Free The Littlest Cowboy by MAGGIE SHAYNE

concerned would be for him to get out of Quinn and never set foot here again.”
    “And he did? Just like that?”
    “Well, we can be pretty convincing when we set our minds to it.”
    “You…you beat him up, didn’t you?”
    He drew a breath that lifted his shoulders and slowly let it all out again. Then he came forward and placed both his hands on her shoulders. She automatically shrugged away from his touch. She didn’t like men putting their hands on her.
    He frowned, but let his hands fall to his sides. “Chelsea Brennan, I’d rather be shot than lift a violent hand to anyone…or anything, for that matter.”
    “Oh?” He was too close to her. She could feel his warm breath on her lips. “Thing is, I’d have rather been drawn and quartered than to stand by and do nothing. So I told him to leave her alone in the only language he could understand. The way I see it, I didn’t have much of a choice.”
    “And he never came back?”
    “Nope. He never did.”
    “You violated his civil rights,” she observed, but it was a weak argument. “You could lose your job and go to prison for that.”
    He nodded slowly. “No man has the right to lift a hand to a woman, Chelsea. Nor to a child. If you’d been in my shoes, would you have done anything different?”
    She met his gaze head-on, and for just a moment the pain got the best of her. “If I’d been in your shoes,” she said softly, “I’d have shot the bastard.”
    He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. “You’re one angry woman, Chelsea Brennan.”
    She nodded. “You might want to take back your offer to help me find the man who murdered my sister, Garrett Brand. Because when I do, I’ll probably kill him.”
    He smiled a little, and for a second she wondered why.
    “I take that to mean you’re finally convinced it wasn’t me,” he explained when she frowned at him.
    She lowered her head, remembering her accusations, the way she’d hit him. If she’d been wrong…But it was pretty obvious she
had
been wrong, wasn’t it?
    “I probably owe you an apology.”
    “Probably.”
    He stood there, and his hands rose as if to touch her shoulders again. She stiffened, and he stopped himself, lowering them again with a thoughtful expression on his face. He was waiting.
    “I apologize.”
    “I accept,” he said with an abbreviated bow, really no more than a dip of his head and shoulders, but he never broke eye contact.
    “Then you’re more forgiving than I’d be.” There was an invisible beam running between her eyes and his. Something that held her captive.
    “Must be those green eyes of yours, making me feel generous.” He moved a little closer.
    Warmth curled in the pit of her stomach before she reminded herself he’d just given similarly effusive compliments to Marisella. “Then you won’t object to my taking my nephew home anymore?”
    Garrett stiffened and the smile left his face. “I’m afraid I have to.”
    Shock sent her backward. “Why?”
    “I still have some unanswered questions, Chelsea.”
    “Your
unanswered questions don’t mean squat to me, Sheriff. We’re talking about
my
nephew here. You can’t keep him.”
    Garrett pushed a hand through his thick hair and turned to pace away from her. Then he came back again. “Will you just use your head for a minute, woman? Suppose you’re right, and this no-account your sister was with
did
kill her. Don’t you suppose he’s looking for his son about now?”
    “I’m sure of it, you big, dense
redneck.
That’s why I want to get Ethan the hell out of here.”
    “And you think this guy doesn’t know about you? You think in more than a year with him your sister never once told him about you? Legally, he could still take his son from you, Chelsea. You wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in court. Not unless you can prove your suspicions about him are true.”
    “He can’t take Ethan from me if he can’t find me,” she argued, no longer sure why she was in such a hurry to get