The Gunslinger and the Heiress by Kathryn Albright

Author:Kathryn Albright [Albright, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Western, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781460344774
Google: 3oQPBAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Caleb flicked the reins, urging the horse into a quick trot. He wanted to get Hannah out of town before anything else happened to her. He wanted her out where he could see someone coming from a mile away. At least he could protect her then. He sat to her right side. That way his body shielded her and anyone who might try to hide in the hills and canyons they passed. To her left the open harbor provided safety. A steamer chugged past, heading toward the long public pier.

By the time they reached Old Town, his stomach was growling. He stopped at the local cantina and bought some warm buttered tortillas, keeping three for himself and handing two to Hannah. She ate them in silence as they rode past the schoolhouse and the children playing in the treeless yard. It was only after they crossed the mudflats, forded the shallow point in the river and started down the dirt road to the end of the peninsula that he finally started to relax.

Beside him, Hannah sat like a stone statue. Even over the bumpiest of ruts she kept her hands clasped tightly in her lap, as if she might fracture into sharp pieces if she relaxed. He felt her tension most in the quiet after the creak of the buggy’s hinges and again after the keening cries of the gulls overhead.

“There’s talk of channeling the river here,” he said, hoping to ease her into conversation. “The road washes out every spring during the rainy season.”

“Mmm.” The answer, noncommittal, enveloped them in silence for another two miles. He tried again.

“How long has it been since you came this way?”

“Ten years and three months.”

He darted a glance at her, surprised that she’d counted the months.

She wrapped her arms around herself again. “We don’t have time for this, Caleb.”

“Well, I’m not taking you back to town. Not until I sort through a few things. It’s safer out here.”

She huffed. “No place is safe.” Pressing her lips together, she turned her gaze back to the road.

It was another mile before she spoke. “Caleb...this can’t be all right with your boss.”

“Wyatt will get over it. I’ll be back in time to work the late half of my shift. Besides, I need to be there. Last night I left word that I was willing to pay for information.”

“What if you’re hurt again?”

“Jim will watch my back. And we don’t know for sure that my roughing up had anything to do with me asking questions. Might have been someone going for my money.”

She frowned. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

“If it was money they were after, they were sorely disappointed. At most, I had five dollars on me.”

She reached up, stretching her fingers toward his swollen cheek. His skin tingled there, anticipating her cool touch. Heck, his entire body tingled just being near her. He was reacting, and she hadn’t even touched him. He clamped his jaw together and kept his

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