“You bought me instead.”
“I already explained that.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“Probably not.”
“My people will not accept me if I return.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Why?”
“I was captured.”
“That isn't your fault.”
“It doesn't matter.”
He could hear the pain beneath her calm voice.
“Where is your family?”
“Far away.”
“Do you know where?”
“Yes.”
“Can you reach them?”
“Not alone.”
Nathan understood.
“You need a horse.”
“I need more than a horse.”
He nodded.
“What do you need?”
“Time.”
Nathan looked toward the darkening horizon.
“You can have some.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I have enough land for two people.”
“You live alone.”
“So do you.”
“I did not say I wanted to live with you.”
Nathan stood.
“Good.”
She blinked.
He picked up his saddle.
“My ranch is three miles north. The barn has a spare room above it. You can stay there until you decide what comes next.”
“You trust me?”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Nathan added, “But I don't need to.”
He mounted.
“You can come or stay here. Your choice.”
Then he rode away.
For several seconds, Iona remained beneath the tree.
She expected him to turn around.
He didn't.
She had known many men who demanded.
Men who threatened.
Men who believed money gave them the right to command.
Nathan Cole was different.
He offered a choice.
That frightened her more than cruelty had.
Because choice meant she was responsible for what happened next.
By nightfall, she followed him.
Nathan's ranch was little more than a weathered farmhouse, a barn, a well, and a dozen cattle.
Iona stood at the gate.
Nathan looked over his shoulder.
“You changed your mind?”
“No.”
“Then why are you standing there?”
“I am deciding whether I made a mistake.”
Nathan smiled faintly.
“So am I.”
For the first time, she laughed.
It was a small sound.
But Nathan remembered it.
That night, she slept in the room above the barn.
Nathan slept in the house.
Neither knew that someone had watched them arrive.
From the darkness beyond the fence, three riders waited.
One of them carried a rifle.
The others carried ropes.
They had followed Iona from Dry Creek.
They had not come to bring her back.
They had come because they believed Nathan Cole had something valuable.
And they intended to take it.
A Promise at the Fire
The first weeks were difficult.
Iona and Nathan lived like two strangers forced to share the same piece of land.
She worked.
He worked.
They spoke when necessary.
Nothing more.
Yet little by little, the silence changed.
Iona learned that Nathan rose before dawn.
She learned he drank black coffee and hated whiskey.
She learned he talked to his horses when he thought nobody was listening.
Nathan learned that Iona could track an animal across stone.
She could identify storms by the smell of the wind.
She could repair leather faster than any ranch hand he had ever employed.
She also knew how to shoot.
Very well.
One afternoon, Nathan returned from town with a newspaper.
Iona was repairing a fence.
“You're getting better,” he said.
“At the fence?”
“At staying.”
She looked at him.
“I haven't decided whether I am staying.”
Nathan folded the newspaper.
“I know.”
“You don't seem worried.”
“I've spent my life watching things leave.”
She studied him.
“That sounds lonely.”
“It is.”
That evening, they sat beside a small fire.
Nathan finally told her about his family.
His father had been a hard man.
His brother had been reckless.
His mother had been gentle.
All three were gone.
“I thought this ranch would keep me busy enough not to notice,” he said.