High Stakes Bride Read Free

She lifted a brow. “Carter’s a nice-looking boy. I think you do like him.”
    Fierceness welled up in Dani. “I don’t.”
    Boyfriends weren’t on her agenda—they couldn’t be. She’d seen the way girls at school mooned after them, and the way Susan had changed. If she were going to depend on anyone, it would be herself. From what she’d seen, falling in love was nothing but trouble.
    The bark of dogs and the sound of footsteps on the veranda heralded Robert Galbraith’s arrival. Seconds later, he appeared in the kitchen doorway, tall and broad-shouldered, with a kind of blunt, weathered handsomeness that seemed to go hand-in-hand with the rugged contours of Galbraith Station.
    Warily, Dani watched as her mother’s face lit up, and noted Galbraith’s corresponding expression. Her mother was an attractive woman, not beautiful exactly, but tall and striking, and today she looked a lot younger than thirty-five. She might not have a million dollars, but with her hair piled on top of her head and the simple but elegant clothes she was wearing, she looked it.
    Galbraith set his hat on a small dresser just inside the door. Dani’s head snapped around, almost giving her whiplash as she instinctively avoided witnessing the kiss. A count to ten later, she risked a look.
    Ten seconds hadn’t been long enough.
    The meal stretched on interminably. Dani ate bites of her sandwich, helped down by sips of water while she observed Robert Galbraith, reluctantly fascinated. He was a new phenomenon in her life—the only man she had ever known Susan to date—and now they were living with him.
    Abruptly, a nightmare image of the shadowy man cleaning up at the sink after he’d broken into their cottage made her stomach clench. She hadn’t told Susan she had seen his face, or that she had injured him. They had simply packed and run, leaving everything but the necessities behind and driving through the night.
    Dani transferred her attention to Susan, her gaze fiercely protective. There was no question; they would have to leave, and the sooner the better. The risk Susan was taking was unacceptable. In every attack she had always been the focus. The only time Dani had been hurt had been when she had finally gotten up the courage to run at him and he had swatted her away like a fly.
    When Galbraith finally left the lunch table, Dani began clearing dishes. As she piled plates and cutlery in the sink, the words erupted out of her. “We’re making a big mistake.”
    Susan’s expression turned sharp. “For the first time in years I’m making the right choice. He’s asked me to marry him.”
    Dani froze in the act of turning a tap. “Does he know?”
    â€œ No. ” Susan scraped leftover food scraps into the compost bucket under the sink. “And don’t look like that, missy.”
    Dani clamped her jaw and retrieved the empty salad bowl from the table. She stared at the fragile porcelain. It was so fine and translucent she could see the shadow of her fingers through it. “We’re not safe here.”
    That was an understatement. They were sitting ducks. After years of lying low, of Susan working for cash under the table—even forgoing welfare payments because that would pinpoint where they were—of never forming relationships, let alone dating, the abrupt turnaround was stunning. A marriage meant legal paperwork and bank accounts. The paper trail would point a huge neon arrow in their direction.
    Susan snatched the bowl and rinsed it. “Yes. We are. ” The bowl hit the draining board with a clatter. Susan’s fingers gripped the edge of the bench, her face abruptly white.
    Dani stared at her mother, heart pounding. Susan was tall and lean and strong. She’d worked all sorts of jobs from legal secretary to shop assistant to picking fruit. They might be poor, but she had always prided herself on having the