Bandit's Hope Read Online Free

along to unscramble. She smiled brightly over her shoulder. "I’ve never seen him more at peace."
    The roiling fear cooled in Miss Vee’s green eyes, and her fuzzy chin rose on a sigh. "Good." She nodded firmly. "That’s good to hear." As she lumbered out of sight, her final words tumbled down the stairwell behind her. "Still, it’s a crying shame. No one on earth could tend that man better than me."

    Tiller’s body went as stiff as the pine log where he sat, and a rush of hot air fired through his nostrils. He slapped the fallen tree so hard the notched bark stung his palm. "I know you didn’t call me a coward, old friend, since that would make you a careless fool."
    He struggled to his feet and pressed his heaving chest close to Nathan, his breath coming in labored gasps. "Take it back fast, and I won’t bust your mouth."
    Before Nathan could react—or Tiller make good on his threat—the gang rode into the clearing like a raiding muster of crows, their spirited shouts and cackling laughter echoing off the trunks of the loblolly pine.
    Hade Betts, the rowdy band’s leader, slid off his saddle and gathered his reins. "McRae," he announced with a grin on his face, "you’re one talented liar, son. You had that old badger so fixed on your yarn we were cuddled in his lap before he saw us coming."
    Tiller shot Nathan one last challenge with hooded eyes and stepped away. "I’d thank you for the compliment, Hade, but I’m not sure lying is an admirable skill."
    Hade’s jowly face crinkled with glee. "Dodge the praise all you like, but I call it a gift. Your tales get taller each time I hear one. Especially when there’s a woman involved."
    The men chuckled with Hade. Climbing down from the stolen rig, a beat-up satchel under his arm, young Sonny Thompson slapped his skinny leg. "Ain’t it the truth? And this time he gave the gal"—he tipped his hat at Tiller—"excuse me, his
wife
a name."
    "Lucinda McRae, with her loving arms stretched wide and her big doe eyes filled with tears." Laughing, Hade wrapped one arm around Tiller’s shoulders and shook him. "Where
do
you get your wild imagination, boy?"
    In a flicker, Tiller was seated at Uncle Silas’s feet in a misty Scuffletown swamp, listening to stories about a ten-foot giant who picked his teeth with railroad ties and fed Carolina lawmen to gators. He shrugged away the painful memory. "Can’t say where I get my stories. I reckon they just come to me on the spot."
    Sobering, Hade wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "For a second there, you had me believing. Poor fellow, left all alone on your wedding night. I was starting to feel sorry for you." With a loud snort, he bent over howling again.
    Tiller gave in to a grin. "That’s all right, Hade. Sometimes, I believe it myself. I get to feeling a little sad when I remember I’m telling a yarn."
    Overcome by Tiller’s remark, Hade eased his broad behind onto a nearby stump, his potbelly shaking.
    Nathan sauntered over, a knowing smile on his face. "Tiller boy, I’m wondering if all your talk of marriage lately might be wishful thinking. Maybe you have it in mind to find some pretty little gal, get hitched, and settle down to a respectable life."
    A scowl erased Tiller’s grin. He shot Nathan a glare, wondering what had come over him. "What are you saying, Nate?"
    Nathan shrugged. "You’re not planning to split trails with us, are you?"
    Sonny squatted in front of Hade and laid open the satchel at his feet, delight on his rawboned face. "Don’t worry. Tiller ain’t going nowhere. Not while we’re pulling in this kind of loot."
    Grinning, Hade leaned over to pull out a double handful of bills, the bundles tied up with string. "It’s been slim pickings lately, boys, but cast your eyes on the fruit of our patience. Belly up and get your share."
    The bright-eyed gang gathered around, their faces lit with anxious greed.
    Licking his fingers, Hade counted out equal piles, the thrill in his voice building to a pitch as