Free Bran (Prairie Grooms, Book Six) by Kit Morgan Page A

room. He felt like it was going to be harder than he thought to apologize, and figured his best course of action would be to keep his voice low. He sat on the settee and put his hat beside him.
    “Well?” she began. “What do you want?”
    “Miss. Sayer, I've come to apologize.”
    “Apologize? For what?”
    “For my rude behavior last week when I found you. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods, as you can well understand.”
    “I suppose if I almost suffocated in a safe, that would make me a little cranky too.”
    He looked at her with a half-smile, and she stared back, but said nothing. “Well…”
    “Well what?”
    He took a deep breath. “I'm sorry for the way I acted.” She continued to stare at him, and still said nothing. “I'm sorry Miss Sayer.”
    “You already said that.”
    “Do you forgive me?” There, he asked it.
    “That depends…”
    She couldn't possibly be serious, could she? “On what?”
    “Do you forgive me?”
    Of course, he knew she’d ask that. He looked at his hat and fingered the rim with one hand. “ I was rude. You almost killed me.”
    “So, I'm supposed to forgive you for being rude, but you don't have to forgive me for half-killing you, is that it?”
    He rubbed his temple with one hand. “No, Miss. Sayer, that’s not it. I came here to tell you I'm sorry for the way I acted when I found you. I was upset. I should have treated you with more… well I should have treated you better.”
    “And I'm sorry I locked you in a safe.”
    “I… um…” Good grief! Why couldn't he say it? He did forgive her, didn't he? “I…”
    “You what?”
    “Well, I…”
    Sadie entered the parlor with the tea tray, and set it on a small table in front of the settee. Without a word, she poured them each a cup, smiled, and left the parlor. Apple turned back to face him. “You were saying, Deputy?”
    “Do you forgive me?”
    “We could do this all day long, if this keeps up,” she said in a flat tone
    “I forgive you!” he blurted in a rush.
    She jumped in her chair and stared at him. “Do you, really ?” she asked in a small voice.
    He could only stare back. He’d said the words, but did he mean them? And why was he having such a hard time with this? He wanted to forgive her at this point and didn't think he was mad at her anymore. So what was the problem? “I'm sorry,” he said, though he knew those weren’t the words he meant to say. Again he had to ask himself, why wasn't he able to?
    “Clearly you haven’t forgiven me, or you wouldn't be struggling the way you are. If you're still mad at me, then why are you here?”
    “I came to apologize…”
    “And expect me to forgive you, but you won't forgive me.”
    “I said, I did!”
    “Well you don't sound very convincing, if you ask me. And I'm sure you didn't sound that way to anyone else in this house.”
    “No one else heard me but you!”
    “Did you hear him say that?” she yelled toward the hall.
    “He didn't sound very convincing to us, either,” Belle shouted back from the kitchen.
    “You see, I told you,” she said with a shrug.
    “They’re listening ?”
    “How can they not? We’re arguing aren’t we? One usually raises their voice when arguing with another person.”
    Bran slapped his forehead with one hand, and rubbed his face a few times. “Unbelievable! Why did I ride out here?”
    “That's a very good question, I'd like to know that too.”
    He suddenly stood, and hit the table with his knee. Tea sloshed out of their cups, and onto the tray and tabletop. “I'm leaving. I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Miss Sayer!”
    “Oh! Look at the mess you've made!”
    “I'm sorry, will you forgive me?” he said, and tried to keep the mocking sound out of his voice. It didn’t work.
    “Well you don't have to get so upset about it! And if it's any consolation, I forgive you for being rude and for making a mess!”
    “Good!” He shoved his hat onto his head, turned and headed for the