to do?” She raised her fist, then dropped it. Anger wouldn’t solve the problems between them.
“Stay here for a little while. We can work this out.”
Casey rubbed her shoulders. “I’d do better in Mexico.” She shook her head. “That’s not what I want to do at all. I want to clear my name, prove I didn’t do all those things slapped across those wanted posters—except the shooting in Billings.”
“I was there, remember? Let me help you.”
“How? You’re leaving tomorrow.”
Morgan shook his head. “I was heading out to find you.”
Bewilderment roared through her veins. She’d heard enough. Her life was filled with enough trouble without trying to figure out Morgan. “Are you a bounty hunter?”
He grabbed her shoulders. “No. And running won’t solve your problems.”
His hands on her ushered in memories of Jenkins—the times he’d hit her, bruised her. “Don’t touch me.” Her head roared in her ears. She gathered up her skirts and ran to the front of the house and up the porch steps. She turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Safe. She didn’t need Morgan. He most likely wasn’t any different from the others.
*****
Morgan waited in the wagon until his mother and Bonnie were ready to leave the parsonage. He wiped the sweat from his face. His chest ached. His leg throbbed. But the pain of watching Casey walk away hurt more. Those weeks laid up at Doc’s, those weeks trying to run down her trail, all he could think about was how she’d risked her life to save his. From the moment he’d shoved his rifle under her chin and seen her courage, he’d realized she possessed what most women never imagined. So strange when he considered what brought them together. The truth. The horror. He had to think, pray. Find answers.
On the way back to the ranch, Mama didn’t pressure him to talk, and Bonnie understood his bad temperament. Both of them had put up with his ill moods for the past four years. So had Grant. Looked like he needed to do a lot more changing.
Once he unhitched the wagon and turned the horse out to pasture, he led his mare, Twister, from the stall and saddled her up for a ride. Racing against the wind always helped relieve whatever worried him. A slight breeze stirred from the south and cooled his face.
“Where are you going?” Mama leaned against the top railing of the corral.
He loved her. She’d seen him through the worst of it. “I need to think.”
“Shawne is the girl you were going after.” She turned to face him. “What’s going on, Morgan?”
He clenched his jaw. “I can’t talk about it just yet.”
“Does it have anything to do with why you favor your left leg?”
“Nothing gets by you, does it?”
She smiled. “It came by me naturally when you, Bonnie, and Grant were born. Now are you going to talk to me?”
“Once things are sorted out.”
She patted Twister. “Love and hate almost destroyed you once. I saw what happened between you and Shawne today. Which will it be this time?”
“I’m praying God will carry me through.”
“Are you in trouble?” She moistened her lips. “Or is she?”
He swung up onto the saddle and grimaced at the strain on his leg. “Mama, I’m fine. Casey will be fine.”
Not a muscle moved in her face. “Are you leaving tomorrow?”
“No. I’m staying right here. I’ve changed, or have you forgotten? God will lead me in the right path.”
Mama’s eyes moistened. “But you have to let Him.”
*****
From her bedroom window, Casey stared out into the inky blackness of night. The outline of trees silhouetted against a silver slice of moon. Some folks feared what they couldn’t see. Others welcomed the opportunity to hide. Tonight she could relate to both. Her new faith said to fear nothing and to trust God. She shook her head. With her limited knowledge of the Bible, she imagined God had something to say about not putting people in danger. The law wanted her for crimes, most of which she hadn’t committed, and Jenkins wanted her because she refused to be his woman. Shouldn’t she be asking what God wanted?
Dare she leave the reverend to tend to Sarah alone? In the short time that Casey had been at the parsonage, she’d grown to love this woman of courage and faith. Leaving her would be difficult, and she’d lose her chance of making up for some of the things she’d done.
I like being needed by the Rainers. Makes me feel less dirty.
Tears filled her eyes, and