Page 84 of Kissing the Sheriff

“I wouldn’t be the first.”

“Nor the last. At least you didn’t ruin any of them.”

“Of course not.” He stood. “As to Cassie …”

“Do you have feelings for her?”

Conrad glanced at the barn doors again. “I …”

“Yes or no, brother?”

Conrad hung his head. “Yes.”

Sterling sighed in relief. “Thank Heaven. Now what are you going to do about them?”

Conrad looked up. “What did you do when you discovered you were plunging into the abyss of love?”

Sterling laughed. “You’re starting to sound like Phileas.”

Conrad shrugged. “There are worse things.”

“True.” Sterling returned to the bale he’d been sitting on. “It hit me hard. I saw something in Letty I’d never encountered before. An innocence and purity that needed protecting. That needed me.”

Conrad slowly nodded. “I think I understand.” He smiled. “But if she’d been toting a gun on her hip, would you have still fallen in love?”

“Probably more so.” He sat. “Conrad, you have to decide what you want.”

“But there’s so little time.”

“If we must stay longer, we will. But it means the others won’t get to see as much of the West as we originally planned. In fact, if we stay too long, we’ll have to head back to Bozeman and take a train to San Francisco.”

“We?”

Sterling sighed. “Letty and I are still talking.”

“So nothing’s settled?”

“Other than we’re getting married.” Sterling leaned against the half wall of a stall. “Make your mind up about Cassie. That kiss just told her things, and if those things aren’t what you wanted to say, then you’ll need to tell her otherwise.”

Conrad nodded. “I will.” His heart hammered as he thought about the kiss. Cassie, like Letty, was innocent and pure. Yes, they’d suffered tragedy, and both women had lost their mothers to illness. But Apple Blossom was like a little island in a sea of turmoil that brutally tossed ships, yet didn’t touch the island. This place was special, and so were its people. “I’ll speak to her.”

Sterling put his hands on his knees, as if calling their meeting to an end. “Right, then. See that you do.” He got up and left the barn.

Conrad sat and could only imagine what was going through Cassie’s mind. Was she going to slap his face when he saw her? Never speak to him again? Pass it off as a stolen kiss and nothing more? Did she understand the meaning behind it or think he was merely playing with her?

He stood. Despite Sterling’s little talk, he was glad his brother had interrupted them. He might have deepened the kiss and then what? Instead it was gentle, but held a promise. Did she understand that?

He went to the barn doors, opened one a crack, and peeked outside. There was no sign of her. He stepped out, looked at the house, and sighed. Cassie’s horse was gone. “Great, she’s left.”

He headed for the house so Letty could get her lecture in too. Who knew what Cassie said to her? He went up the porch steps where Sterling and Letty were once again seated, sipping lemonade.

“Your glass is here,” Letty said.

“And Cassie isn’t, I see.” He pointed to Lawrence. “Tell me, was she upset?”

“She didn’t say a word, Conrad.” Letty shrugged. “She walked straight to her horse, mounted, and left.”

He went to the small table between them, grabbed his glass and drained it. “Very well. I have work to do.”