Chapter 22
“My family will come.”
“Let them.”
“You will be humiliated.”
“I survived that already.”
“They will tell everyone what you are.”
Cora’s expression became calm.
“And what am I?”
“An ungrateful little nobody.”
The silence that followed was so complete I heard snow sliding from a pine branch.
Cora looked down at him.
Then she smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Freely.
“That is the first true thing you have ever said to me.”
Elias blinked.
“I was nobody to you.”
She stepped back.
“And you crossed a thousand miles because you could not bear that nobody said no.”
For once, Elias had no answer.
We left for town after noon.
I harnessed the mule to the wagon.
Elias rode in the back with his hands tied.
Cora sat beside me.
The road was slow.
Snow had covered much of it.
My head hurt.
My leg hurt worse.
But I felt lighter than I had in years.
Halfway down the mountain, Cora spoke.
“You should know something.”
I glanced at her.
“What now?”
“If you discover I’m secretly wanted in three territories, I’m turning the wagon around.”
She almost smiled.
“I meant what I said.”
“Which part?”
“About choosing you.”
I kept my eyes on the road.
“At first, I chose distance.”
“I know.”
“But I read your letter dozens of times.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“You sounded lonely.”
“I sounded unpleasant.”
“That too.”
“Thank you.”
She looked toward the trees.
“I knew loneliness.”
I did not answer.
After a moment, she said, “I thought perhaps two lonely people might be safer than one.”
My hands tightened around the reins.
“And now?”
She was silent so long I thought she would not answer.
Then I felt her hand touch mine.
Not taking.
Not demanding.
Just resting there.
“Now I think they might become something else.”
I turned my hand beneath hers.
Our fingers joined.
Behind us, Elias said nothing.
For the first time, I did not care whether he saw.
PART 5 - The Woman Who Came Through My Door t1
PART 5: What We Chose
Sheriff Cole believed the burned shed.
Just as I had promised.
Money can argue with a frightened woman.
Family reputation can argue with gossip.
But scorched clothing, a broken nose, a wolf trap crushed around a man’s boot, two witnesses, bullet holes, and a hired gun found three days later in a saloon with a bandaged hand are stubborn things.