Page 25 of The Cowboy Takes A Bride

Meredith shook her head to clear her thoughts. “What?”

Jace smiled. “Did I say something that I need to clarify? I’m not sure I can remember all that I did say.” He rubbed his chin.

“You apologized.” She returned his smile.

“And I meant it.” He took off his hat, rubbed his hand over his short hair. A dark brown lock fell across his forehead, giving him a charming look that could only be classified as rogue.

“No one has ever apologized to me. I mean, in a situation like this.” She smiled, big enough to show some teeth. Apologies were nice.

Jace held his hat with both hands and ran one along the rim. “Can I ask a personal question?”

Meredith shrugged. “We’re married. I think you’re entitled to a few.”

They shared a laugh. Hard to believe this morning she'd judged Jace to be more than she was ready for, but so far he’d been nothing but nice. Granted, people who wanted something from another person were always nice.

Jace shifted, glanced at her, then looked away. “Ah…”

“Wow, this must be one humdinger of a question.” The anxiety she’d fought back earlier began to spread upward from the pit of her belly. She pressed a hand to her side. Soon it would reach her head and bring on the migraine.

“I’m just gonna put it out there, okay?”

She nodded and clenched her teeth.

“Has someone hit you, Meredith?”

Instantly, the anxiety dissipated. “What? No.” She thought about the last fight she had with her father. “Not in the way you must be thinking.”

“But someone laid their hands on you in anger?” Jace straightened, his knuckles going white.

Meredith sighed and leaned back against the truck. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her coat and pulled it from the bed, slipped it on. For a moment, during their brief heated words, she hadn’t felt the chill of the spring day, but now the crisp, cool air was sinking into her bones.

“It was one time, and it was my father. He grabbed me by my arms and shoved me.”

“Jesus.” The muscle in his jaw popped. “Is that why you’re here?”

“That’s what helped me decide to be here.”

Jace nodded.

“It wasn’t just that. There's more to it, of course. It was a bad situation all around, and my health was starting to deteriorate. Headaches.” She pointed to her temple. She didn’t want him to think she was flighty, had one scuffle with her father, and did something as extreme as marry a stranger. His good opinion was important to her. The people of Bison Prairie had greeted her with kindness because of Jace and his family. That had not escaped her attention.

Jace rested one arm on the side of the truck. “Tell me about these headaches. You were getting one in the diner, right?”

“Best I can figure is that they come on with stress. They're migraines. Debilitating ones. I was getting them all the time. Almost daily. The life I left wasn't good or happy.”

“I figured it wasn't or Sabrina wouldn’t have introduced us had it been otherwise,” he said.

Sabrina. It was her word that gave Meredith credit. NotMeredith’s. She shivered and wondered what it would be like to have the trust and faith of this man.

“Hey, you’re cold. Let’s get into the truck, and I’ll take you home.” He gestured for her to walk around the car, then followed behind her. He opened the passenger door and helped her inside, making sure her coat was not hanging out before closing the door with a soft but solid click.

Meredith tucked her trembling hands into her coat pockets. What was next?

Her mind went to the one topic everyone thought of after their wedding.

Honeymoon.

Sex.

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