Heartbreak Creek by Kaki Warner Read Free Book Online Page B

villain intent on carving out their hearts as soon as they reached the edge of town? What if the reason he had to advertise for a new wife was because he had murdered his last one?
    Reaching the desk, she glanced back, then stiffened when she saw that her husband had moved inside the doorway where he now stood, arms crossed over his chest, watching her.
    Heart thudding against her ribs, Edwina motioned the clerk closer. “Do you know that man, Mr. Yancey?” she whispered, tipping her head in the lump’s direction. “The one by the front door. No, don’t gawk!”
    The clerk peered past Edwina’s shoulder. “You mean Big Bob?”
    “Big Bob?” Who the dickens is Big Bob?
    “Everybody in these parts knows Big Bob.”
    Not Declan Brodie? Had her husband sent this lummox in his stead? Hope soared. “You’re sure,” she pressed. “The big man by the door.”
    Oh, please, oh, please.
    “Yep. Big Bob. Highline Ranch. That’s him.”
    Not my husband. Not Declan Brodie . Edwina almost sagged in her relief. But euphoria abruptly died as suspicion took its place. “Is he a dependable man? Honorable?” Will we be safe traveling with him? was what she wanted to ask but was afraid to alert her hulking escort to her fears.
    Mr. Yancey scratched at his bald scalp. “Well, yeah. I suppose. He was the sheriff, after all. Before the trouble, that is.”
    Trouble? She looked back at Big Bob—what an absurd name—and found him still watching her, those dark eyes gleaming like two chips of wet flint in his sun-browned face.
    “Wait a minute,” the clerk blurted out, reclaiming her attention. “You’re that Mrs. Brodie!” Tilting his head to peer around Edwina, he waved to Big Bob.
    Big Bob didn’t wave back.
    “You’re the new missus.” The clerk grinned happily, showing gaps in his rust-stained teeth. Edwina had noticed such dental discolorations on several other locals and deduced the water in Heartbreak Creek must be as ghastly as the conductor had said. She resisted the impulse to rub a gloved finger across her own front teeth.
    She was about to question the clerk further when Pru came down the stairs, trailed by the freckled bellboy tottering under the weight of their two carpetbags. On his heels came Maddie and Lucinda, who stopped beside the front counter to stare at the man waiting by the front door.
    “Is that your husband?” Maddie whispered in a voice low enough for Edwina and Pru to hear, but hopefully not Big Bob.
    “God help her if it is,” Lucinda murmured.
    Panting, the boy let the bags drop beside Edwina, then stood back with an expectant look, rather like that of a spaniel after laying a fresh kill at his master’s feet. Edwina turned her own expectant look toward Big Bob. She was down to so few coins she was reluctant to part with a one if she didn’t have to.
    After a long hesitation, and with a scowl of irritation that didn’t bode well for the long ride to the ranch, Big Bob came forward. Ignoring the four women staring at him, he reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out a coin, and held it out.
    Grinning, the boy snatched it up. Before he could dart away, the dark-haired man rested his hand on the youngster’s thin shoulder.
    “Why aren’t you in school, son?”
    “It’s closed, sir.”
    “Closed?”
    “It’s always closed on Saturday, sir.”
    Big Bob shot a surprised glance at Mr. Yancey. “It’s Saturday?”
    The clerk showed rusty teeth and nodded. “All day.”
    “Hell. I’m two days late.” And with an accusing look at Edwina, as if the delay and his own inability to keep track of it were somehow her fault, he snatched up the carpetbags and headed toward the door. “Come on. We’re burning daylight.”
    Edwina stared after him, thoughts of escape racing through her mind. Then Pru’s hand pressed against her shoulder blades, shoving her through the door and onto the boardwalk.
    “You poor thing,” Lucinda muttered, stepping out behind them.
    “Oh, I don’t think