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

under his breath and turned
quickly, causing Langley to collide with his stomach. The boy
bounced off and would have fallen if Marston hadn’t reached out and
grabbed him by the arm. “You alright there, kid?”
    Langley nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine thanks to
you. You sure saved my butt from being sore. You move fast for
someone so big. I was just coming out to say thanks for what you
did for my mom back there. Most folks don’t like her and that makes
me mad. My mama works hard, but folks don’t care because she
doesn’t have money. But we have money now thanks to you and my
pa.”
    Marston nodded as he tried to take all that
in and begged the bastards with hammers to give his head a rest.
“Yeah, well, I gotta get going now, kid.”
    Langley’s innocent, freckled face suddenly
filled with sadness and he dropped his gaze to his boots. “My pa
died,” he said quietly. “But I guess you already knew that.
    Marston felt a tugging in his chest that he
chalked up to stress. It couldn’t be anything else after dealing
with the over-talkative boy. Then Marston uttered three little
words. “Are you okay?” The question shocked him because he
genuinely seemed to care about the answer.
    Marston had never once given a thought to
someone else’s feelings, but he wanted the boy to be alright. Damn,
that whiskey must be messing with his senses.
    ‘ Or maybe you’re finally
growing a heart.’
    Great. The voice was back.
    “ I’m okay I guess,”
Langley replied. Marston shook his head to clear his thoughts and
focus his attention on the boy. “I never knew my pa so I really
can’t miss him, I guess. I’m worried about my mama though. I heard
her crying a lot last night and this morning she never even ate any
breakfast. She tries to hide things from me, but I can tell
something’s wrong with her.”
    Marston grunted and shrugged one shoulder.
“Bad things happen, kid. There’s no point wasting time feeling
sorry for yourself or worrying,” he snapped more roughly than he
should have.
    Langley nodded and crossed his arms over his
thin chest as if to shield himself. Rose chose then to step out of
the mercantile and when her eyes caught sight of them she headed
their way.
    Marston realized the boy was right. Rose was
in bad shape. Dark splotches surrounded her eyes and her face was
ghastly pale. Her lips were nearly colorless and her shoulders were
slumped. The woman looked as if the weight of the entire world was
resting on her and she was plumb worn out from packing it
around.
    Oh well. It wasn’t his problem and it wasn’t
his business. He had enough of his own worries without adding hers
to them.
    “ They’ll have the supplies
ready shortly,” she addressed them both. “Come along now, Langley.
We have to go down to the docs and pay the credit
there.”
    Marston didn’t say a word. He just turned
and walked away. Rose watched him go and wondered what his story
was. It wasn’t a good one, if she had to guess but, then again,
neither was hers.
    ***
    Marston came out of the livery with his gray
a short time later and, much to his irritation, he found his eyes
once again drawn toward the mercantile and to Rose and Langley. It
seemed they were once again arguing with Hattie and Hester.
    “ Stop being mean to my
mama!” Langley exclaimed.
    Marston let out a sigh of defeat. He slid
onto the gray’s back and made his way to the boardwalk at the side
of the mercantile where they were currently standing.
    “ What seems to be the
problem ladies?” he asked.
    Four sets of eyes turned to look up at him.
Rose noticed that once again his face was predatory and
cold—different than it had been the day before. When he addressed
the sisters a smile curved his lips but it wasn’t a true smile. It
was cold and calculating and Rose preferred the rough and more
honest way that he had been at her cabin.
    “ They have all her
supplies just sitting out here!” Langley informed him, pointing at
the large pile of goods