Free A Promise to Believe in by Tracie Peterson

she seemed to pale a bit, but Gwen looked away so quickly he couldn’t be sure. “We have some rubbing liniment if you need it,” she said in a barely audible voice, then added, “but a soak in the hot springs would probably suit you better. We have fresh towels on the back porch.”
    “That sounds quite inviting. Thank you.”
    Several men came rushing from the dining room. “Thanks, Miss Gallatin. The food was delicious,” one said as he fought to button his coat. “Wish we could stay a spell. I haven’t seen gals so pretty since leavin’ Colorado.”
    Gwen laughed. “I doubt Ralph would allow for the delay, but thank you for the compliment.”
    The others mumbled their thanks as they headed for the door. Hank moved aside to let two other men pass as they stumbled from the stairs and dragged toward the door.
    “Gentlemen, I packed a little breakfast for you, since you slept too late to join us,” Gwen announced. “The food is already on the stage.”
    The bleary-eyed men nodded and murmured thanks. Within moments, the house quieted considerably. Gwen stepped to the open doorway and out onto the porch. Hank, meanwhile, made his way to the breakfast table.
    Beth and Lacy were already hard at work cleaning up the mess left behind. Beth smiled. “Coffee?”
    It was like a bolt of lightning had struck. Hank remembered the young woman offering him coffee the night before. He remembered, too, that he had grown quite sleepy drinking the concoction. She must have drugged him! That’s why he couldn’t remember. That was also why he’d woken up on the floor.
    He looked at her for a moment as she held up the pot. “I don’t know,” he said, toying with the cup on the table. “Seems like your coffee gives me a backache.”
    Beth’s eyes widened innocently. “I’ve never heard anyone complain about my coffee before.”
    “Perhaps they’ve never had your special blend,” Hank said. He held her gaze and shook his head.
    “Maybe the wild Montana Territory is just too much for you to handle, Mr. Bishop,” Beth suggested. “Maybe you should try to catch the stage before they pull out.”
    “Maybe it’s not the territory but its women who are most dangerous,” Hank countered.
    “What’s he going on about?” Lacy asked as she came into the room with a large tray. She began gathering up dirty dishes and looked as innocent as her sister.
    Hank wasn’t fooled. Someone had put something in his coffee last night. He was certain of it. They most likely had to haul him up the stairs—and probably dropped him several times on the way. No doubt that would account for his sore backside.
    “Mr. Bishop’s travels are catching up with him,” Beth told her sister. “I was just suggesting maybe he should head on home and leave Montana behind him.”
    “As I said before, I’ll leave when I have what I came for. Not until.” He folded his hands together and eyed Beth quite seriously. “Should I have any more trouble from the coffee, it will be your backside that hurts. Not mine.”
    Beth lowered the pot, while Lacy gasped. “How dare you?” Beth looked at her sister and then back to Hank. “You are a very crude man.”
    “And you, Miss Gallatin, are a very dangerous young woman. Drugging people is not a safe thing to try, unless you are well acquainted with what you are doing. I’m hoping that is not the case. I’d like to keep you from further embarrassment and difficulty. I won’t press charges against you this time, but should there be a second time, I won’t hesitate to mete out my own brand of justice.”
    “What is this all about?” Gwen asked from the doorway.
    “He’s threatening Beth,” Lacy said, hands on hips. Her blue eyes blazed in anger.
    Hank finally allowed his gaze to leave Beth’s face as he met Gwen’s stunned expression. “I don’t know who all had a hand in last night’s adventures, but I was simply warning that it had better not happen again.”
    Gwen’s expression suggested