"They said I was abandoned property. Territorial law. They can sell you for that." "That's not a law. That's an excuse."
"Law and excuse look the same when you're the one in chains." She dried her hands on a cloth. "But you're right. It was an excuse. Just like this canyon is an excuse for you to hide."
Rhett felt anger flare hot in his chest. "I'm not hiding." "No?" Ayah turned to face him. "Then what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to survive." "Surviving isn't living." "It's close enough, isn't it?" She crossed her arms.
"Because from where I'm standing, you're doing the same thing I was. Waiting to disappear. Only difference is, you built a cabin first." Rhett stood up, chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"You don't know anything about me." "I know you bought a woman at an auction because it was easier than facing whatever you're running from. I know you live in a barn when there's a perfectly good cabin because you don't think you deserve comfort. I know you haven't planted a single seed in two years because planting means staying, and staying means you might have to forgive yourself."
Her voice was steady, relentless. "So tell me I'm wrong." Rhett's hands clenched into fists. He wanted to yell.
Wanted to tell her she had no right. Wanted to storm out into the night and keep riding until he hit ocean. But he didn't, because she wasn't wrong. "I can't forgive myself," he said quietly.
"Caleb's dead because of me. That doesn't just go away because I want it to." "No," Ayah agreed. "It doesn't. But it also doesn't mean you have to die with him."
The words hit like a punch to the gut. Rhett turned away, gripping the back of the chair, staring at the floor. "I don't know how to do anything else." "Then learn."
Ayah's voice softened. "That's what I'm doing. That's why I stayed." He looked at her.
"Why did you stay?" She was quiet for a long moment. "Because you cut the rope," she finally said. "You could have kept me tied up. Could have treated me like what they told you I was, but you didn't."
"You asked if I could walk. You asked if I could ride. Small things, but they mattered." "They shouldn't matter. That's basic decency."
"Basic decency is rare." She moved to the door, paused with her hand on the frame. "I'm going to sleep. You should too."
"Tomorrow we start planting." "Planting what?" "Everything." She left him standing there, the cabin suddenly too quiet.
Rhett stood for a while, then walked outside. The night was clear, stars scattered across the sky like somebody had spilled salt. The canyon breathed below, dark and deep. He thought about Caleb.