This feeling for Adie—” Josh groaned out loud. The sun had set hours ago. After supper, he’d helped with the dishes, then gone out the back door to avoid seeing any of the women. He wanted to speak with Pearl but didn’t have the heart for it. Tonight his thoughts were on Adie, and he didn’t like the direction they’d taken. How could he think about staying in Denver when Emily was still missing? As for the second turn his thoughts had taken, he had no business courting Adie or any woman. He needed to be alone to pray, so he’d gone to the far end of the flower garden. He stood there now, a man with anxious thoughts. Josh had noticed pretty women before now, but he’d never felt a stirring in his soul the way he did for Adie. When she smiled, he felt joy. When she wept, he tasted salt. Yesterday she’d been afraid and he’d wanted to murder Franklin Dean. No one—not even Emily—had ever inspired such deep feelings. Neither had he felt a worry like the one in his gut. Adie was in trouble; he felt sure of it.
