Elijah hadn’t slept.

He couldn’t, not when there was someone out there, hunting them. If he slept, he put Gia in danger.

Outside the wind had picked up again, buffeting the exterior of the snow shelter. He checked the ventilation holes were still clear, then studied Gia.

She needed more rest. She’d been incredible, continuing on through the night without a word of complaint. Their trek had been bad enough for him, but for her it must have been agony.

She’d been right, back at the cabin. About living so far from everything. This night had proved it. He’d known, of course. Known every word out of her mouth had been true. But he’d been too afraid to admit it. Afraid of change, of risk. That cabin was all he’d known for fourteen years.

And now it was gone.

But with Gia in his arms, losing the cabin didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected. The last connection to his father had burned to the ground, along with everything they’d built together. His heart ached, and fear about what he’d do next still dogged at him.

And yet the fear of losing Gia was so much stronger, obliterating all his sadness and concern over what might happen next.

As long as Gia was in his life, he’d survive. And thrive.

Presuming she’d still have him.

He knew he’d hurt her, badly, by holding onto his past instead of onto her. And when all this was over, when she was safe, he’d make it up to her. Somehow.

But, for now, he had to feed her. They’d need to walk fast and hard to make it to town before nightfall. Even then he didn’t know if it would be possible. They couldn’t have a full night’s rest, but they’d need fuel.

Slowly, he sat up and eased himself away from her. She shivered as he moved his body heat away. Elijah would have to move quickly because she’d wake soon. He had to keep the snow shelter cold enough to still see their breath in the air, so it wasn’t exactly warm inside, but it was better than being in the elements.

He collected his pack and headed out into the woods. He’d set some traps last night, and hoped they’d caught something while they’d rested. If not, he’d have to use his bow and arrow to hunt.

Their footsteps were still visible, and Elijah sighed. He’d hoped the wind would have covered them in snow, but it hadn’t been enough. Ray could still be following them, and probably was. Unless he hadn’t found shelter last night, which Elijah could only hope was the case. But he couldn’t rely on that.

One of the traps had a rabbit in it, so he snapped its neck, collected some decent firewood, and headed back to their shelter. He hadn’t gone far—unwilling to leave Gia unprotected—so it wasn’t long before he had a fire going and the rabbit cooking above it.

He’d set up the campfire by a fallen log that would act as a seat, and under the shadow of the trees, since it cut down on the wind. This made it easier to start the fire and more pleasant to stay there without the breeze freezing any part of him it could reach. No amount of layers could keep out its powerful cold.

Ray would probably see the smoke, but that wouldn’t matter if he followed their tracks. And being well-fed was essential.

A few minutes later, Gia crawled out of the shelter and turned towards him. She caught sight of the rabbit and made a face at the dead animal but didn’t say anything. He sighed, remembering their discussion on lard. He should have done a better job of making it look like meat, not animal. He’d forgotten her squeamishness.

“Any sign of Ray?” she asked, peering into the gloomy forest as if she might catch sight of him.

He shook his head. “He must have been even farther behind us than I thought. We might get to town before he finds us.”

She nodded. “Good.”

As she came closer, he noticed the way she favored one leg, but attempting to disguise the awkward movement.

“Your ankle is bad again,” he said with a scowl.

Gia froze, then let out a long breath. “I’d hoped you wouldn’t notice that.”

“When did that happen?” he demanded, pulling her closer until she was on the fallen tree beside him.

“Last night,” she admitted. “Right after we left the cabin.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”

She shrugged. “What could you have done? And don’t say carry me,” she interrupted when he was about to say exactly that. “I’ll be fine.”

He glared at her leg. He hated she was in pain and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Well, almost nothing. He pulled her leg into his lap and carefully removed her boot. The shoes he’d so painstakingly made for her were already showing a lot of wear. He’d have to make more.

Her ankle was swollen and red, but it wasn’t as bad as he feared. “You should rest this,” he told her.

“That won’t happen,” she replied determinedly. “Not until we get to safety.”

He sighed. “At least we’re walking through snow, so you’ll get some ice on it of sorts.” He wrapped one hand around her heel and the other around her leg and slowly tested her movements. She winced and sucked in a sharp breath and he dropped her foot back into his lap.

“Not broken. I’ll splint it,” he said. “The compression will help. Food first, though.” He left her foot on his lap and slid her sock back on, but not the boot. When she tried to move it away, he held it still until she got the message.

“You need to elevate it.” She didn’t argue anymore, simply sighed in relief, and Elijah smiled to himself.

He took the rabbit off the fire and checked it was cooked through by slicing a large strip off it with his knife. He offered her the piece, and Gia gingerly took it between gloved fingers.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

She diligently blew on it before taking a bite. He made sure she swallowed before taking his own slice off the animal.

“It’s not bad,” she said, then took another bite. “Could use more salt,” she teased.

He chuckled. He was glad that whatever else, she was still comfortable joking with him.

After a moment of companionable silence, Gia turned to him. “Thank you,” she said.

Elijah frowned. “For what?”

“For…getting involved, I guess. You could have left me to deal with Ray and focused on saving your cabin.”

He glared at her. “I would not.”

