The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 Read Free Page A

then poured water into the basin. It was cold from sitting out all night, and he gratefully sponged off his overheated skin, his mind still awhirl with the images the night had brought.
    If it had just been an ordinary erotic dream, he would have shrugged it off as the normal fantasies of a healthy, thirty-nine year old man. But she was in it again, and that wasn’t so easily pushed aside.
    Damn Susannah Calhoun, anyway.
    He finished washing and reached for his pants. Ever since he had met the woman last year, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. Lord knew she was a beauty, but it wasn’t just her looks that drew him. The first time he had seen her, he had been struck by a feeling of recognition, as of she were a part of himself looking back at him.
    That feeling still disturbed him.
    Uncomfortable with the feeling, he had tried to avoid her. But Burr, Wyoming Territory, was a small town, and their paths had been bound to cross occasionally. When they did, conversation became a battlefield of dagger-sharp insults and strategic retorts that grew more heated each time they met.
    Perhaps if he’d never kissed her—or better yet, if they’d just ripped up the sheets a time or two—he’d be getting more sleep.
    Jedidiah grabbed a plain white shirt, buttoned it up, and tucked it into the waistband of his buckskin-colored pants. The woman had haunted him ever since he’d left that one-saloon town.
    She was just a woman, he had thought, and women were easily forgotten.
    But now he found himself dreaming of her nearly every night. More than once he had considered riding through Burr again just to see if he had imagined the whole thing. But he had managed to stop himself before he did something so foolish.
    One thing he had learned in life was that caring brought pain. So except for his older sister, Lottie, he made it a policy never to open his heart to anyone.
    Jedidiah sat on the bed and reached for his boots. He hadn’t seen his sister in a while, and now that the Slater gang was safely behind bars, he planned to go home to Charleston for a visit. He looked forward to seeing his nieces and nephews.
    He lifted his leg to yank on his boot, and his gaze fell on the message still sitting on the washstand. He stomped his foot into the worn leather, then reached for the crumpled piece of paper. He frowned as he smoothed it out. It had better not be more orders. He needed a break.
    The telegram was short and sweet. So was the curse he uttered.
     
    BABY DUE ANY DAY. CAN’T LEAVE SARAH. STOP. SUSANNAH IN JAIL FOR MURDER SILVER FLATS, COLORADO. STOP. PLEASE HELP. DONOVAN.
     
    Damnation, he was going to have to put off Charleston, after all. And the reason made even a cynic like him appreciate Fate’s sense of humor.
    He shoved the telegram into his pocket. Jack Donovan was perhaps the only real friend he had in the world, and he was real fond of Jack’s wife, Sarah, too. Now Sarah’s sister, Susannah, was in trouble, and there was no way Donovan could possibly go help. Which left it up to Jedidiah.
    He grabbed his other boot and stamped his foot into it, then quickly donned his dark duster and worn tan hat. He packed his things by the expedient method of sweeping them off the bureau and into his satchel. Then he headed toward the door. He had telegrams of his own to send.

Chapter Two
    Susannah had decided to make the best of things while waiting for the right moment to escape from jail. Over the past two days, Sheriff Benning had allowed her some small comforts while they awaited the U.S. Marshal who would escort her to Denver. She was grateful for his compassionate nature when a visitor arrived that afternoon.
    Anne Blanchard was a beautiful woman with ivory skin and jet black hair set off by blue eyes that glittered like gemstones. She swept into the jailhouse as if it were a palace, dressed to impress in a gown of sapphire blue silk and snowy lace with a matching parasol. From the disappointed look on her face,