Anna Finch and the Hired Gun Read Online Free

amusement showed on her father’s otherwise stoic face as he closed the space between them. “Anna, darling, when you’ve the resources of the Finch family, one can never be considered hopeless, and there are
always
choices.”
    She rose carefully and inched toward the door. “Then perhaps I choose to go up to my chambers and—”
    Papa caught her wrist and held her in place. All signs of good humor disappeared from his face. “You’ve tested me since you first learned to say the word ‘no,’ Anna.” His grip tightened just enough to get her attention. “Know with no uncertainty that you’ve tested me for the last time with today’s escapade. Now—go and change before someone other than the help sees you.”
    “Yes, Papa.” She managed to remain upright despite her once again churning stomach.
    “And rest assured you will marry, Anna Finch. And soon.” Her father released his grip but held his position. “If I choose a man who will keep you in the parlor rather than the paddock, so much the better. In fact, I think I’ll make that a requirement to gain your hand. What do you think?”
    Anna squared her shoulders and turned toward the door, feeling the eyes of her married sisters staring back from the awful portrait. As she reached the hall, Papa called after her.
    “Anna, you’ve ignored my question.”
    She froze. “I assumed it was rhetorical.” She eased around to face him. “But if you’re truly asking my opinion, I don’t think much of your requirement. As you’ve said, a Finch always has choices.” Her temper flared and her voice betrayed her. “And I choose not to marry a man for whom I have no feelings. So there’s your answer, Papa. No.”
    Papa’s chuckle held little humor. “In this you do
not
have a choice, even if you
are
a Finch.”

We never sleep.
    —
Pinkerton Detective Agency motto
May 1, 1885, Denver, Colorado
    The noon hour on the following day found Anna languishing at a table at the Windsor Hotel while Gennie, her lunch date, was nowhere to be found. Used to Gennie’s penchant for adventure and late arrivals, Anna had brought ample reading material to keep her occupied.
    While a perfectly nice table near the window sat unoccupied, the awful waiter—barely old enough to shave—had seated her in the middle of the dining room filled with people who might listen to her conversations and report back to her father. To make things worse, the heating system and overcrowded nature of the room had raised the temperature far above comfortable levels. Anna dabbed at her brow with her handkerchief.
    As she picked up that day’s copy of the
Rocky Mountain News
, she noticed a tall man enter the dining room with a lovely dark-haired woman in a fashionable hat. Something in the older man’s face seemed familiar. But from where? Perhaps he reminded her of a character in one of her novels. That happened sometimes. Anna wouldswear she knew a person only to realize afterward she’d instead written about someone similar.
    The couple’s progress across the packed room brought them past Anna’s table, where she heard the woman say, “Really, dear, perhaps this isn’t such a good idea. Look at the crowd.”
    “The crowd’s exactly why it’s a good idea. We won’t stick out like sore thumbs,” the deep-voiced man replied. The clatter and chatter of the room rose to drown out any further comment.
    From the corner of her eye, Anna watched the waiter gesture to the table she had begged for, the one set squarely before the windows of the hotel’s main facade. While the lady seemed pleased, her companion shook his head and argued with the waiter.
    Interesting
.
    Anna let the paper slide from her fingers, stood, and moved toward the trio with a smile. “Perhaps you’d like my table.”
    The gentleman smiled. “Thank you, miss, but we couldn’t possibly intrude on—”
    “Oh, it’s no intrusion at all. I can easily move my things to this table.” She noted the waiter’s