Arizona Embrace Read Online Free Page B

enough around here,” Buc sputtered. “And they’ll be a whole lot more pleasant after you’re gone.”
    “Maybe for you, but not for me. I’m not looking forward to the long ride through the desert. You want to go with me, ma’am? Sure would help to while away the hot afternoons. They say Los Angeles is making up into a right fair town. Of course it don’t compare to San Francisco, but I’d take you there, too, if you wanted.”
    “Victoria doesn’t want to go to California, and certainly not with the likes of you,” Buc exploded before Victoria could respond.
    “It’s a good thing I don’t take that as a personal insult,” Trinity observed, sounding too amiable to get insulted about anything.
    “I meant it personal. Now if you want this job, you’d better shake a leg. And forget you ever found your way into this kitchen. Hands don’t eat up at the house”
    There’s no one but you in the bunkhouse just now,” Victoria objected, “and you eat with us. You can’t expect him to eat alone”
    “Somebody’ll be back in a couple of days,” Buc said.
    “I won’t mind,” Trinity said, “as long I can come up for a piece of pie now and again.”
    “You’ll eat with us,” Grant Davidge said.
    Buc didn’t like it, but Grant’s decision put an end to the discussion.
    “I’m heading over to the bunkhouse,” Buc said to Trinity. “I’ll settle you in.”
    “No need to be in such a hurry,” Grant said. “You can take him over after dinner. I want to talk to him.” Buc seemed reluctant to leave. “He’s got to know sooner or later.”
    “Can you trust him?” Buc asked, casting Trinity an angry glance.
    “It’s not much of a secret. Half of Texas knows already”
    “Still, I don’t think—”
    “You can go on. I"ll take care of it.”
    Buc leaned against the wall, his frown of disapproval deepening into a scowl. “I’ll wait.”
    “Buc doesn’t dislike you,” Grant assured Trinity. “He’s just worried every man who sets foot in this valley is after Victoria.”
    Trinity tried to look surprised and mystified in turn. Fortunately, Grant didn’t seem much interested in his facial expression.
    “Five years ago somebody killed Victoria’s husband,” Grant explained. “Nobody could find out who did it so they tried to put the blame on Victoria. By the time I got there, they had set the date for a trial and picked the jury. They had also made plans to hang her at the end of the week. The scaffold was already going up. Can you imagine any man meaning to hang a lovely, innocent young woman like Victoria?”
    It took no special intuition to see Grant believed implicitly in his niece’s innocence. The man actually vibrated with the fury inside him.
    The judge wouldn’t listen to a word I said. He was Victoria’s father-in-law, you see, and he was all eaten up with grief. Jeb was his only boy. I don’t think he would have managed to hold up at all if it hadn’t been for his wife. Victoria didn’t much like her stepmother-in-law, but Myra Blazer is a remarkable woman. Quite handsome, too.” Grant looked embarrassed to have ventured so far from the topic. He cleared his throat.
    “I intended to appeal to the governor, but Judge Blazer held the trial early. The jury never even left the room.”
    “What did you do?”
    “Buc came up with a plan to break her out of jail. Worked like a charm. Not a single shot fired and nobody hurt. We were halfway across Texas before they even knew Victoria was gone.”
    “Is she safe here? Maybe you ought to take her to California.”
    “As long as she’s not in the states, they can’t touch her. The territorial governor is a personal friend of mine. Besides, he wouldn’t send Victoria back. He doesn’t believe in hanging women.”
    “Not even the ones who’re guilty?”
    Trinity hadn’t meant to say anything, but he couldn’t restrain himself. Grant’s words had scraped against old wounds. Even after all these years, just remembering