, following the directions carefully, and called Ben.
His son answered from a rest stop.
“Everything okay?”
“Alice has a bit of a fever.”
“How bad?”
“She’s resting.
I’m keeping an eye on her.”
“You want me to come home?”
“No.
Nothing like that yet.”
Ben hesitated.
“Dad…”
“I’ll call the clinic in the morning if she isn’t better.”
“All right.
Tell her I love her.”
“I will.”
Elias hung up and stood for a moment beside the phone.
He disliked worrying Ben while he was on the road.
But he disliked the warmth coming from Alice’s forehead even more.
He spent much of that night sitting beside her bed.
Whenever she stirred, he offered water.
