Tales of Western Romance by Madeline Baker Read Free Book Online

warm with
embarrassment. Murmuring, “Good night,” she hurried into the
bedroom and closed the door. She stood there a moment. Suddenly
bone weary, she crawled under the covers, then stared up at the
cobwebby ceiling.
    Definitely not married, she thought. It was
her last thought before sleep claimed her.
    * * * * *
    Blowing out a sigh, Gray stared at the closed
bedroom door. If there was one thing he didn’t need right now, it
was a woman. Which wasn’t entirely true, he thought ruefully,
because if there was one thing he did need, it was a woman. Any
woman.
    Dammit!
    What was he going to do with her? He couldn’t
ride out in the morning and leave her here with no food and no
water and no way to protect herself. He supposed he could put her
on Relámpago and hope the stallion would take her back to
wherever she came from.
    On the other hand, maybe he’d give her the
bay mare, take the stallion for himself, and see if the legendary
stallion would carry him away from danger.
    Gray shook his head. It was said no one could
catch the stallion, that the horse had to come to you. So, why the
hell had the stallion brought her to him? What kind of danger had
she been in that spending the night with a man wanted for murder
was a safer choice?
    Muttering an oath, he tossed another log on
the fire, before stretching out on the lumpy couch. Maybe things
would look better in the morning, he thought as he stared into the
flames. And maybe hell would freeze over.

Chapter 4
     
    With a sigh, Bonnie opened her eyes. She’d
been having such a nice dream, she hated to wake up. Only now that
she was awake, she couldn’t recall what it had been about, except
that Jackson Gray Hawk had been in it.
    Rolling onto her side, she stared at the
window. Thank goodness, the sun was shining. If she asked nicely,
maybe Gray would show her the way back to the ranch. She couldn’t
think of anything she wanted more than a big breakfast and a hot
shower.
    Sitting up, she noticed a newspaper folded up
on the rickety table beside the bed. Curious, she picked it up. It
didn’t look like any paper she’d ever seen. It was an odd size and
consisted of only one sheet folded in half. The Bodie
Morning News. She frowned when she read the date. August 13,
1879.
    Eighteen seventy-nine!
    She stared at the date, and then laughed. Of
course, Bodie was an old ghost town in Northern California. This
was just was one of those papers they sold to tourists.
    Amused, she scanned the front page. The big
story was about a wedding in Michigan. She grinned as she read the
first paragraph –
    There was a marriage at the upper end of
the Detroit, Lansing and Northern road the other day. A big chap,
almost able to throw a car-load off the track, fell in love with a
nice young widow who was cooking for the hands of a saw mill, and
after a week’s acquaintance, they were married .
    The rest of the front page was devoted to ads
for places like Eagle Mills Lumber Yard, Sacramento Market, Bull’s
Head Market, Pioneer Brewery and Mammoth Saloon. There was a sale
at Koppel and Platt’s Clothing House, a reward for a black horse
stolen from someone’s barn.
    She grinned when she read an article on the
second page that said the debt in California had been reduced by
$356,214.00 in the last four years and that the debt now was less,
than $3,500.000. It also noted that California had $1,498,450.00 in
the State Treasury.
    She put the paper aside when her stomach
growled. Muttering, “I sure hope he has something besides jerky for
breakfast,” she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
    She was reaching for her boots, bought just
for this trip, when the bedroom door burst open.
    “ We’re leaving!” Gray said.
“Now.”
    “ What?”
    “ Here!” He thrust her jeans at her. “I
don’t have time to explain. Just get dressed and get your ass out
to the barn, now!”
    The urgency in his voice brooked no argument.
Something was wrong, very wrong. She pulled on her jeans and