Give My Love to Rose by Nicole Sturgill Read Free Book Online

the water closet. His hair was
damp, but he had on his best clothes and he was smiling
proudly.
    “ How do I look? I look
nice don’t I, mama? Do I look like my pa?”
    Rose felt those horrible memories attempting
to creep into her mind and she quickly pushed them back and smiled
at her son. “You are the handsomest man in the world.” She thought
of Langston. “Your pa would have been very proud.”
    “ My pants are a little
short,” he admitted. “Do you think I could get some new pants
mama?”
    Rose laughed lightly when she looked toward
his feet and realized that his pants were a good two inches above
his ankles. “I think we can manage that,” she assured him. “And the
good news is that if we hit a flood between here and town, your
pants won’t get wet.”
    “ It didn’t rain that
much,” Langley insisted with a roll of his eyes and a
giggle.
    Rose grabbed her bonnet off the counter and
motioned toward the door. “Well good sir, your chariot awaits.”
    Rose’s hand paused momentarily over the sack
of money as she fought an inner battle over whether to use it.
There was no doubt in her mind that it was stolen money. But pride
and right and wrong be damned, they needed that money! With a
determined sigh, Rose grabbed the sack and followed her son out of
the house.
    ***
    Marston rolled out of bed later than he had
planned. An empty bottle of whiskey lay beside his bed and one
hundred men with hammers were pounding away inside his skull. His
mouth was bone dry and his tongue felt thick—it was as if he’d been
chewing leather all night.
    He sat up and felt the sunshine through his
eyelids. Marston had meant to be out of town before daylight. He
shouldn’t have had so much whiskey but once he’d let that first
drink pass his lips, memories of his past had come flooding in and
so he’d drunk more to wash them away. Marston ran his hand over his
beard covered face and clicked his tongue in an attempt to get some
moisture back in his mouth.
    At least that voice in his head seemed to
have been drowned and he’d been a full ten minutes without thinking
about Rose…. Well, hell! There went that short reprieve. Already
that woman was leaping into his mind and that, of course, made
those tiny men with hammers pick up their pace.
    Marston stood slowly and cracked his eyelids
so he could stumble his way to the washbasin. He splashed his face
and cleaned off the back of his neck before tugging on his shirt.
He put on his boots and hat, fastened his bandolier and strapped on
his gun belt. His rifle was slung across his back and his knife was
tied to his leg. Marston grabbed up his saddlebags and headed out
of the hotel.
    Marston was making his way down the muddy
street toward the livery when he caught a flash of red hair and
turned to see Rose and Langley making their way into the
mercantile.
    Without taking the time to think about the
why of it, he let his feet lead him in their direction. He paused
outside the doorway when he heard the conversation taking place
inside.
    “ Now Rose, we are aware
that things are hard for you with trying to raise that boy by
yourself. We are sorry about your husband’s death and we know
you’re doing the very best you can working odd jobs, but we simply
cannot let you have any more goods on credit. We are running a
business, not a charity.” Marston recognized Hester’s voice and he
could just imagine the way the sour faced woman’s eyes would be
widening behind her giant spectacles.
    “ Actually, Hester,” Rose
spoke up. “I have the money to pay for everything on this
list.”
    “ Really?” Hattie’s voice
broke into the conversation. “Did you rob a bank? One hundred
pounds each of flour, sugar, and meal. Canned peaches, pears, and
apples. A five-gallon bucket of lard. Twenty yards of fabric,
shoes….”
    “ I think the woman knows
what’s on her own list, ladies,” Marston said good-naturedly as he
strode into the store.
    Rose turned to look at him and her