He glanced around, scanning the open area and the hills on either side. He laughed. “There’s the problem. You can’t find a man.”
“No. Not many men in town want anything to do with the McKenzie sisters.”
“Why not?” he asked, noticing that the clouds were starting to build in the west like a dust storm from a raging herd of runaway cattle. They were white, but almost churning like boiling water in the sky. Springtime in Texas. Cold one minute, warm the next with raging storms between.
“Now you’re asking a lot of questions.”
He smiled and glanced around the countryside looking for anything that moved or a farmhouse. Leaving her behind with a farmer would be safer for him and for her. But he hadn’t seen a farm yet.
She sighed. “We’re not exactly the prim and proper, mild-mannered women that most men are seeking. Meg has worn pants all her life, though she can turn burlap into a ball gown. And then there’s Ruby. Wild, wicked and spontaneous. Since she almost killed that Clay Mullins kid, no man has come near her. I think she prefers it that way. I worry about her. She’s no longer an innocent, doe-eyed young woman. And she takes way too many risks.”
Inside he was trying not laugh. The descriptions of her sisters would send any man running. A house filled with strong-headed, beautiful women if they looked like her, and three sassy mouths. A smart man would run in the opposite direction. No wonder she’d been unable to find a man to marry her.
“It’s probably better that Ruby has toughened up. Especially if she’s out chasing men wanted by the law,” he said, wondering about the sisters. He’d heard rumors that there were women collecting bounties, but he’d blown the gossip off as dime-novel fiction. Maybe it was true.
“Yeah, anyway, the town has no respect for three women who don’t follow the rules.”
He nodded his head, a smile spread across his face. “What about you? You didn’t describe your part in gaining a reputation. What did you do?”
For a moment, he watched as she considered his question. “Nothing. I’m probably the tamest of my sisters--or at least I was until this trip.”
Oh no, he wasn’t buying that. If she was considered mild mannered or meek next to her sisters, then Lord help any man who tangled with these she-wolves.
“I think you outdid yourself this time. What were you thinking coming after a known criminal? What if I was a killer? I could have murdered you and left you for dead.”
“Hey, I’m not that easy to take on,” she said, her voice rising petulantly.
“Sugar, you weren’t too hard to sneak up on either, were you.”
She drew herself up in the saddle, her eyes flashing with enough spark and sizzle to set the woods on fire. “Look, I may not be as savvy as my sisters when it comes to this bounty hunting business, but I knew how to handle men in the restaurant. They thought I was one of the side dishes and some of them went away wearing their dinner.”
The image of Annabelle dumping a plate full of food on some poor fool was enough to make him smile. He’d have to be careful around food with her. Wearing his dinner would make him a little perturbed with the beauty.
Annabelle turned in her saddle and stared at him, her voice rising with emotion. “I just want to help my sisters. And I wanted to get away from watching the grass grow for awhile. Do you know what’s it like to be alone day in and day out? It gets boring. I found myself talking to the chickens. The chickens,” she said with emphasis.
He laughed.
“I know. When I spend weeks out on the trail, looking for a man, it can get pretty darn lonesome. You’re glad to reach a town and get to talk to people again, until they learn who you are.”
The trail was a lonely place. Even though he enjoyed tracking, it got old. Real old. Especially when the weather turned bad, like now. A storm was brewing.
She stared at him her gaze questioning. “What man were you looking for?”
He realized he’d told her more information than he wanted her to know. “Occasionally, I’ll do a job for the gang and hunt a man. Especially if he owes money. I find him and collect.”
A frown flitted across her face and she shook her head. “Liar. I think they’d want you to kill him.”
The woman was too damn perceptive. She was a nice little filly that he wouldn’t mind taking to the pasture for a tryout. But dang it, no one had accused Beauregard Samuel of killing men without them taking it to the street.”
“No, I’ve never killed a man in cold blood. Never.” That was something he wouldn’t lie to her about. He wanted her to feel safe, not just safe enough to stay.
