“Sit.”
The woman watched.
Systems can work sometimes.
The deputy confessed partly.
He had taken payments to mark homesteads abandoned.
Claimed never knew murder.
Maybe true.
Foreman was arrested later after federal warrant? Not immediate.
The cattle company’s attorney attempted injunction.
The case expanded.
The woman and cowboy remained in town for two weeks under protection of sheriff and visiting U.S. deputy marshal.
The cowboy healed at boardinghouse.
The woman stayed in room across hall.
Town talked.
Of course.
Some said she had brought wounded man from cabin.
Some said they were already promised.
Some said scandal.
She ignored.
One afternoon, the cowboy knocked on her room door.
Standing.
No cane.
Still pale but steady.
The woman looked him up and down.
“What?”
He smiled.
“I can stand.”
She realized.
The question.
Her face warmed.
“You chose a strange time.”
“You said ask when I could stand without turning white.”
“You’re still a little white.”
“That may be natural.”
She laughed.
He held hat in hands.
Then became serious.
“I’m asking.”
She leaned against door.
“You barely know me.”
“I know more.”
“What?”
“You snore.”
Her eyes widened.
“I do not.”
“You do.”
“You were in a room across hall.”
“The walls are thin.”
She glared.
He smiled.
Then:
“I know you pretend not to like honey but put it in coffee when nobody watches.”
She stared.
“I know you read newspapers backward.”
“What?”
“You read last page first.”
“Obituaries.”
“That’s strange.”
“It tells who’s gone.”
He nodded.
“I know you hate being fussed over.”
“Yes.”
“You cry when angry and get angrier because you’re crying.”
She looked away.
“I know you touch your brother’s letter every night before bed.”
Her eyes softened.
He continued.
“I know when people offer help, you say no before considering whether you need it.”
“That sounds criticism.”
“It is.”
“I know you laugh differently when you forget someone’s watching.”
Her breath caught.
“I know you’re afraid I’m asking because of your brother.”
“Yes.”
“I know nothing I say can prove otherwise all at once.”
He took breath.
“So I’m not asking for answer about marriage.”
“I’m asking permission to keep showing you.”
Silence.
“What does courting look like to you?”
The woman asked.
The cowboy thought.
“Meals where you don’t have to cook all of them.”
“That’s appealing.”
“Walks.”
“In snow?”
“Maybe spring.”
“Wise.”
“Arguments.”
“We already have.”
“I noticed.”
“Letters if work takes me away.”
“Where are you going?”
“Depends what happens with case.”
Her face changed.
He continued quickly.
“I’m not leaving now.”
“But I need work eventually.”
She nodded.