Free A Family for the Holidays by Sherri Shackelford

know.” Lily scowled. “I forgot about the bullets. I didn’t think having a loaded gun around the children was very safe.”
    â€œIt’s not much of a defense either.” While he was grateful she’d relinquished the weapon, he wasn’t finished with his lecture. Lily holding a gun was about as natural as a peacock in a rowboat and just as precarious. “You and I need to have a long and detailed conversation about personal safety and protection.”
    â€œUntil then—” she looked him up and down, as though measuring the strength of his resolve “—you may assume the responsibility for the gun.”
    Lily Winter took too much for granted. She was far too trusting. What if he was actually an outlaw? What then? She’d just handed a gun to someone she thought was a killer for hire. He could easily shoot her. If he had the bullets, and if the gun’s workings weren’t rusted with age. But that wasn’t the point.
    â€œThe gun is mine,” he said. “For now. And we’re not associating. I haven’t agreed to anything.”
    She reached for the weapon and he yanked it out of reach.
    â€œYou’re stealing my gun?” she cried. “That’s some gratitude for breaking you of jail.”
    â€œI didn’t ask for your help.”
    Her expression turned wintry. “I’ll pay you.”
    â€œHow much?”
    â€œFifty dollars.”
    â€œNot enough.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You never intended to accept!”
    â€œI needed to know how much you could afford.”
    With an abundance of caution, Sheriff Koepke had barred all the windows in the cramped space. Sunlight persevered, casting blocks of shadows on the floor, illuminating Lily’s expressive face. He shouldn’t goad her, but there was something magnificent about how the sliver of light piercing the barred window lit her blue eyes.
    The color reminded him of the feathers on the crown of a barn swallow. The kind of blue that brought to mind the endless summer days of his youth. When he and his brothers had slipped away from their chores and splashed in the stream behind the old barn—before their mother’s death. He’d felt as though his life had been cleaved in two, and everything before her death had dropped into oblivion. He’d thought those memories had vanished from his consciousness, but for some inexplicable reason, Lily and her charges had inspired their reappearance.
    The door swung open, snapping him back to the present.
    Sam and Peter scuttled inside. They were bundled head to toe against the cold, wrapped like colorful mummies.
    The older boy, Sam, tucked his hands in his armpits and shivered. “I don’t think he saw us.”
    Peter slammed the door and leaned against the wood panel. “He’s coming!”
    â€œWhy aren’t you at the hotel?” Lily rushed to meet them. “How did you find me?”
    â€œI didn’t figure you’d take a gun to the mercantile,” Peter replied. “We watched you from the window on the landing.”
    Sam released his fingers from the warmth of his armpits, skipped past Jake and stuck his face through the bars. “How come the gunfighter isn’t in there? I thought you said he was in jail.”
    Peter joined his brother. “Do you think a killer carved his initials in the bricks? Do you think there’s ever been a hanging in Frozen Oaks? Do you think there’s ever been a jail bust? Do you think Billy the Kid was ever locked up in here?”
    â€œEnough of that morbid talk!” Lily snatched the boy’s arm and dragged him back a pace. “You can’t be here. We mustn’t arouse suspicion.”
    â€œBut it’s Sherriff Koepke.” Peter grasped his brother’s other arm, putting the boy in an odd tug of war. “He’s coming.”
    Jake stilled. “No games. Did you actually see the