Not out of pity, not as a trick, only with patience. Only by staying. Klay had never known that kind of peace before. And until Nia came into his life, he had never understood how badly he needed it. By February, the worst of winter had passed.
Snow still covered the higher slopes of the Sacramento mountains, but the air had begun carrying the faintest promise of spring. That was when Nia told him she had made her decision. She would not stay merely until winter ended, and she would not remain because of a debt. The morning she first arrived, she had promised she would choose her path when spring came. Now spring was close.
That morning while coffee simmered slowly over the stove, she told him. They sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Nia did not dress the moment in grand words. She did not wait for some perfect time. She simply said what was true.
The debt was paid a long time ago. She looked directly at him. If I stay now, it is because I choose to. Clay was silent for several seconds. He studied the grain in the tabletop before finally lifting his eyes.
I don't know what I can offer you. He breathed slowly. I'm not a man with much. This land is hard. So is this territory.
I don't have money standing or anything that looks important from the outside. Nia tilted her head slightly. From the outside? Yes. She held his gaze.
I'm not looking from the outside. For several seconds, neither of them looked away. Then Clay slowly nodded. That afternoon, the sun sank behind the Sacramento mountains, laying long bands of orange across the western sky. The cold no longer cut like a blade.
It only sharpened the air. Clay built a small fire inside the old ring of stones near the fence, and the two of them sat beside it. It was not a cooking fire. It existed for only one reason, to give them warmth while they talked. Nia held her father's string of beads in both hands.
It was the same strand Clay had left around Toma's wrist on the day he buried him. Carol and Riiko had recovered it from the small stonemarked grave before later returning it to Nia when she came to the ranch. She held the beads for several moments. Then she gently placed the strand around both of their wrists. She did not pull it tight.