“I know. I know you’re not that kind of man. But this is my fight, my problem. I married him, I stole his money.” Her gaze moved to the pack, still sitting by the entrance to the snow shelter. Regret lined her face. “All of this is my fault.”

He gazed at her steadily. “No. It’s his fault. He was the one who terrorized you.”

“Yes, but was stealing his money and running away the best way to deal with that?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. If you stayed, he might have hurt you worse. And I doubt he planned to use the money well.”

Gia gave him a long look. “Why are you so calm about this? Why aren’t you angry at me for barging into your life, getting you shot at, and your cabin burned down?” Her voice was raised, almost begging him to be mad. Instead, all he felt was empathy and an intense desire to protect the woman who had come to mean so much to him.

“Why would I blame any of that on you?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Because it’s my fault. I should have known we weren’t safe. I should have known he’d find me and ruin my life all over again. I never should have stayed with you and brought all his evil down on your head.”

Elijah exhaled, scrambling to think of the words to reassure her. She was worked up and upset, believing the words that came from her mouth. He was better at gestures than words, though. And he couldn’t exactly make her another pair of boots here and now.

“Even if I’d known what would happen when I took you in, I still would have done the same. You needed help. And…” He hesitated, then plowed on. “And it turns out I needed company.”

Her smile was watery. “That’s sweet. But I still don’t think it makes up for everything you’ve lost. That cabin meant everything to you and it’s my fault it got destroyed.” Tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks.

“Gia, it’s not your fault. It’s his. And yes, it sucks I lost the cabin. But I can rebuild.”

She nodded with a sigh, tinged with melancholy. It was clear she still blamed herself for everything that had happened, and Elijah had no idea what to say that would make her feel better. He wished he’d had more practice talking to people, comforting them, but he’d spent more time with squirrels and rabbits than humans.

Maybe, if he was an urbane city man, like Gia was used to, he’d know what to say to make her see none of this was her fault. That him finding her wasn’t the disaster she believed it to be, but the best blessing he’d ever received.

She’d changed his life in the short time he’d known her. She’d shown him there was a bigger, brighter world out there. And maybe he’d never fully integrate into civilization. But she’d also shown him there wasn’t anything to be afraid of in making friends, seeing people.

Falling in love.

“I’m sorry I got you caught up in this,” she said, mind still on her regrets.

“I’m not,” he told her sincerely, then took a big bite of rabbit. There was nothing more he could say to make her believe that. Now wasn’t the time to tell her he loved her, and wanted her to stay with him. Now that his cabin had burned down, he had even less to offer her than before.

But he had no intention of letting her go, no matter what it took, no matter how long.

She gave him a shaky smile. “You’re a good man, Elijah.”

His face heated at her compliment, as it always did. Until her, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had praised him. His father had been a hard man, overcome with grief, and had been more focused on teaching Elijah to survive than building his confidence. But Gia was so free with her compliments, like it was normal for her to raise someone up. It was something that struck Elijah as a special type of kindness.

Yeah, he loved her. It was unmistakable. It filled up holes within him he’d never known were there, in ways he’d never expected. He’d gained so much in their short acquaintance. He could never think of her and loss in the same sentence because it was only a gain to have met her.

His mind was already ticking over with plans, but he didn’t tell her. She wasn’t ready to hear them and he didn’t have the right words anyway. It was best to show her, when he was ready. When Ray was in prison where he belonged, and Gia was finally free of him and his influence over her.

“We should go,” he said as they finished off the last of the rabbit. “Don’t want to take too long.”

She nodded. He handed her a flask to drink from and stood, gently placing her injured ankle down on the fallen tree where he’d been sitting. He pulled out a spare shirt from his pack and tore it into strips about six inches wide. He made the splint over her boot, otherwise the shoe might not have fit over the top. He placed solid sticks on either side and tied them down as tight as he dared until they supported her injured leg as much as possible.

“Tape would have been better,” he muttered, eyeing his handiwork with a critical eye.

“Why’s that?” Gia asked, testing it.

He shrugged. “It would have gone right on the injured area on the outside of your foot, and given you support beneath the boot. I’d never bothered to trade for tape, but I should.”

More subtle changes she brought into his life. There were so many things he planned to change, ways he wanted to make his life—and hers—better. But he kept his mouth shut as Gia walked a slow circle around the fire, testing his splint.

“It’s better,” she told him. “Doesn’t hurt as much.”

She was lying to humor him, but he didn’t know what else to do. There were some treacherous paths coming up, ones he couldn’t navigate while carrying another person.

“Will we have to do any a down mountains or anything?” she asked.

Elijah cleared his throat and shook his head. “No. I, um, took us the long way around. To avoid any rock climbing.”

Gia stared at him and his face heated. “How long will it take us to reach town?” she asked quietly.

He twisted his face. “I’m still hoping we’ll get there by nightfall.”

“But you don’t think we will?”

He shook his head. “Tomorrow is more likely.”

Gia slumped, and for a long moment Elijah was afraid she’d given up. But when she finally raised her head and looked him in the eye, her gaze full of determination. His heart swelled at the sight. She was so brave, so fierce. Had been through so much and wasn’t even close to broken.

“Let’s go, then,” she told him.