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"Where were you planning on going?" he asked as he moved slowly toward her.
> "I-I think it is time we moved on, now." She told him, a hesitation in her voice.
"Why didn't you wait until morning, to say goodbye?" He told her.
She needed to leave, before she gave into her feelings.
"I will not be the cause of trouble for you and your father." She told him, turning away from his probing eyes.
"You can't run away from it, Willa, I've warned you about it already." he told her softly. "It's hard to accept who and what we are, but you can't run from it. You are a half breed and there is no where you can go that people won't give you trouble. You know that. At least here you have a home, a chance at some kind of life. I thought that's what you wanted."
"You and your father have been very kind to me. Kinder than I deserve. But because of your kindness, I have put both of you in danger. That man threatened to burn you out. I will not be responsible for something like that. This is your home." She told him boldly. "If I leave the trouble may stop."
"Learning to take help from others is hard, isn't it?" he asked her, watching her fumble with the cinches as she tightened them on the horse. "Pride gets in the way."
"I suppose so. But you don't accept help when it hurts others to do so."
"What about running away?" he asked.
"I'm not running away, I’m leaving. There's a difference."
"You're running away from what is between us, and you know it." His eyes bore into the back of her head.
She whirled around to stare at him with a tear in her eye.
He frowned, and reached to touch her cheek, "He hit you?"
"It is nothing." She barely managed to say, distracted by the hand that stroked her cheek.
When he wouldn't leave, but just stood there, she whirled around to stare into his dark eyes. "There is nothing between us. I have made sure of that." Her voice almost failed as she glanced up at him. The look in his eyes told her he knew.
"Oh yes there is. I tried to ignore it as much as you did, and for the same reasons. You can't stop it honey. It's called love and it is between us. It's been there almost from the start." He said softly. "I fought this feeling myself for a while. Telling myself it would be futile, but the feeling just kept growing. It's not something that will go away, it gets stronger every day, you know that, you feel it too. I see the truth in your eyes, just like you see it in mine."
She turned away. Her heart warred with her brain. She tried to wish him away, but her heart shouted she didn’t want him to leave.
"I'm in love with you." He whispered. "Please, stay with me."
She whirled around, "It will not work, Clay."
The intimate way she used his name, the desire in her eyes, assured him she cared for him too.
"Don't you think I've told myself that a million times too?" he asked with a slight smile to his lips. "Don't you think I've put up every argument there is between us? But it's no good honey. The feelings just keep growing."
Clay firmed his lips, and his stare bore down on her.
"I guess it depends on how much we love each other, doesn't it? Right now, I got a lifetime of love stored up, for when the right woman came along. I've been waiting forever it seems. And now that you are here, I can't fight it, or walk away from it, it's just there. It's not going away; it gets stronger the more I fight it. It just happened. Being around you, smelling that womanly scent of you, seeing your eyes go soft when you look at me, seeing the goodness and sweetness of you. And you know it as well as I do. I see it in your eyes. Your eyes don't lie. Even dad sees it."
Her face flushed. She turned away again. "I did not mean to show it." Then she put her hand over her mouth as she'd said too much.
"Some things you can't hide, honey." He reached to put his hands on her shoulders and turn her toward him once more. Slowly his hand came up and cupped her cheek, and this time her lips brushed against his hand. Her lips lingered there. She couldn't stop the actions any more than she could stop a heartbeat.
She stared and a tear fell down her cheek. "I cannot hide what is in my heart."
"Nor can I," he smiled.
"Why do you call me sweet names." She smiled up at him. "Why do you look at me, as though—"
"As though I want you. I do. I'd be lying if I said differently. But it's not a matter of lust, it's a longing, older than time. It goes deeper than the flesh, it goes straight to the heart."
