LITMIR.BIZ

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      Kate frowned.

      He stepped closer.

      Surprised, she looked up and couldn’t seem to look away. She closed her eyes against the searching, his and her own. What is going on here? This is not normal. No one should have this sort of rapport with a total stranger. I may spend most of my time alone on the farm when Sean and Ellie are in school, but I can’t be that lonely. Can I?

      “Kate,” he said, and her eyes flew open at the sound of her name. Snapped from whatever spell held her, she lifted her chin and stared at him. She hadn’t given him her Christian name. Perhaps she’d met him before and forgotten? She allowed her gaze to sweep from his dark brown eyes and past his blue checkered shirt. His dark gray pants fit loosely against his long legs, and the dark metal of his gun rested against his thigh while his low-slung gun belt stretched across his hips. Meeting his gaze, she shook her head. If she’d met him, she would have remembered.

      She opened her mouth to question him but he was already speaking. “I have to go after him. May I use your horse?”

      She managed to nod, then watched him hurry toward the barn. A few minutes later, he reappeared on her horse and went in pursuit of the thief without a backward glance. Kate watched him disappear into the distance and vainly tried to sort out what just happened.

      An hour later, back on Delilah and with the thief secured on Kate’s horse, Nathan Rutledge rode down Main Street, noting the curious stares from the citizens of Peppin, Texas. He had been on the receiving end of a town’s stares before, only they hadn’t been so friendly. But this was his new beginning—the fresh start he’d prayed for. He tipped his hat toward the young women who watched him shyly, then nodded at the older man sitting on the feed store steps.

      The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then sat up in his chair to spit a stream of brown chewing tobacco juice on the ground in Nathan’s direction. He smiled wryly. Now, that was more like what he was used to. He was ready to put that life behind him as sure as he was breathing.

      A “howdy” broke into his thoughts. He glanced down to find a man with graying hair and a belly that overlapped his belt watching him suspiciously.

      “Can I help you with something?” the man asked.

      Nathan eyed the star on the man’s chest and nodded. “I’m looking for the sheriff. Is that you?”

      The man gave a single nod. “That’s me.”

      He dismounted. Tipping his hat back, he nodded toward the person who had really been drawing all the attention. The young thief sent him scathing glares from where he sat with his hands bound and tied to the saddle horn of Kate’s horse. “I found him trying to steal from the O’Brien place this morning. He took off with my horse when I tried to stop him. He’s just a boy so I’m not sure what’s to be done about it.”

      The sheriff’s suspicious gaze went from him to the boy and back again as the man obviously tried to discern who was guilty of what crime. “Is that so? What were you doing out at the O’Brien’s in the first place?”

      “With all due respect, sir, I reckon that’s my business.” He wasn’t sure how much Kate had told the town about him, but he wasn’t about to announce his presence to strangers without even a proper first meeting with the woman.

      The sheriff’s eyes narrowed for a moment. Nathan held the man’s gaze, looking him straight in the eye without shifting or backing down. Finally, the sheriff nodded. “Let’s get him down from there and we’ll sort all this out.”

      Nathan cut the boy free, then waited for him to slide off the horse. The boy looked as if he might try to bolt but the sheriff put a hand on his shoulder and steered him toward the jail. Though his stomach tightened in dread, Nathan had no choice but to follow. The sheriff directed the boy to a chair in front of the desk, then sat across from him.

      Nathan’s gaze nonchalantly surveyed the walls of the office until he found the “wanted” posters. He was relieved when only the grizzled faces of strangers stared back at him. Movement to his right caught his eye. He nodded at the young-looking deputy who rose from that side of the room to watch the proceedings curiously.

      “This man says you tried to steal from the O’Brien place. What do you have to say about that?” the sheriff asked.

      The boy glared at them defiantly. “I gave it all back. Let me go!”

      The sheriff sighed. “You know I can’t do that. Are your parents around here?”

      “No.”

      “Who’s taking care of you?”

      “I am.”

      The sheriff grunted. “Deputy Stone, take him in the back for now.”

      “What’s going to happen to him?” Nathan asked after the boy was led away.

      “I don’t rightly know. He isn’t from around here and it doesn’t look like he has any family.” The sheriff eyed him carefully. “You aren’t from around here, either, are you?”

      Nathan tensed but played it off with a shrug and an easy smile. “You can tell that easy?”

      “You sure don’t look familiar. In a town this small, that’s clue enough.” The sheriff narrowed his gaze. “I guess I won’t get a chance to know you much if you’re just passing through.”

      “I guess not,” he said, hearing the sheriff’s message clearly. He’d just been told to get his business done and move on. Apparently, Peppin didn’t tolerate strangers coming through and causing trouble. Nathan wasn’t looking to cause trouble and he certainly wasn’t planning to leave Peppin anytime soon. He had too much to stick around for, like that red-headed woman he’d promised to return to. When he stepped outside, Delilah’s whinny was just the distraction he needed after visiting the jail. He stepped close to the large black mare to tenderly stroke her nose.

      “You knew I’d come for you, didn’t you, girl?”

      She blew out a puff of air onto his hand. Then with a final wary glance toward the town jail, he stepped into the saddle and turned the mare toward the O’Brien place.

      Kate leaned on the kitchen table with her elbow while she placed her chin in her palm. As she turned the next page of the family Bible, she realized she’d barely skimmed the past few verses. Dissatisfied, she closed the large book and sank despondently into the chair. She had already finished the laundry. Most of their clothes were flapping in the wind outside while she waited inside for the stranger to return. If he returned.

      She was beginning to wonder if the whole thing had just been a big ruse between the pair of strangers. They were probably both thieves. Now not only had she lost a number of her family’s few valuable possessions but she’d also lost Pa’s horse. She groaned. What had made her think she could trust that man?

      The sound of horse hooves in the barnyard drew her gaze toward the kitchen doorway. Rising from her chair, she hurried to the living room window to peer out. The stranger rode into the barnyard on his large black horse with her bay trailing after it. Relief poured from her lips in a heavy sigh.

      Her relief did not change the resolve that filled her being. She was going to get some answers from this man. Her determination did not fade as she opened the door and marched toward the barn. It did not falter when she caught up to him or while she watched him loop the horses’ reins around his hands to walk them into the barn. It was only when his friendly gaze met hers that it wavered.

      “I found him, but he can’t be more than fourteen,” he said as they stepped into the relative coolness of the barn. “The sheriff isn’t sure what to do with him. He isn’t from around here and doesn’t claim to have any family.”

      Take your time, she reminded herself as he guided the horses to their stalls. She waited as he removed the saddle from her horse to place it back where it belonged. He repeated the process with the reins and bridle, then glanced up questioningly.

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