Thomas nodded.
“Fair.”
He stepped closer.
Sarah remained still.
“There is something else.”
She groaned.
Thomas almost laughed.
“Not bad.”
“You've lost the right to introduce sentences that way.”
“Understood.”
He reached into his coat.
A folded document.
Sarah took it.
“What is this?”
“Release.”
She read.
Marriage contract amendment.
Personal financial independence.
Right of departure.
Separate allowance converted into unrestricted account.
No obligation to remain for loan purposes.
Sarah looked up.
Thomas said:
“The bank condition is satisfied.”
“The original reason I needed a marriage is gone.”
“So?”
“So now you have a real choice.”
Sarah stared.
“If you want to leave, I will provide enough money for you to live wherever you choose for at least a year.”
Her throat tightened.
“If you want to stay…”
Thomas stopped.
Sarah waited.
He looked suddenly like the man who could face winter, cattle loss, thieves, banks, and land disputes but feared one woman more than all of them.
“Ask me.”
Thomas looked at her.
“What?”
“Don't explain my options.”
“Ask.”
He swallowed.
“Will you stay?”
Sarah smiled.
“Yes.”
The breath left him.
“Not because of the contract.”
“No.”
“Not because you need money.”
“No.”
“Not because—”
“Thomas.”
He stopped.
Sarah walked toward him.
“I stay because this is my home.”
She touched his shirt.
“Because Margaret insults my biscuits with genuine affection.”
His mouth moved.
“Because Cody now understands percentages.”
“Miracle.”
“Because Jonas trusts my records.”
She stepped closer.
“And because you told me the truth when lying would have been easier.”
“I told it late.”
“Yes.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
“I remain angry.”
“I know.”
She caught his vest.
His eyes dropped toward her mouth.
Sarah smiled.
“And unfortunately I still want you.”
Thomas's restraint broke.
Not dangerously.
Beautifully.
He took her face in his hands.
“Sarah.”
“You are talking too much.”
Then she kissed him.
The first kiss was not careful.
They had done enough careful things.
Thomas kissed her like a man who had spent months discovering wanting something did not give him ownership of it.
Sarah kissed him like a woman who had finally reached a decision she did not need to defend.
When they separated, Thomas rested his forehead against hers.
“I fell in love with you somewhere between the fraudulent invoices and the north boundary.”
Sarah laughed breathlessly.
“That is the least romantic declaration ever made.”
“I can try again.”
“No.”
She pulled him closer.
“I like accurate records.”
Margaret cleared her throat from the hallway.
Neither moved.
Another clearing.
Thomas whispered:
“She has been standing there for at least a minute.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I remember footsteps too.”
Thomas laughed.
The full laugh.
Sarah loved that sound.
January brought Gideon Marsh back.
This time not with a new survey.
With lawyers.
The boundary claim went to court.
Sarah and Thomas had prepared.
Survey.
Deed.
County seal.
Licensing records.
James Blackwood's letters.
Everything.
Marsh produced a second document.