"A broken one?" "No," he said, his voice flat. Just that. And then he went back to chopping. That night, something changed. She didn't pull the blanket so high.
She didn't turn away when he lifted her into the cot. She looked at him fullon, saw the line of his jaw, the stubble on his neck, the weariness in his eyes. "You ain't scared of me," she said, half statement, half test. "No," he replied. "Why?" He looked at her, his gaze steady.
"Because you're alive." She let out a slow breath and nodded. And for the first time, she smiled. Not wide, not long, but real. And in that small, fragile smile, Josiah Thorne saw a flicker of the life he had thought he had lost forever. Spring deepened into early summer.
The days stretched longer, and the air turned warmer, filled with the dry scent of mess. The land outside the cabin remained quiet. No riders, no travelers, just the wind sighing through the brush and the occasional cry of a hawk circling high above. Inside, the rhythm between them held. Tala wore one of Josiah's old shirts now, the sleeves rolled up, the fabric wide and comfortable.
He had left it folded on the foot of her cot one morning. A silent practical offering. That morning she asked what he had done before all this. Drove cattle, he said, his hands busy repairing a saddle near the barn door. A little mining.
Odd jobs. Nothing I stuck with long. What happened to your wife? She asked, her voice calm but direct. He paused mid-stitch, his hand stilling.
Fire, he said, his voice flat. Three winters ago, stove tipped while I was out fixing a fence. I got back too late. He didn't lift his eyes. He didn't say more.
Tala sat quiet for a while after that. The silence that followed didn't feel cold. It felt like something understood. A shared language of loss. Later that day, Josiah brought in a second chair and placed it beside hers at the table.
"You going to sit with me now?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. He gave the faintest nod. Seemed right. They ate together for the first time that night, not across the table from each other, but side by side, the lamp casting soft shadows across the room. After supper, she asked him to bring her outside.