“That’s not why I told you, Kate,” he said. “I care about you, more than I have any right to care. Even Captain Harris noticed. And I thought you might have been coming to care for me. You deserve to know the truth.”
And he thought she’d give up on him, perhaps order him away from her and Danny. How could she make herself take such a step? His awe of the wonders around them had reawakened hers, broken through some of the wall of caution she’d built around herself after Toby’s death. Because of Will’s kindness, she’d forgiven herself for not going out to help Toby that night.
Her kindness might not be enough to help Will. His guilt was multiplied by the number of the dead. Yet how could she throw the first stone to condemn him?
“What truth?” Kate challenged him. “That you are sincere in your concern of the men under you now? That you take your duty to protect Yellowstone seriously? That you work every day to be the best leader, best friend, best example? I knew that already.”
He frowned at her. “Did nothing I just told you change your mind about me?”
“No,” she said. “I can never truly empathize with such pain. I’m not sure I would have liked the man you were then. But I see someone different now. A man who takes time away from his duty to teach a lonely seven-year-old baseball. Who cranks an ice cream churn for an hour in the heat to please two elderly women. Who holds a widow while she cries over the loss of her husband. That’s the man I see. I hope you make his acquaintance one day.”
He might not listen. He might not be ready to forgive himself. But there wasn’t much more she could say. Leaving him to consider her words, she resolutely set Aster toward home.
He didn’t know whether to hug her close in thanksgiving or argue with her. With them both on horseback, hugging was impossible. And he couldn’t quite bring himself to argue. Her acceptance felt too good, like a cool breeze across the desert. He could take a deep breath for the first time in a long time. He urged Bess to catch up with her.
“Thank you,” he said as he came abreast.
She glanced his way. “No need for thanks. I just hope you’ll remember what I said.”
“I will,” he promised. “Sometimes I think I see that man you described. It’s easier here.”
Her gaze went out over the terrain. They had reached the Swan Lake flats, the grass and sage rising toward the Gallatin Range beyond. Four young elk trotted toward the placid waters, which reflected the vibrant blue of the sky.
“There is peace here,” she said. “And a purpose.”
“It’s not just Yellowstone,” he told her. “It’s you and Danny and the Geyser Gateway. It’s Alberta’s pie and the way she makes room for each of us at her table. It’s the camaraderie among you all. I never knew what home felt like until I came here.”
Her gaze met his, sparkling silver. “Oh, Will, I’m so glad.”
So was he, and never more so than this moment. “So, Kate, I have to ask. Will you allow me to court you?”
He hadn’t planned to ask. Some part of him persisted in the notion that he hadn’t earned the right. Yet her kindness, her sympathy, had opened a window to the sun, and he wanted to bask in the light.
She looked away, toward the pines above the lake, and he felt as if she’d slammed that window shut.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asked. “You told me before it wasn’t so simple. Is it any simpler now?”
“Yes, now that you know the truth,” Will told her.
She did not look convinced. “You’re an officer in the US Cavalry. One day, you’ll be assigned somewhere else. I won’t leave the park.”
Captain Harris had warned him as much. He knew his answer. “I wouldn’t ask you to leave Yellowstone. I’d leave the Army.”
Her brows shot up. “You’d do that, even after the Army gave you a second chance?”
He drew a breath as they moved into the pines along the twisting turns of Obsidian Creek. “I’ve devoted the last eight years of my life to removing the stain of that day. I’m ready to resign. Next fall at the latest. I expect we’ll be in the park at least until spring. At worst, I would be assigned elsewhere for six months before I could return to you.”
She didn’t argue, but she didn’t agree either. She faced the road ahead, as if the pines and creek held more secrets than he had shared. “And I might not have a home for you to return to. Captain Harris or the Department of the Interior may decline to renew my lease.”
“You’ll get that lease,” he assured her. “They’d be stupid not to renew.”
She snorted. “I’ve lived through three lackluster superintendents before Captain Harris. I’ve seen my share of stupid. But I suppose we won’t know until spring.”
Did that mean she was giving him until then to court her? He was almost afraid to ask. They traveled companionably past Obsidian Cliff and up into the hills beyond. The sage was blooming, the yellow brightening the area. She remained quiet as they neared Roaring Mountain, where the snowy white soil of the pine-dotted hill smoked and sputtered, but Will couldn’t seem to get comfortable on the saddle. As they came up into the Norris Geyser Basin, he couldn’t let the matter lie.
“You never answered my question,” he said as they trotted past the guard station. “May I have the honor of courting you?”
She nodded to Rizzo, who was on patrol in the geyser field and had waved a hand to them. “We’re going to be spending at least five months in close proximity, Will. A courtship might get messy.”
Disappointment pushed down on his shoulders. “Of course.”
“So, I suppose you’d better get
