4. Sting

Austin turns back to face you and looks down to the bag in your hands. He takes it from you and offers you a hand to help you walk down the stairs. It's warm and rough but he keeps his grip loose on your smaller hand. When you reach the bottom of the stairs his hand lingers on yours for a moment before he slowly lets it go. He continues to carry the bag as you walk back to your horse. He loads it up for you before assisting you on the horse. He looks as if he's about to leave when hear yourself blurt out "There's a broken beam in my barn." Austin pauses and looks at you slightly confused. You immediately blush and clarify, "There's a broken beam in my barn and I'm not sure what to do about it. John's too old to get up there to replace it." The beam has been broken for a few years now but you don't know what else to try at this point. Austin nods before telling you he'll be there tomorrow morning.

Your heart skips a beat a at this news and you feel your blush grow before thanking him. When you return home you're impatient to get the next day started, even resorting to going to bed early. Not that it helps as you spend the first few hours tossing and turning as you feel yourself beginning to grow nervous. You don't know a lot about Austin and worry that he might not open up to you. He doesn't seem to be a man of many words but if he's going to be your husband you need to know more about him. You don't remember falling asleep but get up quickly when you hear a roosters crow outside. You rush to throw on your clothes before you begin braiding your hair. You decide to leave the braid down today and pull a few strands loose around your face. When you're done you eat and head outside to get started. An hour or two passes and you frown looking out at the road that leads to your stead.

Austin still hasn't arrived and you're starting to grow impatient. When it reaches lunch time and he still isn't there you decide he's not coming. You spend the rest of the day doing odd jobs around the farm before finally stopping an hour or so before sundown. You look over at the empty house and feel a twinge of sadness. You hate being alone so much and the house reminds you of your father. You decide to go on a walk for the time being and start towards the the hill that's just passed your home. You reach it in a short amount of time and find that your feet don't want to stop. You continue on and walk forward towards the flat land before you. There's a tree about 10 yards ahead and you set your course towards it. After you reach it you take a seat underneath enjoying the cool of the shade as you wipe sweat from your brow.

When you're done you spend a moment taking in your surroundings. The grass under the tree is a dull brown color and crunches under your hands as you shift your weight over to get a better look at something. To the side of the tree you see the deep imprints of horseshoes dried in the dirt. This area of the land is part of your property and you don't ride your horse out this way so you find this slightly worrying. It's pretty rare to see a wild horse in this area and no one in town would need to cut through your property. The prints look old so you decide it's at least not an immediate concern. You feel the heat begin to subside as the day grows later and the sun moves further down in the sky. When the sky begins to darken you know you need to head back and get up. You make your way back slowly not looking forward to returning to your empty home.

When you round the corner of your house you're surprised to see Austin sitting on the steps of your porch. He's holding his hat in his hands and staring down at it but quickly gets to his feet when he sees you. You pause a moment before continuing forward and stopping before him. There's a scrape on his check and his eyes look even wearier than they had yesterday. You frown as you look a the dry blood that has crusted over the cut and hear Austin say, "It's nothing, just another scuffle in town." You walk passed him and up the stairs before looking back at him expectantly. He hesitates a moment before following you inside. He stands in the doorway looking at you until you tell him to take a seat. While he does you go to the cupboard and grab a rag and some ****. You feel him tense slightly when you run the wet rag across the cut and place your hand on his other cheek. His skin is rough and you feel short beard hairs prick your fingers. When you're done cleaning the wound you reluctantly pull your hand away from his face and take a seat across from him.