Free Charlene Sands by Bodines Bounty Page A

you hungry? Bacon and biscuits are ready. I…attempted a pie.”
    Bodine lifted a brow. “Pie? Thought I smelled something sweet. Didn’t know if I was dreaming.”
    Emma admitted with some chagrin, “Might have tasted better in your dreams. I made do with what I could find. Sit down and we’ll eat.”
    Bodine didn’t sit, but helped bring the food to the table. “You don’t wait on me, Emmy. I can fend for myself.”
    “There’s no doubt about that,” Emma said without compunction. “But you’ve been injured and need your rest. Beside, it gives me something to do.”
    She poured coffee and set one steaming mug across the table. Both sat and Bodine lifted the mug to his mouth, while Emma cradled her mug to warm her hands. The air inside the cabin had grown more frigid as the evening wore on.
    Bodine glanced out the window, watching snow fall steadily. “Hasn’t let up much,” he stated. “Seems to me, both of us are gonna need something to do, lest we—”
    His gaze swept over her and her heart thudded in her chest. His scrutiny was entirely too unnerving. Emma gulped. “We?”
    “Go stir-crazy.”
    Emma dug into her meal feeling his regard on her. Needing a distraction, she asked him the question that had plagued her the most. “Bodine?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Who’s Josh?”

Chapter Six
    “H ow in hell did you know about…” Then he stopped as realization dawned, and his angry tone mellowed some. “My fever.”
    Emma shrugged, hiding her surprise at his heated reaction. “You had nightmares. I’d sing them away when I could.”
    Bodine stroked his beard. “I remember. Thought I was surely meeting my maker. Your voice soothed me, chased away the demons.”
    “I’m glad I could help.”
    He nodded. “You did.”
    “Will you tell me who he was?” Emma implored, keeping her tone gentle. “Please.”
    Bodine took a deep swallow and hesitated for a drawn-out moment. “He was my brother. He’s dead.”
    “Oh! I’m sorry, Bodine. How did he die?”
    Pain crossed his features and he sat ramrod still. His voice, though, held strong emotion. “He was murdered six weeks ago. Took a bullet meant for me and died a few hours later.”
    A lump formed in Emma’s throat. “He was murdered?” She saw Bodine’s face close off as if unwilling to let the memory hurt him any longer. Instead, she witnessed his staunch look of determination.
    “Rusty Metcalf, the bounty I’d been dogging for weeks shot him in cold blood. Josh was coming out of the mercantile in town. He didn’t stand a chance.”
    “But why shoot your brother?” Emma asked, puzzled. “If you were after Metcalf, seems he’d be on the run.”
    “I tracked him just short of Cedar Flats where Josh lived. I spent the night at my brother’s ranch. Metcalf must have gotten wind of it. Thought he could turn the tables and get rid of me.”
    “But he mistakenly shot your brother?” Emma asked, wondering at the world of guilt Bodine must be carrying.
    Bodine closed his eyes briefly. “Josh was my twin.”
    “He looked just like you?”
    Bodine sent half a smile. “He’d joke he was the good-looking brother, but yeah, we looked alike.”
    Sorrow gripped her and she reached for Bodine’s hand. His eyes flickered from the contact and he stared at her.
    “I’m truly sorry for your loss.”
    He slid his hand over hers and stroked her gently one time before reaching for his coffee mug again. That slightest tender touch sent shivers up and down her body and made her heart race.
    “I won’t rest until Metcalf is dead.”
    Emma’s soft feelings for Bodine evaporated and she shuddered inwardly. She spoke with quiet reproach. “You plan to kill him?”
    “If I have to, yeah.”
    Admittedly, Emma didn’t know much on the subject of bounty hunters, but she was reasonably sure they didn’t always kill their bounties. They caught them and brought them to justice whenever they could. Emma thought about her father. Was he still an outlaw and