The Firecracker Gets Her Man Read Free Page B

immediate attention.”
    “I am honestly impressed,” she admitted. “I have never seen a man willingly do the dishes, not even Papa. Mama never asked his help, and he never offered it.”
    “Ma said that a dish couldn’t tell if it was a male or a female washing, drying, and putting it away. She wasn’t afraid to shovel out a stall in the barn, or feed livestock, either. I like to think I learned to appreciate her viewpoint on work as I grew up. I’ve seen women who ran their own ranches, and men who worked as cooks. I didn’t think less of them for it either.”
    “I think you are a good man, Lance, and I do appreciate your views on this subject. It will make it easier for us to devise a plan to capture Jared Cane!”
     

Chapter Two
     
    “No, young lady! It is too dangerous!” Lance shook a finger at her. “I absolutely will not permit you to go anywhere near Cane. He is evil, and he would shoot you on sight!”
    “I so hoped we could do this together, but if you are going to be impossible, I will just have to come up with my own plan to take him in custody!”
    “I hope you are just being sassy right now and that you know you aren’t going to do any such thing. Cane is a killer, and he uses women.”
    “He has a girlfriend who is carrying his child!” she argued.
    “Rachel, as you told the sheriff, you are a doctor’s daughter. I am sure you have seen women who have been forced? Cane loves to hurt women; it makes him feel powerful. I want your promise that you will stay here in this house and let me deal with Cane.”
    “I can’t promise because I already made a promise that I would be the one to march him into a jail cell.”
    “Who did you promise?” he demanded, positive he was going to pound someone for letting a little girl make a promise like that!
    “Myself!”
    “Yourself?” he repeated, struggling for patience. “Good, you can unmake your promise to yourself and make a promise to me. Is that understood?”
    “No! I do not change my mind on a whim just because some man demands I do so! Doctor Merritt was a good, kind, and compassionate man. He treated me well, and he made sure I was paid enough that I could support myself decently. He also saw to it I was included in things at the church! He didn’t have a wife or children, and he was lonely as could be. He treated me like he would have a little sister. I miss him, and I am grieving for him!”
    “Were you in love with him?” Lance asked, suddenly jealous as could be.
    “No, he wasn’t like that, Lance. He didn’t appreciate women in that way, if you understand. He had a—” She struggled to find a word. “Friend, but he died a year or so before I arrived in town. There is no one else to care, really care, that the man who murdered him is brought to justice. I promised, and I will keep my promise!”
    “Would the good doctor want you to be beaten and raped, or killed, by that madman?”
    “No, of course not!” She waved her arm impatiently. “You act as though I have no common sense! I have no intention of giving Cane an opportunity to get to me first. He doesn’t even know I am here. I will be able to get the drop on him in such a way he won’t anticipate. He thinks that the Fourth of July celebrations will cover him, but it will also cover me. I am going to set him up in such a way he cannot escape.”
    “No, you are not!” Lance said slowly and purposefully. “You are going to let the law handle this, hear me?”
    “The law certainly didn’t do much good for Dr. Merritt. Where was the law when he was alone with Jared Cane?”
    “That isn’t the issue here, little girl. Your safety is what matters; there is nothing we can do to change what happened to the good doctor, but we can keep you safe in his name, and that is what I intend to do. I—” He was interrupted by a loud pounding on the front door. “You let me answer the door, Rachel. I don’t trust Cane.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous; it is someone for