The day had been hot, but in the sanctuary of the stables, there were cool, dark corners Paige could curl up into and simply think without interruption. She was there when Ryan and Brad left, and she was there when Mark and Jeri came in to say good-bye. When Jan found her, there was a long discussion about what she thought she was going to do, but it ended with both women frustrated—Jan, because she was the sort to need definitive answers, and Paige, because talking about it with the one person she trusted didn’t offer any more answers.
So she stayed there and waited, hoping they would come by the time Clay returned.
She also hoped he didn’t promptly kick her out before she had the chance to have her say.
When the sound of hooves echoed outside the walls, Paige scrambled to her feet, wi
