He taught her to be so good with everything that was useful and important; how to ride, shoot, gamble.

She snuggled deeper into the sheets, pressed her back against the soft mattress and remembered all those years ago with Crisanto. That was the best gift she’d ever given anyone in the world and she liked it, enjoyed it as well. She wondered when she’d find a man. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was when. She wanted a man, she was sure of it. She didn’t want just a rutting bull, either, or a harem. She wanted one man, her man who would love her and help her raise a family and give her all the love he had to give. She wondered what he’d look like.
He’d not be one of those in the saloon, she knew that. She didn’t like any of them in the saloon. Even the ones who were good at cards did nothing for her and she wondered at that. Why not? She smoked and drank mescal and gambled, yet she found no man who lived that way at all appealing.
She thought about the men who she liked in her life. The old man was really the only one. He was the kindest to her. He taught her to be so good with everything that was useful and important; how to ride, shoot, gamble. He taught her all of it. She liked… she loved him as one would love her father or grandfather. Maybe that is what her husband would be like. It probably would. Maria's Trail