A Reason To Live (The Forrester Brothers) by McKade Maureen

Author:McKade, Maureen [McKade, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 0425212203
Publisher: Ten Talents Press
Published: 2013-03-27T23:00:00+00:00

Laurel sat on the top step of the porch. Although she watched Willie play a game of tag with imaginary friends, her mind was elsewhere. That morning she’d awakened lying on a pile of blankets on the floor beside the fireplace and had only a vague recollection of how she’d gotten there. The last thing she remembered with any clarity was sitting down while Creede went to take care of Thomas’s body.

Through a fog of sleep, she barely recalled being urged to her feet by Creede’s gentle hands and gentler voice. Then she was lying on a bed of blankets that smelled of cedar and soap. For some reason, she thought Creede had lain beside her, but this morning she’d been alone. Rising, she found a note from him saying he’d taken Thomas’s body into town and would return soon.

Her gaze drifted to the empty road and she wondered if Creede had taken the opportunity to continue to Texas alone. She wouldn’t blame him. The possibility filled her with a sense of loss that she savagely thrust aside. She didn’t need his help to deliver the last three messages. Besides, she hadn’t wanted him with her in the first place. She’d already allowed him to get too close.

Movement caught her attention and she stood, then shaded her eyes against the bright morning sun. There was a wagon being pulled by a mule.

Relief made her lightheaded. He hadn’t abandoned her.

A second wagon followed, and a single rider. Who was returning with Creede?

Willie halted his game and ran back to Laurel’s side. “Is that Mr. Creede?”

Laurel put an arm around his slender shoulders. “Yes. Do you know the other two people?”

Willie squinted then jumped up and down. “It’s Miss Sally.”

The woman looked familiar, but Laurel couldn’t place her. The older man, however, was a stranger, but the metal badge pinned to his chest told her he was a lawman.

They all stopped by the corral and Laurel and Willie joined them. The boy skipped over and greeted the woman with a hug.

Laurel rubbed Dickens’s forehead as Creede jumped down. He had taken time to change his shirt, as well as wash, making Laurel self-conscious of how she must look in the clothes she’d slept in.

“What’s going on?” she asked him in a low voice.

He canted his head toward the heavy-set lawman. “Sheriff Beller decided to come along to make sure I didn’t make up the story about Thomas.”

“He didn’t know what Thomas was doing to Katy and the others?”

“According to him, Jasper Thomas was an upstanding citizen,” Creede said dryly. “He was going to throw me in jail, but Miss Franklin came to my rescue.”

Laurel eyed the woman who held Willie’s hand as they walked to the cabin. “I’ve seen her before.”

“Sally Franklin. She’s the waitress who told us how to find this place. She’s a friend of Katy’s and knew all about Thomas. With the bastard gone, she wasn’t afraid to tell the sheriff all she knew. But Beller wanted to hear it from Katy.

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