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She was glad that Austin hadn’t come with her. She thought she could accept hearing her sentence with dignity as long as she didn’t have to see how much her going to prison would hurt him.

Judge Wisser popped his eyes open and leaned forward. “Loree Leigh, it is the decision of this court that you are indeed guilty. Do you have anything to say on your behalf before I pronounce your sentence?”

Loree’s mouth went as dry as the parched earth, and her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs that she was certain they would crack. She could do little more than shake her head.

“Very well, then. In light of the circumstances—”

“I’ve got something to say.”

Loree twisted around. Austin walked down the aisle between the bench seats, a purpose to his stride, while people craned their necks to see around each other, whispering and muttering.

“Six years ago you sent me to prison for a murder I didn’t commit.”

“An injustice I intend to set right today …”

“You can’t set it right,” Austin told him.

“No matter what you do, you can’t undo what you’ve already done.

I lived in hell for five years, not because of Loree, but because of Boyd McQueen.

He was a mean-spirited man who hurt children for the pleasure of it.

She listened to the screams of her fourteen-year-old brother while McQueen tortured him.

Then she had to watch while he hanged him.

McQueen shot her, her mother, and her father.

He paid a man to kill my brother, slit the throats of three men on the prairie—”

“You can’t prove that!” Duncan roared.

Austin spun around. “Then who did it, Duncan? You? Cooper told Dee that her brother paid him to kill Dallas. If it wasn’t Boyd, then it had to be you because I damn sure know it wasn’t Cameron.”

Duncan paled and dropped back into his chair. “It wasn’t me.”

Austin turned back to the judge. “I know we can’t take the law into our own hands.

I’m not saying Loree should have gone after Boyd, but I know the man isn’t worth all our worry.

An injustice was carried out here six years ago.

Don’t worsen it today by seeking justice for a man who didn’t know the meaning of the word.

“I gave up five years of my life for his murder. Let those years serve as Loree’s and if that’s not enough then send me back to prison—”

Loree jumped to her feet. “No!”

“Duncan wants somebody to hang, then hang me—”

“No!” Loree cried.

“Because by God if you take her from me now I’m gonna die anyway—and where’s the justice in that?”

Loree had never been so terrified in her whole life because it looked to her as though the judge was seriously contemplating what Austin had just said.

Judge Wisser sliced his gaze over to her. “Loree Leigh, I sentence you to life …”

Austin slammed his eyes closed, bowed his head, and clenched his fists.

“With this man.”

Austin jerked his head up.

“May God have mercy on your soul.” Judge Wisser slammed his gavel down. “This court is adjourned.”

The courtroom erupted with shouts and cheers. Loree looked at her lawyer. He smiled and nudged her arm. “Go on. You’re free.”

She turned and found Austin waiting for her. He spread his arms wide and she fell against him, entwining her arms around his neck. He enfolded her in his embrace.

“Ah, Loree,” he whispered near her ear. “You should hear the music.”

Exhausted, Loree sank into the steaming hot water. The day had been spent enjoying her freedom: feeling the breeze blow over her face, listening to each of the children tell her how much they’d missed her, holding Grant close, enjoying the warmth of Austin’s hand wrapped around hers.

And now they were home, and he was rubbing the soap filled cloth over her limp arm.

“You don’t have to wash me,” she said softly although she wasn’t certain she had the strength to do it herself. She hadn’t slept at all after she’d turned herself into Sheriff Larkin.

“I want to.”

He stroked the cloth slowly over the curve of her breasts.

“Dr. Freeman said if I let Grant suckle, my milk might come back.” Her eyes drifted closed. “I’d like that.”

“Then I hope it happens.”

“You … don’t … have to wash me.”

“So you said,” he reminded her and she heard the smile in his voice. “I don’t have to love you either, but I do.”

She forced her eyes open. “How can you love me when I took so much from you?”

“How can I not love you when you gave me so much back?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “It would have killed me if they’d hanged you.”

“Well they didn’t. Cameron and Dee had a long talk with Duncan after the trial. Think he just couldn’t accept the kind of man his brother was.”

“So he’ll leave you alone?”

He combed her hair back from her face. “He’ll leave us alone.”

“What about your dream?”

“I’m gonna finish washing her up and put her to bed.”

She smiled tiredly. “I meant your music.”

“I’ll play for you. I’ll play for Grant. I’ll play for my family.”

