High Mountain Drifter by Jillian Hart Read Free Book Online Page B

manly. He felt some relief realizing that rattling china cup wasn't for him. He strode across the room to take the tray from her. He breathed in a faint scent of strawberry from her hair and chocolate from the tray. Not only was a cupcake sitting on a little china plate, but there was a plate heaped with food.
    "I thought you might be hungry too," she explained, ambling away from him. "You look as if you've already had a long day."
    He didn't know what to say, so he nodded. He eased the tray down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had brought him a meal he hadn't ordered and paid for. He eased onto the overstuffed chair next to the couch, more than a little surprised by her kindness. She was busy reaching for her china cup full of steaming tea and taking a sip. This wasn't a big deal for her, he realized, she probably did this for everyone.
    But it still touched him, deep in places he didn't let anything touch him. His heart was nothing but a cold stone beating inside his chest. But it felt this. Decent folks usually avoided him on the boardwalk, when they opened the door to him they made him stand in the foyer, they looked at him and saw a man as brutal as those he hunted.
    He did not know what to think about Verbena McPhee. Few people surprised him.
    "I don't know what your fee is, Mr. Reed." She studied him over the rim of her cup. "I don't care what it is. I'll gladly pay, as long as you can keep my sisters safe. Please catch Ernest before he hurts them again."
    "You're worried about your sisters," he said quietly, reaching for the mug of tea. "Your sisters."
    "Yes." Genuine agony cut across her features. No pretense, just the open fear and concern for someone other than herself. "They have endured so much because of me. Daisy was kidnapped the first time, Magnolia was taken both times. It could have gone differently, he could have killed them. This has all happened because of my choices. I'm responsible."
    "Ernest Craddock is responsible." He blew on the steaming tea, studying her through his black lashes.
    "I introduced him to them. I brought him into my family, a man who is truly dangerous." She eased back into the sofa cushions with slender grace. Her every movement, little and small, was like a slow waltz, with a beauty and a silent cadence that made you stop and watch. Her bruised face scrunched up with misery. "I love my sisters so much, and they are in danger because I believed his lies. I couldn’t see through to the real man beneath."
    "A certain kind of man excels at that. I've seen it firsthand. It's a game to them, hiding their true nature. They've gotten so good at it, you can't see the real man until it's too late."
    "Yes, it's exactly like that." Tea sloshed over the rim of her cup as she set it down on the tray. "Ernest came from a wealthy family. He was well thought of in the community, so when he paid me such sincere attention, it felt like a storybook romance coming true."
    He had a certain opinion on romance, that it was make believe, but he kept his mouth shut. When she stared down at her hands, at the cuts and abrasions, the bruises at her wrists, her sadness got to him. It wrapped around his ribcage like a cinch and pulled tight.
    "He started courting me and it seemed so unbelievable something that wonderful could happen to me." She shrugged once sadly. "I should have known. It was too good to be true."
    "Most things are."
    "You're a cynic, aren't you?" She tilted her head to get a better look at him.
    "A realist. Smart enough to stay out of relationships." He gathered up the roast beef sandwich she'd made him and took a bite.
    "That is my new motto. No more relationships." She peered toward one of the large windows at the green forest mantling the sharp rise of the nearby mountain. Snow covered those granite peaks like white frosting. "Relationships are not worth the risk."
    "I agree completely." For a rare moment, his guarded gray eyes softened.