She stayed near Cole, her hands clasped in front of her. But when another customer came in, a man about Clay's age, she went rigid. Cole saw it. He stepped just enough to put himself between her and the door, his voice even. "You got a problem?
You take it somewhere else." The man held up his hands. "No trouble, Merrick. Just shopping." When they left the store, Nia let out a slow breath as though she'd been holding it the whole time. "You did not look away," she said softly as Cole tied the parcels to the saddle. Wouldn't have mattered if I did, Cole said.
Folks see what they want to see. Let him. They stopped at the blacksmith before heading out of town, and Cole heard the talk from two men standing nearby. Whispers about Clay being thrown out of the saloon the night before, drunk and yelling about the woman up at Merrick's place. Cole didn't speak of it until they were halfway home.
"Words out," he said. Nia was silent for a while. "Then they come," she said. "Maybe," Cole admitted. "But I'll be ready." When they got back to the cabin, Nia helped him unload the supplies, moving with more purpose than before.
She swept out the cabin, start a pot of beans, and even took the wash down to the creek. Cole watched her for a while before joining her, kneeling beside her as she scrubbed the cloth against the rock. "You're not running?" he asked. Nia looked at him, her eyes steady. "I ran before.
No more." That night they sat outside on the porch while the sky turned orange with sunset. Cole had his rifle across his lap and Nia sat close enough that her shoulder brushed his arm. "They stare in town," she said finally. "They can stare," Cole said. "Doesn't change a thing." Nia was quiet for a long moment, then said, "You tell them I stay here." "I just did," Cole said simply.
Nia turned her face toward him, and there was something almost like relief in her expression. She didn't smile, not fully, but her hand found as where it rested on his knee. Cole's fingers closed around hers. When they went inside, Nia moved to the cot without waiting for him to ask. Cole sat down beside her, and for the first time, she reached for him first, pulling him close.
Later, after the fire burned down low, they lay side by side again, but there was no distance between them now. Cole's arm rested over her waist, and Nia's breathing was calm, no longer tight with fear. Outside, the night sounds returned, crickets, the distant howl of a coyote. But inside, the cabin was steady and warm. Whatever might come down the trail, they would face it together.