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assessment.
     
    “For another thing,” Emma went on when Trish tried to interrupt, her face flushing a dark, angry red. “I’m not exactly a townie, although you should probably get used to seeing me around. I’m the new owner of Raven Branch. And, last but certainly not least, I only met Cole McKenna this morning so we are most definitely not seeing one another. As a matter of fact,” she stood up swiftly and gestured toward Cole. “I think you two might just be absolutely perfect for each other.”
     
                  “Emma, wait,” Cole began, but she was already headed toward the door. He watched her nicely-filled out jeans as they disappeared through the door.
     
                  “What did I miss just now?” Marshall asked in confusion as he came back from the bathroom, scanning the individuals left at the table.
     
                  “Every damn thing in the world,” Cole said as he turned to Trish. “Good to see you. I think I’m going to sit here and eat now.”
     
                  “Cole--” she began, almost apologetically.
     
                  “Goodbye, Trish,” he said, making his voice as flat and as cold as possible, while looking down at the menu.
     
                  Her face went pale and then flushed. Cole got ready to duck just in case things started flying his direction.
     
                  “Justin Cole McKenna,” she began hotly.
     
                  “Excuse me,” Margie said briskly. “But I’ve got orders to take here and I don’t need you starting trouble in this restaurant. Order another breakfast or move along, Trish.”
     
                  Trish met Cole’s eyes for a second and he made damn good and sure she saw a definite answer in them. She turned abruptly and stomped away as Margie put her hand on his shoulder briefly.
     
                  “I’ll be back to get your orders in a second, boys,” she said with a soft smile.
     
                  “What the hell did you do now?” Marshall demanded as he took a sip of his coffee. “Do you know how hard I’ve been trying to convince Emma you’re not a jerk? And then you let this happen?”
     
                  “I don’t know,” Cole muttered, dropping his face into his hands. “I don’t even know how any of that happened. It was just...” suddenly the full impact of Marshall’s words, or rather his accusations, sank in. “Hold on just a second! How is this my fault? You think I would have come in here if I’d thought Trish might show up? You think I would have subjected Emma to that? Is everything going to be my fault today?”
     
    Before Marshall could answer Cole got to his feet. “I’m going to the bathroom. Order me some eggs.”
     
                  He was so busy stomping away that he missed Marshall handing Darrell a crisp twenty dollar bill.
     
    Darrell folded the bill and tucked it neatly into his battered brown leather wallet as he said, “Told you they were really done.”
                 

Chapter Five
 
                  After that day, Cole didn’t hear anything from Emma. Actually, none of them did. A week dragged by and he had never been in a worse mood. In addition to Marshall and Darrell avoiding him, his own horse seemed not to want to have too much to do with him. It was probably that his level of tension made the big animal uneasy.
     
                  The tension only got worse as the week went on. He couldn’t seem to do anything right lately. The cattle were unruly, the cattle dog, Pete, didn’t listen to a damn thing he said, he cut his hand on one of the scythe blades he’d managed to sharpen to a decent edge in preparation for haying, and he couldn’t even relieve his frustration with a nice long ride down to Raven Branch because Raven Branch was a big part of the