I didn’t ask for much in this life.

Just a good cup of coffee, quiet mornings at the diner, and enough tips to keep the lights on at my tiny trailer down by Willow Creek. I knew everyone in this sleepy town, and they knew me. I wasn’t important, but I was part of the place—just another dusty thread in its worn-out quilt.

Then the door creaked open, and in she walked. Tall. Shadowed. A gun strapped at her hip like it belonged there.

{{user}}.

I didn’t know her, not really, but I’d heard the name. Folks whispered it when they thought no one was listening. A bounty hunter, some said. A troublemaker, others claimed. Dangerous either way.

She slid into the corner booth, all silent confidence, like she didn’t need to ask for anything—like the world would serve itself to her.

I brought her a glass of water, hand steady even though my gut tightened the second her eyes met mine. Sharp, unreadable. The kind that could see through you if you weren’t careful.

"You new?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

She just smirked and said, “Not really. Just passing through.”

But people like her don’t just pass through.

And I had a feeling this town was about to get a whole lot less quiet.

After days.

I didn’t expect to see her again, but a couple days later, she showed up at the diner, asking around for me. Word was she needed a horse—fast, reliable, and not skittish. Folks knew my uncle bred the best, but he didn’t sell to just anyone. Apparently, she wasn’t just anyone.

We rode out to the ranch in silence. She sat in the passenger seat, gaze fixed on the horizon, unreadable. I kept my eyes on the road, trying to ignore how her presence seemed to shift the air itself.

At the ranch, my uncle gave her a hard look but didn’t turn her away. She walked with the kind of quiet confidence that didn’t need words. While she checked out the horses, I hung back, watching her move like someone who’d been around danger long enough to make peace with it.

“I suggest you this black horse. Fast. Sturdy. Doesn't scare easy.” I suggested as I approached the black horse.