Chapter 91 Evan's Special Place
When they arrived at the homestead, they both started getting things fixed up around the place for the summer. They were working in the shed one day when she discovered something in one of the stalls. Low down on the back wall was written “R.I.P. Grace”. She had never seen it before. She couldn’t remember if she had ever been in that stall when she had been there before. Had she really looked at anything? Was it new or had it been there? It looked like it had been there for some time. She went to the tack room where Evan was working on a saddle tree that had gotten loose and needed to be braced up.
“Who is Grace?” she asked. The look on his face told her that her question was a complete shock.
She saw him swallow, then lick his lips. “She is my ex-wife,” he responded.
“I’m sorry,” she said. She wondered if she had crossed a line with the question. It did answer her questions as to why there were women’s clothes in the closet in the spare room. The words written on the wall in the shed confused her. “When did she die?” she asked finally.
“She didn’t die,” he replied. “She lives back east in upstate New York.”
“So, why does it say ‘R.I.P. Grace,’ on the wall back in that stall?” she asked.
“Oh, that,” he looked relieved. “That’s where I buried Sam and Lucy’s mama. It was the middle of winter, and everywhere around was frozen. It was about the only place that I could dig. Grace was the only name that I could think of off the top of my head, and well, it was right after she left and went back east, so there is kind of a double message in it.” She’d decided to leave the rest of that conversation for another time and went back to work.
As she sat on the rock with the sound of Clear Creek Falls ringing in her ears, she decided that it was time to open it back up. She would ask him tonight. She stood and walked toward him, leading Cherry. She could see the basin and the tall bald-faced peak beyond where he sat. The uppermost limits of the peak still had some snow lingering where it had drifted during the winter and was deepest.
With the basin and mountain as the backdrop, the portrait that she captured in her mind of Evan sitting quietly in the grass with Bill, Sam, and Lucy close beside him would stay with her for the rest of her life. Though back in Pittsburgh she would never have dreamed of being in the mountains and knowing a man like Evan, she was certain that her spirit had always longed for the man that she saw before her. As she drew closer, he looked up at her. In that instant, she saw everything that she had ever needed to see to complete who she had become.
When they rode away from the homestead on that June morning, he told her that he had a special place that he wanted her to see. “When we get there,” he said. “I’m going to just ride away and leave you alone and let you soak it all in.” He sat in the grass, leaning against a rock some fifty yards further along the trail.
She sat on a rock and watched Cherry grazing a few feet away. The sound of Clear Creek Falls was in her ears, and she scanned the horizon in silent awe. The ride around the edge of the cliff was hair-raising, but the view that opened up as they came around the last bend made her heart stop. Evan had led her up there and then rode off a little way, leaving her alone.
She reflected upon how she had gotten to that place. The journey had been a long one; in it, there was some pain and some tears, but as she looked back over the time, she realized that it was very much like the trail that they had just passed over. There were challenging places where a careless move would send a person plunging into the deep crevasse below. Just as she had managed to make her way around the cliff trail, she had made it through the challenges of her life.
Pittsburgh was far behind her, and a new life was open to her. She was free and at peace. There was really only one thing that had not yet been made complete. Evan had not yet married her. She wondered if he was just assuming that she would stay with him and that he wouldn’t have to make that commitment. It didn’t fit Evan’s personality to assume anything like that, yet she could not fathom why he was waiting. He had come to her in Vegas through a snowstorm, and they had spent a wonderful week together at the National Finals Rodeo. She remembered his invitation after the final performance.
Evan had been sitting quietly and considering that he really needed to tell her everything about Grace. He wasn't sure whether it mattered or not, but it would make him feel better knowing he wasn't holding anything back. It had been on his mind as something he needed to do, and he was beginning to feel guilty about it. When she had found the grave marker in the barn, he had panicked, realizing that at some point he would need to go over the entire story with her. Maybe now was the time to do it. He prepared himself to give her a brief rundown of what had happened between him and Grace, but first, he wanted to see how she would respond to their visit to this place.
As Alexandra walked toward him, Evan knew that a profound moment had arrived in their lives. He knew that there was only one thing left for him to do. He would know within a few minutes exactly where she fit into his life. He smiled at her without saying a word. He wanted to hear what she had to say.
“Beautiful place,” she said. Her eyes twinkled with the fullness of her joy as she spoke. “It certainly makes that trip around the edge of the cliff worth the while.”
“It certainly is worth the trip,” he replied. He noticed the twinkling in her eyes and felt that she was certainly connecting with the place.
“What do they call that mountain?” she asked, indicating the bald peak with a sweep of her hand.
“That is Tralala,” he replied. Her simple question spoke volumes about whether or not she fit in.
“Tralala?” she replied. “That is kind of a strange name for a mountain, don’t you think?” She wrinkled her nose the way she always did when something was confusing or strange. Evan loved that look. It reminded him of a freckle-faced girl.
“I never really thought about it, but, yep, I suppose it is,” he smiled. His eyes twinkled with one of their old jokes. “Did you want to rename it?” he chuckled. “We could call it Shakespeare.”
“No, that’s okay,” she replied. “It has a musical sound to it,” she laughed. “Besides, I don’t want to confuse you with any of those higher-level English concepts. You would be apt to just call it Bill.”
“You know how we country bumpkins are,” he replied.
“Can we ride up there?” she asked.