Free Wolf Creek Widow (Wolf Creek, Arkansas Book 4) by Penny Richards Page A

wife next to impossible. There was no Indian population from which to choose a bride, and even if any of the available ladies had appealed to him, he doubted his suit would have been acceptable.
    Then he’d seen Meg Thomerson coming out of Ellie’s Café, and as improbable as it seemed, he had known in an instant that she was the one he’d been waiting for. When he’d discovered she was already taken, he’d let a new kind of bitterness eat at him. Eventually, common sense returned and he realized that as much as he didn’t like the situation, it was time to practice what he professed to believe.
    Did he trust that God had his best interest at heart, no matter what happened? Did he truly believe that if he lived for the Lord, that everything that happened to him had a purpose and would work out the way it was supposed to? As hard as it was, with much prayer, he did his best to accept that he’d come to care for a woman he could never have.
    It was plain to see that Elton was often away doing whatever it was that he did, leaving his wife and two children to fend for themselves. Ace saw how hard Meg worked and heard through the Wolf Creek grapevine how she struggled. He’d seen her lifting heavy baskets of laundry into and out of her rickety wagon. A couple of times he’d approached with offers to help, and she’d always accepted with a sunny smile of thanks that brightened his day and cheered him until the next time he saw her.
    He was careful to not make a habit of helping her too often, or people would talk. He discovered that there were other opportunities to relieve a little of her burden as well as those of others in need, so that no one could fault him.
    He’d started leaving food of some kind for Meg and several others who struggled to make ends meet every now and then. The grapevine provided the information that she was appreciative and, like the others he helped, she wondered who her benefactor might be. Ace had been secure in his secret until the day of the showdown on the Thomersons’ front porch.
    Elton had known, or at least guessed, what Ace was doing, or he wouldn’t have made the crude comment about wondering how Meg was paying for the things he left for her and the kids when he’d dragged her out onto the porch to taunt the posse.
    Ace’s anger had flared upon hearing the insult and witnessing Elton’s treatment of her when she was already in pain, and he had foolishly taken a shot near Elton’s feet. For the space of a single breath Ace had wished he could put a bullet through Thomerson’s black heart. But the bullet that killed Elton wasn’t fired until later, and it hadn’t been meant to kill.
    Still, it was that brief moment when he’d lost control and shot into the wood of the porch that he thought about when, hours later, Elton had sneaked through the woods and taken a shot at Colt. Wanting nothing but to save his friend, Ace had returned fire and his bullet had gone awry and hit a major vessel. He’d gone over those few seconds a million times, and each and every instance his common sense told him that he had done nothing wrong. He’d saved his friend and perhaps himself.
    Contrarily, it was that moment when he’d wished Elton dead that came to mind every time he told Meg that the killing was an accident.
    Ace didn’t know how he could go on day after day, caring for her, wanting to help her. Being with her was pure torture.
    Winter couldn’t come soon enough.

Chapter Five
    I t had been a good but hard day. As Meg watched her self-appointed helpers’ wagon disappear down the road, she knew she would rest well. As weary as she was, it felt good to be doing something worthwhile. Idleness did not suit her.
    Closing the door, she turned and looked around the small room. Her kitchen was clean and the mending was done. There was nothing to do until the following morning. A wave of loneliness swept through her.
    She imagined what her evening might have been like before the incident.