0764214101 by Tracie Peterson Read Free Book Online Page B

middle girl, who hadn’t spoken yet, jumped into the conversation. “She’s going to be a nanny.”
    “My, my.” The mother clucked. “A nanny. You don’t look like a . . . umm . . . nanny. In fact, you hardly look old enough to be away from home.”
    Lillian smiled. “This is actually my first position.” The woman had been sizing her up ever since she entered the building. Eyeing her clothes and her bag. No wonder the girls were inquisitive. They received that trait honestly from their mother. Lillian tried not to giggle.
    “Ah, and what fine family of ours will have the privilege of your services?” Curious indeed.
    “Mr. Woodward Colton.” As soon as the words left her lips,she could have heard a pin drop. Everyone in the store turned and stared. In silence.
    Then the frowns came amidst a few gasps. Whispers followed.
    After a few awkward moments, Mrs. Sabotini found her tongue. The severity of the woman increased with her wrinkled brow. “Miss Porter, is it?”
    Lillian nodded.
    “Begging your pardon, but you look as though you’ve come from a good family, and I would hate for them to lose you.” The older lady grabbed Lillian’s elbow and pulled her toward the counter. “It’s best you buy a return ticket this instant.”
    “Lose me?” Lillian was tired, but not so tired to abandon common sense. “What on earth are you speaking of?” She brushed the front of her skirt again and tried to recompose her thoughts around the niggle of fear building in the back of her mind.
    Another lady joined them at the counter and tapped it with her index finger. “You’d best be listening to sound advice, miss, and get yourself out of town before he finds out you’re here.”
    “Before who finds out?” Had they all gone mad? “I most certainly will not be leaving. Good gracious, I just arrived, and I’ve made a commitment to work for Mr. Colton.”
    The once-congenial storekeeper leaned over the counter, his face red and his scowl meaner than any she’d ever seen. “You will not honor that commitment, Miss Porter. You need to go home.” He smacked the counter with his hand.
    Everyone started talking at once, and Lillian couldn’t understand one word of it. These people were out of their minds. The fight with her grandfather came crashing down around her. People had been telling her what to do far too long. Besides that, she had no home to return to. Ever. Which meant she hadno place to go other than the job she’d committed to. And to make matters worse, after all those days on the train and then the stage, she was dirty, tired, and felt like she’d been run over by a team of horses.
    “Would somebody please tell me what’s going on?” She hadn’t meant to yell, but the last of her nerves had frayed into oblivion.
    A new hush covered the room.
    Mrs. Sabotini moved forward with her hands on her hips, her eyes narrow slits. “What’s going on , Miss Porter, is that these good people here are trying to save you.”
    “I don’t understand. What is it you feel you must save me from?”
    The woman’s fiery gaze intensified. “Woodward Colton. You don’t know him, but we do, and it is our duty to intercede. We can’t in good conscience allow you to be misled. You simply cannot work for that murderer!”

C HAPTER F IVE
    D arwin brought his horse to a stop in the middle of the road as he recognized the two incoming riders. He leaned over the horn and rested his elbow. “Well, well, well . . . if it ain’t Uncle John and Cousin David.”
    “Shut up, Darwin.” Uncle John sat a little straighter in the saddle, but it couldn’t hide the large paunch the man carried. “You’re drunk.”
    “Yeah, maybe I am. But that’s where you two are headed, ain’t it?” Darwin spat on the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “So don’t tell me to shut up.”
    “Get out of the way, Darwin.” Uncle John pulled his pistol. “I’m in no mood to mess with you. But I won’t mind