Grace's heart clenched, painful and wonderful all at once. She wanted to believe Jess's words, wanted it so badly she ached with it.
"I remember the first time I saw that look in Gil's eyes." Jess’s gaze turned distant. "We were in the house inside my father's cave and I was cooking breakfast. Gil came over and offered to help. The way he looked at me as he stood there by the cookstove, I nearly melted into a puddle right there on the floor." A wistful smile curved her lips. “Like I was the only woman in the world, and he'd move heaven and earth just to be near me."
Jess’s eyes focused back on Grace. "When a Coulter man looks at you that way, you can be sure he's given you his whole heart. Don't doubt it for a second."
Could Sampson really feel that way about her? After all the trouble and heartache knowing her had brought him? It seemed too wonderful to be true. Too much to let herself hope for.
It was dangerous to dream of such things. Hadn't life taught her not to expect affection from a man?
The creak of the barn door made them both jump.
"That’s probably Clara coming to hurry us in for breakfast." Jess moved to the stall opening to look out.
But when she poked her head out, her face went bone white. Her eyes were huge as she whispered a single word.
"Papa.”
CHAPTER20
Grace’s pulse pounded in her ears. She peered through the slats of the wooden stall. Jess’s father had come? She’d never met Mick McPharland, but the stories were enough to raise her guard.
With the light flooding the opening, she couldn’t make out details. But then the barn door creaked shut, and the newcomer came clear.
He wasn’t alone.
Her father stood beside the man who must be McPharland.
Her father surveyed the barn’s interior with hard eyes, his jaw clenched tight. Searching for her? Or for the Coulters he'd come to destroy?
Her pulse ratcheted higher. How had they gotten past the Coulters? Where were the rest of the men?
The sound of gunfire had become so common that she’d hardly noticed it. Now, it still crackled, but it was closer. Not dangerously so, though. These two must have ridden ahead somehow, slipped through the defenses.
And Gil. Had he seen them enter the barn?
And why had they come? To take her and Jess back with them?
Fresh fear churned in her gut, but she forced it down. She wouldn't go with her father. Not ever. But maybe she could reason with him, persuade him to abandon this terrible plot.
McPharland took a step toward them. "Jessamine." His voice sounded almost tender.
Jess lifted her chin. "What are you doing here?" Unlike her father, anger vibrated on her words.
He spread his hands. "I've come for you. To take you home where you belong."
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Take your men and leave."
McPharland stepped closer, and as he did, his gaze caught on Grace through the cracks in the stall wall. His eyes narrowed. "Who's this?"
Her father strode to McPharland’s side. "Grace? What in blazes are you doing here?"
Fury surged through her, infusing her with the courage to step out from her hiding place and face her father head-on. "I came for Sampson, to help him after what your men did to him." She lifted her chin. "And I came to stop you from hurting anyone else."
Father’s eyes turned to flint, cold and unyielding. "This has nothing to do with you."
"It has everything to do with me. These people took me in, showed me kindness. I won't let you destroy them." Anger pulsed through her.
"Kindness?" he scoffed. "They turned you against your own flesh and blood."
