Free In Your Arms (Montana Romance) by Merry Farmer Page A

rest of their lot. I want her dismissed.”
    “We’re not firing Miss Singer,” Michael said without hesitation. “Talk to Kent. Get him to investigate the robberies. We’ll go from there.”
    “So you refuse to listen to reason?” Samuel’s moustache quivered in indignation.
    “On the contrary,” Christian growled, “Michael’s the only reasonable person I see!”
    “We’ll just see about that!” Samuel said.
    He didn’t wait for more . Without a good-bye, he turned and marched out the door into the light morning snowfall. The door shut with a loud clap behind him. The customers who had overheard the conversation muttered to one another in amazement. Lewis stayed where he was, shoulders slumped and eyes twice as wide as they should be.
    “I guess I should go after Jed and see if he can fix the broken window for me,” he said.
    “I guess so,” Michael answered with a shrug.
    Lewis turned to go. Mrs. Folsom walked out after him asking, “Did I hear you right? Indians are attacking people in Cold Springs?”
    Christian writhed with anger. “You’re just going to let a nasty rumor like that get out?”
    Michael handed the box of tea he carried across to Lily. “It will die down,” he insisted. “Talk to Kent, light a fire under his a—” He glanced to Lily and cleared his throat. “Convince him of the importance of catching the thieves as soon as possible. Get the town focused on something more productive.”
    “Like the academic g ames,” Lily said.
    Christian whirled to her, not sure whether to argue the point or support it.
    “What better way to calm ruffled feathers and encourage cooperation than by focusing on the town’s children and helping them to shine?” she said.
    She muscled her way around Christian to plunk her basket on the counter. As she let go, Christian noticed her hands shaking. She was quick to hide it, but her shoulders were bunched and her lips were pressed in a line.
    “Good idea, Miss Singer.” Michael nodded. “Can I get you anything else?”
    “This will do.”
    Lily stared straight ahead while Charlie added up her purchases. More than one of the other shoppers eyed her with suspicion, as though she might rob the store at any moment. It was exactly the kind of nonsense he’d been afraid of. One false accusation and suddenly Lily’s brown skin and dark eyes made her a target instead of a treasure. Worst of all, he could tell by the way she stood that she knew it. Samuel Kuhn had frightened her.
    He wanted the man’s head.
     

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
    The Cold Springs church had not been built to house the number of people who filled it for Rev. Andrews’s sermon the next morning. A new, larger church was planned for that summer, but in the meantime scores of men and women in their Sunday best sat shoulder to shoulder in the worn pews. More were crammed into folding chairs along the sides of the large room and in the back. A few of the children had been allowed to sit at the front around the podium from which Rev. Andrews delivered his sermon. Their squirming added an air of restlessness to the morning.
    Lily sat on a narrow chair against the wall, wedged between Miss Viola Jones and another of her boarding housemates, Miss Jessica Bunsick. Sweat from the overheated room dripped down her back and stained her bodice. She watched the citizens of Cold Springs instead of listening to the sermon. How many of them thought like Samuel Kuhn?
    How many would assume that Indians were responsible for the recent robberies and take their anger out on her? What if Christian was right about the ripples caused by having the Flathead children at the school?
    “ Therefore, it is our duty as citizens of Cold Springs and brothers and sisters in the Lord’s kingdom to treat each other with Christian charity.” Rev. Andrews addressed his congregation. “We must approach each other with kindness and humility, in times of fellowship and in times of competition.”
    She focused on the