I didn't answer right away. For once, I wanted to give her the truth instead of whatever sounded easiest. If I'm being truthful, I don't completely understand it myself. But when I saw you sitting inside that cage, I recognized something in you. What?
Loneliness, pain, but also strength. The kind nobody had managed to take from you, no matter what they did. She watched me closely, and I thought maybe I could help. What about the treasure?" she asked. "Doesn't that matter to you.
If we find it, fine. That'll be something. But if we don't, at least you won't have had to chase it alone." A faint smile touched her lips. "You're a strange man," Cade Hollis. "How so?" "Because almost every man who has ever wanted anything from me wanted the same two things, the map and the gold." She paused.
But you seem to care about something else. I care about you. The words left my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. Seiya pulled gently on the res and brought her horse to a halt. I stopped beside her.
Sea. No one has ever said that to me before, she whispered. Not once. Well, somebody has now. I held her gaze. and I meant it.
We sat there in the middle of an endless spread of sand, stone, heat, and silence. Something shifted between us in that moment. We were no longer simply a cowboy and a woman who had once been held in a cage. We weren't just a man following a treasure trail and the woman carrying the secret that could lead him there. Something deeper was beginning to take shape between us. something neither of us had expected.
"We should keep moving," she said at last. "Yeah, we should." We rode on, but after that, the trail felt different, more dangerous, more real, and somehow more alive. I was beginning to understand that this journey was no longer just about buried gold. It was about Seiya, about me, and about whatever had begun growing quietly between us. By nightfall, we made camp beneath a sky crowded with stars.
I built a small fire, and together we made a simple supper from what little food we carried. Seiya sat close to the flames. The red light flickered across her face, softening the shadows around her eyes. Cade, what is it? If we find the treasure, what will you do with your share?
I haven't thought much about it. Think about it now. I stared into the fire for a while. I suppose I'd buy more land, build the ranch up, maybe hire a few hands so I wouldn't have to do everything myself. I gave a small shrug.
Then maybe I'd try to live a quiet life. And me? I looked up. What do you mean? What happens to me when all of this is over?
I studied her across the fire. That'll be your choice. I don't understand. I mean, you'll be free. You can go wherever you want.
Build whatever life you want. Nobody gets to decide that for you anymore. And what if I don't want to leave? My heart kicked hard inside my chest. You don't?
Seiya kept her eyes on mine. I don't know yet. She glanced toward the dark desert beyond the fire. But for the first time in my life, I don't feel like running. Her voice softened.