know what she was feeling.
'I obviously didn't have the courage to kill myself, ' he said dryly.
'I'm still here, aren't I? ' 'Courage has nothing to do with it, ' she
snapped. 'Killing yourself is a coward's way out. It takes courage to
go on.'
'Maybe, ' he allowed. 'I even thought about trying to get Cole riled
up enough to shoot me, but that was before I heard all the stories
about him. He's far more honorable than I am, ' he added.
'Sheriff Sloan told me he shot a woman in Abilene. Is that true? '
'Ah, he just winged her, ' Daniel replied.
She gasped.
'It was the only way he could get the man who was going to kill her, '
he said.
'Then it was necessary? ' 'Yes.'
'Daniel . . . do you still think about . . . it? ' He knew what she
was asking. 'No, I don't think about it anymore.
Thoughts about doing myself in happened right after I buried my
family.
I was pretty much out of my mind then.'
'Yes, I think maybe you were.
' 'I figure there has to be a reason I'm still around.'
'I think so too, ' she whispered.
He was warmed by the fact that she was worried about him. It had been
a long time since anyone had been concerned about his welfare. The
world had been such a cold place for the past two years . . . until
Grace.
'When this is over . . . ' 'Yes? ' He shook his head. 'Never mind.
' She'd been sitting by Cooper's side for so long her back was
aching.
She moved the basin of water out of the way and stood up to stretch.
What she needed, she decided, was fresh air.
