Want Ad Wife by Katy Madison

Author:Katy Madison [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

I came to California when I was sixteen. While I did spend some time in the goldfields the shortages of supplies led me to make several treks to Missouri. I brought back extra goods to sell and had a store by the time I was eighteen. At first it was just a tent.

Selina wondered if John was tired. His steps coming up the stairs were heavy and slower than normal. Already she recognized his tread. Her pulse raced and her breathing quickened. They had not had a lot of sleep the night before, but she wanted to greet him with a nice dinner and a smile.

She was just setting the last of the dishes on the table when he opened the door.

His expression was black. She couldn’t tell if it was anger or sadness or something else entirely. Was he upset about what had happened earlier with the obnoxious miner? Her stomach tightened.

“I wasn’t encouraging Mr. Olsen,” she said.

The way John had removed the man from the store had sent a bolt of excitement though her. His action had been both protective and territorial, and most unlike her steady-as-a-rock husband.

John’s eyes widened for a second, then he gave a tiny shake of his head. He resumed his almost glower.

“What is wrong?”

He walked across the room and dropped the two torn-out magazine pages on her plate. “You tell me.”

Her head went light. Between her safecracking and multiple trips to the pawn shop, not to mention the telegraph office and the bank, she hadn’t removed the pages from his desk. She should have done that before getting into his safe.

She dropped into her seat. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

The pages lay on her plate like scorpions ready to sting her. She didn’t know what to say. Her heart hurt. Was this the end of her marriage?

“For tampering with mail, which could result in not only a huge fine, but losing the contract with the government?” John prompted.

She nodded. If that was the worst he thought, it might not be so bad. She clenched her hands together.

“For lying to me?” He leaned over her, his size making her feel small.

He’d picked up a full-grown man and not only thrown him out of the store, but carried him several feet. What could John do to her if he wanted to hurt her?

“Or for posing for photographs nude?”

She went still like a deer cornered in the woods. Everything drained out of her, her hopes, her pride, her dreams.

Seconds ticked by.

His finger stabbed the page. “This is you, isn’t it?”

She had waited too long to protest, to respond with anger as a virtuous woman might have responded to the accusation. She lifted her chin and met his gaze although she wanted to slink through the floor. “I’m sorry for all of it.”

His upper lip curled in something like a sneer and he turned away. His fingers clenched into fists.

She was a complete failure as a wife. Her plans to do whatever it took to keep him were foiled by her past.

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