Chapter 20
“That life would be hard.”
She held my gaze.
“You did not promise kindness you might not possess.”
That cut deeper than accusation.
I looked down.
“I didn’t think about what you wanted.”
“You didn’t know me.”
“I still sent money and expected a wife to arrive ready to become whatever fit inside this cabin.”
“You were lonely.”
“That doesn’t excuse stupidity.”
“No.”
I glanced up.
“You could pretend to disagree.”
“I could.”
There was my Cora.
My Cora.
The thought came without permission.
I pushed it away.
“What did you intend to do if I was cruel?”
She touched the hidden revolver beneath her skirt.
I stared.
“You planned to shoot me?”
“I planned to leave.”
“With a gun.”
“Travel is unpredictable.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“It was not meant to be.”
I leaned back.
For the first time since the knock on the door, my anger began to loosen.
Not disappear.
Lies leave bruises even when we understand why they were told.
But I could see the shape of hers now.
Fear had built them.
Survival had maintained them.
“What happens in town?” she asked.
“We take Vane to Sheriff Cole.”
“And then?”
“He’ll face charges for arson, assault, and attempting to abduct you.”
Cora looked doubtful.
“You think they’ll believe me?”
“They’ll believe my burned shed.”
“He has money.”
“The shed doesn’t care.”
“He has a respected family.”
“The bullet holes don’t know them.”
Her eyes dropped.
“You still want me to stay?”
There it was.
The question I had been avoiding.
I looked around the cabin.
The clean table.
The neatly stacked dishes.
The blankets she had boiled despite my objections.
Her small trunk beside the wall.
Less than three days earlier, this had been my house.
Now every object seemed to contain evidence that another life had entered it.
“I don’t know,” I said.
Pain flickered across her face.
I hated causing it.
But I would not begin again with another lie.
“I don’t know,” I repeated, “because I don’t know whether you want to stay.”
Her eyes lifted.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“It’s the only part that matters.”
She was silent.
I leaned forward.
“You came here because you needed somewhere Elias couldn’t reach you.”
“Yes.”
“You found out he could.”
Her throat moved.
“Yes.”
“So if you stay, I need to know you’re staying for something other than distance.”
“And if I leave?”