Dark angry clouds rolled against the sky as the sun disappeared. Springtime in Texas meant rain, thunder and often high winds. Looked like they were soon to learn what the elements had in store for them.
“I think it’s going to rain.” She sent a worried glance at the sky.
“Let’s see if we can find a place to get out of the weather. There are some caves in this area. Be on the lookout,” he said, knowing he’d hidden in one in this area before. Knowing they needed to find someplace to get out of the weather.
“Caves?”
“Yeah, we can build a fire and stay nice and dry tonight.” Maybe she’d even let him share the blanket with her.
“What about bats?” she asked, her blue eyes wide with fear.
“What about them?” he asked.
“Won’t they be in the caves?”
“Yes, but they won’t bother us as long as we leave them be.”
She shivered. “They have weird eyes. They have bugs and diseases.”
Finally, he’d found something that the woman feared. Finally.
“Just ignore them.”
Thunder rumbled low and distant. Reminding them they were running out of time.
“Bats are creepy,” she said, glancing around the countryside. “Wish I was back home in Zenith.”
Me too, Beau thought. Annabelle McKenzie was an interesting woman who could get under his skin way too easy. Her tough spirit was fun to rouse. He wondered how her full lips would taste and feel like beneath his. He needed to leave her behind at a farmhouse quick, before she reminded him of the life he’d given up.
Chapter 3
Ruby wanted to pace the small house, but the weather was changing and her ankle had swollen again. Over a month had passed since the accident that took her off the trail of Simon Trudeau and locked her inside this house with Annabelle. Until she and Anabelle had gone after Meg.
Annabelle had never been on a hunt before and for the first time in her life, she’d experienced the thrill of the chase.
Now Meg had disappeared while Ruby had been in the barn and Annabelle hadn’t come home from town yesterday. She was worried sick that something had happened to both her sisters, though they were quite capable of defending themselves. Knowing Annabelle, anyone who messed with her would be so full of holes he wouldn’t even float in brine. Yet, Ruby would have ridden to town after her if she weren't sitting here waiting on Meg.
“Where is everyone? I walk out to the barn and everyone disappears,” she said out loud to herself.
Tomorrow morning, she would saddle up her Mustang and ride to town. For both women to be missing, worried her.
And of all the lousy luck, her ankle was choosing this moment to swell up fatter than a Christmas Hen.
She was ready to get back to doing what she loved. Bounty hunting. Catching bad men and bringing them to justice. She was ready to ride the trail again.
The door swung open and Meg walked in grinning like a possum eating a yellow jacket, her cheeks blushing and green eyes bright and shiny.
“Where have you been?” Ruby said, trying to stand, so put out with her sister that she wanted to whack her upside the head.
Zach Gillespie walked in behind her, his lips stretched across his face like he’d won the grand prize at the county fair. Oh God!
“What’s going on?” Ruby asked, a suspicious feeling skittering down her spi
ne. “Last I saw you, Meg, you were ready to tie him to the hanging tree.”
“Now, Ruby, we were both mad.” Meg glanced at the tall, dark-haired man with earthy brown eyes, her cheeks blushing.
Her tall red-haired sister never blushed. Never.
Her mouth was red and swollen like she’d been kissing, but Meg also liked to put a little paint on her lips to give them that rich color.
“We’ve worked out our differences. Where’s Annabelle? We want to tell you both the news at the same time?”
“Oh God. I can already see what’s coming.” Ruby shook her head. “I thought Annabelle was with you. She’s not come home since yesterday. She rode out going to the bank and then you disappeared. I’ve been sitting here worried sick about both of you, wondering when you were going to come home.”
Meg frowned and stared at Zach, her green eyes suddenly anxious. “We haven’t seen her. We…we went to see the Reverendand then straight to the hotel.”
Ruby shook her head, knowing without being told what going to the reverends had entailed.
