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Thorn worked in the kitchen while the others went to greet the new guests. |
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This was his inn. He had carved it out of the wilderness from his own shame and despair. His home in England had been lost to him by his own misdeeds, and then his commission at the fort. Now he was master of his own domain. He made the rules. |
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He never took in strays. Yet here he was, burdened with two new servants he'd had no intention of hiring. |
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He reluctantly admitted to himself that he'd not yet regretted Mariah's presence, despite the trouble she had caused him. Contrary woman. Beautiful, brave, appealing woman. She'd pricked through the thick skin he had grown about himself, yet the irritation somehow was welcome. It made him recall, for the first time in years, that he was alive. |
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Today, he had been impressed by her fortitudethough unsurprised. She had surprised him enough already in their brief acquaintance so that nothing more she could do would catch him off guard. To help her new friend, she had been |
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