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words to Toby. The knowledge that she and Wilder would have similar thoughts unsettled her. She rubbed Toby’s shoulder. “Need to get yourself ready for bed.”
    â€œBut it ain’t late.”
    â€œIt’s late enough for you.”
    With a disgusted sigh, he scrambled to his feet and onto the porch.
    â€œHere, boy.”
    In the shadows, she was able to make out Wilder extending the harmonica.
    â€œThat’s yours now,” Toby told him.
    â€œI figure I’m alive because you talked your sister into tending my shoulder. This is payment.”
    Toby snatched it out of his hand and held the harmonica to his mouth. His quick burst of air sent a squeaky noise into the night. As he walked into the house, more followed.
    â€œHe’s a good kid,” Wilder said quietly.
    â€œHe has a name,” she snapped. “It’s Toby.”
    â€œYou call a person by name, it makes it harder to forget him.”
    â€œWhat about the people you killed? Did you know their names?”
    â€œSome of them.”
    She moved her feet up to the next step and wrapped her arms around her drawn-up knees. She thought she might actually like the man if he had chosen a different occupation. “How much was Ward going to pay you?” she asked softly. When his answer was silence, she glanced over her shoulder, pinning him with a glare. “He is the one who brought you to Lonesome, isn’t he?”
    â€œNo, lady. You’re the one who brought me to Lonesome.”
    Her heart pounded frantically against her ribs with the confirmation that she was the person he’d come to kill. “How much did he offer?”
    â€œTen thousand,” he said quietly.
    â€œThat’s a lot of money.”
    â€œSure is, and he’s gonna offer it to someone else. Whether you want to admit it or not, lady, you need me.”
    â€œI don’t need you. We have a sheriff who is paid to protect the citizens of Lonesome.”
    â€œAnd where was he the other day?”
    Unexpectedly in need of comfort, she hugged herself as she struggled to find an explanation for the sheriff’s absence. Surely he wasn’t abandoning her as well. She’d broken no laws. “Maybe he was busy with other business, but I plan to speak with him tomorrow about John Ward and his threats. I should have done it sooner but I honestly didn’t think he’d take things this far.”
    â€œI’ll go with you.”
    â€œYou said you were leaving in the morning.”
    â€œI’ll leave as soon as you’ve talked with the sheriff.”
    She heard the hushed click of the chair hitting the porch as though it were as weary as the man who sat in it. His boots reverberated over the porch and thudded on the step. She jerked her head up.
    â€œNight,” he said as he hit the ground.
    She shot to her feet. “No.”
    He stopped, turned, and took a step back toward her. “No?”
    She licked her suddenly parched lips. “I . . . I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to sleep in the barn. You increase the chances of your wound getting infected.”
    â€œFigured you’d prefer for me to be out of the house.”
    She nodded, trying to understand why she didn’t just let him go. Maybe it was the manners her mother had bred into her, or more likely, it was the fact that he had kept his word to Toby and was still watching out for her. “If John Ward should come back tonight—”
    â€œHe won’t.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œHe hasn’t had time to hire my replacement, and he’s not about to risk his life until he feels like he’s got someone to cover his back.” He took a step closer, and she watched the moonlight play over his golden hair. “Why do you want me in the house?”
    â€œAs payment,” she blurted, the heat flaming her face. “Payment for your kindness to Toby . . . and for