Delta suspected she likely wouldn’t see him again until he’d finished this nasty business with Early. Dear God! She sucked in a breath and prayed that Cooper’s beloved face wasn’t still and bloodless inside a coffin the next time she gazed upon him. She’d waited all her life for love to come along. Surely God wouldn’t take him from her now. On the fourth day following their lovemaking, Delta walked toward the mercantile to begin work. As was her custom of late, she kept a sharp eye out for Early. He wouldn’t catch her unawares. A crowd had gathered outside the mercantile and they were yelling at someone. Curious, she increased the length of her stride. Pushing through, she noticed a stranger trying to fend off Mr. Abercrombie with a leather satchel. “What’s going on?” she asked. John Abercrombie put down the broom he was wielding as a weapon. “This man is asking questions about you.
