Heartland Courtship by Lyn Cote Read Free Book Online Page A

looking for the lousy Confederate you got here!” one declared, slurring his words from drink, no doubt.
    “Yeah, we don’t want any scurvy dogs like that hanging around,” another added belligerently.
    To her dismay, Brennan picked up a tree limb lying on the ground and moved to confront the men.
    “The war is over,” Rachel said, trying to stem the confrontation.
    Brennan ignored her. “There is a lady present here. From your voices, I’d say you men have been imbibing today. Too liberally.”
    The men glowered at her. Even in their inebriated state, Brennan saw, they realized that fighting with a proper lady present would be roundly condemned.
    Rachel stepped forward, hoping her presence would send the strangers away.
    Instead, a fist shot past her.
    Brennan dodged it easily. Then he slammed his fist into his attacker’s nose. Blood spurted.
    Rachel cried out. Brennan pushed her out of the fray. She stumbled and fell to the grass.
    The other stranger rushed Brennan. He dealt with him. The third one turned and bolted. The two who had been bested followed suit, cursing as they ran.
    Rachel put her hands to her ears, shocked to silence. “Oh!”
    Just as they disappeared from view, the first one, his hand pressed over his bleeding nose, shouted, “This isn’t over!”
    “Yes, it is,” Brennan muttered, rubbing his knuckles.
    Rachel began to weep, trembling.
    Brennan gripped her hands and pulled her up and into his arms. “There, there,” he said, holding her against him. “You’re safe now. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”
    The temptation proved too great to resist. She let herself lean against him, feeling the strength of him supporting her. She tried to stop her tears. “I’m sorry to be so weak.”
    “I’m sorry you had to witness such behavior.” As he said this, his lips actually touched her ear. “You’re not weak.”
    The last of the weeping swept through her like a wind gust and left her gasping against him. “I’ve never been near violence before.”
    “Then you’re a lucky woman.” He patted her back clumsily.
    She wiped her face with her fingertips and looked up into Brennan’s face. His expression of concern moved her and she reached up and stroked his cheek.
    What am I doing?
    Rachel straightened and stepped back. She must break contact before he did. An unwelcome thought lowered her mood more. Tonight would be her first night sleeping alone in her own house. She’d never spent a night alone in her life. And these violent men had come tonight.
    “Maybe I should sleep in the shed tonight,” Brennan said, his gaze going to the trail to town.
    The idea had appeal. But she would be here alone every night, perhaps for the rest of her life.
    In the clearing, Rachel and Brennan faced each other. “Thee doesn’t think I am really in danger of them coming here again tonight?”
    Brennan bumped the toe of his boot into a tussock of wild, dry grass. “No, not because the three show any sense, but they’re probably all passed out from drink by now.”
    Rachel stared at the ground, listening to the frogs in the nearby creek.
    “I’ll bar my door,” she said with a lift of her chin, which belied her inner trembling.
    “Maybe you’d be better off if I didn’t hang around any longer.”
    “Brennan Merriday, in case thee has not noticed by now, I am not a woman who gives way to pressure from others. I have hired thee and I expect thee will show up for breakfast tomorrow and continue the work that still needs doing here.”
    He looked up.
    And suddenly she was very aware of how alone they were here just outside her door. Funny sensations jiggled in her stomach. “You were very brave,” she murmured.
    He started digging at the tussock of grass again with the toe of his boot.
    Her mind flashed back to her schoolgirl days. She’d watched boys do this when they talked to girls they liked but didn’t want to show it. Did he like her that way?
    She turned abruptly. “I bid thee good