“You stayed in it,” he said.
She let out a slow breath, her forehead brushing his jaw.“So did you.”
His thumb moved once along her side, a small motion that carried more than the words did.From the cookshack, someone whooped.A chair scraped.Boots thudded across packed dirt.Life carried on around them without waiting for anything to settle.
Kyla lifted her head, eyes finding his.There was nothing uncertain in her expression now.No edge of retreat.
“We good,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.He held her gaze a second longer, then nodded.“Yeah.”
Simple.Enough.
She stepped back first, though her hand slid down his front before she let go.He caught her fingers before they could fall away completely, their hands linking without thought.Together, they turned toward the cookshack.
The yard stretched ahead, dust kicked up by moving bodies, sunlight dropping lower toward the far fence line.Someone shoved a cup into Titus’s free hand as they passed.
Another voice called Kyla’s name, not sharp, not testing.Just part of the noise now.She took the cup offered to her, lifted it once in acknowledgment, and took a drink without asking what was in it.
Titus stayed at her side.
Behind them, the post still bore the fresh mark.Smoke no longer rose from it, but the dark lines cut clear into the grain, visible from anywhere in the yard if someone cared to look.Ahead, the crew circled up, voices rising again, stories already shifting.
Kyla leaned her shoulder into Titus’s as they stepped into it.He let it happen, his hand still wrapped around hers, grip easy but unbroken.The day would keep moving.There would be more work before sundown.More talk.More watching eyes.None of that shifted what had already been set.
They walked forward together, dust underfoot, sun at their backs, their place no longer something either of them had to fight to prove.
Chapter 16
Mid-October
Titus eased the truckto a stop at the Crazy Mountain overlook.Gravel crunched under the tires, the sound carrying into the cab, louder for the quiet it interrupted.
Cold October air bit into his cheeks, the last of the day’s sun spreading a pale gold across Kyla’s arms where her sleeves didn’t reach her wrists.He cut the engine and the cab settled, leaving only the ticking of cooling metal and their breathing.
He had driven this road more times than he could count.Tonight felt different.Too close to something he hadn’t planned for.She sat near enough that her elbow brushed his.