“You married him.”
A smile crossed Meg’s face and she placed her arm inside Zach’s. “Yes, we got married.”
Zach grinned like a jackass eating cactus. He wrapped his arms around her sister, holding her tight. “Once she agreed, I wasn’t letting her out of my sight again. Nothing was going to stop us from finding the sin-buster and saying I do.”
Meg stared all doe-eyed at the sheriff like he’d sprouted a halo. “And he rented us a place in town where I can have my dress shop downstairs and we can live above.”
Ruby frowned as a trickle of unease wound its way up her spine like a spider spinning a sticky web. “That’s great. But what about Lipstick and Lead? How are we going to pay off the bank note?”
Ruby wasn’t ready to sit at home on the farm. She enjoyed being a bounty hunter and she’d take this life over being a maid or housekeeper any day.
“Once I get the dress shop going, we won’t need Lipstick and Lead any longer. You girls can work the farm, I’ll run my dress shop and Zach will be the sheriff.”
Meg was fulfilling her dream and Ruby was happy for her, but that wasn’t her dream. She liked her new life and she wasn’t going back to the old one.
“No. You don’t get it. I like being a bounty hunter. I like chasing bad guys and hunting down criminals. I don’t want to do farm work. I hate those damn chickens with a passion.”
Meg’s eyes raised. “Ruby. Enough.”
They’d had this argument several days ago and Meg hadn’t understood then and apparently she still didn’t. Ruby wasn’t giving up bounty hunting.
“Let’s find out what’s happened to Annabelle. Surely she just got stuck in town and she’ll be home tomorrow morning.”
“She hasn’t been home for two days now. Something’s wrong,” Ruby said.
“Maybe she went to see Caroline. Maybe she needed some time away,” Meg said, a worried tone in her voice.
Ruby shook her head. “That’s not like her. She would have come home to tell us.”
“You’re right, Ruby,” Zach replied. “It’s not like Annabelle not to come home.”
Meg sighed and glanced out the window of the farmhouse. “It’s getting late and we couldn’t see a trail if we wanted to. Let’s leave at first light and go into town. If we don’t find Annabelle, we’ll start searching for her right away.”
Ruby nodded, knowing that had been her plan all along. She’d give Annabelle until in the morning to get home and then she was out searching everywhere for her. “I’ll get Caroline to watch the farm while we’re gone.”
“Hopefully, Annabelle’s in town or with Caroline,” Meg said, her tone sounding wistful.
Annabelle was the most logical, considerate one of the group. She would have contacted them unless something had happened and she’d been unable to. Maybe she was hurt or maybe… God, your mind could go a thousand different directions and none of them good.
“You know she’d have let us know somehow if she were staying with Caroline. She would have ridden back here and told us. Though she does deserve a few days away from this place. I can’t imagine sitting here every day waiting for someone to arrive,” Ruby said, trying to quiet her mind from all the scenarios that frightened her. She was worried. Annabelle was the home body. The dependable sister.
“I’m sorry, Ruby. I’m very worried about Annabelle. It’s just that I’m so happy right now and I wanted the two of you to share our joy.”
Ruby stood and walked over to her sister. She hugged Meg. “I’m happy for you, sis, I really am. And I know you’re going to keep him in line.”
Zach frowned at her. “Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to keep her from getting into trouble.”
Ruby laughed, released Meg and then hugged Zach. “Welcome to the family, brother. Just let me warn you. You hurt my sister and I will fill you so full of lead that you can’t walk uphill.”
Zach leaned back and smiled at Ruby. “Whose going to protect me from the likes of you girls? I think I’m the one that’s in trouble here. Three women and one man. Would you get busy and find a husband, so that I don’t have to bear all the heat?”
She turned loose of his arms and stepped back. “You’re going to fit in here real fine. I only hope that nothing has happened to Annabelle. I’m worried sick about her.”
“We’ll find her in the morning,” he promised.
