Chapter 10

“Thank you.”

Mal smiled. “What for?”

She leaned forward, and her words dropped into an even lower register. He had to strain to catch each syllable. “For not looking at me like you already own me.”

Before he could ask what that meant, she turned and walked back to the front of the store. Mal tried to continue with his shopping, but he couldn’t remember what he needed. Ultimately, he left the store empty-handed.4

Mal didn’t worry about anybody noticing him as he slipped out of the bunkhouse. The sky was bereft of its moon, and the starlight only deepened the shadows. He could feel summer approaching in the air and, even though it was nearly midnight, sweat still lingered on his brow and the back of his neck. Silence followed him across barnyard. He expected to hear a pair of coyotes, or even a cow calling to her calf, but the night was as quiet as it was dark. Mal hoped that wouldn’t scare Christian away, though he would understand if she decided she didn’t want to take the risk.