[ breakfast turns into dinner. dinner, into another morning of company and a few offers of, well. a hand here and there. emma's adamant at first that she has everything taken care of, that it's all well within her abilities to see to the broken hinge on her door or the fence knocked down by bogue's men. she's been making do, but— she's also put most of her energy into the town itself, into helping everyone else, and rarely had she looked after what her own home needed (since she regarded it as minimal by comparison). but vasquez offers to help, and when she starts to take into account that it would mean he'd stay, that there'd be a reason for him to hang around rose creek...
she accepts the offer.
she feeds him in return, of course, gives him a place to sleep (even if it's mostly just a bedroll and a few additional blankets and pillows). her small home doesn't have a spare room, after all, but there's space enough for him to get comfortable, to at least have somewhere sheltered from the elements and prying eyes. it's safety, if nothing else. emma, of course, keeps quiet about her houseguest, and she's removed enough from the town itself that no one comes knocking or sniffing around for vasquez — or even has a chance to realize he's taken up temporary residence in her home. emma knows how to be discrete, after all.
but for the first time in a long time, emma finds herself coming home to something (someone) again. rather than a quiet, empty house, she usually makes her way back in time for dinner to see vasquez there already, done for the day just as she is, and it's...welcome. entirely welcome. she's still a little bemused by how easy it is to fall into conversation with vasquez, that he's actually agreeable when he isn't suspicious and defensive and she isn't finding herself suddenly at the mercy of a dangerous man with a gun. no flares of the same temper, because there hasn't been a need for it. maybe it's that odd sense of camaraderie that accompanied the ordeal of rose creek, or maybe some of it comes from the fact that emma doesn't treat vasquez like a dangerous, sharp-toothed beast, ready to rear its ugly head and bite at a moment's notice.
because in reality, emma isn't afraid of vasquez. she's plenty aware of things he's done, of what he's capable of, but what she saw of the man in her town is more than enough to set her at ease around him. he put a lot on the line for a little one horse nothing like rose creek, and to emma, that still means the world.
the first time emma realizes vasquez has become a new sort of normal is when she walks in the door to immediately see two hats hanging from the pegs. it stops her short, gives her a long pause as she stares at the place where, previously, only one hat was waiting for her (the same, every day, never displaced). but instead, something new has taken up residence, and as she stares from the doorway, she recognizes vasquez's hat, and something in her— warms. it's small, just a flicker behind her chest, just a hint of an old comfort, but...
it makes emma smile.
she doesn't say a thing (doesn't see why an odd little gesture like that ought to be significant to anyone else), but in the days that follow, she finds herself looking up, not just for matthew's usual placeholder, but for that second, well-worn hat too.
and she finds...that she likes it.
days slide into weeks, and vasquez somehow manages to keep finding something new to fix around emma's home. it keeps him there, keeps him busy, and there's no real talk anymore of where or when he'll be slipping off again. emma doesn't see the need to ask, when she's sure he knows she'd be immediately upfront about it when he's no longer welcome, and instead, emma allows the routine to build around them as she keeps his presence quiet all the while.
it's not until one particular afternoon that she finds herself yanked back into the reality of vasquez's life.
emma's in town, as she often is during the daylight hours, today offering leni some assistance with her baby girl (and the little thing's just started to walk, much to her mother's delight). with the death of leni's husband, the rest of the town has been trying to lighten the load for the widow and her child, and when emma can, she'll often offer up help with chores or even just looking after the baby while leni has other important things to mind. for now, as leni makes a few purchases in hank's general store, emma just walks the toddler across the wooden deck of the storefront, tiny hands curled around emma's fingers. emma's nothing but smiles as the little girl giggles and coos over each unsteady step, occasionally getting ahead of herself and nearly toppling over before emma can scoop her up again. she's just plucking the little girl into her arms when she catches a few nearby voices, her attention immediately torn away from the child.
"some nerve, them comin' through like that."
"well, can't say they had any way'a knowin' what he did around here. they probably figured he'd'a passed by or the like, y'know? i mean, bounty like that, can't blame 'em for checking."
emma goes completely still.
"that mister vasquez doesn't deserve havin' the likes of them on his tail. what he did here was real noble."
"yeah, can't say i'm not grateful. but $500 is just more'n enough to send people on a wild goose chase, far as i see it. they still lurkin' around?"
"wouldn't be surprised."
...oh, hell.
emma doesn't waste another moment before bringing that little girl to her mother, apologizing profusely, brusquely explaining that something's just come up, and not pausing to answer questions before she turns out of hank's store and heads right back out of town. she nearly trips over her own skirts in her haste, but she doesn't let it slow her down as she makes it to her home in record time. ]
Vasquez!
