Lawless Love (Lawmen and Outlaws) by Andrea Downing Read Free Book Online

thoughts flit across her brain, but she remained silent.
    “Heck, I thought you’d be more excited than that, Lacey. This is the answer to my problem, my being torn ’tween protecting you and telling the law. I marry you, I can’t tell the law. Simple as that.” His future bride wasn’t enthralled by Dylan’s relief at having solved his conundrum.
    “Simple as that, huh?” Lacey crossed her arms. The coffee pot seemed to bubble with approval, and she turned to fill the mugs. “Well, well. I read about that there law a while back when I was teaching Luke about the states’ history and all. There’s just one small problem with that, Dylan.”
    “There’s no problem. Get dressed. We’re finding a preacher, and that’s an end to the matter.”
    “An end to the matter, huh? You just gonna leave it that you can’t testify against me and so not turn me in?”
    Dylan leaned back against the wall, arms across his chest and legs crossed. “I guess that’s about the sum of it. No point really, is there? I mean, no one else knows ’cept the three of us here. I can’t testify against you so I can’t tell no one. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
    Luke’s head continued to swivel from one to the other.
    “Oh, yeah. It makes sense.” Sure makes sense to me.
    “Come on then. Get on a nice dress and…”
    “Where we gonna live? You think of that? I’m not giving up this house after all I’ve gone through to get it!”
    Dylan sighed in exasperation. “All right. We’ll sort out the details. You won’t have to give up the house. I’ll move here.”
    “And as for being married to a lawman who might get hisself shot at any moment…”
    Here it was, the old ‘I ain’t marryin’ no lawman.’ Well, this time he had the upper hand—as well as the woman he’d been waiting for. Dylan stood straight and slammed his hand against the wall. “Hell and damnation, Lacey. I’m trying to save your life here. You going to cooperate or what?”
    Lacey took in a deep breath as she glanced across at her brother before turning back to Dylan. “You sure you want to do this, absolutely sure, for better or worse and all that.”
    “Better or worse.”
    ****
    “You can go on and kiss the bride now.” The preacher plastered a smile on his face as he closed the Bible, the beam matching the shine of his bald pate. He stood patiently waiting as Dylan took his time kissing his new bride, holding his grin in place as the kiss went on.
    “You two gonna stop any time soon?” Luke said at last. “We didn’t have much of a breakfast.”
    Dylan gently pulled away. “Well.” For a moment he found it hard to believe the angel he had seen washing in the river was now his bride, but he knew he’d never have any regrets. He bent to kiss Lacey lightly once more, then gave a smile to Luke. “I expect this calls for a celebration dinner over in that café I spotted. Will that do, Luke?”
    “Sure will.” Luke looked rather pleased with the outcome. “I don’t reckon I’ve ever eaten in that place. And Del says it’s mighty good.”
    “Well, let’s go.”
    Lacey looped her arm through Dylan’s and clasped his hand. Luke followed behind, almost a skip in his step. Lacey used her free hand to lift the skirt of her Sunday dress to cross the mud of the road, dodging horses coming through. Every so often Dylan would glance down at his new wife, a small smile turning up his lips as she returned the look with luminous eyes.
    “Dylan,” she said at last.
    “Yes, dear?” He took her elbow as they stepped up onto the boardwalk, and Lacey stopped.
    “You know when I said I’d read about that law which states a husband cannot testify against his wife?” She looked up at Dylan’s serious nod. “And you remember how I said there was only one small problem?”
    “I remember. So?”
    “Well, that there problem is this: that law is called something like spousal privilege or marital privilege—something like