Page 18 of Falling for the Cowgirl
She grabbed the pouch of coins from Steele’s desk and shoved it back into her pocket. Positioning her hat, she tossed Jericho a glare. Then she marched across the room and out the door, but not before he caught sight of tears brimming in her eyes.
Blast it all. He didn’t want to make her cry. He had to do something to rectify the situation, but he didn’t know what.
Her footsteps slapped on the hallway floor. The front door opened and then a second later slammed shut.
He had to go after her and try to clear things up as best he could. “Listen, Mr. Steele. I need a few minutes to talk with her.”
Steele shrugged. “You can certainly try. But I’ve learned it’s best to let a woman calm down first. She’ll accept the situation better that way.”
Steele might have more experience with women since he’d been happily married for years. But Jericho knew Ivy. And he’d rarely seen her near to tears. He couldn’t stand back and do nothing when he’d hurt her like this.
He left Steele with the assurance he’d be back. As hestepped out of the house and onto Main Street, his pulse tapped with the same uneasiness as before. He hadn’t meant to cause trouble for Ivy.
He scanned the thoroughfare and caught sight of her rushing down the plank sidewalk, already halfway down the street. He was tempted to yell at her to stop. But he didn’t want to call undue attention to her and have half the men in town pour out of their businesses again.
Instead, he started after her. When she swiped at her cheeks and ducked off the walkway between two buildings, he picked up his pace. At the intersection, he veered off but didn’t see a sign of her anywhere.
When he reached the alley behind the buildings, he halted and searched both ways. The only person in sight was one of the saloon owners out behind his business relieving himself. Jericho backed up several steps and then scanned the dry-goods store on one side and the church on the other.
His attention snagged on the side door of the church, and he headed toward it. It wasn’t locked, and it also wasn’t closed tightly, almost as if someone had entered in a hurry and hadn’t bothered to secure it all the way.
At the merest tug, the door pushed open. The town’s only church wasn’t a big place, had only six pews on either side of the aisle, a simple pulpit at the front, a painting of the Lord’s Supper on one wall, and a painting of the Transfiguration on another.
As Ivy lowered herself onto the front pew, her attention darted to him. Though the one-room building was dark except for the light coming through the dusty windows on either side of the main door, he had no trouble seeing the tears streaking her cheeks.
“Go away, Jericho.”
“We need to talk.” He closed the door quietly behind him.
“I don’t wanna talk to you ever again.” She twisted so he couldn’t see her face anymore. But the wobble in her voice told him she was still crying.
“Please let me explain.”
“I wish you’d never come back to Colorado.”
The harshness of her words barreled into him and sent him reeling. Should he just go away, take Steele’s advice, and try to reason with her later? He grabbed the door handle and started to open it.
At her sniffle, he stopped, frustration digging into him. He was being an idiot again by causing her pain.
He released the door and sidled between two pews toward her.
She cast a glance toward him. “I told you to go away.”
He crossed to the front pew where she was sitting.
“Don’t know why you can’t listen.” Her statement was hard but edged with pain. “When you left, I told you not to come back.”
He didn’t have to ask her what she was referring to. The words she’d uttered to him the night he’d snuck away with Dylan had been a burr in his side for the past two years.“Go on now. And don’t come back.”
He’d hated that they parted on bad terms. But somehow, he’d said the wrong thing, and she’d gotten upset. He should have tried harder to make things better before leaving, should have gone after her, should have parted ways as friends.
“Please just leave now, Jericho.”
Heaviness pressed upon his heart, and he lowered himself to the spot beside her.
She stiffened and wiped rapidly at her cheeks. “I mean it. I don’t want to see or talk to you again.”
He laid a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry, Ivy.”
