He promised. Didn't they all. Heart could do a lot to a man. Some of it brave and fantastic. Some of it ugly and brutally raw. Raylan had, as always, tapped into the latter.

He loves you. It was on the tip of his tongue again. It wasn't right for him to tell.

"That's past his deadline. Has to be tonight," he insisted right back, thumb brushing over Malcolm's jaw, another fresh tear spilling down his cheek. "I will still be here waiting for you, okay? You can come back here and I will still be here."