Emmy (Gold Rush Brides Book 2) Read Free Page A

in New York was over and this was her best, quickest path to freedom, and she wasn’t ashamed of taking it. She just didn’t see any reason to advertise it.
    But now, staring into the depths of Sheriff Wilder’s dark brown eyes, she questioned her choice for the first time. He was looking at her with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment and it made her wonder if she’d made a hasty decision in the face of adversity.  
    “What on earth…?” he wondered aloud.
    No! She would not allow him to second-guess the course she chose for her life. Who was he to judge her anyway? Only some uneducated hick pretending to be the law in a town full of lawlessness. Her resolve strengthened, she cast her most withering look at him.
    “I was in an untenable situation in New York and stumbled across a newspaper called The Nuptial News . It was the answer to my prayers. I responded to an advertisement written by a wonderful man out west. During the course of our correspondence, he proposed and I accepted. We are to be wed tomorrow, as I believe I have mentioned.”
    Her tone left no doubt her decision was final, and that she was quite happy about it. The sheriff scratched his disgracefully shaggy brown hair and shrugged.
    “And your friends?”
    “Jack and Dell Dalton. They’re the proprietors of the newspaper in question. It’s become quite popular, not only with miners but with ladies back east. I’m really quite surprised you’ve never heard of it.”
    She glanced pointedly at his ringless left hand and returned his raised eyebrow. “I have a copy of the latest issue in my trunk, if you’re in the market for a wife, Sheriff.”
    His eyes narrowed and his mouth set into a grimace. He was clearly not amused. She thought she saw something else there, too. Pain, perhaps? But it was gone so quickly she might have easily imagined it. Why was he so hard to read? Most men were quite easy to figure out.
    Standing, the sheriff cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry your arrival in Nevada County was spoiled by this robbery. I truly hope it doesn’t tarnish your opinion of our otherwise beautiful home. You’re free to go about your business. My deputy and I will do everything we can to get your property back, but with such a cold trail, I don’t hold out much hope.”
    Everyone turned to glare at Emmy one last time as they pushed past her to get to the door. When they were all gone, she turned to the sheriff questioningly.
    “Yes?” he sighed as he and his deputy started collecting guns and ammunition for the ride out to the abandoned coach. For a man with such a formidable stature, he certainly did sigh a lot.
    “The hotel?” she asked.
    “Right. Four doors down and across the street.”
    She didn’t move, waiting for him to realize his faux pas.  
    “What now?” he grumbled.
    “My trunk.”  
    “What about it?”  
    “Aren’t you going to help me with it? Or perhaps your man there?”
    Both Sheriff Mason and his deputy stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Finally, the sheriff chuckled and set back to work.
    “Lady, you dragged it here five miles. What’s another four doors?”
    She was flabbergasted! Did he not have a chivalrous bone in his body? First of all, the men in her party had carried her trunk to town, not her. What did he think she was, a porter? Secondly, after all she’d been through, the least she deserved was a little help with her luggage. But no! She knew the west was populated with scoundrels and ruffians, but she’d never expected such uncivilized treatment from a peace officer.
    She tugged and huffed and scraped the trunk to the door, but before she managed to get out of the office entirely, the sheriff mumbled something. Poking her head back in the room, she said, “Pardon me?”
    “I said, I wish your new husband good luck.”

CHAPTER THREE

    Emmy had barely dragged her heavy trunk out of that rude sheriff’s office before five strapping young men had run to