She’d barely stayed five minutes upon her return and, though he hadn’t been able to clearly see her face, everything about her body language suggested that she was unhappy. Her shoulders were rounded, her step slow. He heard her chuckle, but there was no humor in the sound. It rang hollow, almost defeated. Then she’d shaken her head, tightened the wrap around her shoulders and, rather than take the cart again, began walking toward Cora’s. Cold and confused—an admittedly unfamiliar state for him—and plagued with the irrational urge to comfort her, to right her wrongs, Jeb frowned into the darkness, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Was she disappointed that she’d missed him? he wondered. That he’d left? Was that the reason for the sudden onset of unhappiness? But if she’d wanted to spend the evening with him, then why in the hell had she snuck away? Why had she left? Better still, what had she hoped to find in Marjorie’s office?
