Twice Blessed by Jo Ann Ferguson Read Free Book Online Page B

grim events became known. No one would listen to her. Even if a few people did, no one else would believe them. After all, how could she have been so stupid ?
    She had believed Miles when he said work was going well, that all their dreams would come true, that soon he would have enough money to take her on that honeymoon to St. Louis she had dreamed of when she found she loved him .
    And she had believed he loved her .
    Everything had been lies. There had been no work, and she had nothing left but nightmares .
    Tears burned in the back of her throat, but she refused to let them fall. Had Miles ever loved her, or had that been just another lie?
    She had been a fool. Never again would she be such a fool .
    Picking up the small carpetbag she had packed clandestinely, she looked around. Only the fire on the hearth lit the room. Yet she could see the quilt lying across the back of the battered settee, the tarnished candlesticks on the mantel, and the rag rug covering the uneven floor. She would never see any of these things again .
    A fist struck the front door followed by a shout of, “Open the door!”
    She took one step toward the back door, then another, hoping no shadow would reveal where she stood. Her breath snagged on the fear halting her heart .
    â€œThis is the sheriff. Open up, or we’ll take down the door.”
    Time and hope and all her dreams had run out. She turned and pulled the quilt off the settee. Throwing its dark side over her shoulders, she fled through the kitchen and out into the night, far from the men milling around the front porch .
    She had to leave .
    Now … because it was too late .
    Behind her, she heard, “She has to know .”
    â€œHow could she not know?” another voice asked.
    â€œOnly a fool wouldn’t have known.”
    â€œMaybe she knew before he—”
    â€œNo!” Emma sat up and clutched the bed covers to her breast. “No, I didn’t know! I didn’t know! I …”
    She silenced herself before she could wake Sean, who should be asleep in the other bedroom. She cradled her face in her hands as icy waves crashed over her, drowning her in the fear she could not escape. Cold sweat oozed along her back.
    It was over!
    It was over, except in her dreams. No, this was no dream. It was the nightmare that crept out of her memories to haunt her. Could the authorities still be looking for her with the intention of hanging her?
    She should not have fled Kansas. That labeled her as guilty, but she could not stay and let them paint her with Miles’s wickedness. She had been a fool. A fool to believe him and his tales of the wondrous life they would share. Now every night, as the past tormented her, she was paying the price of his crimes.
    Slipping her feet over the edge of her bed, she drew a bright blue coverlet around her shoulders. She went down the stairs and into the parlor. Rain struck the windows. Usually she liked that homey sound, but not tonight. She lit the lamp and sat on the rocking chair at the base of the stairs. With her feet drawn up beneath her, she huddled against the cushions.
    She feared she would never find an escape from what she could not forget. Even though she had done nothing wrong … no, she would not think of it any longer.
    It was over.
    It was over. She did not need to look over her shoulder every moment. She did not have to avoid people, knowing what they were thinking when they would not meet her eyes. She did not have to start at every noise as if—
    A fist pounded on the front door once, then twice. Someone shouted her name.
    Emma leaped to her feet. A yowl exploded through her head, and sharp claws struck her bare foot. Queenie raced out of the room, every hair on her back raised, looking like a furious porcupine. She heard Sean jump out of bed upstairs.
    Ignoring the blood oozing across her left foot, Emma started for the door, then paused. Who was calling at this hour? It must be—as if on