“What?”

“For annulment?” she asked, as calm and cool as if asking the time of day. “What are the grounds?”

“Coercion,” he said. There weren’t any other grounds—none.

* * *

After Chase had left the room, Emily felt as if he’d taken her heart with him. For the longest while, she sat frozen in place, staring at the closed door and willing him to come back.

Once he’d found a way to save his ranch, or at least half of it, it hadn’t taken him long to take steps to end the marriage. How foolish of her to think that his sweet words had meant something, that his kisses had been real.

Her eyes burned with the threat of tears. Nothing Mr. Benton or Mrs. Riley said had hurt as much as watching Chase walk out of the room.

She closed her eyes. Memories threatened to overwhelm her. Happy ones. Miserable ones. Chase holding Cassie Decker in his arms.

Emily tried to erase the image from her head. Once the annulment agreement was signed, Chase would be free to marry the woman he loved, the woman he had been meant to marry all along.

She stared at herself in the mirror. And she would be free…to do what?

She now knew she liked teaching and, more importantly, was good at it. Maybe she could find a teaching job in some remote area where the name Fields had never been heard.

The thought did nothing for her peace of mind. If anything, it only depressed her more, and that was when the tears came.

39

Peggy Sue pulled the last of Emily’s dresses out of the wardrobe and spread it on the bed, next to the open travel case. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

Emily finished folding her nightgown and tucked it into the valise. “I wish I didn’t have to go either.” She bit her lip to keep from choking up. “I’ll miss you and Ginny.” That was the least of it. Never could she have imagined how hard it would be to leave the ranch and its residents. Leave Chase…

“What you did for her…” Peggy Sue looked away as if to get her emotions under control. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“There’s no need,” Emily said. “And you don’t have to worry about Ginny. Chase has agreed to hire a tutor for her.”

Peggy Sue clasped her hands to her chest. “I’m much obliged, but it won’t be the same without you.”

Since she looked about to cry, Emily reached for the dress on the bed. “Here, try this on. If it fits, it’s yours.”

“Oh no.” Peggy Sue shook her head. “I couldn’t.”

“Of course you can. I insist.”

Peggy Sue cast a look of longing at the frock. “What will a housekeeper like me do with a fancy dress like that?”

Emily gave her a knowing look. “Dazzle a certain young man, that’s what.”

Peggy Sue blushed and then giggled. She’d been spending a lot of time with Rusty lately, and Emily had seen the two of them walking hand in hand on several occasions. “Oh.” Needing no further incentive, Peggy Sue quickly undressed and, with Emily’s help, donned the dress.