"Better than what?" "Than before you showed up." She tilted her head to look up at him. "You saved my life, you know, that night at the train station." If you'd walked past, I don't think I would have made it.
"You would have found a way. You're stronger than you think." "Maybe, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out." She shifted, turning to face him more fully. "Can I ask you something?"
Anything. "Do you ever regret it?" Stopping for me, taking me in. All the trouble that came after. Wyatt didn't hesitate.
"Not for a second." Even when Harlo and his men came, even when we almost died, even then. Because if I hadn't stopped, I'd still be alone. And this ranch would still be just a place I lived, not a home. He cupped her face in his hand, his thumb brushing her cheek.
"You made it a home, "Ayla." She kissed him then, slow and sweet, and Wyatt felt something click into place inside him. This was what he'd been missing all those years. Not just companionship, but partnership. Not just someone to share the work with, but someone to share his life with.
When they finally pulled apart, Ayla rested her forehead against his. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you, too," Wyatt said, and meant it with every fiber of his being. Summer arrived in full force, hot and bright. The work was harder in the heat, but they managed.
Wyatt built a small addition onto the cabin, a separate room with a real bed and a window facing east to catch the morning light. It was meant to be Ayla's room, but more often than not, they ended up sleeping side by side, the boundaries between their spaces as blurred as everything else. They started talking about making it official, a wedding, nothing fancy, just a simple ceremony in town with the preacher and maybe a few witnesses. But every time they got close to setting a date, something would come up. A fence that needed mending, a sick calf, a storm rolling in.
"We're putting it off," Ayla said. One evening, Wyatt looked up from the harness he was repairing. "What? The wedding?" We keep saying we'll do it, but then we find reasons not to."
"Why?" He set down the harness. "I don't know. I guess part of me feels like we don't need a piece of paper to prove what we already know, which is what? That we're committed.
That we're in this together. Ayla smiled. I feel the same way, but I also think there's something to be said for making it official, for standing up in front of people and saying, "This is who I choose. This is who I want to spend my life with." "You're right," Wyatt said.
"So, let's do it next week. No more excuses. Next week," Ayla agreed. But before they could make it to town, trouble found them one more time. It was a hot afternoon in July when a rider appeared on the horizon.