"Where will we go?" That was the question, wasn't it? Rhett didn't have an answer. Didn't have a plan beyond getting Ayah out of that cell.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But we'll figure it out." They rode through the afternoon in silence, heading back toward the canyon even though it wasn't theirs anymore. When they finally saw it in the distance, the sun was setting, painting the rocks red and gold.
Ayah slid off the horse and stood looking at the land. At the ruined garden. At the cabin that had almost become home. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"For what?" "For this. For all of it. If I hadn't stayed—"
"Stop." Rhett dismounted and turned her to face him. "You didn't make Coleman a bastard. You didn't write the laws. And you didn't ask me to sell the land."
"I chose that, and I'd choose it again." "Why?" "Because..." He stopped, searching for words that wouldn't sound stupid.
"Because you matter. Because letting them take you would have been the same as letting Caleb die all over again. Because I'm tired of losing people I care about." Ayah stared at him.
"You care about me." "Yeah, I do." She stepped closer. Close enough that he could see the flecks of gold in her brown eyes.
Close enough that he could feel the warmth of her. "I care about you too." Then she kissed him. Not gentle.
Not tentative. Hard and fierce and real, like she was claiming something she had every right to claim. Rhett kissed her back, his hands in her hair, everything he'd been holding in for weeks pouring out in that moment. When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, the sky had gone purple with dusk.
"We should leave," Ayah said, "before Mercer comes to take possession." "Where do you want to go?" She looked out at the canyon, at the land they'd fought for and lost. "There's a place my people used to go."
"Deep in the canyon where the walls narrow. There are caves there. Water. It's hidden. Safe."
"You want to live in a cave?" "I want to live somewhere nobody can take from us." She turned back to him. "Unless you have a better idea."
Rhett thought about it. About running again, finding some new town, some new place to disappear. About going back to the life he'd left behind. Drifting, stealing, staying one step ahead of consequence.
Then he thought about the way Ayah had stood in the rain calling down the storm. About her hands in the dirt planting seeds. About the quiet strength in her eyes when she'd walked toward Coleman's horse without fear. "No," he said.
"I don't have a better idea." They gathered what they could carry. Blankets, tools, the seeds Ayah had saved. They left the rest for Mercer.