Free Doubting Thomas (Tarnished Saints Series) by Elizabeth Rose

she gives you any trouble -” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. He couldn’t tell the boy to call the police. He sure as hell didn’t want them here. Besides, he didn’t have a phone. That’s all he needed, was word spreading all over town that the cops were out at his place again. Rumors spread fast in Sweet Water. He wanted to tell Dan to get the shotgun if she caused trouble, but he didn’t need any accidents on his hands. And Lord knew he didn’t need another murder.
    “I am not the type to cause trouble,” she said, walking over to the truck. “But something tells me you are.”
    “Ms. DeMitri, if I come back and find you didn’t listen to me, there’ll be hell to pay.” He didn’t wait for her answer. He pulled out of there like a bat out of hell, hoping he wouldn’t have to carry out his threat. As much as he wanted her to leave him and his boys alone, something deep down inside told him he hoped she disobeyed his orders after all.
     
    Angel watched Thomas Taylor pull away in a cloud of dust. So much for careful driving like he had warned her to do. The man had a chip on his shoulder about something, and she was determined to find out what. She had no intention of being ordered around by anyone, especially him. Now that she was alone with the kids, she could pump them for information about their father.
    She’d get the answers she needed. She’d find out if Thomas was abusive and if his children should be taken away from him after all. She hadn’t seen anything yet to convince her of the fact, but by his explosive temper, she knew he already had the makings of an abusive parent. One wrong step around Thomas Taylor, and even she might be running in fear.
    “Well,” she said with a smile, looking around at the five boys. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” She held out her hand to the eldest son. The one Thomas had called Daniel. “I’m Angeline DeMitri. I’m staying up at the Ainsely’s Bed and Breakfast during my vacation on Thunder Lake.”
    Dan hesitated, and his eyes flicked over to his brothers before he took her proffered hand. “I’m Daniel Taylor. The oldest of Thomas’s six sons.”
    She felt warmth in his slight smile, but caution also laced his words.
    “Daniel,” said the boy with the limp as he hurried over to them. “You heard Pa. You’re not supposed to talk to her. She’s supposed to leave our land.”
    “And who are you?” Angel asked, trying to sound cheery, not frightening.
    “He’s Sam the sissy,” said a red-headed boy emerging from the barn. “My name’s Zeke.”
    “I am not a sissy, you moron,” said Sam giving the boy a slight push. Zeke pushed back, and Daniel had to intervene before a fist fight broke out.
    “Stop it you two, or I’m going to have to tell Pa,” warned Daniel.
    “You do, and I’ll tell Pa you let her stay on our land,” Sam answered.
    “She doesn’t look threatening to me,” said Dan. “Matter of fact, I kind of like having someone new to talk to.”
    “You just like talking to girls,” said one of the boys, rushing over with a smaller boy right on his heels. “Tell her to leave, just like Pa said. I don’t like her.”
    Angel recognized the boy at once as the one who threw a rock at her the other night. The little one next to him was the one who had been standing in the road.
    “I remember you two,” she said guardedly. “You are the boys I met on the road the other night.” She tried to remember what Thomas had called them when she met him yesterday. “Josh and . . . Elijah, was it?”
    “You know her?” asked Sam looking at his brothers.
    “She told Pa I threw a rock at her. I don’t like her,” Josh replied once again.
    “I’m sorry if you don’t like me,” she said. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble with your father, but I saw you throw that rock.”
    Josh’s mouth turned down in a frown and his hands clenched. “I did not.” He ran off toward the house, and Angel