Colton 911: Cowboy's Rescue. Marie Ferrarella

love lost I take it.”

      “Adam was okay, I suppose,” she told him charitably. “But James...” she said, referring to her ex-husband. “Well, that’s another story.”

      “That makes this note you were sent even more suspicious,” he said, waving the map and note.

      She laughed dryly. “You won’t get an argument from me.”

      He’d been watching her as Maggie made short work of the bread and cereal he’d given her. “Sorry I can’t offer you anything more than just that bread and stale cereal,” he apologized again.

      “Right now, this is a feast,” she assured him—and then suddenly she realized what she was doing. “And I’m hogging it all,” Maggie said. She tilted the open box toward him. “Here, have some of your own cereal. There’s not much left.”

      He held up his hand to keep her from pushing the box toward him. “That’s okay, you eat it. I can wait until we get back to town.”

      Town. That sounded a million miles away, Maggie thought wistfully. “Is that going to be anytime soon?” she asked. “My sister must be worried sick about me.”

      Jonah laughed dryly. “Your sister is the reason I was out here looking for you in the first place. She was pretty scared now that you mention it. She was afraid that you might have drowned—or been blown away.”

      Maggie raised her chin defensively. “She should have known I can take care of myself,” she said, doing her best not to let guilt overwhelm her. Her lips formed a pout. “You win a couple of beauty contests and everyone thinks you have cotton for brains and can’t find your way out of a paper bag.”

      “I did find you up a tree,” Jonah pointed out, trying not to smile.

      “Right,” she agreed. Then she said deliberately, “I was in a tree, I wasn’t floating facedown in some storm-filled ditch.”

      “Well, if it means anything,” Jonah told her quietly, “I never thought you had cotton for brains.”

      The unexpected affirmative comment caused Maggie to smile. “It means something,” she replied. And then she stopped suddenly, cocking her head toward the window. “Hey, listen,” she said, alert. “Hear that?”

      Jonah did as she instructed. But, he thought, he obviously didn’t hear what she did.

      “Hear what?” he asked Maggie. “I don’t hear anything.”

      “Exactly,” she exclaimed, her eyes shining as she abandoned the empty cereal box on the scarred table and hurried toward the front window. She looked out, scanning the sky. “The storm’s over,” Maggie announced like a town crier. “Or at least it’s stopped for now.” She turned around to face him. “I think we should take advantage of the lull and get back to town before the weather decides to change its mind again.”

      “Best idea I’ve heard today,” Jonah told her, although there was a part of him that would have liked to have lingered in the cabin a bit longer.

      Maggie was already at the door. “What are we waiting for?” she asked. She couldn’t wait to get back to civilization.

      “I need to put out the fire,” Jonah told her. When she looked at him, her brow wrinkled in confusion, it occurred to him that she might have misunderstood what he was saying. “In the fireplace,” he added. And then he proceeded to do just that.

      “Oh.” Maggie felt like an idiot. She thought he was referring to something she’d felt going on between them. “Of course,” she murmured belatedly.

      “You wait here while I saddle Cody up,” Jonah told her. He could see that she wasn’t the type who liked being left behind. “I’ll hurry,” he promised, closing the door behind him before Maggie had a chance to protest.

      Or before he had a chance to act on the feelings that were bubbling up inside him.