Wolf Creek Widow (Wolf Creek, Arkansas Book 4) by Penny Richards

she’s holding the world at arm’s length. Like she thinks that if she doesn’t get involved she won’t be hurt anymore.”
    “I agree, but I also get the feeling that she’s having a hard time just adjusting to life without Elton.”
    “That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Elton was no good.”
    “I know that, and so does she,” Nita told him. “She may not realize it, but the dread she must have felt whenever he came around had to be paralyzing, and it will take her time to recognize the fact that she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder at every loud noise.”
    As usual, his mother was right. Being a woman gave her an insight into Meg’s thinking that he didn’t have. “It will be a long road back,” he agreed. “Today, when I tried to talk to her about things that needed doing, she couldn’t seem to take it all in or deal with it.”
    “We need to stop rushing her,” Nita said thoughtfully. “She must be more than a little overwhelmed right now.”
    “She let me take her to the woods.” Seeing the question in his mother’s eyes, he said, “I wanted her to see a squirrel that was rebuilding her nest—her life—and to think about it.”
    “She’s taking baby steps.”
    “I’m going to keep encouraging her to take those little steps until memories of her past don’t hurt anymore and she starts feeling again.”
    “That’s quite a goal, son.”
    “I know, but I also know that she has to let go of all the bad before she can replace it with good.” He met his mother’s troubled gaze. “I won’t be happy until she cries.”
    * * *
    Meg watched them go. As usual, she experienced mixed feelings as the wagon pulled down the lane. It was a relief to see the back of Ace. Hopefully, once he was out of sight and out of mind, she could think about the things he’d said without growing angry all over again...or remembering the gentleness of his touch as he’d tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and stroked her cheek.
    She managed to keep thoughts of him at bay while she sat on the porch with her cup of tea and listened to the sounds of the countryside readying itself for sleep. The songs of the crickets and frogs and even the lone call of a coyote filled her with a calm that had too often been lacking in her life.
    She watched the evening star appear and sat with her cooling drink in her hand until the heavens were littered with other sparkling gems. The vastness of the ebony sky filled her with an overwhelming sense of awe. When was the last time she’d even looked up? She was struck anew with the knowledge that God had spoken everything around her into being.
    There was a huge world out there filled with people. It all belonged to Him. She belonged to Him. At least she claimed to. That thought made her uncomfortable, and with a jerky movement, she stood and went inside to her solitary bed.
    Then, with the sound of the crickets and bullfrogs filtering through the screen at the windows, she let her mind roam back over the events of the day. To her annoyance, most of those events centered on Ace Allen. His calmness. His gentleness. And the way he seemed so in tune to the world around him.
    Remembering his statement about how she should proceed with her life and all the things she should be thankful for rekindled the anger that her quiet time outside had calmed. What did he know about what she was going through?
    Plenty.
    The word seemed to come from nowhere, slipping into her thoughts and demanding that she take a closer look. Though their circumstances were far different, there was no doubt that his time in prison had given him a clear understanding of injustice and pain, just as her marriage to Elton had to her.
    She realized that in her own way, she’d been in captivity. She’d been Elton’s prisoner, he her guard and elected punisher whenever she did something to displease him. She never knew what that something might be, and it didn’t matter how sorry she was for whatever she had