Hearts and Spurs by Linda Broday

Author:Linda Broday [Broday, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prairie Rose Publications
Published: 2014-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Not her wildest dream, not after Keith had ripped the whiskers off her face, had Barbara spending the night in his arms. They hadn’t made love, but he’d thrilled her with the promises of his weather-scarred lips and warm hands.

“I won’t take advantage, not with you weak and weeping,” he’d said, clamping off her invitation with a long, slow kiss.

The dark hour before dawn gave way to the last gasp of wind, the last swish of snow as it stopped.

With a sigh, she snuggled against him, warm and safe. Keith deeply asleep against her pillow, she rose to use the chamber pot, feeling no embarrassment at all. After, she peeked out the window into the gray dawn. Sadness swamped her. The gusts of wind had carved out many shallow sworls of snow. Keith would be digging his way back to town before long. And then, her life as Badge Audiss would be over, and life as a felon would begin.

All for her love of the law. The irony pounded in her head.

A tornado of snow crashed through the door Keith had repaired after his temper. He jumped from the bed, gun aloft, and Barbara screamed.

She sagged against the wall in shock.

A wild-eyed monster clad in a snow-covered bearskin pointed a rifle steady at her, then alternated to Keith. And back again.

“Rakestraw? What the hell?” The monster clicked the trigger at Keith, then Barbara. “Where’s that libelous judge? I followed him here, got thrown from my horse. Laid dead as a doornail in the storm til I come to a while ago.”

Keith’s Peacemaker grunted back. “Put down that rifle, Enos Peabody. Nothing you do here will bring back your brother.”

“Like hell.” He fired, but Keith aimed better. Peabody crumpled onto the sheriff’s bedroll on the floor.

Keith hurtled from the bed to hold Barbara close. “Thank God you’re a woman now. Or you’d have been shot dead.”

Her heart raged against her ribs. “We must help him.”

“Nope. I never miss.” His arms tightened.

“Oh, Keith, when nobody attacked me on the way here, I thought I was safe and hidden. But I won’t be hidden for long.”

“No. No, I’ve been consulting with myself the whole night long. In your arms.” His smile was almost shy. “Enos, here, makes my pondering easier. He’s given us the answer we need.”

“What answer?”

“On how we can be together. How I could court you proper.” His rough finger flickered across her cheek. “Because I’m well on my way to loving you. But most important, how we can keep Judge Audiss’s verdicts in place.”

She shook so hard her teeth rattled, and he scooped her up as easy as a sack of grain, tucked her back in the bed like a child. “You’re freezing, and had a shock to boot. I’ll take care of Enos.”

Frigid air swirled through the shanty as he opened the door to haul the body onto the front stoop. After, he closed up tight and rushed to Barbara’s side, took in her heat. Stroking her hair, he muttered against it.

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