“No.”
“Vale can’t take it.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“So you’re leaving.”
Jonah went still.
“I said I would.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
Her chest hurt.
Ridiculous.
She had known.
“Where?”
“West.”
“That is not location.”
“Idaho maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I’ve been living on maybe for years.”
Evelyn looked furious.
Jonah misunderstood.
“If you need me through harvest—”
“This is not about harvest.”
He stopped.
Evelyn folded arms.
Her eyes burned.
She hated this.
She had dragged cattle from mud and cut wire from her own palm without crying.
Now one stupid drifter with a bad shoulder made her feel seventeen.
Jonah waited.
She said:
“The position is still open.”
His brow furrowed.
“What position?”
“You are deliberately stupid.”
Then understanding.
He stared.
“Evelyn.”
“The husband position.”
He almost smiled.
Then stopped himself.
“You don’t need one now.”
“I know.”
That was the point.
The air between them changed.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“I proposed the first time because I was terrified.”
“Yes.”
“I thought marriage might save land.”
“Yes.”
“You refused.”
“Yes.”
“You have become repetitive again.”
“Sorry.”
She breathed.
“This time the ranch is safe.”
“Yes.”
“I have no need for your name.”
“Yes.”
“Your wages remain terrible.”
He smiled.
“There she is.”
Evelyn’s voice cracked.
“I am asking because when I imagine this house after you leave, it feels emptier than before you came.”
Jonah’s smile disappeared.
Her eyes filled.
“I hate that.”
“I know.”
“Don’t.”
“Sorry.”
“I am asking because you irritate me.”
“That seems poor foundation.”
“I’m not finished.”
He shut up.
“I’m asking because you tell me when I’m wrong.”
“Because you admit when you are.”
“Eventually.”
“Because you look at me as if the first thing you see is not how much room I take.”
Jonah’s expression broke slightly.
Evelyn continued.
“I spent half my life believing no man could look at me without deciding whether my body was disappointment.”
“You walked onto this ranch half-dead and somehow looked at broken fence first.”
Jonah smiled through emotion.
“It was badly hung.”
“It was.”
Her tears escaped.
“I’m asking because you came back to keep promise to my father even though you were afraid.”
“You told me your ugliest truth when I forced you.”
“Not fast enough.”
“No.”
“But you told me.”
She stepped within reach.
“And because I don’t want a husband who saves me.”
“I want one who stands beside me when I save myself.”
Jonah looked at her for a long time.
Then:
“Ask again.”
Evelyn swallowed.
“What?”
“Not the way you did at gate.”
“Ask because you want answer.”