Liz Ireland by The Outlaw's Bride Read Free Book Online

bothered to save the life of an outlaw?
    “Oh, Emma, what are we going to do?”
    Emma crossed the kitchen, steeling herself against the plaintive sound of Lorna’s trembly voice. Maybe it was best, she decided, simply to play innocent. “Do? About what?”
    “About…” Lorna lowered her voice, though their visitor was well out of hearing range, and probably sound asleep. “The outlaw…”
    Emma let out a careless laugh, hoping it sounded somewhat close to genuine. “You can rest easy about that. The man’s not a desperado, just a gambler.” Lord forgive her for lying, but Lorna had enough to worry about without adding Mr. Tupper to her list of woes.
    Lorna frowned. “How do you know?”
    “Because he told me so. His name is Johann Archibald.”
    The young woman digested this information slowly, watching absently as Emma crossed the kitchen putting together a tea tray for her patient. Her possibly criminal patient. She, for one, wasn’t buying that gambling story…but neither was she ready to turn the man in. She told herself that she simply wanted to wait for him to geta little better. But there was something else she was waiting for, too.
    A hint, maybe. How could a man seem so kind and innocent, and not be innocent?
    “Well…” Lorna let out a sigh. “I suppose if he says he’s a gambler, he must be one.”
    Emma nearly dropped her teapot. Was it any wonder the girl was in her predicament? She’d never met anyone so gullible. Probably she believed everything William Sealy said to her, too!
    Lorna looked up at her, tears brimming. “I suppose I should be glad he’s not a completely reputable man. Otherwise he’d never want to be in the…same…house—” her shoulders began to shake and her words came out in tortured sobs “—as …me! ”
    Emma put her teapot down with a clatter and scurried to Lorna’s side. “You shouldn’t talk like that! I’ve told you before, you’re not the one who should be ashamed!”
    Weeping outright, Lorna nodded her head and flapped her hands furiously to regain control.
    Emma fumed at how unfair the world was. “Oh, I wish I could get my hands on that William Sealy! What I wouldn’t like to say to that cad!”
    Lorna looked horrified. “Emma, you wouldn’t!”
    “Not if you don’t want me to,” Emma raced on heatedly, “but I swear to you, Lorna, even that outlaw in there has more honor than that boy who broke your heart!”
    Lorna gaped at her in teary confusion. “But you said the visitor wasn’t an outlaw.”
    “Oh, I meant…” Emma swallowed, reminding herself that she shouldn’t get so carried away in righteous indignation as long as she suspected she was hiding a criminal under her roof. “Well, even if he were an outlaw, he would have more honor than William Sealy.”
    Lorna nodded. “You’re right. You’re always right.”
    Always? Emma shivered. Was she right now? Had it been right to turn away the sheriff without letting him know about the man draped across her settee? Would she live to regret the impulsive decision to become the stranger’s silent accomplice?
    Would you have done so if he hadn’t kissed you?
    That last tantalizing question worried her more than anything. She’d always been so wise about men, had never let herself be carried away or made a fool of. Was she allowing her reason to be swept away now because her patient had strong arms and a pair of the most gorgeous brown eyes she’d ever seen?
    She shook her head, clearing it of these terrible questions, and focused her attention back on Lorna. “You need to stop moping and carry your head high, Lorna. The world won’t respect you if you don’t respect yourself.”
    Dutifully, Lorna lifted her tear-streaked face. Her chin was wrinkled from the effort it took her to keep a stiff upper lip. “All right, Emma. I’ll try.”
    “And don’t worry about Mr. Archibald. I’ll take care of him.”
    Lorna nodded. “Well, of course I’m not worried.” She blinked as