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"Cranky as hell Hebetter…with me out of the way"

Jason stared at her He’d decided a long tiirls had this totally warped world view This just confirmed it "He’s crazy about you, Madison Why would he be feeling better?"

"I told hiet out of Trinity I warned hi to end up bad"

By now Jason’s paranoia was in overdrive Did she knoas going to end up bad because she had inside information?

"He won’t leave, Maddie They don’t have anyone else"

She stared down at her hands "I as settled here In the ht Like she could lose herself in the teeht

"Seph won’t be happy" The argu hioing to be back to normal?

"When you get back, you tell Seph to stop worrying about me and take better care of hi back to Trinity," Jason said, without thinking Daa fro?"

"Back to England" He paused, then brandished the only weapon he had The one he would never use "So No one needs to know about Grace And no one needs to know I’ht on He needed ti soate hihtened into an angry line "Fine! It’s your funeral"

"Exactly," he said, s to defuse the tension

"What a to hear from you"

"If he asks, tell him I never showed"

Madison’s eyes ith shock, "If he asks? Jason! He’ll think you either ran off or souilt, knowing Seph deserved to know about Barber, at least But Jason would be staying a while, in case Barber caht Last time, a ten-year-old saved your butt

"Trinity would be safer for you, you know," Madison said, as if reading his mind

"Safer for me, but not for you?" He paused, and when she couldn’t co for a hideout"

She stood "Still You better lay low In case Barber’s looking for you"

"He’d better worry aboutfor him!" he called after her

When the door closed behind her, he settled gratefully back against the pillows He wasn’t afraid of Warren Barber He just needed to rest a bit and get back in shape

If Madison were involved in some kind of conspiracy, he couldn’t very well leave Seph at herbad about Madison without evidence Since he had to hang around Coal Grove for a while, maybe he could find out for sure whose side Madison Moss was on, and who she was hanging with, and who this Brice Roper was

Perhaps if he just closed his eyes …

Madison threaded the pickup between the twin brick pillars thatthe boundary of the Roper property She navigated the long drive, past the Greek Revival mansion and around back to the horse barn

A body would never know this whole thing was built on the backs of coal miners

The horse barn was freshly painted red Four dapple-gray Arabians with velvety black noses poked their heads over the paddock gate In the pasture beyond, crocus and snowdrops poked up between patches of snow

This is a farht I’ll bet the horses don’t even crap in their stalls

As she turned toward the house, she saw three riders ee froh-stepping, fine-boned bayand John Robert on a sray When Grace saw Madison, she applied her heels to the horse’s sides and ca out like a banner, reining to a hard stop just in front of Madison

"Grace!" Madison said, waving away the dust that boiled up around the horse’s feet "Don’t be a show-off"

Grace’s cheeks were flushed with excitement "Maddie! This is Abby Well, that’s her barn naistered name is Barbary’s Abby Ann She’s so sweet Brice says he’s never seen her take to anyone the way she…"

"Where have you been?"

Grace blinked at her "Why, we rode up to the old furnace"

"That’s on our property You had no business taking him up on the mountain" She tilted her head toward Brice

Brice reined in next to Grace He’d been setting his pace to John Robert’s "It’s my fault I asked her to show me the waterfall"