The Outlaw Takes a Bride Read Online Free Page A

help the pictures forming in his mind.
    Cam walked in as he finished and was easing the ruined shirt off over Mark’s lifeless arms. He stopped in the doorway.
    “Did you milk the cow?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Good. We can have some milk with our dinner.” Cam stepped closer, frowning. “What are you doing?”
    “Dressing him nice.”
    Cam squinted at the basin of bloody water and the clean white shirt Johnny had brought over.
    “You’re going to change his clothes?”
    “Thought I would.”
    “You might want his things later on. He’s not going to care what he has on.”
    Johnny paused in his ministrations. “Cam, he’s my brother. I want to bury him nice.”
    After a moment, Cam said, “Sure. You do whatever you want. I’m gonna see if ol’ Mark had any coffee.”
    “He never liked it,” Johnny said.
    Cam grunted and moved toward the kitchen area. Johnny decided to let him worry about what food was left. All he cared about for the moment was that his brother was going to be buried in a clean shirt, with his blood washed off him.

    Sally waited until suppertime to break the news. Her stomach fluttered during the minister’s blessing over the food. Effie would complain that the vegetables were cold after the lengthy prayer, but that was hardly Sally’s fault.
    After the
amens
, the Reverend Mr. Winters reached for the meat loaf, and Effie pounced on the nappy filled with mashed potatoes. Sally had resisted the temptation to bake the potatoes, though it was much easier. Effie preferred them mashed, with plenty of butter, so Sally had taken the extra time to peel and mash them. She waited until the couple had heaped their plates and then helped herself to modest servings of meat loaf, potatoes, and squash. She doubted she would be able to eat much.
    She watched Mr. Winters take a few bites. He didn’t offer compliments, but his face relaxed into satisfied folds as he chewed the meat loaf. She had cooked it just the way he liked it, crispy around the edges, but well-done and juicy in the middle, with plenty of onions. Sally reached for her water glass and took a quick sip to moisten her dry mouth. When she set the tumbler down, it clunked on the table, earning her a scowl from Effie.
    Sally quaked inside, but she didn’t dare hold off until Mr. Winters’s plate was nearly empty. Then he would launch into a discourse on next Sunday’s sermon, or the reprobation of today’s youth, or the greedy landgrab of the Europeans, who were carving up Africa however they pleased.
    “We had a good meeting of the Ladies’ Aid,” Effie said.
    Her husband swallowed. “How many were out?”
    “Twelve. And we’ll have another quilting tomorrow evening.”
    “Good, good.”
    Effie took a bite of the meat loaf then wiped her lips with her napkin. “Mrs. Haven’s time is near. I told her I’d take a turn helping out after.”
    Cooking and keeping house for new mothers was one of the good works Effie seemed to enjoy. Sally wondered if it was because she had no children of her own. However it was, she always took a turn, and that had endeared her to some of the parishioners. Sally also volunteered for that duty, though handling the infants scraped a raw place on her heart.
    She cleared her throat and looked toward the minister, not Effie. “It seems I shall be leaving you soon, sir.”
    Both the preacher and his wife stopped chewing. Mr. Winters froze with a forkful of potatoes in midair, and Effie’s hand hovered over the salt cellar. Sally couldn’t resist a quick glance, revealing Effie’s gaping mouth.
    “Yes.” Sally decided the safest place to turn her gaze was her own plate. “I’ll be returning to Texas straightaway.”
    “To Texas?” Mr. Winters stared. “This seems rather unexpected.”
    “I’m surprised you have the means to travel,” Effie said.
    Sally took a deep breath. “As you know, I’ve been corresponding with my family and—”
    “And a man.”
    Effie made it sound tawdry, but Sally kept