‘What if they don’t buy the fruit?’ ‘I can be pretty persuasive,’ Carl told her. ‘Don’t…’ She took a deep breath. He sat beside her, gun at his hip, stubble darkening his jaw. He looked like a man in a wanted poster. ‘Don’t cause more friction,’ Jade warned him. ‘If you frighten people into buying, they’ll stop as soon as you’re gone.’ He sent her a teasing smile. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be nice.’ His light tone sent a flurry of warmth over her. They had spent the previous day harvesting fruit together, and now they had eight crates in the buckboard. Carl had been more relaxed than she remembered ever seeing him. In the evening he had sat with Sam, talking and laughing, and at night he had made love to her again. Had he come back to give her a baby after all? How long would it be before he left again? She didn’t dare to ask, didn’t want to think beyond the here and now. Carl brought the buckboard to a halt outside the sheriff’s office to let her down.
