Free The Bounty Hunter's Bride by Victoria Bylin Page A

harder with things unsaid.”
    Dani’s heart ached. “You understand.”
    “I do.”
    She didn’t want any deception between them. “Adie told me about your wife. I’m sorry for your loss.”
    He gave a curt nod. “It was a long time ago.”
    “But you still miss her.”
    “Of course.”
    Dani didn’t want to bring up painful memories, but she had to put the girls first. “I don’t mean to pry, Mr. Morgan. But the Blues told me about Clay Johnson.”
    “What about him?”
    “Are the girls in danger?”
    “That’s my concern.” He put his Stetson back on his head and pulled it low. The sun lit up half his face, leaving the other side in the shadow of the brim. In a cemetery, the gesture smacked of disrespect.
    Dani stood up from the bench and faced him. “The girls are my concern, too. The Blues are willing to take us in. I think that would be wise.”
    “You’re free to accept,” he said. “But the girls are staying with me.”
    “If there’s danger—”
    “There’s always danger.”
    Bitterness spilled from his skin. Dani couldn’t stand the thought of leaving the girls in his care. She looked him hard in the eye. “I have to know, Mr. Morgan. Is it safe to be around you?”
    As soon as Dani said the words, she regretted them. His wife had taken a bullet meant for him. Being around Beau Morgan wasn’t safe at all.
    He sneered at her. “Let’s put it this way. It’s as safe to be around me as it is to be on a horse in a thunderstorm.”
    Dani blinked and recalled the charred pine. This morning she’d expected Patrick to greet her train. Now she was at the mercy of this bitter man. If he wouldn’t let the girls stay with the Blues, Dani would have to stay with them. “You have a point,” she said mildly. “We’ll be fine on the farm.”
    The man rocked back on his heels. “I won’t be needing your help after all. The situation’s changed.”
    Dani stiffened. “How so?”
    “Scott’s located another relative, a great-aunt in Minnesota.”
    He told her about Harriet Lange’s offer to take Emma, his concern about the woman’s finances and his offer to provide a monthly allowance if she’d take all three girls. Dani searched her memory, but Patrick had written nothing about the girls’ grandparents or cousins. She had asked about Elizabeth’s family, but he’d ignored her question. She’d figured his first marriage was too personal to share in writing and hadn’t pushed.
    Beau Morgan shifted his weight. His gun belt creaked. “If things go as I expect, the girls will be leaving for Minnesota in a week or two.”
    “You can’t do that!” Dani cried.
    “Yes, I can.”
    “But this is their home!”
    He said nothing.
    She gestured to the town. “The girls have friends here, people who know them.”
    “It’s for the best.”
    “Who says?”
    “I do.” He sounded kind. The tone threw Dani off balance, so did the regret in his eyes. “If I could, I’d bring Patrick back to life. I’d do a lot of things, Miss Baxter. But I don’t have that power. If Harriet Lange’s willing to raise my nieces, I’m going to let her.”
    Dani felt close to panic. “Let me do it.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    His brow furrowed with impatience. “Where would you live?”
    “On the farm, of course.”
    “I mean no disrespect, Miss Baxter. But do you have any idea how much work it is to run a dairy?”
    If a man could be judged by his hands, so could a woman. Dani tugged off her gloves a finger at a time. She put them in her pocket, then held out her hands palm up. “What do you see, Mr. Morgan?”
    His eyes softened. “Calluses.”
    “What else?”
    “You’ve got long fingers.”
    “Would you care to guess how many times I’ve milked a cow?”
    “Quite a few.”
    Dani lowered her hands. “My father owned the biggest dairy in Walker County. He grew it from five cows to fifty. I know the business and I’m not afraid of hard work. We’d have to hire help for the busy times,