Free In a Cowboy’s Arms by Janette Kenny Page A

warrant Harlan Nowell hiring a bounty hunter to haul her back?
    Anger snapped along Dade’s nerves as he returned to the jail to bide his time until Carson moved on. It was going to be the longest damn week of his life.
    Maggie hung the last of the laundry and bent to retrieve her basket. A flash of light from the grove of aspens to her right stilled her.
    She stared hard at the place, chills rippling over her skin. The sun had to have reflected off metal. Nothing else made that kind of arc of light.
    Someone was out there. Someone was watching her.
    She hurried back into the cabin and closed the door, heart hammering too loudly. Had Whit sent someone to find her?
    “Mighty fine flapjacks,” Mr. Orshlin said.
    “Thank you.” It was a recipe she’d gotten from the cook at Harlan Nowell’s mansion, back in the day when she was thinking ahead to getting married and cooking for her own family.
    That was before she realized the depth of deceit Harlan Nowell dipped to when he took her–an orphan–into his home. Though she’d never felt unwanted there, she’d never felt any kindness either.
    She was hired help, no different from the cook or the housekeeper or the troop of guards Harlan Nowell employed. Though for her, he had a more devious end in mind. She was to take the place of his crippled daughter in a marriage merger that would be a prison sentence for her.
    She turned to the family she’d enjoyed helping out this week. The greatest danger was over for the babies and the new mother.
    Now that Mr. Orshlin was home, Maggie was no longer needed. In fact, she could be a danger to these kind folks if she stayed here longer.
    Mrs. Orshlin emerged from the alcove with the youngest baby cradled in her arms. Her smile was wide and genuine.
    “He is thriving now,” she said, smiling down at the baby she’d come close to losing. “Won’t be no time and he’ll catch up to his twin. I can’t thank you enough.”
    Maggie held up a hand. “I’ve enjoyed every minute.”
    Simon, the youngest boy before the babies came along, wrinkled his nose. “Even the times you had to change Samuel’s and Em’s diaper?”
    She laughed, the moment of fear forgotten in the wide-eyed excitement of a child. “Even then.”
    “You have been a godsend,” Mrs. Orshlin said. “I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn’t been here.”
    So did Maggie. “I’m sure Doc would have stayed or found a lady from town who’d have done just as good a job.”
    “Whether that would have been the case or not,” Mr. Orshlin began as the clatter of an approaching buggy grew louder, “we shall be eternally grateful to you.”
    It had been a very long time since Maggie had felt such warmth and love of family. She certainly hadn’t had even a smidgeon of that growing up in Harlan Nowell’s palatial house. She couldn’t remember her own family well–just an aunt who had made it plain she didn’t want her.
    “Can you come back?” Simon asked, tugging on her skirt to get her attention.
    “I’ll surely try.” But she wondered if she’d ever be free to visit with friends.
    Friends. That was another thing she’d been in short supply of. She’d had that with Caroline Nowell, but as Caroline’s health had worsened, she’d even lost that to a degree.
    Not for the first time she wondered how Caroline was faring. Had they found another person to care for herdaily needs? Was that person as understanding and gentle with her?
    The creak of the buggy stopped just outside, and Maggie quelled the urge to hide. She peered out the window. Doc had returned for her.
    “Doc is here.” Maggie moved to the door, paused to steady her nerves, then opened it.
    The children rushed out the door and clustered around the buggy, all talking to Doc at once. All sharing a snippet of the week with the new babies with him.
    She marveled at his patience with the children, then applauded his grit as he moved toward the cabin. His limp was much more