Marrying Miss Marshal by Lacy Williams

didn’t sound surprised. She didn’t sound much of anything, her voice emerging a monotone. She edged inside, motioning for Danna to follow.
    â€œLots of game out there, with the tall grasses” was Danna’s reply. She didn’t have to make an excuse to her best—and only—friend in town. Corrine knew about loss, too.
    Inside the shack, the smell of fresh bread wafted through the small space. Three places were set at the table against one wall, under the only window in the house. Two of the plates were untouched with what appeared to be last night’s supper still on them.
    Corrine faced Danna, unshed tears reddening her eyes. She twisted a towel between her hands, then one hand moved to cover her large-with-child belly.
    â€œWhat’s this? Did you eat last night?” Danna asked, concern for her friend overriding her lingering thoughts about Fred’s murder.
    Corrine shook her head, visibly upset. “I—I made a plate for Brent, just in case he came home. But—but then I got so upset thinking about him that I couldn’t eat.”
    Danna nudged her friend into a chair. Another failure on her part. Corrine’s husband had been missing since the same night Fred hadn’t come home. Unlike Fred’s body, Brent had never been found. Danna—and most of the town—couldn’t help thinking the two events were connected.
    Patting her friend’s hand, Danna did her best to comfort the distraught woman. “You need to eat. You’ve got to think about the baby.”
    Corrine nodded, but put her face in her hands and began to snuffle. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep going. Wh-why doesn’t he come home?”
    Danna hugged her friend’s shoulders, a little afraid to touch the swell of the other woman’s stomach. “Shh. Shh. I don’t know. Shh.” She knew better than to offer promises she couldn’t keep, so she kept silent while she rocked the slight woman.
    Movement from the bed in the corner caught Danna’s eye. Ellie, Corrine’s daughter, was asleep butmaybe not for much longer. She had to get Corrine calmed down or risk upsetting the three-year-old.
    â€œI don’t know what happened to Brent,” Danna said softly, still rubbing Corrine’s back. “But I promise I’ll find out. I’ll do everything I can to find him.” Dead or alive. She didn’t say the words, but Corrine shuddered against her shoulder.
    â€œDo you…” Corrine had to sniffle and swallow before she could continue. She spoke in a voice so low it wasn’t even a whisper. “Do you think he killed Marshal Fred and that’s why he left?”
    Most of the town did. But not Danna. “No. Brent might be a laggard and a bum—” and he was, frequently out of work so that his wife had to take jobs in order to feed the family “—but he’s always returned when he’s left before.”
    And Corrine always took him back. Even after weeks apart. Danna couldn’t believe her friend would stay in a marriage like that, but what could Danna do, other than help her friend out occasionally? Corrine wouldn’t accept what she termed “charity” from anyone else.
    â€œYou’re right. I know you’re right.” Corrine pushed away and went to the washbasin. “Not the part about Brent being a bum—” her voice came muffled from the scrap of towel she scrubbed her face dry with “—but that he’s always come back before.”
    Danna hated it for her friend that her lousy husband had done this enough times that she could say that. “Is there anything you need?”
    Corrine busied herself wrapping one of the two loaves of bread warming on the stovetop. She shook her head quickly. “No. No, we’re fine. Thank you for the rabbit, though. I’ll make a nice stew with it.”
    â€œAuntie, auntie!” A joyful shout