Free The Gallows' Bounty (West of Second Chances) by Desiree Banks

door.  Now seemed like a good time to make sure the packs he’d brought home made it into the house. 
     
    WILLOW FINISHED HER BATH quickly.  She couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep.  Good thing something had awakened her or she may have drowned where she sat in the tub.  She scanned the room for her clothes.
    Spotting them, she stood and steadied herself with one hand on the edge of the bed.  Black dots harassed her vision again.  She stilled until the dizziness passed, then slipped the red dress over her head.  Willow’s tensions rose as the fabric settled about her shoulders.
    Roberts had given the dress to her, demanded she wear it, and attacked her while she wore it.  She’d killed him with the skirt of the dress tangled about her legs.
    She had killed him. The reminder hit her like an unexpected right to the jaw.
    She’d hated Roberts, hated him even now, and she hated his damned red dress about as much.  It constricted her breathing.  She lifted it over her head and flung it away.
    Anger swiftly turned to tears as the horror of the last few days sank into her consciousness.  Willow hit her knees.  Sobs overtook her and she cried.
    She cried not for Roberts, but for what he had made her and for what he had made her do.  Even if Boden turned out to be a kind man, she couldn’t let her defenses down.  She had been used one too many times.  No good man would want her or deserve her.  Her head in her hands, she let the anger, frustration, and fear escape with her tears.
    A while later a soft knock sounded. “Everything all right?”
    Willow stood and reached for a sheet off of the bed and the gun.  She wrapped the sheet about herself.  An elbow pressed to her side held it in place while she gripped the gun in one hand and swiped at her eyes with the other.
    “Yes, everything’s fine,” she lied.
    “May I come in?”  Boden asked a beat before he opened the door.  His head was down, affording her the privacy of an averted gaze.
    She smiled despite her trepidation.  He looked like a naughty schoolboy, and it had been so long since she had been afforded the courtesy of a downcast gaze.  “I’m covered.”
    He looked up and appeared surprised to see her wrapped in a sheet.
    “I can’t wear that dress,” she explained.  She pointed to where it lay rumpled on the floor.
    “I did that bad a job of cleaning and mending it?” he questioned.  “I must admit my straight stitch isn’t what it should be.”
    Willow supposed he was kidding with her, but his face remained straight.
    “No, that isn’t it,” she said, but said nothing more.  She didn’t want to reveal her childish problem to this man.
    “You wear that sheet well,” he said.  “But I believe I’ve got something that’ll look better on you.”
    He drew a package from under his arm, and her hand tensed on the pistol she held.  He eyed the gun as he straightened his arm and handed the package to her.
    “I tried them on earlier, but they didn’t fit quite right. I reckon Kern included these for you.”
    His attempt at humor eased her worries.  Willow took the bundle and opened it.  Inside rested two new dresses and a couple of undergarments. “I can see why they wouldn’t work for you.”
    She smiled up at him and watched his eyes softened briefly.  So, his eyes are the key to his feelings , Willow thought.
    “I would have given them to you earlier and saved myself a few pin pricks, but I just found them stashed away with some of the other supplies we brought home.  Kern must have snuck them into my goods.”
    “Thank you,” she replied, distracted by his use of the word home.  Would this ever be her home?
    “Well, now you won’t have to wear the red dress,” Boden said.  “Supper’s ready, so come on out when you’re dressed.”
    Willow waited for him to leave before changing into the new garments.  The dress she chose to wear was a blue gingham, simple and well-fitting.  How had Kern known?
    She