Free Dangerous Men (Flynn Family Saga Book 2) by Erica Graham Page A

like the color of his eyes.  "The hopes and fears of all the
years are met in Thee tonight."  Their voices blended easily.  She longed
to tell him how she felt, but she was afraid, afraid that he would laugh at
her.
    Kate continued to play until midnight.  Then, she yawned.
    Sam touched her shoulder lightly. 
“You must be exhausted.”
    Smiling, Kate nodded.  She stood up
and started toward the door.
    Maggie crossed the room.  She
hugged Sam and kissed Kate on the cheek.  “Good night.”
    “Good night, sweetheart.”  Kate
patted her hand.
    Frank stood up.  “Don’t I get a
hug, too?”
    Laughing, Maggie hugged him.
    Grinning, Flynn stepped into the
doorway, blocking Maggie’s escape.  “What about me?”
    Maggie’s face reddened.  Then,
grinning, she held out her hand.
    Not to be outdone, Flynn took her
hand, bent over it and kissed it.  The top of her hand was soft and smelled
faintly of lavender.  His grin faded.  He thought of the hours she must have
spent copying the maps in secret while he slept, and some of the aching
loneliness he always carried around with him eased a little.  “Maggie, that’s
about the nicest present anyone ever gave me.” 
    Maggie stared at him, like a bird
staring at a snake.  “So was yours.”
    He stood for a long time, holding
her hand, watching the emotions flit across her face like the shadows of clouds
on the prairie.  Then, he grinned.  “Good night, O’Brien.”
    She grinned back.  “Good night,
Flynn.”  She pulled her hand free of his grasp and ran up the stairs.
    Flynn stayed at Kate's house, which
was unusual for him.  He usually went back to his cabin right after Christmas,
but despite the pall of gloom over the house, Flynn was happy.  Every morning,
he and Maggie rode out in the crisp winter air.  They talked about everything
and nothing, sometimes just riding side by side in companionable silence.
    And his love for her grew and
deepened.
    Then, Richard Hamilton’s trial
began.
    The night, Flynn dreamed of Jennie. 
She sat on her white mare with her hands tied together.  Her face was bruised
and bloody.  Nick Vaughn raised his hand and struck the mare's rump.
    Flynn woke with a gasp.  It was all
he could do to keep from packing his saddlebags and riding back to his cabin.
    But he couldn't desert Kate
Hamilton.
    And he especially couldn't desert
Maggie.
    But his hands shook as he pulled on
his black trousers and white shirt.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    On the day after New Year's, Maggie
accompanied Kate and the others to the courthouse.  She sat on one side of
Kate, and Sam sat on the other.  Frank and Flynn sat behind them.
    As Maggie listened to the testimony
of the witnesses, the knot in her stomach tightened.  Jasper Williams did his
best, but too many people had seen Richard Hamilton kill Jimmy Fagin.
    Finally, Jasper Williams sat down.
    Maggie and Sam led Kate out of the
courtroom.  Kate’s hands were cold, and she trembled.
    Maggie took her back to the
boarding house and made a pot of tea.  She poured the tea into one of Kate’s
hand-painted teacups.  She put two lumps of sugar into the cup and
stirred it.  Sam handed Kate the cup, and she drank it without complaint.  She
had barely finished the tea, when Frank came to the kitchen door.  "The
jury’s back!”
    Kate shut her eyes.  She opened
them and stood up stiffly.  They all walked back to the courthouse.
     “Gentlemen of the jury, have you
reached a verdict?”  The judge regarded the twelve men solemnly.
    Mr. Grover, the owner of the
general store, nodded.  “We have your honor.  We find the defendant guilty.”
    Richard struggled against the
deputies as they dragged him from the courtroom.
    Kate bowed her head.  Slowly, she
raised her head again and stood up.  Her knees buckled.  Maggie grabbed one
arm, and Sam grasped the other.  Together, they helped her from the room.  When
they reached the boarding house, Kate walked into her room and shut the