“You know you could sleep in the guest room.”
“No.”
“Beast.”
“No.”
Her mouth twitched.
“You are impossible.”
“Probably.”
“You’re not going to stare at that window all night, are you?”
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“You’re going to make yourself sick.”
“I’ll survive.”
Her expression changed.
Softened.
The teasing disappeared.
“You shouldn’t have to do this.”
I looked at her.
At the woman who had been afraid in her own home.
The woman who still jumped a little whenever a truck slowed down near the ranch.
The woman who had kissed me in front of half the town because apparently I was too stubborn to make the first move.
“I want to do this.”
Her eyes held mine.
Then she reached for my hand.
Just once.
A small touch.
But it settled something deep inside me.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Eventually, she fell asleep.
I stayed awake.
The moon moved across the window.
