“I can’t talk about this right now.”

She glared up at him. “Can’t or won’t?”

Chase shook his head and moved past her. He couldn’t talk to anyone without first talking to Emily. Where was she? Had she left town? Had Royce gotten his way?

He glanced at his watch. Two fifty. That meant if he hoped to catch the three o’clock train before it left the station, he’d better hurry.

Picking up his pace, he raced across the busy road to where Rebel was hitched.

But before he could mount, a low rumble made him look up. The sky was still clear with not a cloud in sight.

A shout drew his attention to a man on horseback racing toward town and waving his hat. “Clear the road. Clear the road!” His way blocked by a milk wagon, the man pulled on his reins, and his horse rose on its hind legs.

The rumbling sound grew louder, and Chase cursed beneath his breath. Fisher again! “How many this time?” he called.

“A hundred or so.”

Chase shook his head. Even a small herd could do much in the way of damage. Stampeding cattle had even been known to derail trains, and the thought turned his blood cold. All he could do was hope and pray the train left the station before the cattle could do any harm.

A woman’s cry made him whirl about. Cassie Decker was frantically pushing her way through the crowd.

“Cassie!”

She ran up to him and practically collapsed in his arms. She was shaking.

Holding her steady, he asked, “Cassie, what’s wrong?”

“It’s little Johnny,” she cried. “I can’t find him.”

* * *

Emily stepped out of the Feedbag Café and blinked against the glaring sunlight. Needing to be alone with her thoughts, she’d spent the last hour at a corner table, her back toward the other diners. It was time to go home.

Home.

Who would have thought that one day she would call the ranch home? Right now, she couldn’t think of another thing she’d rather do than go home to her husband.

Would he hate her? Blame her for what her uncle had done? Rue the day they’d ever met? For her own peace of mind, she had to believe that the answer was no.

Still, there was no turning back now that her secret was out. She had to know how he felt, even though it could mean rejection and heartache.

Just as she stepped off the boardwalk to cross the street, someone yelled, “Stampede!”

She froze. Oh, please, no! Memories of her wedding day whirled in her head. How she wished she could do it all over again. Marry Chase. Only this time, it would be no accident. If she ever got another chance to say I do, she wanted to say it for one man and one man alone. For Chase.

“You better get out of the street, ma’am,” a man yelled, bringing her out of her reverie.