“Gray, come here.”
He ignored her order, watching Bull and Nidia carefully, still using his body as a shield. Gray would be quite a man someday, but right now he was a child and he needed protection. This time, when she reached for him, she didn’t take no for an answer, just grabbed his arm and yanked with all her might. “Get back now.”
“He is drunk.”
“And I’m annoyed, which probably puts us on equal footing for doing something stupid. That being the case, there’s no reason for you to be hogging all the glory for yourself. Now, get back.”
He hesitated. Lowering her voice, Evie whispered, “If push comes to shove and we need to move fast, I’m not strong enough to carry Brenna.”
His gaze flicked to Brenna who was standing, fists clenched at her sides, tears pouring down her pale face. With a sharp nod of his head, which caused his long hair to slide over his shoulders, he stepped back, putting his arm around Brenna’s waist. One problem down, one more to go.
Bull was staring down into the depths of the cleavage Nidia so predominantly displayed.
Please God, let him want that more.
“I’m going to take the children home now,” she said with more bluster than true courage. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
Bull jerked upright. “The boy stays. He and I have something to settle.”
Nidia pouted harder. “Querido . . .”
Bull shook her off. “Shut up, whore.”
Nidia shut up. Evie didn’t have that luxury. She brushed her hands brusquely down her skirt, backing into Gray and Brenna, pushing them back with every step.
“If you feel there’s a debt owed, you can take it up with Gray’s father. I’m sure Clint would be more than happy to discuss the issue with you.”
“I do not need my father to fight my battles.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” she snapped over her shoulder. “Be quiet.”
“Listen to your momma, little boy.”
Gray predictably bristled. “She is not my mother.”
Before Bull could retort, Evie stepped in. “I’m as close as you’ve got right now, and I say you need to be more respectful to the adults around you.”
“You’ve got that right.”
Nidia huffed. “I grow weary of this arguing with children.”
The way Nidia rubbed her ample bosom against Bull’s arm and side was so blatantly erotic that Evie couldn’t look away or prevent her blush. Bull apparently wasn’t immune either, because he reached over and pinched the plump flesh. “You just hold on to your horses, woman, and I’ll be right with you.”
Nidia stomped her foot. “I have waited long enough!”
Bull snarled. “The boy cut me.”
She tossed her head, sending her curls tumbling about her face, and trailed her nail down his chest. “What is a little blood to a stallion like you?”
“It’s the principle.”
Oh good grief! Spreading her arms wide, shielding Gray and Brenna the best she could, Evie scoffed, “You are not seriously saying that you worry that not killing a child will ruin your reputation?”
Nidia snorted. “Of course he does not say something so silly, woman. Bull is a powerful man. If he lets the obnoxious child live, it is only because he is also a generous man.” Walking her fingers up his chest, brushing them over his lips, she breathed, “Especially with the woman who shares his bed, eh, my stallion?”
Evie had to suppress the urge to vomit. Bull, however, seemed to be succumbing to the distraction. The muzzle wavered as he leaned down and kissed Nidia’s pouting mouth. That being the case, she played her last card.
“I’m sure Clint would be more than happy to compensate you for your injury, Mr. Braeger. The McKinnelys are very honorable.”
They were also viciously protective when it came to their own. Tonight would not be the end of this.
“It would be wise to have the McKinnelys in your debt,” Nidia added, curving her hand around Bull’s beefy neck.
The gun lowered.
Nidia snuggled against his chest. The back of her gown plunged all the way to her waist. Bull slipped the muzzle of the gun between the dress and her skin, pressing it downward. Evie could only stare as Nidia at first flinched and then relaxed, as if having a loaded gun so intimately pressed against her was a normal thing.
“Are we all done here, mi amado? Can we get to what’s really important tonight?”
“Yeah. We’re done.” Bull yanked her close with the hand holding the gun. The sound Nidia made was not one of pleasure. “You tell McKinnely he owes me.”
“I’ll tell him.” She’d tell him all of it.
Behind her, Gray made a sound that resembled a growl. After just getting the situation settled down, she did not need him starting it up again. Glaring a warning at him over her shoulder, she snapped, “The other thing I’ll tell Mr. McKinnely is that the boy needs a trip to the woodshed.”
“More than one if you ask me.”
She hadn’t asked Bull.
“He lacks respect for his betters,” Nidia added.
He lacked common sense. “I’ll pass that along, too.”
“Good.”
She took a full breath when Bull picked Nidia up in a bear hug. “Now, honey, let’s you and me head on upstairs and see about getting to that important stuff.”
“This I look forward to.”
To Evie’s ear, Nidia’s voice sounded strained, maybe from the bear hug, maybe from something more. Though she kept telling herself that Nidia was a prostitute and one of the more notorious ones at that, Evie couldn’t imagine that she looked forward to the evening.
The door shut behind the unlikely couple, plunging the alley into darkness.
Brenna’s voice came, small and weak, out of the gloom. “Gray?”
“I’m right here.”
“You can’t do that again.”
“You took the words from my mouth,” Evie interjected, knees almost buckling with relief.
