Lawless Love (Lawmen and Outlaws) Read Free

after all.”
    Dylan stepped into the room. “No other boarders?”
    “I’ve only got two spare rooms. I don’t rent my brother’s.”
    “He’s not coming home?”
    “Not tonight.” Lacey gazed at the floor and bit her lip. Townspeople considered it indecent for her to be running the boarding house on her own, but it was the only way to keep her head above water. Ha! That’s a good one, all things considered. “How long you plannin’ on stayin’, Marshal?”
    “Dylan. Name’s Dylan Kane. No idea, depends on whether I can find the man I’m hunting.”
    Lacey turned back to start podding peas. “What’d he do?”
    “Killed a man.” Lacey’s head shot up as her glance met Dylan’s.
    His eyes narrowed fo r a moment. “Shot him between the eyes close range. Stole his horse. A real killer on the loose.”
    Lacey retrieved a cast iron pot and pumped water into it before throwing in the peas. She brushed against him as she carried the pot to place on the range.
    “You need help?”
    “No, thank you.”
    “You haven’t told me your name yet. I know your last name is Everhart.”
    “Lacey.”
    Dylan looked at the angelic face, the long blond locks pulled back into a bun, and the eyes like moss after spring rain. Her dress showed off the curves he had seen and the neat, little waist to go with them. He gulped a breath. “Well, Lacey Everhart. Pleased to meet you.”
    But was she pleased to meet him? After all that had happened at the river, he thought not.
    They ate the meal with quiet conversation, and Dylan asked for seconds. “I like you better in a dress,” he said suddenly. “I’ve never seen a woman wear pants before.”
    “I wear them when I have to ride over to the ranch where my brother works. It’s just easier. I’m used to them now. When we came west, I wore pants to disguise myself so men wouldn’t be after me. Luke was too young to protect me, so that way, we looked like brothers.”
    “When was that? Where did you come from?”
    “Tennessee.” She played with her food a moment, then popped in a mouthful. “Mother died of a fever shortly after Luke was born. Then my father up and died.” She laid her fork down and looked across at him. His brow creased as he waited for her to continue. Lacey’s mood changed. “You want the whole sorry tale, or can I stop?”
    Dylan’s fork hung in mid-air as he watched her features change. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” The food went in his mouth and was met with slow chewing as quiet again filled the room.
    Lacey liked the way he had a man’s appetite—no doubt for more than food—and there was a certain comfort in his presence she couldn’t explain. She knew he was waiting for her to continue. She pushed back from the table then thought better of it. “There’s not that much more to tell. I was seventeen, and my brother was six. Mama’d lost sev’ral babies twixt Luke and me. She said I was tough enough to survive most anywheres—as was Luke. Anyway, with the folks gone, I found work in a hotel kitchen for a room and food, but when the hotel manager got some strange ideas about visiting our room, we moved on. Like I said, I disguised myself as a boy for a while, when we hitched a train west. The nesters showed us kindness when we got here, gave us odd jobs, a place in the barn, and food at their table. When I turned twenty-one, I could file for a homestead, but we couldn’t make a go of it. I signed the land over with its water rights to a wealthy rancher and had enough to take on this place. Not paid for yet, of course, but we’ve a roof over our heads for now.” She waited for Dylan to comment, but he just continued with his meal. “You up from Cheyenne?”
    He nodded. “I got a wire from the sheriff over in Lewiston. ’Course, by the time I got up here and started tracking, trail’s gone cold. And no one seems to have liked the man who died.”
    Lacey hesitated. “Who was he?”
    “Rancher. Owned a