Free Emmy (Gold Rush Brides Book 2) by Cassie Hayes Page B

wanted to prove to him — and herself — that she could.  
    When the other men had entered the cabin, she hung back, unsure if accepting the homesteader’s hospitality would go against her newfound independence. Deputy Merchant noticed her hesitation and sidled up to her as she watered Blaze.  
    “It’s one thing to stand on your own two feet, Miss Emmy, but it’s another to be ill-mannered,” he said.
    When she blinked her confusion at him, he explained. “When someone invites you into their home, it’s disrespectful not to accept. ‘Sides, we all need help from time to time, and there ain’t no shame in it.”
    His words rang in her ears as the woman, smiling from ear to ear, brought out a bundle of clothes. Emmy realized he was right. Lill was tickled to be helping someone in need. And right now, Emmy was as ‘in need’ as anyone could get.
    “Sounds to me like you’re riding with the posse for a while yet, and I got a look at your horse out there. No side saddle. Skirts ain’t the easiest thing for long rides so I brought ya some of my son Alton’s old clothes. He’s off in the diggins now. That boy caught the fever bad but I guess ya can’t expect much more from a young man not even twenty. He don’t want to work on his ol’ daddy’s silly farm. He wants to strike it rich, ya know?”
    Sadness infused her tale. Lill clearly missed her son and was disappointed that he didn’t stay home but knew enough to let him go. She shook her head and passed the bundle to Emmy. “These wouldn’t fit him no more anyway, but they’re clean. ‘Sides, it’d be a might safer for you to be dressed as a man so you don’t make no one suspicious. I weren’t sure what to think when I saw you riding with those men. Better to blend in, if you’re huntin’ a killer.”  
    She led Emmy into the barn, where she helped her change out of the dress and into patched overalls, a threadbare flannel shirt and worn leather coat. They were a little long but much more comfortable than her wedding dress. There was a bandana in the bundle and Emmy tied it up and around her head to keep her hair contained. Finally, Lill produced a tattered straw hat that had seen better days, but it would work nicely to keep the sun off Emmy’s ivory — well, normally ivory — skin.
    “Now let’s get you fed before those boys in there leave you behind.”  
    Lill winked and dragged her toward the house, but not before Emmy got one last look at the sad remains of her wedding dress, lying in a jumbled heap on the packed-dirt floor of the barn. It was a delicate and frilly thing that had no business in the harsh new world that was California. Tough and practical was what was needed out here. She’d stubbornly dragged it thousands of miles, hoping to salvage one last vestige of her old life, of her old self. But it was time to put all that away. It was time to become a Californian.
    ~ * ~ * ~
    Mason nearly choked on his coffee when Emmy walked through the door. The men’s clothes almost entirely hid her femininity and the oatmeal smeared all over her face completely disguised her identity. She looked like a frightening scarecrow from his childhood nightmares, and he couldn’t help laughing.
    “What are you snortin’ at, Sheriff?” Lill gave him a sharp look that stilled his tongue.  
    “Uh, nothing at all, ma’am.”
    “That’s what I thought. Now I’m gonna make sure this little wisp of a thing gets a proper meal before y’all set off again, so take your time with that coffee, y’hear? Those bad guys won’t get too much farther away in the next few minutes.”
    As much as it grieved him to wait, he didn’t dare object. She looked like the kind of woman who wouldn’t hesitate to box his ears, even though he towered over her. Of course, she was right that five minutes wouldn’t make much difference one way or the other, but it was the fact they were waiting on Emmy that was so irksome. But he had to give her credit for not