Compromised Hearts by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page A

“How do and it’s Missus.”
    “Is it?” Emily asked softly, not stopping in the removing of the saddle from Carolynn.
    “Yeh, it is. I’m a widder.” Justine smoothed the skirts of her bright blue dress.
    “I should have guessed,” Emily murmured. “Your grief is so apparent.”
    “Who the hell’s she?” Justine snapped, turning a narrow-eyed gaze upon Cloud.
    “My traveling companion,” he drawled, putting an arm around Emily and bending toward her.
    Emily held the saddle between them. “Don’t you dare put those much-used lips anywhere near my mouth.”
    “Jealous, sweetheart?” he asked coolly.
    “Not by a long shot,
darling.
I simply cherish my good health.”
    “Our bargain—”
    “—said nothing about my having to stand docilely by and be made to look like a raving jackass,” she hissed as she pulled free of his light hold.
    He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched her see to the care of her saddle. When he noticed how her little chin was up,he grinned. She did have a point. It certainly did make one feel a fool when the one you had ridden in with was busy carrying on with another. As he mulled over the matter, Cloud remained oblivious to the man at his side, who had heard the exchange and was struggling to overcome his surprise.
    “Any time you can tear yourself away from deciding which miss to bless with your attentions, a hello would not be amiss.”
    “James!” Cloud cried, turning to his old friend. “What the hell are you doing here?” He frowned as he surveyed James’s outfit while shaking his hand. “Where’s your uniform?”
    “Ah, well, that fool wanted me to lead the men. Gave me a choice—go or resign.” James shrugged his broad shoulders. “I resigned. Came here on the stage.”
    “So that’s how you got here before us.”
    “Us?” James asked, his silver gaze revealing his puzzlement. “I thought you rode alone. Who’s us?”
    “Miss Emily Brockinger and"—he placed a hand on Thornton’s head—"Thornton Sears. This is an old friend of mine, James Carlin.”
    Nodding to the man as she started to curry her horse, Emily murmured, “You are slipping, Mr. Ryder. That is a man.”
    “Don’t be pert,” he admonished with a grin.
    “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
    “How did you two happen to meet?” James asked “Well,” Cloud drawled, “I crested this hill and saw this little lady stumbling along, parasol in hand, dragging the stubbornest mule I’ve ever set eyes on and carrying the boy on her back. Naturally, seeing such damned foolishness, out of the goodness of my heart, I went and set her right.”
    “I do believe I am going to be ill,” Emily muttered and slapped the currying brush into his hand. “I am going to see what goods the storehouse provides.”
    “Need some money?”
    She put her hands on her hips and glared up at him from beneath the brim of her bonnet. “I would not take your money if I was blind and maimed and propped up with a tin cup.”
    “Got some of your own then, hmmm? What’re you buying?”
    “New material for my parasol.” She started towards the door of the storehouse.
    “Think you’re good enough to ride with the reins in one hand and the parasol in the other?”
    “Not at all. I felt it would be useful for all those leisurely rest stops you give us.”
    “See what happens when you’re kind, James? Nothing but base ingratitude.”
    “The day you are kind, Mr. Ryder, I shall keel over, lilies clutched to my bodice.” Shehad just stepped inside the store when she called out, “Thornton? Coming?”
    Cloud grinned at a laughing James as Thornton hurried after Emily. “Cute as hell, ain’t she? Little witch.”
    “The girl thinks too much of herself,” huffed Justine, tired of being ignored.
    “There does not seem to be anyone here to accept my money. Does that mean that everything is free?” Emily called from within the store.
    The two men laughed as Justine rushed into the store just as Emily had clearly