Shotgun Bride Read Online Free

said.
    "Then don't go home. You can sleep here."
    "Really?" The hope in Bug's young voice was clearly evident. The youngest of the five brothers, had turned sixteen this past spring. Of all his brothers, Skeeter, Snake, Hog, and Bug, Bug was his favorite. The one he held the most hope in becoming a man, making a go at life.
    Skeeter's leg shot out and kicked Bug in the shin. "No, we can't spend the night. Ma needs you now, Kid." In one swift movement, he stepped forward and grabbed Skeeter's skinny shoulder. Sammy shot out the door. His bared teeth came within inches of Skeeter's leg as another deep growl emitted. Kid ignored the dog and gave Skeeter's arm a hard squeeze. "I've told you before, Bug's not a punching bag for you. Keep your hands and feet off him." Skeeter backed away from both Kid and Sammy, stopping before he slipped off the porch stairs. "S-sorry, Kid. I-I ain't hit him for a long time." He shook his head and pointed to Bug. "Ask him. Bug, tell Kid I haven't hurt ya lately. Tell him I've been nice." His voice sounded like a screeching fiddle.
    "He's telling the truth, Kid. He ain't hurt me none since you told him to quit picking on me," Bug said. Kid rubbed the back of his neck. Sammy growled again, and Skeeter's shivering increased. He was too tired to put up with his brothers and mother tonight. Whatever she needed would have to wait until morning. It couldn't be too important anyway, nothing ever was.
    26
    Shotgun Bride [The Quinter Brides Book One]
    by Lauri Robinson
    Stephanie Quinter was a rough, but simple woman. Try as he might, he couldn't refine her. Couldn't make her see there was more to life than living in a shanty and raising a crude crop of grain every year, just as he'd never been able to convince his father of anything different. Twelve years ago, on his sixteenth birthday, he'd left home to claim his own lot of land. In reality, Kid hadn't gone far, just a few miles to the plot next to his folks, where he built a soddy. But in his mind, he'd traveled to the other side of the universe and began to study up on owning cattle. Two years later, when the cattle drives started to roll into Dodge from all directions, he'd been ready to buy the leftovers, the cattle too puny to sell to the stockyards, as well as the pregnant and young ones. Then in the winter, when the prices were high, and the inventory low, he sold them to the yards himself. By then he'd nurtured them into top of the line cattle. The Triple Bar Ranch now had a good base of breeding stock, a fine house, two barns, and several outbuildings. His dream of being a cattle baron was so close to becoming a reality, he could almost claim it. Low growls pulled his mind back to the porch. Kid slapped his thigh, when Sammy looked his way, he pointed to the open doorway. The dog's tail fell between his back legs and with his head hanging low, he ambled into the house. Sammy's action made a twinge of guilt creep across his chest. He didn't want the dog to think he was in trouble, but he couldn't talk to his brothers with the constant barking and growling. "Good dog," he said as he closed the door behind the lab.
    27
    Shotgun Bride [The Quinter Brides Book One]
    by Lauri Robinson
    He turned to his brothers in time to catch a glimpse of a flat board swinging through the air. Kid ducked, but it was too late. Pain exploded across the side of the head. "Shit!" he exclaimed the moment before everything went black.
    * * * *
    The storm had grown. The way the wind and rain beat against the outside of the wooden shelter made Jessie wonder if the shanty would withhold the weather. Lightning regularly lit the windows, simultaneously thunder made the glass pane shake. The constant booming and rattling made her head hurt even more. Anger and disbelief had triggered the blood pounding in her temples to grow into deep, throbbing pains. Her protests of becoming anyone's wife had fallen on deaf ears. The other two Quinter brothers, Snake and Hog, had returned