“There won’t be any need. You won’t be going back there.”
No, she wouldn’t. Evie was in agreement with that. She ushered them toward the street by way of the slivers of light pouring out between the rough slats of the saloon. “We’ll take her to her mother.”
Gray rolled his eyes toward the saloon. “Her mother is working.”
“Her mother’s a—”
“Working,” Gray finished for her.
“No, she’s not,” Brenna interjected in a wispy voice. “She said her face hurt too much.”
Evie exchanged a glance with Gray. He shrugged. Evie sighed. She would never understand why women chose prostitution for a livelihood.
“Well, then we’ll take you to where she is,” Evie said brightly.
“The door’s locked.”
“Your momma will unlock it for you.”
Brenna shook her head. Her shadow swayed. “She doesn’t have the key.”
Which meant Brenna’s mom was trapped on the wrong side of the lock. Dear God. This was more than she was equipped to handle.
“Well then, we’ll find another place for you to stay tonight.”
The little girl stumbled and moved closer to Gray. “I don’t feel good.”
Gray caught her before she could fall. Her head lolled lifelessly over his arm. Evie remembered her tiny body flying through the air and hitting the wall, the way she’d lain so still. “We’ve got to get her to Doc.”
“He’s having dinner at my house.”
Clint and Jenna lived a mile out of town. Evie spun on her heel and headed for home. “Then we need to get him here.”
Eighteen
THE STREETS WERE dark. Light from homes and businesses flowed onto the sidewalks, forming a checkered path to follow. Evie hid the now loaded gun in the folds of her skirt. Beside her, Gray carried Brenna, his moccasined feet making no noise despite the girl’s weight, leaving only Evie’s footsteps to mark their passing. A few men glanced their way. A couple stro
lling home cast them a look, but no one approached. A block from the house, Evie saw a familiar silhouette striding toward them.
“The Reverend comes,” Gray observed.
“Well, shoot.” She’d been hoping to get home and send for Doc before having to explain.
“What will you tell him?”
That it was too soon for him to be doing as much as he was. “That we went out for a stroll.”
“He won’t believe you.”
“He won’t care.” Because no matter what excuse she gave him, it wasn’t going to cut it with him.
Gray shook his head. “The Reverend is a very possessive man. Of his town, his people.” He cast her a wry glance. “His wife.”
The thrill that went through her was totally unwarranted. Women were not possessions, but watching Brad approach, shoulders back, those long legs of his eating up the distance with masculine grace and aggression, knowing that only she had the right to touch him, it didn’t seem to matter. He was hers. She was his, and it was good to know.
She went to smooth her hair and remembered the gun. Darn it. She was afraid to put it into her pocket loaded, for fear it would misfire. Afraid to hold it, for dread of having to explain. Gritting her teeth she chose the lesser of two evils. Though she managed to wedge the gun in her pocket, she couldn’t get her hand back out.
Wonderful. She only had time for three tugs before Brad got close enough that she had to stop trying. “Hi.”
Beneath the angled brim of his hat, his gaze cut between Gray and her. “What the hell happened?”
“Gray and I ran into a little trouble.”
“That I already guessed. Who’s the girl?”
“A friend,” Gray, standing in the fringe of shadow, answered, a clear challenge in his words.
Beyond the cock of an eyebrow in the boy’s direction, Brad didn’t take his gaze off her. His hand came around her waist as natural as breathing, whether out of anger or possessiveness she couldn’t tell. Her body didn’t care. Her heart did its usual funny hop at his presence and that sense of safety and comfort rolled over her.
“I think her mother works at the Emporium,” Evie explained.
“Is she hurt?”
Evie nodded, halting the progression of his hand to her hip—where the gun lay tucked—with a press of her elbow.
“I’m assuming Doc’s not in his office since you’re not heading that way?”
“He’s having dinner at my house,” Gray offered.
“Did you come in on that wild horse of yours?”
Gray nodded in the direction they were headed. “Freedom is hitched at the livery.”
Sliding his arm free, Brad reached for the girl. “Then give the child to me and ride out and get Doc.”
Gray hesitated. Evie suspected why, and it wasn’t because Brad had been so recently injured. The boy had a hard time trusting and the girl was important to him.
As if he understood, Brad’s voice softened. “I’ll keep her safe.”
That low-pitched assurance didn’t have the desired effect on Gray. Instead of handing Brenna over, he seemed to melt back into the shadows, the darkness welcoming him too easily. Evie had the strangest urge to grab him and pull him forward. To hug him.
“She can be foolish.”
Brad just held out his hands. “So can my wife, and she’s no worse for wear.”
Gray stood there, indecision and responsibility warring for dominance, finally looking like the eleven-year-old he was.
“She needs help, Gray,” Evie whispered, hoping to tip the scales.
Finally, with a nod, he handed over Brenna, his hand falling to the knife at his hip. “Know I will kill you if you hurt her.”
Instead of laughing, Brad nodded. “Fair enough. Now ride and get Doc.”
After a brief hesitation and a glance at Brenna, Gray sprinted past them toward the livery.
