“And if I cannot give you children?”
“We'll face that when the time comes.”
“And if you change your mind?”
“Then I tell you the truth.”
Serena looked at him for a long time.
“And if I choose not to marry you?”
“Then I'll still help defend this valley.”
She stared at him.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
That was the moment Serena understood.
Ethan wasn't offering her a bargain.
He was offering her freedom.
And freedom was more frightening than any marriage proposal she had ever heard.
She reached for his hand.
“I choose you.”
Ethan's fingers closed around hers.
Neither of them noticed Keona watching from the hill.
The chief smiled.
The Night of the Gunfire
Mercer returned sooner than expected.
He came after sunset.
The first gunshot shattered the valley.
Ethan was outside the lodge when a bullet struck the wooden post beside him.
“Get inside!” he shouted.
Warriors grabbed rifles.
Women pulled children toward shelter.
The horses screamed.
Another shot came from the ridge.
Ethan dropped behind a stone wall.
Keona crouched beside him.
“How many?”
“Too many to see.”
“Mercer?”
“Probably.”
Ethan looked toward the eastern ridge.
“We need to move the women and children.”
Keona nodded.
Serena was already helping.
She carried a frightened child toward a sheltered ravine.
“Serena!”
She turned.
Ethan pointed.
“Stay low!”
“I know!”
Another bullet struck the ground.
Serena stumbled.
Ethan ran toward her.
He reached her just as a rider appeared on the ridge.
Ethan fired.
The rider fell from his horse.
Serena stared.
“You're bleeding.”
Ethan touched his shoulder.
“It's nothing.”
“That's blood.”
“I noticed.”
She almost laughed despite the gunfire.
“Sit down.”
“I can't.”
“You can if I tell you to.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Who taught you to give orders?”
“My father.”
“That explains everything.”
She tore cloth from her sleeve and wrapped his shoulder.
The battle lasted nearly an hour.
When the attackers finally withdrew, two Apache warriors had been wounded.
One had been killed.
Ethan's shoulder was cut deeply.
Mercer had escaped.
But he had left something behind.
A dead horse.
And beside it, a saddlebag containing land papers.
Keona opened the bag.
Inside were forged documents.
The valley was not Mercer property.
It never had been.
Ethan studied the papers.
“He's trying to force you off the land.”
Keona nodded.
“He knows he cannot win legally.”
“Then we take these to the territorial office.”
Keona looked doubtful.
“Will they listen?”
“They'll have to.”
Serena looked at Ethan.
“You're going?”
“Yes.”
“To the office?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“I'm coming.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“I chose you.”
“That doesn't mean you need to walk into danger.”
She looked at him firmly.
“I am not asking permission.”
Ethan smiled.
“That sounds familiar.”
They left three days later.
Ethan, Serena, and two Apache riders traveled north toward the nearest territorial courthouse.
The journey took four days.
On the second night, they camped beneath a rocky overhang.
Serena sat beside Ethan.
“You're quiet.”
“So are you.”
“I'm thinking.”
“About Mercer?”
“About us.”
Ethan looked at her.
She hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
“About choosing me.”
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, “I was sure the day you stopped looking at the ground.”
She smiled.
“I still do sometimes.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because old habits don't disappear in one day.”
She leaned against his shoulder.
Ethan stayed still.
“I'm afraid,” she whispered.
“So am I.”
“You don't seem afraid.”
“That's because I've had practice.”
She laughed softly.
“Ethan?”
“Yes?”
“If we marry…”
“Yes?”
“I don't want you to marry me because you feel sorry for me.”
His voice became serious.
“Serena, I don't pity you.”
She looked up.
“I respect you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I've never heard a man say that.”
“Then remember it.”
She rested her head against him.
Above them, the stars stretched endlessly across the Montana sky.
Neither spoke again.
They didn't need to.
At the courthouse, Mercer was waiting.
He had expected them.
The moment Ethan entered, two deputies stepped forward.
“You are under arrest.”
Ethan stopped.
“For what?”
“Assaulting Wade Mercer.”
Serena stepped forward.
“He attacked our camp.”
The deputy looked at her.
“Our camp?”
She lifted her chin.
“Yes.”
Mercer entered the room smiling.
“You should have stayed out of this, Vale.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You forged those papers.”
Mercer laughed.
“You can't prove that.”
Ethan placed the documents on the clerk's desk.
“I can.”
The clerk examined them.
Then he examined the seal.
His expression changed.
“These are false.”
Mercer's smile vanished.
The room became silent.
The county surveyor was summoned.
Within an hour, the truth was clear.
The land belonged to Keona's people under an older territorial agreement.
Mercer's claim was fraudulent.
The deputies arrested him.
As Mercer was led away, he looked at Serena.
“You'll regret choosing him.”
Serena didn't answer.
Ethan took her hand.
They walked outside together.
For the first time, she understood that choosing someone did not mean becoming weaker.
Sometimes choosing meant becoming strong enough to stand beside them.
The Wedding Nobody Expected
They returned to the valley in early summer.
Keona was waiting.
He listened as Ethan explained what had happened.
The chief looked at Serena.
“You chose him.”
“Yes.”
Keona looked at Ethan.
“And you?”
Ethan smiled.
“I choose her.”
Keona nodded.
“Then there is nothing left to discuss.”