Big Salmon Lake I got used to living without you

She managed to get herself under control. It was hard to parse what he was saying, but she got the gist. With it came a dousing wave of clarity.

Oh, good. Now he was making jokes.

All of her earlier panic had been washed away in the tidal wave that followed the rescue and now she stood up. Maybe she was the one who was cursed, but she wasn't the one giving up here.

You don't get both. You don't get to leave me behind and then expect me to solve it. She'd have chosen to risk it fighting at his side without even thinking about it, every time. If he didn't feel the same way then maybe that was all she needed to know.

I loved you. And if there's any part of Bronco left in there, I'm sure he knows how much bullshit this is. The words were level, and the admission slipped off of her tongue so easily that she barely noticed it. If you decide to give a shit about us, you know where to find me. But Killdeer deserves better than a coward for a father.

It was cruel. So was walking away and leaving him here, weak like this. But so was allowing fear, and some unknown threat, to tear apart their family. There was no quarter in her expression and instead, more challenge than anything else. Tell me again, the favor you are doing me here. I dare you.

This time she really was leaving. He was a big boy - he could figure it out. She had a son to get back to and had already been gone too long.