Free Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf Page B

the girls would still be alive.”
    “You didn’t let him escape.   It just happened.   He would have escaped no matter who’s jail it was, it just happened to be yours.”
    “No,” Sam shook his head, the reins shaking in his hand.   “No.   It was my fault….”
    Cassie wiped her tears with the back of her hand.   “No.   It wasn’t and the sooner you realize that the sooner it’ll stop eating at you.   It was not your fault any more than Roy Walker attacking me was mine.”
    They were just outside Creede now.   Cassie sniffed and rubbed her tears away.   “How do I look?”
    “You look beautiful as always.”
    “Seriously, Sam.   Do I look like I’ve been crying?”
    “A little.   You’re eyes are red and so is your nose.”
    “We’ll go to Mary’s first then.   She’s not a nosy, busy body and won’t say anything to anyone about my showing up in town with a new man and in tears.   It wouldn’t be good.   Trust me.”
    “Okay.   I don’t get it but I trust you.”
    “They all know what happened with Walker.   Now do you see what they’ll think.   You’re new.   They’ll think something happened, again.   And it will prove to them that it’s me whose to blame.   I won’t let that happen, so we go to Mary’s first and I freshen up before we go to Sadie’s mercantile”
    “I understand.”   He slapped the reins and the horses sped up from their slow walk to a fast one.   “Lets see if we can avoid putting on a show and just get to the boarding house.”
    “Agreed.”

CHAPTER 6

      “Whoa.”   Sam pulled back on the reins, coming to a stop in front of Peabody’s Boarding House.
    Cassie jumped down before he could come around to help her.   She patted her hair, brushed the dust from her jacket as much as possible then used her hat to dust off her pants.   Then she took a deep breath.   “Okay.   I’m ready.   How do I look?”
    “Good.”   He wanted nothing more than to kiss all her tears and her fears away but knew he couldn’t.   At least not yet. “Most of the redness is gone.   You can claim to have hay fever if anyone says anything.”
    She nodded.   “I should have thought of that myself.   Let’s go.   I don’t think you’ve met Mary yet since we haven’t stayed overnight before.   Mary is going to want to meet you.”
    “Yeah, I know, any friend of Duncan’s.   I’ve gotten that a lot since I came to Creede.   Duncan seems to have made quite an impression on folks in these parts.”
    “He has.   He’s the small town boy made good.   He was famous as a dime novel hero before he came back to town and some folks give those penny dreadfuls more credence than they deserve.”
    Cassie walked beside him up the stairs.   He smiled.   “I remember reading one that called him tall, dark and lethal.   I laughed my ass off.   Not that I disagreed with the description, mind you, I just knew how Duncan would look at it and it would not have made him happy.”
    “Gosh.   That story had to have come out twelve years ago now. Hard to believe it’s been that long.   Catherine showed it to me.   Tall, dark and lethal.   If only they could see him holding Conner.   He doesn’t look so lethal then.”
    “He would be if anyone threatened his family.   Then watch out.   You’ve heard how a mama bear protects her cubs?   That’d be nothing compared to Duncan.”
    They entered and the screen door banged shut behind them.   Mary Peabody looked up from behind a desk, where it looked like she was working on her books.   She saw them and sprang up as fast as any thirty year old.   Amazing considering Mary was past sixty.
    “Cassie.   I haven't seen you in ages.   Where are RJ and Sarah?” she asked as she looked behind them.
    “They’re home.”   Cassie waved her hand at Sam.   “This is my new foreman, Sam Colter.   He’s a friend--“
    “Of mine,” said Duncan from behind them.   Cat followed holding baby