“Why?”
“Because I want to kiss you.”
Mabel’s cheeks warmed.
“That doesn’t sound terrifying.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for weeks.”
That was more powerful.
Her fingers tightened against his scarred jaw.
“So have I.”
Elias stared.
Then kissed her.
Softly.
Almost too carefully.
Mabel had imagined a man his size kissing like weather.
Instead, Elias kissed like he was afraid of breaking trust.
She pulled him closer.
That changed things.
His restraint loosened.
Not control.
Restraint.
His hand spread along her side.
Mabel felt heat move through her.
When the kiss ended, Elias rested his forehead against hers.
“You all right?”
“Yes.”
“Sure?”
She laughed softly.
“Yes.”
“You ask that often.”
“I plan to.”
Mabel’s eyes filled again for an entirely different reason.
“Good.”
Their marriage changed after that.
Not overnight into conventional romance.
They still slept separately.
At first.
But they touched.
Hands while walking.
A kiss before Elias left for timber.
His palm against the back of her neck when passing behind her.
Mabel discovered she liked touching his scar.
Elias discovered she liked having her waist held without anybody trying to reshape it.
One evening he found the old corset in her trunk while moving clothes away from a leaking window.
He held it up.
“What is this torture device still doing here?”
Mabel laughed.
“Mrs. Higgins would faint hearing you.”
“I hope she does.”
He examined the whalebone.
“You wore this for me?”
“No.”
“For them.”
He understood.
Mabel took it from him.
For years, every formal dress required compression.
Women whispered that a heavy woman needed twice the discipline.
Elias watched her face.
“Burn it.”
She looked at him.
“Really?”
“Unless you like it.”
“I hate it.”
“Then firewood.”
They carried it outside.
Mabel threw it into the burn barrel herself.
The fabric curled.
Laces blackened.
Whalebone snapped in the heat.
Elias stood beside her.
Mabel whispered:
“Feels foolish.”
“What?”
“How good that feels.”
“Nothing foolish about getting rid of something that hurt you.”
She looked toward him.
“You say surprisingly sensible things.”
“Don’t spread that around.”
His reputation might suffer.
By December, the Mercer investigation had enough weight to become dangerous.
Someone broke into the county records office.
Nothing obvious disappeared.
But the clerk found one drawer disturbed.
Mabel’s correspondence with the office was inside that drawer.
Then one of Elias’s timber buyers canceled without explanation.
Another offered half price.
Pressure.
Mercer understood they were looking.
Elias said:
“We leave.”
Mabel stared.
“What?”
“Take the evidence to Helena.”
“Now?”
“Before winter closes the pass.”
“What about the ranch?”
“Ranch can survive.”
“If Mercer forecloses?”
“He can’t while we challenge the debt.”
“Can he delay us?”
“Yes.”
Mabel paced.
Running felt wrong.
Then she remembered Elias’s story.
Fear could be useful if it moved you toward something rather than away from yourself.
They packed.
Not secretly enough.
Two days before departure, three riders appeared outside the homestead.
Mercer was not among them.
His attorney was.