Barclay (Bachelors And Babies Book 4) by Charlene Raddon

Author:Charlene Raddon [Raddon, Charlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Women's Fiction, Victorian Era, 19th Century, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Mother-To-Be, Love Possibility, Frontier-Pioneer Era, Cowboy & Western Romance, Hearts Desire, American West, Clean & Wholesome, Christian Stories, Faith Based, Inspirational Reads, Love Inspired, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Lifetime Love, Romantic Schemes, Love-Family & Forever, Action & Adventure, Small Town & Rural Area, Cross Country Travel, Multi-Author Collection, Bachelors And Babies, Family & Domestic Life-Triplets, Pregnancy, Wet Nurse & Widow, The Givens Brothers, The Healy Sisters
Publisher: Charlene Raddon
Published: 2019-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Jared didn't often frequent the saloon. Liquor didn't appeal to him as much as it did most men. But after the long, dusty drive into town, a beer sounded downright appealing. He parked as near to his mother's front door as he could, went inside and carried the sewing machine back out. After securing it in the wagon bed, he drove to the Windy Dog Saloon.

Several men he knew stood at the bar or sat at tables drinking. "Hey, Drew, how's it going?" he called out.

Drew flapped a hand at him, more a dismissal than a hello, Jared thought. He went to the counter and ordered a beer. Before he'd even had a taste Jeb Caldright, entered and moseyed up to him. Jared smiled. He and Jeb had been friends since childhood, before Jeb let himself get overweight by drinking too much and moving too little. After marrying, Jeb moved out of town the opposite direction from High Mountain, so they didn’t see each other often anymore.

"Well," Jeb drawled, his tone sarcastic. "If it ain’t one of the Givens boys. Tell me, Jared, is that chicken-shit brother of yours gonna do right by Annabelle Hodson or not?"

Jared jerked backward, surprised by the unexpected attack. "What are you talking about?"

"Annabelle's expecting," Jeb said. "Barclay knows that, doesn't he? Everyone else in town does."

Jared sipped his beer, taking in the hostile glances from the other men and trying to make sense of it all. "First I heard of it. Did this news come from her, or her father? You know you have to take what she says with a grain of salt."

"I heard it from Beau himself," Jeb said.

"Beau told all of us when he was in here this morning," Ben Carter, the new town pharmacist, put in. He had the sleek look of a cat that made Jared not quite trust him.

Harry Peterson, the one barber in Cutthroat, nodded. "That's right."

Dumfounded, Jared didn't know what to say. He hadn't known of Beau Hodson to go around telling bald-faced lies. What was the man up to? "Afraid I don't know anything about it, but you can be sure, I'll find out."

He guzzled his beer and left. Since Barclay had asked him to see if there were any replies to his wires regarding Dirk, he stopped at the telegraph office.

"Nope," the telegrapher said. "No wires for Barclay."

Next, Jared went to the general store where he picked up the mail. On the way in, he all but walked into Melanie Gainsford. He grinned and his heart began pounding. She was the prettiest little filly in the whole county, with golden hair and honey-colored eyes, and if he had anything to say about it, she'd be his girl soon.

"Hello, Melanie. Fancy meeting you here," he said, taking off his hat. "I was just wondering what pretty things I'd see today, and here you are."

She didn't smile. Didn't speak. She walked around him and out the door.

Thunderation. Had everyone gone loco today? Melanie always had a smile and a kind word or two for him.

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