Free In the Marshal's Arms by Emma Jay Page B

I came back for you. I came back because I love you.”
    She pivoted toward him then. She wished he’d never said those words, not when she was so angry with him. She resented him for saying them, for manipulating her one more time. “Love me? How could that be? Nothing was real.”
    He reached for her other arm, and stopped himself before he aggravated her injury. “Everything was real. All of it.”
    “Except I thought you were a simple cowboy and you’re a marshal who needed me to arrest an outlaw.”
    “I never intended to stay so long, to feel what I felt for you. I never intended to use you.”
    “You didn’t trust me enough to tell me why you were there.” And that was the part that hurt worst. “Without trust, how can there be love?”
    “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t.”
    “Why not?” Her voice rang shrilly in the entryway. “Why couldn’t you tell me? Did you think I would warn him?”
    “At first I wasn’t sure, out of loyalty, but later, no. No, I didn’t think you would.”
    “So why couldn’t you tell me?”
    “I didn’t know how, without hurting you. And when I finally knew what to say, it was too late.”
    “You’re right,” she said, struggling not to see the sorrow etched on his face. “It’s too late.” She pulled away and hurried up the stairs, part of her hoping he’d follow.
    He didn’t.
     
    Maddy pressed a cool cloth to her eyes the following morning, but nothing she did could hide the fact that she’d cried all night. She was tempted to call for breakfast in her room, but she’d threatened Mr. Ackles that she’d eat every meal in the dining room until he arranged for a ride home for her. One thing she’d learned from the Colby brothers—always follow through on threats.
    So she dressed, brushed her hair, straightened her shoulders and marched downstairs.
    The first person she saw when she walked in the dining room was Rhys, sitting at the center table, leaning back in his chair, one long leg stretched in front of him as he nursed a cup of coffee. Her traitorous heart did a dance of excitement before she quelled it, looking away from him to find an available table.
    There were none. She took a step back, prepared to order breakfast in her room, when Rhys saw her and stood.
    “Good morning, Maddy,” he said quietly.
    For some reason she heard the words in the more intimate way, when he’d murmured them from the next pillow.
    “Can we talk?”
    She lifted her chin. “I just came in to get some breakfast, not to make another scene.” What little reputation she had would never recover from last night’s.
    “I understand.” He stepped aside. “Why don’t you take my table?”
    She hadn’t realized she’d braced for an argument until none came. She certainly didn’t expect to be disappointed. She nodded once and he dipped his head in farewell.
    Nothing on the menu appealed to her, so she picked at her biscuits, frustration growing. Finally she pushed back her chair and stormed out of the dining room.
    “Where can I find the marshal?” she demanded of Mr. Ackles.
    “He went down to the livery stable, I believe.”
    She charged toward the door, hearing him say something else but not paying attention. Only when she was halfway down the sidewalk did his words register.
    “You should take a coat.”
    Maddy hunched her shoulders against the cold, since she didn’t have a coat with her in any case, and continued on. The livery stable was at the edge of town, but thankfully the town wasn’t very big. Nonetheless, she was shivering when she pushed through the door.
    Rhys stood with the livery owner, and turned his head when she charged in. He, of course, was dressed appropriately for the weather, in a bulky shearling coat and gloves.
    “Maddy, what the hell?” he demanded, crossing to her, shrugging out of his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders.
    “I decided I do want to talk,” she said, willing her teeth not to chatter as the warmth from his