Some years before…
Some years before…It was early 1871 and the cold wind cut to the bone when Chad Ritter paused on the porch of his sweetheart Diane"s home and kissed her on the cheek.
She giggled. “Oh Chad, you are a darling, I have to say.”
“You make me happy to be alive,” he said, adjusting his hat for something to do, unable to meet her gaze, the heat rising along his jaw.
“Chad, being alive itself is a gift from God.”
“I know it, but since I met you, my life has meaning. That is what I meant to say.”
A shadow fell over them and Chad looked up to see Diane"s father looming behind her, his great hands settling upon her shoulders. Impassive, he regarded Chad with eyes neither hard nor kind. And his voice, when he spoke, sounded sonorous. “Chad, you are welcome here anytime, so lon