Meg lay in the arms of her new husband in her parent's old bed. It felt awkward with a man once again in the house, but there hadn’t been time for them to move her things to their new place. And she still worried about her sisters.
The time had come for her to let them go and begin her own life, but it was harder than she thought. Especially with Annabelle missing. What if something had happened to her sister?
“Do you think Annabelle’s okay?” Meg asked her husband, enjoying the feel of his warm naked chest.
“I don’t know. When I left the jail to find you, there was nothing going on in town that I knew of. No known wanted criminals roaming the area.”
“Thanks for putting our plans on hold while we find Annabelle,” she said, kissing his chest, letting her tongue slid around his nipple.
He rolled her onto her back and slid his body down hers. She loved the feel of him on top of her, skin to skin, chest to chest, abdomen to… Oh God, she loved the feel of her big, strong man.
“We’ll find her tomorrow, she’ll be fine, you’ll see. We’ll give her the news and then we’ll be able to set up our home.”
She sighed as warmth mingled with love crested in her chest to overflowing. “Our home. I love that sound. ”
He chuckled. “I love what you’re doing to me.”
Meg batted her eyelashes at him, like she’d seen Ruby do to countless men. “Whatever am I doing to you?”
He growled deep and low in his throat. “You know exactly what you’re doing. And it’s working.”
She giggled. “Well then, Cowboy, I guess you better get busy.”
“With pleasure, love.”
Annabelle had never been more miserable in her life. The sky had opened up, drenching them with a cold, wet rain that felt like arrows piercing her skin in the strong wind. Water dripped from her clothing, her skin, her eyelids, even her nose, and the weather showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Lightning flashed like daggers being thrown from the sky and thunder clapped like a stampede of cattle. And yet they rode on. Slower due to the slippery rocks and the sucking mud.
“We’re close,” Beau called back to her.
She didn’t say anything and he turned to gaze at her. She gave him a thumbs up signal, as her teeth chattered from the cold.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yessss,” she said, her teeth clicking together, her lips numb.
He shook his head and ten minutes later, she saw an opening in the side of the hill. A small cavity with bushes surrounding the opening that would only accom
modate them, not their horses. That had bats. Small, creepy stinking, pooping, lice-ridden bats that made her skin shudder worse than the chills she was feeling at this moment.
A warm fire and a place out of the wind and rain would feel great right now and she’d pick the cave over the elements, but that didn’t mean she had to like bats. No sir, she would tolerate them, but that was all.
When they halted their horses, Beau came over and helped her alight. They were both sodden to the skin and her skirts made dismounting difficult. “What happened to the farm house you were going to drop me at?”
“Haven’t seen one. I thought for sure there would be one before now. Guess, you’ll just have to stay the night again.”
She frowned at him. “I’m not going in that cave alone. You go first.”
A grin spread across his face. “You were all tough before. What happened?”
“I let the weaker and dumber go first.”
He shook his head. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
“It’s raining out here. Do you think we could possibly get out of the cold before we get struck by lightning?”
As if to concur with her, a big clap of thunder rumbled through the valley.
“Maybe so,” he said and led the way into the rock shelter. “Watch for snakes or wolves or mountain lions.”
“Oh, that’s comforting.”
She stood behind him, thinking if there was anything in there, they would eat him first. By the time they got around to her, she’d be halfway back to Zenith.
“Look someone left firewood. We can start a fire.”
“Good, I’m freezing.”
He took another step into the darkness and glanced around. “Anybody in here?”
“Oh, I’m sure a big old mountain lion is going to answer you back and say no, I’ve left town.”
He laughed. “Maybe not, but if he were in there, I bet I’d hear a growl or rumble or something to warn me away. I’d rather know now before I get a fire built and we get all cozy.”
“True,” she said, peering into the darkness wishing she could see past the entranceway.
Lipstick and Lead Series: The Complete Box Set With a Bonus Book Page 37
