LITMIR.BIZ

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He didn’t even know what was wrong, let alone how to fix the problem. Once again he cursed the mistake that had led him here. Why hadn’t this homestead been teeming with hardened outlaws instead of weeping women?

       He recalled Jo’s mention of influenza. She was probably just concerned over her ailing family. Jack added the sheriff’s failure to inform him of the influenza outbreak to his growing list of gripes against the incompetent lawman.

       Sucking in a breath of a chill air to fortify himself, he contemplated his strategy. “Something bothering you?”

       “Nope.”

       Jack bit back a curse. Didn’t women love to talk? That’s what all the fellows complained about, anyway.

       As much as he’d like to turn tail and run, his feet refused to move. Frustrated, he reached into the stall, yanked a length of straw from a tightly cinched bale and twirled it between his fingers. “Seems like there’s something bothering you.”

       She swiped her nose with an exaggerated sniffle. “You’re touched in the head, Ranger.”

       The spark in her voice encouraged him. Rage was an emotion he understood, and inspiring anger in a touchy female was easier than shooting tin cans off a flat stump. “Then why are you crying?”

       She threw him a withering glare. “I ain’t no weeping female, so why don’t you do something useful, like ride on out of here?”

       “Maybe I will.”

       Undaunted by her harsh words, he continued to twirl the hay between his fingers. A chicken flapped through the barn, pecking at the dirt around Jack’s feet. He let the oppressive silence hang between them. People generally didn’t like silence. Most folks would rather fill up an empty space, even if that space was better left empty.

       Jo kept quiet, a trait that won Jack’s increasing admiration. At least she wasn’t crying anymore, another positive sign. If she didn’t want to talk, then he sure wasn’t going to force the situation. Looked as if he was going to make it to town before lunch, after all.

       She bumped her hand down the length of one dark braid, her gaze focused on the hay beneath her feet. “Mrs. Cole says you were chasing bank robbers when you barged in.” She shot him a sideways glance. “What if you make another mistake? What if someone gets hurt?”

       His fingers stilled. He had the uneasy sensation this conversation had nothing to do with bank robbers. “You make a mistake, you make amends. That’s all the good Lord asks of us.”

       “How do you make amends for lying?”

       He busted the straw in two pieces. Everybody lied, he reminded himself. Just not for the same reasons. “You make up for lying by telling the truth. You wanna start now?”

       “I told Mrs. Cole I could deliver that baby. But I couldn’t.” Her chin quivered. “I was so scared I wanted to run away.”

       Relief shuddered through him. He’d been expecting to hear something much worse. She was barely more than a child herself, no wonder she’d been terrified. He was making a fast slide past his thirtieth year, and he’d considered running away himself. “You delivered a baby. That’s a grave responsibility. Being scared doesn’t mean you lied, just means you’re human.”

       “You ever get scared?”

       “Every day.” He barked out a laugh. “You wanna know a secret?”

       She scrambled to her feet, brushing at the baggy wool trousers tucked into the tops of her sturdy boots. A voluminous coat in a dusty shade of gray completed the tomboy uniform. She flipped the braid she’d been worrying over one shoulder.

       Her clear, green eyes searched his face. “What secret?”

       “Truth is, I might have beaten you to the door. I wanted to hightail it out of that room faster than a jackrabbit out of a wolf den.”

       “Truly?”

       He chuckled. How many times had he done the same? Judged someone’s face, watching for subtle hints to test the sincerity of their answers? “I was terrified.”

       Midnight butted against the neighboring stall, reminding Jack of his purpose, of the unfinished business weighing on his conscience.

       As Jo absorbed his confession, her shoulders relaxed.

       He mentally patted himself on the back for his inspired handling of the situation. A few more words of assurance to wrap things up, and he could leave. He’d have to regroup in Cimarron Springs and interview the sheriff once more. Judging by the lawman’s lazy work habits, the task of gathering information was going to take all afternoon, further postponing his trip.

       He’d decided to visit Wichita earlier that morning. Every two-bit thief in Kansas wound up there at some point or another. The frontier city was the key to locating the outlaw, Bud Shaw.

       “You’re a brave girl for sticking it out,” he encouraged.

       He’d settled Jo’s fears. He’d be in Cimarron Springs by this afternoon.

       Jo looked him up and down. “You still chasing them outlaws?”

       “Outlaw. There’s only one left.”

       “What happened to the rest? How many were there all together? Do you always chase outlaws?”

       Jack held up a hand, halting the deluge of questions. “There were three all together. They shot a…they shot a woman during a robbery in Texas. On their way out of town, the sheriff gut shot one of them, a man named Slim Joe.”

       “Did he die?” she asked eagerly.

       “That kind of wound doesn’t kill a person right off. Slim Joe had a lot of time to talk. He turned over his partners, Pencil Pete and Bud Shaw. We caught up with Pencil Pete right off and threw him in jail. Then we found Bud Shaw. Except, well, I think we made a mistake.”

       “Then Bud Shaw isn’t one of the outlaws?”

       “I think there are two men named Bud Shaw. I think the outlaw decided to take advantage of a man with the same name, and frame him.”

       Jack didn’t want to expand, he’d already said more than he intended. Unease itched beneath his skin. There were two Bud Shaws, of that much he was certain. He’d discovered too much evidence to refute the fact in his own mind. Just not enough to convince the judge.

       Jo glanced at him, her expression skeptical. “But what if something else does go wrong?”

       “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” Jack threw up his hands. “Why are you worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet?”

       “What if you can’t find him? What then?”

       “Standing around here talking about the future ain’t gonna change anything. Why solve a problem before it happens?”

       “Don’t get all riled up, Ranger. You’re spooking the animals.”

       Jack pressed the brim of his hat tighter to his head with both hands. Women confounded him. He had one female concerned about naming a baby that was too young to answer, and another looking for a solution to a problem that hadn’t yet occurred. What was a man to do?

       Gritting his teeth, he forced a smile. “Well, you did real good delivering that baby.”

       “Better than you. I thought you were going to throw up.”

       “So did I,” he retorted, his voice more forceful than necessary.

       She tossed back her head and laughed at his shouted confession. Jack scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. Her infectious laugh soon had him chuckling. The sound rumbled low in his chest, rusty and neglected, then bubbled to the surface. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d truly laughed, especially at himself.

       He used to laugh with his

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