"No shortage of abandoned cabins here." There's something soothing about the way he tells her he'll see to it, like they're already making plans, like he's automatically on her side. As much as he ever has been, and she knows that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. Doc Holliday may be inextricably linked to her family, but he walks his own path in those comfortably broken-in boots.

Still, it's good to have people here. She'd learned that the hard way, sitting alone in her cabin with the fire out and the door swinging lazily open. This place will kill them more likely than not, but they're harder to kill when they stand together. She finishes her coffee and nods at him, at his question. "Yeah. It's a little bit of a walk from here, but not bad."

Not like the homestead, far-flung out on the prairie. She'd picked a place tucked among the trees; defensible, easy to heat and maintain, and far enough from the town that she could have her own space. And even with a potential new living space in Lakeside, it gives her options. Right now, for example, it gives her the option of somewhere to speak with Doc alone, where she won't have to worry about curious interlopers looking for gossip. And while the prospect of being alone with him for the first time in six months sends her stomach into squiggling knots of nerves, there's relief there, too.

Coffee finished, she rises to her feet, looks out the window. "Looks like the fog's blown off for now. Better get going before it rolls in again."