Hannah's Beau by Ryan Renee

Author:Ryan, Renee [Ryan, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical
Published: 2009-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Hannah slept.

Mavis slept.

Beau, however, did not.

He had too much to consider, too much to organize in his mind. Now that he’d begun to get a good sense of who Hannah Southerland really was, on the inside, he only wanted to know more.

The woman was clearly the worst thing that had ever happened to him. For all intents and purposes, she was everything he shouldn’t want in his life. Everything he couldn’t want. Yet he did want her in his life. And now that he knew her better, knew himself better, there was no way he would be able to walk away from her. Not without leaving a part of himself behind.

Merely sitting in the same compartment with her felt too confining, too constricting, too…personal.

There was no question he had to fight this secret attraction. No matter how kind, compassionate and merciful of heart, she wasn’t the right woman for a man starting a church in the conservative Rocky Mountain Association, even if her own father led the largest congregation in the organization.

And it wasn’t for his sake, it was for hers. She wasn’t conventional enough. The people in Greeley could easily ostracize her, judge her, perhaps even look down on her merely for her profession on the stage. Beau could never put Hannah in that vile situation. She was too full of life, too full of joy to suffer a moment of that kind of prejudice. Prejudice that he himself had held.

Surely these feelings he had for her would pass. They had to pass, for both their sakes. Then he could resume his search for a nice docile wife. Until that time, Beau would simply keep his distance from the appealing actress.

Starting now.

His jaw tight and teeth clenched, he rose and went in search of Logan in the dining car.

The young lawman sat at a table in a back corner, looking woefully out of place among the fine white linens, sterling silver utensils and crystal water goblets. He had a full plate in front of him, heaped with all sorts of rare delicacies. But instead of eating, he stared unblinking at the untouched food.

“Are you planning to eat any of that?” Beau asked.

“At some point,” Logan said, keeping his head bent over his plate. With his fork, he drew a series of invisible geometric shapes on the tablecloth, repeating the same pattern over and over and over again.

Beau lowered himself into the seat opposite the deputy. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Want me to leave you to your brooding?”

Logan snapped his head up and give Beau one long, frustrated stare. “I’m not brooding, I’m just…” His voice trailed off.

“Thinking?” Beau supplied.

“Something like that.”

Knowing precisely what was troubling the young man, Beau went straight for the crux of the matter. “Megan will be there when you get back.”

Logan gave a nod, which might have been acknowledgment. “I hated leaving her,” he said as he shoved the plate of untouched food away from him. “She was so…quiet.”

“Her mother just died.”

“Yeah, well, I wish I could have helped her with—” He broke off and shrugged.

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