Free The Outlaw Takes a Bride by Susan Page Davis

the fare. You know we can’t afford to pay her way back to St. Louis.”
    “Well…” Johnny hadn’t considered that. He couldn’t stand the thought of lying to her, but Cam was right that they couldn’t afford to buy her a return train ticket, or to put her up long in a hotel.
    “But if Mark meets her at the depot…” Cam waved a hand Johnny’s way.
    “No.”
    “Think about it, Johnny.”
    “I won’t do it.”
    “It’s the only thing you
can
do, man!”
    Johnny crossed his arms over his chest and set his jaw. He was not going to let Cam browbeat him into lying to the widow Golding and letting her think he was Mark. “I suppose you want me to think of some reason to break up with her and see her get settled in town to support herself as a seamstress, or some such cockeyed scheme.”
    “Hadn’t thought of that,” Cam said. “No, I’m afraid it wouldn’t work. You’ll have to marry her.”
    Johnny’s jaw dropped.
    Cam fixed him with a determined gaze. “Now, before you go getting on your high horse about lying and all of that, consider the alternative. The sheriff spoke to you in town a few days ago. Thought you were Mark. You didn’t correct him. What do you suppose will happen now if you say you’re not Mark?”
    Johnny’s heart thumped faster than a galloping horse. “I’ll confess. I’ll have to. It’s the only thing to do now. We can’t drag this widow into a deception, Cam. You’re talking about me living a lie for the rest of my life. About entering into life’s most sacred bond under false pretenses. I won’t do it.”
    “Mmm-hmm. All right. So you go to the sheriff and tell him you’re not Mark. You’re Johnny. What does the sheriff do then?”
    “I…I don’t know.”
    “Well think, man! He’ll want to know why you didn’t tell him at the start. And you’ll have to tell him Mark’s dead. And then he’ll want to know when your brother died and why you didn’t tell him, and why you buried him on the sly.”
    “I didn’t do it on the sly. I never intended to hide Mark’s death, and I certainly didn’t set out to lie to anyone about it.”
    Cam nodded tolerantly. “Of course not. But the fact remains, you
did
.”
    Johnny’s breath whooshed out of him. He ran a hand through his overly shaggy hair. It was all true. He had made the decision on his own. Cam had offered to stand by him if he wanted to go to the sheriff last week, and he hadn’t taken the opportunity.
    “And after he learns that you hid the body of a man who died under suspicious circumstances, he’s apt to start asking around about you. And if he hears anything out of Denver…” Cam stepped closer and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve been friends a long time, Johnny. I’d hate to see you hang.”
    Something panicky fluttered in Johnny’s stomach. “I can’t marry her. It wouldn’t be right.”
    “I’ll be right there with you. Your best man. And I’ll help any way I can.” Cam’s expression brightened a little. “And you can think of it this way: everything you do will honor Mark’s memory. You can take care of the woman he loved just the way Mark would have. You’ll be doing it for
him
, Johnny.”
    Somehow that didn’t seem right to Johnny. If he went through with this, he wouldn’t be doing it for Mark. He’d be doing it to save his own sorry neck. He ran his hand through his beard, which was getting some length to it.
    The cow bellowed. She stood waiting at the pasture gate.
    “Is it that late?” Johnny squinted at the sun. It was still well above the horizon, but these June days were long on daylight.
    “I’ll milk her,” Cam said. “You go finish redding up the cabin. And tonight you can go over her letters again and see if you can figure out anything Mark promised her that we should have ready.”
    Johnny went to the cabin and put on a pair of trousers and an extra shirt that had been Mark’s and washed every stitch of his own clothing. As he hung them out, Cam