Sooner or Later by Debbie Macomber Page A

brief intimacy as much as he had. She didn’t like it, but she couldn’t deny it.
    “His name is Clifford Cramden and he’s a plumber.”
    “A plumber.” Something was wrong. The Marcie he remembered would be bored to tears with a man named Clifford Cramden. It didn’t add up.
    “Is he the jealous type?” Keller asked, helping himself to a kitchen chair.
    “Clifford?” She raised questioning eyes to his. “I don’t know. I’ve never given him any reason to be jealous.”
    No reason to be jealous? Marcie?
    “Do you think he’d mind if I took you to dinner to thank you for your bailing me out of jail?”
    “That’s not necessary.”
    “It’s the least I can do,” Keller insisted, sounding as sincere as he could. “If you think it would help, I’ll contact your boyfriend myself and explain. The last thing I’d want is a misunderstanding between you two.”
    Marcie lowered her lashes, and it was clear she was tempted.
    “The Cattleman’s Place,” he said, mentioning the most expensive steakhouse in town.
    Her pretty eyes met his. “I’ve always wanted to have dinner there.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that a plumber wasn’t likely to be able to afford it.
    “How about it, Marcie? Tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at six.”
    She closed her eyes, shook her head, and answered hurriedly. “I can’t.”
    “The next night, then,” he pressed, unwilling to drop it. “If that doesn’t work, then you choose the day and time.”
    A long moment passed before she spoke. “Saturday?” The lone word was breathless, as if she weren’t sure even now if she should.
    “Saturday it is,” he said cheerfully, feeling as if he’d won a decisive battle. “I’ll be by for you at six.”
    “Just between friends,” she said, her eyes holding his.
    “Of course,” he lied. But then friends made the very best lovers.

13
    Night had settled over Zarcero , and Letty would have been lost completely if not for the village lights that gleamed in the distance like small beacons, guiding her. She made her way down the steep incline into the town as carefully as she could, fearing she might lose her balance with each step. Intermittent bursts of gunfire could be heard in the distance.
    The moon and stars offered little in the way of illumination. As she drew closer to the town, she heard boisterous music and singing. It took a bit more time for her to make out the words of the raunchy song, and she blushed as she translated them. Apparently the civil unrest hadn’t disturbed the civilians as much as she’d assumed.
    Once she reached the outskirts of the town, Letty hid, to assess her options. She’d been traveling four or five hours at this point and had seen no trace of Murphy.
    He’d come for a vehicle and apparently hadn’t succeeded, which meant he’d probably been captured. She’d steal a car first and then find him. Although she knew next to nothing about cars and engines, she did hope that with a bit of patience and a hairpin in the ignition switch, she might coax an engine to life. She’d heard a credit card could open a locked door, and if that was true, then surely a hairpin could start a car.
    A number of vehicles would surely be parked outside the cantina. But stealing one of those and driving away undetected would be next to impossible. She had no choice but to scout around.
    Flattening herself against the side of an adobe building, Letty silently made her way down a deserted alley. Sweat broke out across her brow as she feared discovery. Perhaps she should wait…. After a moment she decided against it. She’d already wasted an entire day, fruitlessly anticipating Murphy’s return. She tried not to think what had happened to him or what those gunshots had meant.
    The thought he might have been killed produced a tightness in her chest, and she banished the worry from her mind. She’d go after Luke first, she decided, then return for Murphy.
    Once she’d had the opportunity