Free The Wicked West by Victoria Dahl

Hale’s trust, either.
    “Thank you,” she said presumptively, prompting him to open the door to her with clear hesitation.
    She hurried past him but didn’t stop at the parlor. Ignoring her pretense of being merely a concerned neighbor, Lily raced up the stairs, the young man’s boots thundering after.
    “Ma’am, he can’t be disturbed! And he’s not decent!” A muttered curse followed, but he was polite enough that it didn’t actually reach her ears.
    She couldn’t not see the sheriff, not when he was so close.
    “Ma’am!”
    Panting, she reached the top of the stairs and careened around the corner and into his bedroom. “Oh, God.” Her feet stumbled at the sight of him, nearly tossing her to the floor. He was so pale, as colorless as the bandages wrapped around the width of his chest. His lips were dry and cracked. His eyes sunken behind the lids. But his chest still rose and fell. Too rapidly for good health it seemed, but he lived.
    “Sheriff?” she breathed.
    His eyes fluttered open. They shut again quickly, but he whispered “Lily” in a hoarse voice.
    Some coil wrapped around her heart sprang open. She rushed forward and clasped his hand. “Oh, I was so worried.”
    “Uh, Sheriff?” The deputy’s voice tightened all the muscles in her back. Would Sheriff Hale insist she leave now? Would he be horrified she’d betrayed their secret?
    He shook his head, his brown hair tangling against the pillow. “It’s fine, Brady. Leave her be. You’d best see to your wife now.”
    “But you’re not to be left alone,” the man argued.
    His eyes opened, the pupils slowly contracting until they focused on her. “Mrs. Anders will look after me.”
    “Well, if you’re sure…” When the deputy received no answer, he eventually relented and walked back down the stairs. Lily waited to hear the front door open and close before she let herself collapse, pressing her forehead to his knuckles.
    “Lily, it’s all right.”
    “You were shot! That’s all I know. Are you…Will you…”
    “Doc says I’ll live if infection doesn’t set in. He cleaned out the wound pretty damn thoroughly,” he added dryly.
    “Oh, God,” she moaned. “Oh, thank God. I thought you were dying. I know I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry. But I couldn’t bear not knowing.”
    “I’m pleased my death might be so distressing.”
    Tears were her only response. She couldn’t speak, not even to scold him for being so cavalier.
    “Hush, Lily,” he said as she sobbed.
    So she hushed. She choked back her tears and raised her head to swipe at her eyes. “I’m sorry. Do you think Deputy Brady will talk? Perhaps we can tell him I used to be a nurse of sorts.”
    He shook his head, but she had no idea what he meant. “When I was at death’s door—or not at death’s door, apparently—it occurred to me that this was wrong.”
    She took a deep breath. So he would end it. He’d probably seen God or some such thing, and now he would end his visits. But that was all right. He was alive, so she could live with his distance. Still, her heart squeezed in protest.
    “I respect you,” he said, and she nodded. “And I’d like permission to court you openly, Mrs. Anders.”
    Lily blinked. “Court me?”
    “Yes. Don’t look so panicked.”
    She tried to school her face as she slipped her fingers from his grasp. “But I thought I was clear…”
    “You were, but I’ve something to add to that now. We’re both adults. You’re a widow and I’m…Well, I’m still married. No one would be surprised at a long and careful courtship. I don’t think our visits are the only thing between us. There’s more.”
    Fear scrabbled through her chest. She’d always belonged to a man, and she’d only just started to become her own person. Yet she cared for him so much already.
    Lily drew in a deep breath, then found herself blurting out the truth. “I do not wish to be ruled over! It makes no sense, I suppose, considering my other