Seiya nodded. He needs light," she said. " "Clean air, no dust." Wade thought about it for a few seconds. Then he gathered the blanket and carried it toward a small patch near the fence where the morning breeze moved through the grass without lifting much dirt.
He checked the sky for any sign of changing weather. Then he looked over the ground carefully, making sure there were no sharp stones, insects, or anything else that might trouble the boy. Only when he was satisfied did he return to the cabin. Bring him out," Wade said. That spot stays cool until around noon.
Seiya lifted Taza carefully. Every movement remained slow, controlled, and exact. She followed Wade outside. The moment her feet touched the dirty yard, she stopped. Her eyes swept the horizon.
Left, right, toward the dry creek, toward the ridge. It was instinct now, the habit of a woman who had traveled alone for too long. Only after she was certain no one was nearby did she kneel and settle Taza onto the blanket. The boy blinked against the daylight. His face tightened in confusion at first.
Seiya rested one hand on his shoulder and murmured softly to him in Apache. Little by little, Taza relaxed, his eyes lifted toward the pale morning sky stretching over them. Wade crouched several steps away, his forearms resting across his knees as he watched every reaction. He was not used to this place in another person's life. So close, so involved, so responsible.
Yet the bond had already taken shape without asking his permission. For a moment, Wade found himself wondering what the next few days might demand of him. Then he pushed the thought away before it had time to settle too heavily. Seiya watched him quietly. Since the instant she stepped onto his land, she had studied him.
Every gesture, every silence, every hesitation, every shift in his expression. Now that Taza could rest without death, seeming to stand directly over him, she finally returned to the promise she had made the day before. You never answered me. Her voice was steady, though caution still lived beneath it. Wade did not look at her immediately.
He picked up a small twig from the ground and snapped it between his fingers, buying himself a moment. I did answer, he said simply. I decided not to take you up on it. Seiya held his gaze. You're rejecting me.
I don't charge a price for doing what any decent man ought to do. Her brow tightened. Not with anger, with confusion. That isn't how the world has treated me, she said. Women alone get traded, taken, pushed where men want them to go.
Every man wants something. You asked for nothing. I don't understand that. Wade heard the hardness in her words. She was not accusing him.