Boot Hill Bride by Lauri Robinson Read Free Book Online Page B

forward, placing a hand on his knee.
    The touch sent a quiver up his leg. He pulled his leg aside,
    forcing the hand to fall away. "Mr. Quinter is fine."
    Belinda's eyes grew wide, clearly shocked by his rebuff.
    "Oh, well, Mr. Quinter, perhaps you could show me around
    your building site. I think Thurston and Randilynn would like
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    Boot Hill Bride
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    some privacy. You know a heart to heart, father-daughter
    talk."
    Randi's hands quaked beneath his. He gave them a
    reassuring squeeze and replied, "No."
    Belinda's eyes bugged. "No? You won't show me around
    your site?"
    "No, I won't show you around the site. If you want to see
    it, go ahead, just watch for snakes." The woman made his
    skin crawl. And the way Randi shook like a leaf from head to
    toe made his ire peak. Leaving her alone with Fulton would be
    like leaving the hen house door open with a fox sitting
    nearby.
    Belinda sat back in her chair, huffed out what she must
    have thought was a refined gasp of air. She put him in mind
    of a washed up stage actress and not a very good one.
    Thurston rubbed his palm over his pant leg. "I just wanted
    to ask my daughter if this was the union she wanted. A father
    needs to be sure his daughter marries well." Almost as an
    afterthought he added, "And is happy."
    Randi's head snapped up. Her face held a dumbfounded
    daze.
    Howard frowned. Was there a glimmer of hope in her
    eyes? She couldn't possibly believe her father's line of
    bullshit. His jaw tightened as he declared, "You didn't seem
    too concerned about that when you were pointing a shotgun
    at my chest."
    Everyone's mouth fell open as they stared at him. Howard
    shrugged. "You didn't." He included his mother in his round-
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    Boot Hill Bride
    by Lauri Robinson
    about glance. "None of you were willing to listen to a word
    either one of us had to say."
    Ma plopped the pot in her hand down on the table with a
    thud. "It was just the shock of it all. Not at all what we
    expected," she said.
    "It wasn't what we expected either," he said.
    "Hog—"
    "Mr. Quinter—"
    His mother and Randi's father started speaking at the
    same time. Howard held his hand up, stopping them both.
    Snake appeared, riding into the yard with two carpet bags
    tied to his saddle.
    "Randi's belongings have arrived." Howard turned to her.
    "Is there anything you want to say to your father?"
    Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. After a moment of
    hesitation, she shook her head.
    "All right then. I'm sure you'll all excuse us." He didn't wait
    for anyone to answer, just scooped her into his arms and
    carried her to the tent.
    She didn't say a word, and he didn't encourage her to
    speak, for if she had, he wouldn't have known how to answer.
    His mind was awhirl with the morning's events and with the
    work that was not getting done. He'd always known a woman
    could cause more havoc than a hunting party of braves, but
    he'd never believed he'd experience it firsthand.
    He set her inside the flap and handed in the two bags
    Snake passed to him. "I'll make sure no one comes in."
    "Thank you," she whispered as the flap fell back into place
    behind him.
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    Boot Hill Bride
    by Lauri Robinson
    He stood outside the tent wondering what to do next.
    "You doing all right?" Snake asked.
    Howard walked a few feet away from the tent, lowered his
    voice. "Why the hell did you go find a preacher?" His fingers
    itched to grab his brother's shirt collar.
    Snake held up both hands in defense. "Don't blame this on
    me." His brother, who was barely a year older, clicked his
    tongue as he pointed one finger and thumb and made the
    age-old sign of a pistol and closed one eye as if he were
    setting the gun's sights. His smile was wide, as if he'd just
    told a joke everyone enjoyed.
    Howard glared.
    Snake lowered his hand and shrugged his shoulders. "You
    were the one who went and got the preacher for Ma when it
    was Kid and Jessie, and Skeeter and Lila." Shaking his head,
    he added, "You know what Ma's