Free Beautiful Bandit (Lone Star Legends) by Loree Lough

laughter bounced off every wall.
    What a pickle he’d put her in! The Rangers were behaving like schoolboys, but they weren’t fools. If they entertained a wary thought or two about her, her reaction here could make the difference between looking like a woman in love—or a woman wanted by the law.
    “Even after all this time,” she said, “he still has the power to make me blush like a schoolgirl.”
    The men were quiet for all of a second before another round of boisterous laughter filled the room. Josh hadn’t taken his eyes off her, not once since he’d looked up and caught her staring. If his smile alone could double her heartbeats, even under such intimidating and crowded circumstances, how might she have reacted if she had gone ahead and embraced him when the whim had struck her?
    Feigning a yawn, Kate got to her feet. “I hope our bedding is dry by now,” she said, testing the blankets that hung near the stove, “because I’m about to fall asleep standing.”
    “Just like a horse!” Shorty said.
    His comment reminded her that all of their horses were out there in that awful weather. She couldn’t imagine being tied to a post while the wind blew the rain sideways, not to mention the blinding lightning and deafening thunder.
    She didn’t understand the emotions tumbling in her head and in her heart. Before Frank had kidnapped her, she’d always been a realist, a both-feet-on-the-ground woman who took pride in how far she’d come in life by dint of hard work, stubborn determination, and keen instinct. She understood the impracticality of bringing the horses inside, but that didn’t stop her heart from aching for them. They worked so hard, endured so much, and didn’t ask for more than some hay or oats and enough water to wash them down. How unfair and unkind it seemed, making them stand out there in that mess.
    Without warning, her eyes filled with tears, and her lower lip began to quiver.
    Though she tried to hide it, Josh saw.
    “Now look what you’ve gone and done.”
    All eyes were on her. So much for trying not to call attention to herself.
    Then, Shorty jabbed a thumb into his chest. “Who, me?”
    Stretch and Gus echoed the question in turn.
    “Sounds like a flock of owls in here,” said Josh.
    The Rangers gave that a moment of thought. Then Gus said, “Aw, there ain’t no such thing.” When the others frowned in confusion, he explained, “Owls travel alone. Don’t you boys know nothin’?”
    “Hmpf.” Stretch shook his head. “For your information, professor, owls don’t travel. They fly.”
    “If flyin’ ain’t travelin’, I sure as shootin’ don’t know what to call it.”
    The conversation went from abstract to silly in a matter of seconds, and in the silence that followed Gus’s last remark, Kate’s stifled sobs became a fit of giggles.
    “Land sakes,” Stretch said to Josh, “you better hope that young’un of hers gets born sooner, not later.” He held one hand beside his face, hiding his pointer finger behind it. “She’ll drive you plumb loco if she keeps this up!”
    Gus harrumphed, then stood up and stomped over to the corner where he’d tossed his bedroll. “I’ve had enough jabber-jawin’ for one night.” With two flicks of his wrists, he made himself a pallet on the floor. “I sure as shootin’ hope you fellers don’t aim to keep those lanterns glowin’ all the blessed night,” he growled. “We’ve got a long, hard ride ahead of us tomorrow.”
    Shorty took a peek at his pocket watch. “Gus is right. Maybe, if we all just turn in, the storm will blow over, and we can head on out of here come daylight.”
    “What time is it?” Kate asked him.
    He snapped his watch shut. “Eight-o-five.” Without another word, he fixed himself a bed across from Gus. He’d barely made himself comfortable when he sat up. “I’ve got it!”
    “What’s got you bellowing like a bull moose?” Stretch asked.
    “I know why our little mama-to-be looks