Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot Read Free Book Online Page A

your father.” She turned toward the interior door.
    “That means yes,” Isabelle whispered. “Papa always does what Maman wants.”
    Though she gave no sign that she had heard her daughter’s words, Madame Rousseau halted, her hand on the doorknob. “If my husband should agree, and mind you, I’m not saying he will, but if he should, you must make arrangements for the child. The store is no place for her.”
    Sarah nodded slowly, her initial excitement starting to ebb as she realized she had solved one problem only to create another. What had she expected? Nothing had been easy since that day in September. Only a fool would have thought her luck would change. Sarah Dobbs, it appeared, was a fool.

3
    “Good morning, Mayor.” As Clay had hoped, since Michel Ladre hadn’t been expecting him, the man who’d transplanted a bit of Alsace into the heart of Texas a decade before was in his office.
    “Good to see you, Clay.” The older man rose from behind his desk. Though of modest height, he was still a commanding presence, his brown eyes intense, his dark hair only slightly mottled with gray. At forty-eight, he was the same age as Pa. The years, however, had been far kinder to Michel Ladre than they had to Clay’s father.
    Clay looked around, his lips tightening. The town’s founder, mayor, sheriff, and self-appointed arbiter of every dispute kept a map of Alsace on his wall, along with pictures of the succession of rulers who’d invaded, conquered, and oppressed Alsace’s citizens. They were, he claimed, reminders of all the townspeople had overcome. Austin had scoffed every time he’d spoken of those pictures, declaring that the colonists hadn’t bettered their lives the way they’d hoped but had merely exchanged one form of despotism for another.
    Clay’s lips tightened again. His brother had worried about the townspeople. Clay did not. He had enough worries of his own, starting with why Michel Ladre was treating Austin’s murder as if it were nothing more than a petty crime.
    Before Clay could speak, the mayor pulled out his watch and frowned. “Unfortunately,” he said in a tone that sounded anything but regretful, “I was on my way out. I’m afraid that the matter is urgent.”
    Since Ladreville’s founder had been sitting with his boots propped on the desk, the picture of indolence, when he arrived, Clay doubted the story was true.
    “This will only take a moment.” Michel had not invited him to sit, and Clay preferred not to. Some things were best discussed standing up. But he did position himself in front of the door to keep the mayor from leaving. “I want to know what progress you’ve made in finding my brother’s murderer.”
    “Je regrette.” Michel frowned, then reverted to English. “These things take time.”
    That was the same thing he had said when Clay had seen him three days ago. “How long can it take to talk to seven men?”
    The mayor frowned again and shook his head slowly. When he spoke, his words were deliberate, his tone one Clay imagined he would have used when speaking to a small child or a not-very-bright adult. “If only it were that simple, Clay. Austin’s murderer could have been anyone, even a Comanche.”
    Biting back his anger, Clay forced himself to respond calmly. There was no point in alienating the town’s only lawman. “My brother would not have allowed a Comanche to come that close to him. Austin didn’t even pull his gun. That means the man who killed him had to be someone he knew and trusted.”
    “Many more than seven men fit that description. It could include everyone in Ladreville. Your brother knew everyone.”
    While that was true, Clay wasn’t certain Austin had trusted them all. He knew for a fact that Austin hadn’t trusted the man standing next to the desk, at least not with the town’s finances.
    Keeping his voice as even as if he were discussing the weather, Clay said, “It makes sense that the killer was someone Austin was playing