If she’d trusted herself to stay awake, she would have headed north on the highway and not stopped until Lonesome Point was far behind her. But it had been a big day, and though she sensed sleep wouldn’t come easily, she was too exhausted to risk the long drive to Dallas. Besides, she owed Peyton and Carter a proper goodbye. She would stop by the Lawson ranch on her way out of town tomorrow, promise to send them postcards from her next investigation, and be on the road before nine a.m. If the flight odds were in her favor, she could be sleeping in her own bed tomorrow night. Never had the thought of her cozy, down comforter and overstuffed feather bed been so completely depressing. Her heart lurched and her throat tightened, but she fought back the fresh tears rising in her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry again, at least not until she was alone in the privacy of her hotel room. Hopefully, the Blue Saloon would have a room available. The parking lot was so packed she had to park at the overflow lot down the street, but it was Friday night, and a good number of the vehicles probably belonged to saloon patrons who wouldn’t be spending the night.
