His heart tightened.
"You're leaving."
She turned.
"I found my people."
Jonah sat up.
"Where?"
"North."
He nodded.
"I can take you."
"I know."
"You should go."
"I know."
Neither spoke.
Ayanna tightened the strap on her bag.
Jonah looked toward the table.
The brass key was there.
He picked it up.
He held it out.
"You'll need this."
She took it.
Her fingers touched his.
"Why do you make everything so difficult?"
"I don't."
"You do."
Jonah smiled.
"I thought you wanted freedom."
"I do."
"Then go."
She stared at him.
"Tell me to stay."
Jonah's heart broke.
Because he wanted to.
More than he had wanted anything in years.
But he remembered the first night.
The rope.
The fear.
The men who had decided where she belonged.
He couldn't become another man who decided for her.
So he shook his head.
"No."
Ayanna looked away.
"You don't love me enough."
Jonah's voice was quiet.
"I love you enough not to own you."
She closed her eyes.
For a long moment, there was only silence.
Then she walked to the door.
Jonah did not stop her.
She stepped outside.
He watched from the window.
She mounted the horse.
Before leaving, she looked back.
Their eyes met.
Then she rode north.
Jonah remained at the window long after she disappeared.
He had spent his whole life believing that losing someone meant failing to hold on tightly enough.
Now he understood something different.
Sometimes loving someone meant opening your hand.
Even when every part of you wanted to close it.
Summer arrived.
The ranch became busy again.
The case against Pike moved forward.
The women testified.
The evidence was enough to expose several men involved in the operation.
The sheriff resigned.
The marshal took control.
Red Hollow changed.
Slowly.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
Jonah went back to work.
He repaired fences.
Bought cattle.
Expanded the pasture.
He tried not to look toward the northern road.
He failed.
Every morning.
Every evening.
Then one afternoon, dust appeared on the horizon.
Jonah stopped repairing the fence.
Three horses approached.
A wagon followed.
He shaded his eyes.
A woman rode in front.
Dark hair.
Blue dress.
Straight back.
Ayanna.
Jonah dropped the hammer.
She stopped twenty feet away.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then Jonah said:
"You took your time."
Ayanna smiled.
"You said you would remember the road."
"I did."
"So did I."
She dismounted.
Behind her were several people.
An older woman.
A teenage girl.
Two men.
Jonah looked at them.
"Your family?"
Ayanna nodded.
"I found them."
He smiled.
"I'm glad."
She walked closer.
"I stayed with them for a while."
"Good."
"They asked me why I wanted to return here."
Jonah's chest tightened.
"What did you say?"
Ayanna stopped in front of him.
"I told them this place had become part of my home."
He swallowed.
"Because of the ranch?"
"No."
She looked at him.
"Because of you."
Jonah closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, she was still there.
"I didn't know if you'd come back," he said.
"I didn't know either."
"Why did you?"
Ayanna touched his hand.
"Because you gave me a choice."
He looked at her.
"And?"
"And I chose you."
Jonah smiled.
This time, he didn't need to ask permission to hope.
He simply held her hand.