[ she calls it as loudly as she dares, out of breath, knees buckling a touch as she comes around the side of her house, looking for that damned outlaw. ]
"i won't get carried away" i whisper as i tl;dr all over this tag
she accepts the offer.
she feeds him in return, of course, gives him a place to sleep (even if it's mostly just a bedroll and a few additional blankets and pillows). her small home doesn't have a spare room, after all, but there's space enough for him to get comfortable, to at least have somewhere sheltered from the elements and prying eyes. it's safety, if nothing else. emma, of course, keeps quiet about her houseguest, and she's removed enough from the town itself that no one comes knocking or sniffing around for vasquez — or even has a chance to realize he's taken up temporary residence in her home. emma knows how to be discrete, after all.
but for the first time in a long time, emma finds herself coming home to something (someone) again. rather than a quiet, empty house, she usually makes her way back in time for dinner to see vasquez there already, done for the day just as she is, and it's...welcome. entirely welcome. she's still a little bemused by how easy it is to fall into conversation with vasquez, that he's actually agreeable when he isn't suspicious and defensive and she isn't finding herself suddenly at the mercy of a dangerous man with a gun. no flares of the same temper, because there hasn't been a need for it. maybe it's that odd sense of camaraderie that accompanied the ordeal of rose creek, or maybe some of it comes from the fact that emma doesn't treat vasquez like a dangerous, sharp-toothed beast, ready to rear its ugly head and bite at a moment's notice.
because in reality, emma isn't afraid of vasquez. she's plenty aware of things he's done, of what he's capable of, but what she saw of the man in her town is more than enough to set her at ease around him. he put a lot on the line for a little one horse nothing like rose creek, and to emma, that still means the world.
the first time emma realizes vasquez has become a new sort of normal is when she walks in the door to immediately see two hats hanging from the pegs. it stops her short, gives her a long pause as she stares at the place where, previously, only one hat was waiting for her (the same, every day, never displaced). but instead, something new has taken up residence, and as she stares from the doorway, she recognizes vasquez's hat, and something in her— warms. it's small, just a flicker behind her chest, just a hint of an old comfort, but...
it makes emma smile.
she doesn't say a thing (doesn't see why an odd little gesture like that ought to be significant to anyone else), but in the days that follow, she finds herself looking up, not just for matthew's usual placeholder, but for that second, well-worn hat too.
and she finds...that she likes it.
days slide into weeks, and vasquez somehow manages to keep finding something new to fix around emma's home. it keeps him there, keeps him busy, and there's no real talk anymore of where or when he'll be slipping off again. emma doesn't see the need to ask, when she's sure he knows she'd be immediately upfront about it when he's no longer welcome, and instead, emma allows the routine to build around them as she keeps his presence quiet all the while.
it's not until one particular afternoon that she finds herself yanked back into the reality of vasquez's life.
emma's in town, as she often is during the daylight hours, today offering leni some assistance with her baby girl (and the little thing's just started to walk, much to her mother's delight). with the death of leni's husband, the rest of the town has been trying to lighten the load for the widow and her child, and when emma can, she'll often offer up help with chores or even just looking after the baby while leni has other important things to mind. for now, as leni makes a few purchases in hank's general store, emma just walks the toddler across the wooden deck of the storefront, tiny hands curled around emma's fingers. emma's nothing but smiles as the little girl giggles and coos over each unsteady step, occasionally getting ahead of herself and nearly toppling over before emma can scoop her up again. she's just plucking the little girl into her arms when she catches a few nearby voices, her attention immediately torn away from the child.
"some nerve, them comin' through like that."
"well, can't say they had any way'a knowin' what he did around here. they probably figured he'd'a passed by or the like, y'know? i mean, bounty like that, can't blame 'em for checking."
emma goes completely still.
"that mister vasquez doesn't deserve havin' the likes of them on his tail. what he did here was real noble."
"yeah, can't say i'm not grateful. but $500 is just more'n enough to send people on a wild goose chase, far as i see it. they still lurkin' around?"
"wouldn't be surprised."
...oh, hell.
emma doesn't waste another moment before bringing that little girl to her mother, apologizing profusely, brusquely explaining that something's just come up, and not pausing to answer questions before she turns out of hank's store and heads right back out of town. she nearly trips over her own skirts in her haste, but she doesn't let it slow her down as she makes it to her home in record time. ]
Vasquez!
[ she calls it as loudly as she dares, out of breath, knees buckling a touch as she comes around the side of her house, looking for that damned outlaw. ]