" As if to mock her, Caleb's peal of laughter echoed down the stairs.

Cole shook his head. "He sure doesn't sound miserable."

"I'm not going to go through with this. My mind's made up, " she whispered.

She turned to go back up the stairs, but Cole grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her up against him.

"Tom? " he called out. "Jessica and I are going for a walk." The way he was squeezing her hand told her not to argue. She let him drag her out the back door and into the yard. He didn't stop pulling her along until he reached a cluster of trees that shielded them from the street and gave them privacy.

"Now you listen to me" he began.

She cut him off. "Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me. I will not leave my baby with strangers. I'm sorry, Cole, but that's the way it's going to be." She tried to jerk her hand away, but he tightened his hold and pulled her close until she was pressed against his chest. His face was inches away from hers. He was going to give her a hard lecture because she was being so stubborn, but then he saw her tears and relented. Now wasn't the time to lecture.

"I know how hard this is . . . " "No, you don't know. You aren't a mother."

"No, I'm not, " he agreed. "You're going to have to be sensible. I know Tom Norton, and I'm telling you he's trustworthy.

When Luke MacFarland and his wife were killed, Tom and Josey wanted to raise their children."

"Why didn't they? " "Luke's relatives wouldn't let them. They farmed the children out among them."

"They separated brothers? " she whispered.

"Yes, but Tom tried to keep them all together. I'm telling you he's a good man. So is his wife. Josey took care of me when I got sick. I was a stranger to her, but she still nursed me back to health. The Nortons aren't going to let anything bad happen to your baby. They'll love him, Jessie, and we can't take Caleb with us. You know that, don't you? " "I'm not going to go to Texas."

"Must you be so stubborn about this? It's out of your hands. You have to go, and Caleb has to stay."

"I hate this, " she cried out.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "I know you do. "

"I'm beginning to hate you too, Cole Clayborne. This is all your fault."

"All right. It's all my fault, " he whispered. His chin dropped down on top of her head, and he continued to hold her and stroke her back for several minutes until she had calmed down. He couldn't help but notice how good she felt in his arms.

She couldn't stop thinking about the danger Caleb had been in when that monster had killed her guard. Her son could have been killed too.

The Nortons would keep him safe. In her heart she knew that to be true.

She suddenly pulled away- from Cole. "None of this is your fault.

You're only doing your job. You're right too. Caleb should stay out of harm's way." She straightened her shoulders, turned around, and walked back inside.

Josey was waiting at the kitchen table. She wanted to tell Jessica that Caleb had gone right to sleep, but when she saw the heartache on the poor mother's face, she got up and went to her. "I'm going to take good care of your boy. I promise you, Jessica. Tom and I will treat him like he was our own son."

"I want to thank you for agreeing to watch him, and I know I don't have the right to ask . . . " "You can ask anything you want to ask. If I can do it, I will."

"If I don't come back . . . " "Don't talk like that, " Josey interrupted. "You're coming back, " Cole said from behind.

Jessica ignored both protests. "If I don't come back, Josey, will you raise my son? " Josey looked over Jessica's head at Cole. He gave a quick nod. "Yes, Tom and I will raise him. You've got my word. "

"Thank you, " Jessica said, her voice flat. "I would also like you to change his name legally so that he won't feel like an outsider. I want him to belong to a family."

"Jessica, for God's sake, stop talking like that. Nothing's going to happen to you."

"I have to make arrangements just in case. I owe it to Caleb." Josey understood.

"We'll make it legal, " she promised. "I give you my word." Jessica grabbed hold of her hand. "One last promise, Josey, and I'll be able to go. Please, don't ever leave him." Xaniel was torn between responsibilities. His primary obligation was to escort Grace to Texas, and he was doing exactly that, but he also wanted to head over to the small town of Clarkston, where the latest robbery had occurred, to look for evidence that might help him in his investigation.

He couldn't send Cooper to the bank in his place, as he was with Rebecca, making certain she got to Texas alive and unharmed. The two of them had left for the depot an hour ago, but not before Cooper had dispatched his two young and inexperienced deputies to Clarkston to help the sheriff there. Rebecca had insisted on sending a telegram to the hotel in Salt Lake City to cancel the reservation she'd made the day before and to alert her friends that her plans had been changed, and as soon as she came out of the telegraph office, she was put in a coach with Cooper and sent on her way.

Cooper had suggested that he and Rebecca wait until Grace could travel so that he could take both women with him and Daniel could go to Clarkston, but Daniel refused. Each of the women believed herself to be the only one claiming to have witnessed the robbery, and he was determined to keep all three of them separated on the trip to Red Arrow because he didn't want them making any more joint plans. Although he personally believed that Rebecca was the real witnessshe had given descriptions and details to prove she had been therehe would let the judge in Blackwater decide for himself which one of the three was telling the truth.

He hadn't seen Cole before he left town with Jessica and Caleb. They had taken off an hour or so after the gunman had tried to kill her.

Daniel still didn't know the name of the dead man, but he was certain he was one of the Blackwater gang. Past reports told him that there were seven men in the gang. One was in jail in Blackwater, another was dead now, thanks to Cole's expertise, and five were still out there somewhere . . . waiting for an opportunity, Daniel believed, to silence all three women.

There was also another reason he didn't want Cooper to take Grace with him, but one Daniel would never admit. While he trusted Cooper to do his job, he didn't want to let Grace out of his sight. In his mind, no one could protect her as diligently as he could. There was also the fact that he was drawn to her, and it was his hope that by the time they reached the stopping point in Red Arrow, he would have gotten over his bizarre and unexplainable infatuation.

Daniel stayed in Rockford Falls that night and slept in a chair outside of Grace's door. He went downstairs early the next morning, but didn't plan to leave the town until late that afternoon when the coach arrived.

Grace had other ideas. Daniel had just returned from the bathhouse, where he'd washed and changed into clean clothes, and was standing on the veranda talking to Dr. Lawrence when Grace came down the stairs.

Dressed in a pale pink skirt and matching blouse, she carried her white gloves and hat in her hands, and went directly to the manager's desk to inform him that she was leaving. Sloan trailed behind her, carrying her valise.

Daniel didn't like the crowd in the lobby. Folks were checking out of the hotel, and it was chaotic. He quickly went to Grace's side and ordered her back upstairs.

"You can rest until this afternoon when the coach arrives."

"I don't wish to rest any longer. I feel fine, " she insisted. "Have you changed your mind about taking me to Texas? " "No."

"I didn't think so, but I was compelled to ask. We need to talk, Daniel."

"Upstairs.

" "No, not upstairs. Now, right this minute, then I expect you'll take me off to jail."

"I'm taking you to Texas, " he whispered as he half dragged her into a corner.

"Sheriff Sloan just told me they're holding a man in Blackwater and they think he's one of the gang. Is that true? " "Yes."

"Then why didn't you tell me? " she demanded. "I never would have .

. . " "You never would have what? " "I lied to you, " she cried out.

"I'm not your witness. I only said that I was to protect Rebecca and Jessica.

It was wrong and I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me. Will I have to stay in jail long? " "You aren't going to jail, " he muttered.

"But I lied to an officer of the law."