Thunder Dome ambergris

reyes and teya had made one another miserable and driven their poor daughter sorana away together. bronco had helped teya start her healing, only to be ripped from her by the poison in catclaws. 
boris had disappeared.
now sundance stood before her, wanting to offer a new way, a new future. to love her, to protect her. to guard her heart.
"i never know love without all this," teya sniffled gently, her eyes shining. "my heart, unlocked. that good, even if i hurt."
but this amount of pain was not something she ever wanted to put into the arms of another, no matter how much hope sang inside her for a blessed, sighing moment.
bridget loved her. bridget had always loved her, and running off with a third man in sundance would change nothing about that fact.
and if she was being honest, these were things she also did not want to place in the cardinal's embrace. 
"be well, sundance." forget me. a love left padlocked was a safer love, one that could not harm nor bite nor break. regret he might have, hurt. frustration. confusion. all preferable to watching herself drain his joy.