“Can you ever!” Brenda said. She sighed. “Until the reverend explained it, I hadn’t thought about how hard it was for Colt to watch Morris get shot,” she said.

“Me, neither,” Clancey said. “Maybe it’s why he was so distant. Well, he had another date with Grace, too,” she added miserably.

Brenda’s eyes widened. “With Grace?”

Clancey nodded. She smiled sadly. “We can’t help who we love,” she said. “I want him to be happy. Whoever it’s with.”

Brenda hugged her. “Me, too, but I don’t want it to be Grace,” she whispered in Clancey’s ear. “She wants him to give up law enforcement and be a mission worker. It will never work out.”

“You think so?” Clancey asked, her eyes hopeful.

“Wait and see,” she replied. “Just between you and me, I think Grace’s attitudes are wearing just a bit thin. Besides, you go back to work tomorrow, right?” she added.

Clancey’s heart jumped. “I do.”

“Best way to find out what a man’s thinking is just to ask him.”

“I’ll remember that,” Clancey laughed.

Colter was sitting at his desk when Clancey came down the stairs the next morning. She felt uneasy. It was the first time she’d seen him since his date with Grace and she wasn’t certain what to say.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

She nodded, standing by his desk. “You okay?” she replied.

He sighed. “A little better. I’m going to see a counselor today, just to get a few things straight in my mind.”

“I’m sorry I...well, I didn’t think about what it would be like, to have to watch Morris...well, you know,” she rambled, and flushed a little.

“It would have been worse if I’d had to pull the trigger.” He grimaced. “Billings is holed up in his apartment with two fifths of bourbon and a bad attitude. He says he’s going to stay drunk for a week and see if he can get the sight out of his mind. Odd man to be a sniper. He doesn’t really have the temperament for it.”

“Poor guy,” she said. “Does it help to remember that Morris and his friends would have killed you and Jake Blair without a second thought?” she added. “After which, he’d have come after Tad and me. We’d all be dead.”

His black eyes searched her pale gray ones. “It helps,” he said quietly. “If I lost you...” He bit the words back. It was hard.

She moved a step closer. Her heart raced. “If you lost me...?” she prodded, holding her breath.