She wondered if he would be forever content with that, knew that if she asked him, he would tell her yes whether it was the truth or not. She held her doubts and worries to herself, and relished the attention he paid her as he washed her, dried her, and carried her to bed.

He tucked the blankets around her, and as she drifted off to sleep, she heard him stroking the bow over the violin creating music that sounded very much like contentment.

* * *

“It was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard,” Mr. Cowan said as he reached for another cookie. “Couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

Bouncing Grant on her lap, Loree smiled. “Austin has a way of playing music that comes from his heart. I think it makes it unforgettable.”

“And if the music is unforgettable, so shall he be, my dear.” He leaned forward and winked. “And me, right along with him.”

Loree heard the footsteps on the porch and rose from the chair as Austin stepped through the doorway. She smiled brightly. “Austin, look who’s here.”

Austin removed his hat and studied Mr. Cowan skeptically. “What brings you out here?”

“You do, my dear boy. As I was telling your lovely wife here, your song has been haunting me ever since I heard it. I want you to come play for me.”

Austin hung his hat on the peg. “Appreciate it, Mr. Cowan, but I’m not interested.”

Mr. Cowan looked taken aback. Loree simply stared at her husband. “What do you mean you’re not interested?”

“I wasn’t good enough before. Nothing’s changed that.”

“Everything—”

“No, Loree. This isn’t what I want.”

With pleading eyes, Loree looked at Mr. Cowan. “Let me speak to him privately about this opportunity—”

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Austin insisted.

At that moment she wished she had a skillet in her hand so she could bang it against his hard head. She knew pride was making him cast his dream before the wind.

Mr. Cowan brought himself to his feet. “I know this isn’t a decision to be made lightly.

It’ll affect your family for many years.

I’m staying at The Grand Hotel in Leighton—finest hotel this side of the Mississippi—and I have to confess it was part of the reason I didn’t mind traveling back to this area.

But I must catch the train in the morning so I’ll leave a list of my destinations with Mrs. Curtiss at the front desk.

If at anytime you change your mind, you just send me a telegram.

” He held up a finger. “But you’ll need to decide before next spring because we’ll be leaving for Europe then and it’ll be harder for me to make the arrangements. ”

He lifted his bowler hat from the table. “Mrs. Leigh, it was a pleasure to spend the afternoon in your company.”

He strode out of the house like a man without a care in the world.

“You shouldn’t have sent him a telegram without discussing it with me first,” Austin said.

“I didn’t send him telegram.”

“You didn’t tell him that I was innocent?”

“No.”

Austin rushed outside, Loree in his wake. Mr. Cowan was climbing into the buggy.

“Mr. Cowan, how did you hear about my innocence?”

Mr. Cowan pulled his foot out of the buggy and straightened. “Didn’t hear about it until this very second. But that’s excellent news.”

“You came here still thinking I was guilty of murder?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t understand. A week ago—”

“A week ago your song hadn’t kept me awake with regret every night.”

Austin glanced over at Loree and slipped his hand around hers before looking back at Mr. Cowan. “I don’t know how to read music. Loree’s been teaching me, but I’m not a very dedicated student.”

Mr. Cowan shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, dear boy. You won’t be playing with the orchestra.”

Austin furrowed his brow. “You’ve lost me again. Why are you here—”

“Because I want you to be my soloist. It’s your songs I want. Your gift.”

“What about my family?”

“They’ll come with you, of course.”

Austin gave him a nod. “Let me talk it over with my wife this evening, and I’ll let you know in the morning.”

“Good enough.”

The night was pleasant as Austin drew their horses to a halt. They had left Grant with Amelia so Loree and Austin could have some time to sort things out. She had allowed him to lead the way in silence because she sensed that something was bothering him.

After all that had transpired in the past few days, she would not blame him for seeking a divorce.

She heard water rushing over rocks. Through the darkness, she saw a series of waterfalls in the moonlight. Austin helped her dismount, then he guided her onto the quilt he’d spread near the falls. He dropped down beside her.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered in awe.

“Houston married Amelia here. I didn’t even know the place existed until that day.”

A moment of silence echoed between them before he said quietly, “This is where I was the night Boyd died.”

Her heart slammed against her ribs. “Austin—”

“I want to tell you about that night—”

“You don’t have to. Becky did—”

He cradled her cheek. “Loree, I need to tell you about that night.”

She dropped her gaze to her lap and nodded. “All right.”