Remaining at her back, and seeming to understand, he rested his hands upon her shoulders.

“I’m not giving up on us, Blind Deer. I can wait.”

When she turned her head to glance back at him, he kissed her cheek, and then reaching for one of her hands, he drew her closer to the window. “The moon is so big tonight it reminds me of a Trapper’s Moon.”

Blind Deer squinted up at the sky, and although she would never know the patterns formed by the twinkling bits of light, her shortcoming did not stifle her curiosity for the world around her.

“What exactly is a Trapper’s Moon?” She was glad they pursued a subject other than the history of her love life, or lack thereof. And she enjoyed hearing about anything to do with Saka’am, the moon.

“It comes in February, and it’s a formidable sight—big and bright, like a golden plum, ripe for the picking. A body feels he might reach out and touch it if he could but climb a bit higher up into the heavens. So bright does it shine, if the rivers are thawed, a trapper can walk his lines all night long using the light it gives off to show him the way.”

Blind Deer watched Kade’s face as he spoke. His strong profile and earnest expression revealed his great love for the land and the wilderness. A handsome and noble face, one she fancied she would have been content to grow old beside.