A surge of hope caused her breath to hitch. She thought about her life on the road, of barely scraping by. Survival had been her sole motivation for decades, but had she ever truly thrived? Her memories of the Wilds blurred together, memories filled with fear, pain, and hunger. In just a few short weeks together, Dani had shown her that life could be so much more than that. How much better could life be for her if she had the Homestead to come back to? And the Homesteaders—if they accepted her and she accepted them. That churned her insides; the Homesteaders hadn’t given her much reason to trust them, but maybe now that she was cleared of all charges, that could change. She had grown to trust Dani; maybe she could learn to trust everyone else, even Kate.
The woman in question seemed to take her silence as a call to offer more motivation. “It would also give you and Dani a chance to—” Kate searched for the right word. “Connect.”
Lynn pondered the implication of those words as butterflies buzzed distractingly in her gut. She took in the people slowly filtering into the large open space, studied the gardens, the fires, the sheds. The Homestead was still a haven in an ocean of danger and death. More importantly, it was Dani’s home. Lynn didn’t know if it could ever be her home as well, but the alternative made her feel hollow—and not just because of the thought of losing Dani. She was being offered a chance to elevate her life from just barely surviving to living a good, full life within a well-functioning group.
“You don’t have to decide now,” Kate said. “How about a trial period? Stay until Dani is back to her old strength, take over her tasks once you are up to it, and see how you like it. If it works out, stay.”
Some of the tension in Lynn’s gut lessened. A trial period would give her time to get to know the Homesteaders and maybe—hopefully—see what she and Dani could be to one another. She licked her lips and nodded. “Maybe a trial period is not a bad idea.” Another smile threatened to settle on her features, and after a moment of hesitation, she allowed it to.
She made it to the bottom of the stairs before she was confronted with another Homesteader: Cody. Lynn steeled herself as he pushed off from the wall he’d been leaning against. I really wish I had my tomahawk. “Cody, what a lovely surprise.” She allowed every bit of sarcasm she could muster to color her voice.
“Well, you’re a hard woman to catch alone.” His smirk was full-on present, and he blocked the corridor with his bulk before she could slip past.
Lynn stopped and glanced back. Her legs were already recovering; maybe she could charge up the stairs if he tried anything. “I am remarkably popular today. I guess that’s why you’re lying in wait in a corridor?”
Cody shrugged with obviously feigned disinterest. “A man’s got to do…”
Something in the way he let the words hang unsettled Lynn. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and resisted the urge to take another step back; she didn’t want to show that much weakness. “Why don’t we cut the crap, hm? You’ve got something to say, so say it.”
His smirk faded. “I’ve been here long enough to know that Kate either already asked you to stay or she’ll do so soon.” He took a step forward.
Again, Lynn forced herself not to move back. She jutted her chin up and put her hands on her hips in an attempt to appear bigger than she was—or felt. “What if she did?”
“Then I want you to know I have my eye on you.”
Maybe it was the long day she’d had, her body’s unrelenting aches, or having to listen to yet another threat, but Lynn finally had enough of his bullshit. “What is your damn problem with me? We got off to a shitty start, but I got your damn leader guy back to you and Dani too! What more do you want from me before you stop acting like a dick?”
For once, she managed to catch him off guard; he deflated a little and his eyes widened. He recovered quickly. “You are my problem! You and all you Wilders!”
“All you Wilders? What does that even mean? It’s not like everyone who doesn’t live in a settlement is related.” She shook her head in dismissal.
“Maybe not, but you all think alike.”
“How many of ‘us’”—she made air quotes around the word—“have you even met? We don’t exactly roam in herds.”
“Enough to know that all you care about is yourself.”
There was definitely a story there, but she didn’t give a damn about Cody’s traumas. “Oh, I care, Cody, just not about you.” She pushed forward, meeting his bullshit head-on.
He squinted, inspected her. “Then who do you care about, Lynn?”
The use of her name didn’t go unnoticed. She realized for the first time that maybe he had a deeper meaning for terrorizing her than just throwing his weight around, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She paused long enough for him to push on.
“That’s what I mean.” He took another step toward her, right into her space. He had to tilt his head down to continue to hold her gaze. “My wife and husband are here.” He let that sink in. “If it were up to me, I’d kick you out right now, because if you stay, their lives would depend at least partially on you, and you couldn’t care less.”
Lynn swallowed heavily and broke the gaze. He was right. She didn’t care about Ren or Eduardo the way she cared about Dani. That didn’t mean she wanted them to come to harm, though. Maybe before she’d undertaken this journey with Dani, she wouldn’t have cared, but now everything had changed. She looked back up. “Nothing is decided yet, but if I stay, I’m staying because I want to be part of the Homestead. That means doing my part to keep it safe—and if anything, you know I can do my part.”
Cody set his jaw as he seemed to ponder that. Finally, he straightened and took a deep breath. “If you ever endanger them, I’ll kill you.”
It sounded to Lynn as if that was as close to acceptance as he was ever going to come.
“I can live with that.”
After another pause, he stepped aside and swept his arm out to indicate she could pass.
She did, tensely.
“And Lynn?”
Lynn jolted and turned back. “Hm?”
“The same’s true for any of the others: hurt them and you’ll have to deal with me.” The anger had drained out of his eyes.
She nodded. “Understood.” When she turned around this time, she felt much more confident that he wouldn’t plant a knife in her back.
Dani was still awake, seemingly waiting for her to return. When Lynn entered, she smiled and settled more comfortably on the bed. Her hazel eyes didn’t move away from her. They never did during their talks, and it made Lynn feel special. She had Dani’s full attention, and she liked it.
Her own gaze was drawn to a familiar book, lying on the blankets over Dani’s legs. “Moby-Dick?” She looked at Dani questioningly.
Dani shrugged. She pointed at Lynn.
“What about me?” She sat down on the edge of Dani’s bed and picked up the book to leaf through. Some of the pages were original, but many more were hand-written, presumably copied once the originals had started to fall apart. The cover was made out of willow bark.
“For… you.” Dani smiled and reached for her hand.
Lynn offered it and squeezed as she laid the book on her lap, holding it protectively. Books were a rarity, and she’d hardly ever seen one, let alone touched any. “The book? But it’s Flint’s.”
Yes. “Borrow.” Dani’s smile widened. “Read.”
Lynn snorted. “He’s just trying to educate the Wilder.”
“Pffff!” Dani rolled her eyes and tapped: No!