LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Someone has to.”

      She tried again. “What is he going to do when I leave?”

      “He needs a place to stay tonight.”

      In other words, one step at a time.

      “We don’t have the boarding school set up yet. Terrance can’t stay there.”

      He shrugged. “That’s not my problem. You told me to handle it. I did.”

      “I asked you to give Brian Winter his money back!”

      “Giving him his money back wouldn’t have been the end, and I would have to go back there tomorrow doing the same thing. You’ve harped on my lazy nature enough over the past couple months to know doing the same thing over and over isn’t my cup of tea.”

      “You don’t even drink tea.”

      He smiled that cat-and-mouse smile that made her pulse jump and her palm itch. “Actually, I do...sometimes.”

      She could feel the walls closing in and her dream slipping away again.

      “It’s almost Christmas,” he added as if she needed another stab to the heart. “You want the boy to live to see it?”

      “Now, that’s not fair.”

      “You didn’t see what I saw at the Winters’ place.”

      “Was it really that bad?”

      “The boy is lucky his situation caught your eye.” A grimace and a shake of his head. “And the rest of us need to be shamed it didn’t catch ours.”

      She blinked. “Why, Mr. Parker, are you saying there’s a place for a busybody do-gooder in this world?”

      There was a pause and a nod and then, “I’m saying you’ve earned yours.”

      The quirk of his lips, neither smile nor frown, was irritating in all it didn’t say. Almost as irritating as the way he leaned against the porch rail, arms folded across his chest, as if he owned that space. And the way he looked at her, as if he owned her, too, just made her bristle. She wasn’t just any man’s plaything.

      “So what are you going to do, Pet? Are you going to take the boy or am I going to have to add tattletale to my list of sins?”

      Pfft. Who, except her, would even notice that sin on his long list?

      “I’m thinking.”

      “Not much to think about.”

      No, there wasn’t. Tattling about her plans to leave wouldn’t hurt Ace’s reputation but for her, his tattling would be catastrophic. She was a month away from having enough money for her ticket. Taking in the boy could very well cost that money and some time—it would be too dangerous to travel come winter—but on the other hand, she’d have longer to save and the end result would be more money in her pocket come spring. But if Ace spread his tale, she’d lose her job. She had no doubt Ace would take care of her and arrange it so she’d still be able to take care of Terrance and anyone else who needed it, but she wouldn’t have an independent income. She wouldn’t make it to California.

      Which meant a slight change in her plans. She needed to open the school. She felt the twinge of guilt for the kids she’d be leaving behind, especially Terrance, but he’d have a safe place to live, and if she could find somebody to run it with a good heart, then it would make a difference. There was a whole lot she needed to do in the next month, but she was a woman that worked well under pressure, and it wasn’t the first time she’d faced these kinds of deadlines.

      “I have yet to secure the Haylens’ old place for the school.” The Haylens’ house was on the edge of town. It was a bit ramshackled, but it was huge with six bedrooms and a good-size yard. With elbow grease and determination, it would be perfect.

      “I’ll take care of that.”

      “You think you can sway Tyson to sell?” She’d been trying for a month to no avail. Every time she approached the irritating man, the price went up. And it hadn’t exactly started at reasonable.

      He just looked at her. “I said I’d handle it.”

      And that was that as far as he was concerned. So be it. Petunia folded her own arms across her chest. “Fine. Then under the condition you get the Haylen place for us tomorrow, Terrance can sleep on my sofa tonight.”

      “I’m sure he’s slept on worse.”

      Which just brought them back to the questions that had been plaguing her since Ace and Luke had ridden back into town with Terrance in tow.

      “Did Brian really just let you walk in and take his son?” She knew Brian was a wastrel, but she didn’t believe he was that much of a wastrel. If nothing else, Terrance had value as a worker that made his father’s life easier.

      “Not exactly, but in the end we came to an agreement.”

      Petunia dropped her gaze to Ace’s hands, the ones he had tucked under his arms. She didn’t know what possessed her. It was against all propriety, but she reached out and caught his right pinky in her fingers. His hand was warm, but the palm surprisingly calloused for a man who gambled. He hadn’t always been a gambler or an assayer, she reminded herself. According to legend, Hell’s Eight was a lot of things. A group of almost mythical warriors. Fierce. Relentless.

      She tugged. The only thing that moved was his left eyebrow.

      “You wanting something?”

      “I want to see your hand.”

      “Why, going to slip a ring on it?”

      She huffed. “I’m not that kind of woman, and you’re not that kind of man.”

      The smile he gave her was genuine. “You’ve got that half right.”

      She tugged again. This time he let her win. She was surprised to see the knuckles unscarred.

      “Satisfied?” he asked, tucking his hand back under his arm and shifting his position.

      “Hardly.”

      She noticed the butt of the revolver on his left hip had a little less shine. It was then she remembered he was left-handed.

      “Can I see the other hand?”

      “Why?”

      “I’m contrary that way.”

      “I’ll give you that. You’re contrary.”

      He didn’t make any move to show her his hand. She didn’t push it.

      Rubbing her fingertips on her thigh she said, “I’m going to take it from that that those knuckles are bruised.”

      “Assume all you want.”

      “Did you hurt him?”

      That got his attention. “Worried about his sorry ass?”

      “No, I’m more hoping you beat him into the ground. He’s a brute and a bully, and it’s about time somebody gave him what he really deserved.”

      “Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s nursing a headache for sure.”

      It soothed a bit of her anger to know that. “Is he going to come after Terrance?”

      “At some point I imagine he will remember he’s a father, but I don’t think it’ll be in the near future.”

      “How does Terrance feel about that?”

      “I don’t think he feels anything. He seems to live for the right now.”

      For some reason she felt the need to defend Terrance. “He’s a boy.”

      “Uh-huh”

      The wind blew a hair across her face. She brushed it out of her eyes.

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