Ashes and Memories by Deborah Cox

was famous. “Mr. Edwards spoke nervously, watching in his peripheral vision as Doctor Stevens rearranged the items on his counter. “Folks just wanted to have their picture taken with him.”
    “Will you look at that?” the doctor said. “An empty space on the counter, and it’s just the right size for a stack of newspapers.”
    “Please, Doc....”
    Doctor Stevens took several papers from Emma and placed them in the empty space on the counter, then turned to look at her with a smile. “Where are you off to next, Miss Parker?”
    “The bank. I thought they might let me put some there for customers to read while they wait in line.”
    “Excellent idea. I’ll walk with you. Good day, Mr. Edwards,” the doctor said to the storekeeper before accompanying Emma from the store.
    “I appreciate what you did just now,” Emma told him as the door closed behind them.
    “It’s the least I could do.”
    “But why did you do it? That man seemed terrified. Aren’t you --”
    “Elias is in debt to MacBride. And that is not a position you want to be in.”
    Emma drew a ragged breath. She wasn’t exactly indebted to Mr. MacBride, but her business, her very life, depended on his benevolence as her landlord. If she pushed him too far, he could just raise her rent so high she couldn’t possibly pay it.
    “I’d be careful where Reece is concerned,” the doctor warned. “He doesn’t much like being challenged.”
    “I’ve noticed,” she said with a humorless laugh. “Why doesn’t anyone stand up to him? You said he provides a service to the town, but if he’s so disagreeable.... I mean, he’s just one man.”
    The doctor laughed. “A very ruthless, determined man, Miss Parker. He controls the law, not to mention the largest source of employment in these parts.”
    “The mine.”
    “That’s right. Most everyone in this town owes their living to Reece MacBride in one way or another, even you unfortunately.”
    “Believe me, I know,” Emma replied. “What was Providence like before he came here?”
    “I don’t really know. We arrived at the same time.”
    Emma laughed, turning to face him as they stopped in front of the bank. “On the very same day?”
    “Yes. “Doctor Stevens smiled sheepishly. “We came here together.”
    Shock rendered Emma speechless for several seconds. “You... you mean you knew Reece MacBride before?”
    “It’s a very long story,” he assured her.
    Emma curbed her curiosity. She didn’t want the doctor to know just how interested she was in Reece MacBride. In fact, she didn’t even want to admit it to herself. But last night she had seen a side of him that intrigued her as much as it frightened her. Something dark and terrifying lived inside Reece, something she knew she should avoid at all cost. But the things he’d revealed, the way he spoke of his past, gave her the impression of a fallen angel, a man who had once been very different from the tyrant who ruled this town today. And though she should dislike him and avoid him, she couldn’t shake the sadness that gripped her heart at the pain she’d glimpsed in those cold, calculating eyes.
    She was a fool, a fool who wanted to believe there was something worth saving inside his black heart. He stirred her blood with his charm and his magnetism and his devastating good looks, but that didn’t mean there was anything beneath that handsome exterior but wickedness and hate.
    “Of course,” she said with a wan smile. “Thank you, Doctor Stevens, for what you did -- the newspapers.”
    “Please call me Thaddeus.”
    Emma nodded. “Thaddeus. “She turned to enter the bank, but the doctor’s halting words stopped her.
    “Miss Parker.”
    “Emma,” she corrected with a smile.
    The doctor smiled shyly. “Maybe we could discuss it over dinner this evening at the hotel.”
    “That would be very nice,” Emma said. “But I’m sure we can think of something to talk about other than Reece MacBride.”
    Doctor Stevens