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experienced in years. “You’re grown up and you’ve gotten—” he searched for the right word, “—taller.”
    “You’d best be careful, or you’ll swallow your boot.”
    Her eyes glinted humorously, catching Jake off-guard. He studied her as if seeing her for the first time: the high cheekbones and upswept brow, the delicate jaw and slightly upturned nose. The only feature that hadn’t changed were her startling blue eyes.
    “It’s been a lot of years since anyone’s called me Fatty Four-Eyes.” Despite her nonchalant tone, years-old hurt flashed in her face. “Did you ride out all this way just to see if I’d sell?” she asked.
    He fingered the coffee cup’s handle. “I stopped by the cemetery first.”
    “To visit your father and Maggie?” Sympathy shone in her expression.
    “How’d you know about Maggie?”
    Guilt flickered across her face. “She was a friend.”
    Jake sensed she held something back from him. “She worked in a saloon.”
    Kit’s clear gaze met his. “What’s your point, Mr. Cordell?”
    Jake lifted a hand in question. “How did you meet her? Did you work with her?”
    Her cheeks flamed. “I never worked with her, and she didn’t always work in a saloon.”
    Jake waited, expecting her to elaborate, but Kit remained silent. “Do you know how she died?”
    Kit turned to look out a window, giving Jake an unhindered view of her delicately molded profile. “She just got sick.”
    “Did a doctor see her?”
    “No. She didn’t want one.”
    Frustration gnawed at Jake’s gut. “Someone should’ve gotten him anyhow.”
    Kit brought her attention back to him. Raw grief glittered in her eyes like unshed tears. “I tried, but you knew Maggie. Do you think she’d have let a doctor examine her if I had gone against her wishes?”
    Jake’s throat tightened at Kit’s anguish. It’d been a long time since he’d felt anyone’s pain so deeply. He gazed out a lace-curtained window, gathering his thoughts. “Maggie was stubborn once she set her mind to something,” he admitted. He balled his hand into a fist, realized what he’d done, and forced himself to relax. “I wish I could’ve helped her.”
    Kit stared at the fire crackling in the hearth. “She cared for you more than any other man she’d known.”
    “Did she die alone?” he asked quietly.
    “No. I was with her at the end.”
    Jake leveled his troubled gaze at Kit. “Do you think I was wrong to leave her working in the saloon?”
    Her expression unreadable, she replied, “It doesn’t matter what I think.”
    He shifted uncomfortably. For some reason, it
did
matter what she thought.
    Jake blinked back memories. He didn’t want to dwellin the past any longer. “Why did you get me out of jail yesterday?”
    “Maggie would’ve wanted me to.”
    “Is that the only reason?”
    Her fingers curled into fists in her lap, and she shook her head. “I owed you for being my friend when I needed one.”
    Her poignancy tugged at Jake’s heart. “You don’t owe me anything.”
    She gazed at him for a moment, then asked, “Will you be staying in Chaney, Mr. Cordell?”
    He flashed her a quick smile. “Call me Jake, like you used to. I thought I’d stay for a little while and try my hand at being a lawyer.”
    Surprise lit Kit’s features. “So you
did
get your law degree.”
    Jake nodded. “I’ve never actually been in a courtroom, but with a little brushing up, I should be able to write some wills and contracts.”
    “From bounty hunter hero to lawyer? That’ll be quite a change for you.” She reached for the coffeepot. “Would you like some more coffee?”
    “Yes, thank you.” Jake held out his cup to be refilled. “Maybe now T. K. Thorne will leave me alone and stop writing those damn books.”
    Kit jerked, spilling hot coffee over Jake’s hand.

Chapter 3
    “O w!” Jake exclaimed, coming to his feet.
    Her face flaming, Kit jumped up and grabbed a napkin from the tray. She thrust the cloth at him.