Brad watched him go. “The boy can run.”
“Yes he can.” Evie adjusted the little girl’s ragged skirts over her calves. “It was nice of you not to laugh.”
“At what?”
“His threat.”
Moving the little girl up onto his shoulder, Brad cut her a look. “There wasn’t anything to laugh at. The kid meant it.”
“He’s only eleven.”
“A very wild, deadly eleven. I have no doubt, if I should hurt this child, Gray would find a way to end my life.”
Evie remembered how Gray had battled Bull, especially the last maneuver in which he’d freed Brenna. And then she remembered how he had been with her, those moments of wisdom interrupted with moments of youth. “He’s still a child.”
“I know.” Brad started walking. “And he’s got a sense of honor bone deep, but that doesn’t mitigate his skills.”
She huffed. “He has skills, but me you call foolish.”
“What do you call leaving the house without an escort?”
“Fortuitous, considering what I walked into.”
She sensed that he was looking at her, but as they’d stepped out of the light she couldn’t tell. “And what exactly was that?”
“It was kind of sweet, actually.”
“Evie . . .”
She ignored the warning. “Gray was bringing little Brenna food. I think he watches out for her.”
Brad grunted and hitched the dead weight of the little girl higher in his arms. “And how did you get involved?”
“I was curious as to what Gray was up to.”
“You left the house to check on Gray?”
“No. I left the house to let Millie know I was coming back to finish my lessons.”
“Hey, I thought this morning’s eggs were almost recognizable.”
She sighed. “I’m getting tired of ‘almost.’ Not to mention hungry for good food.”
“The same way you’re tired of being in the house?”
Surprised, she looked up to find him studying her. “How’d you know?”
“Your smiles have been absent.”
They stepped into another patch of light. “I like the sunshine.”
His fingers slid down her arm, curled around her wrist, touched the butt of the revolver.
Guilt made her jump. “What are you doing?”
The hat hid his expression, but she didn’t need to see his face to know he was watching her with his eyebrow cocked and an expectation of answers. “I was going to hold your hand.”
“Oh.”
Brenna slipped to the side. He let go to shift her back up. “Why the gun?”
“You told me to keep it with me.”
“I don’t recall telling you to keep it loaded and in your pocket.”
She decided not to tell him it wasn’t loaded. “I improvised.”
Another glance at the unconscious Brenna.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, why not? It was a good evasion.”
He shook his head, a smile tugging his lips, pretty much against his will, she was sure. “I know when you’re upset, Evie.”
That was going to complicate things in the future. “I was heading over to Millie’s when I got sidetracked by Gray ducking into the alley by the saloon.”
“That distracted you?”
“Eleven-year-old boys have no business hanging around the alley of a saloon.”
This time he did smile. “I’ve got news for you, darling, there’s nothing more exciting to an eleven-year-old boy than a saloon.”
“I take it you’re an authority on the subject?”
“I did my share of doorjamb peeking.”
“Is that where you learned all your tricks?”
“Between the sheets you mean?”
“Brad!” She glanced pointedly at the child.
“Can’t say that wasn’t a good beginning. It definitely whetted my appetite for more in-depth exploration.”
She had to skip to keep up with his long strides. “It’s so hard to think of you as a preacher.”
“When it com
es to me, sweetheart, you ought to just think of me as a man first.”
Truth be told, she had a hard time thinking of him as anything else. “And forget your position in the community?”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Would that make you wilder?”
She could feel the blush creeping over her cheeks. “I don’t think it’s possible.”
His hat brim shaded his eyes. That short-brimmed black hat, that on any other man would look respectable, just enhanced Brad’s overt sexuality. “Now that, I’m going to take as a challenge.”
She tried to look upset. “Are you trying to shock me?”
“Excitement was more my aim.”
She licked her lips, and plunged forward. “Well, you’re succeeding.”
Her honesty got that half grin that so tickled her sense of adventure. “Dangerous territory, Evie darling, tempting a man after you’ve been holding him off for two weeks.”
“You were injured!”
“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t hungry.” They reached their house. He stopped her with a hand on her skirt as she got her foot on the first stair. Her eyes were level with the mischief and heat in his. The combination poured over her desire like a living flame. “Doesn’t mean I’m not fair to starving now.”
“I’m hungry, too,” a little voice added.
Brenna was awake.
“Are you now, darling?” Brad asked in that low drawl he used with all women. With the child, it didn’t hold the seductive undertones she noticed he used with women, but that didn’t reduce its mesmerizing effect on Brenna. She stared up at Brad with the same rapt fascination of all females. Still trapped under his spell, she nodded.
“Then, as soon as we get Doc to check out why you took such a long nap, we’ll see about filling up that tummy.”
“I want biscuits.”
“You’ll need something else, too.”
“I like biscuits,” she informed him in a tone that clearly said she could like him, too, if he brought her biscuits.
Brad chuckled and climbed the steps. “Is that a fact?”
Brenna nodded. “They’re my favorites in the whole world.”
“Better than apple pie?”
“I’ve never had that.”
“Apple pie is very good.”
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