Between Love and Lies Read Online Free PDF Page B

in a wave of burning heat.
    Her pulse pounded and her vision blurred. She latched onto the buggy wheel to keep from falling. So much for the hope that this excursion, and a bit of fresh air, might help rally her strength.
    She needed help, but she couldn’t depend on anyone but herself.
    Even Edward, with whom she’d developed a fast friendship, hadn’t held her best interests at heart when he bought her from Gertie. He’d needed Sadie to fill a missing role in his life. And she’d missed her one true opportunity to escape.
    Foolish woman, she chided herself. You traded freedom for the need to feel wanted.
    The memory of Mr. Ballantyne standing close beside her invaded her thoughts. His attention made her feel wanted. When they’d first met, he’d said he wanted to help her. But his version had been to give money and disappear. She swayed and clutched the wheel with both hands.
    Had he already headed home to Texas? Had he left her again?
    With her pulse now roaring in her ears, she fought not to collapse. Although she might welcome the opportunity to slumber here among the dead, rather than return to the saloon and match wits with the living.
    After a while her headache faded and her vision cleared.
    The cemetery sprawled around her, a field of haphazardly planted graves. Their headstones represented a mishmash of lives and loved ones: sizable boards with round-cut tops and effusive epitaphs; simple crosses of whitewashed wood etched with a name and date; a few markers created from whatever was at hand—scraps of wood tied together with rope, cloth and even belts. White asters and daisies blanketed the ground, their blossoms overlapping until she couldn’t tell where one flower began and another ended.
    She released the buggy wheel. She strode by the graves with her gaze fixed on the only one that mattered. She’d come to visit her mother. Nothing else was worthy of her time. But the useless compulsion to lash out a dead man slammed her to a halt beside father’s final resting place.
    Damn you. Damn me as well. Why had she tried so hard to prove her worth to him? She’d worked their farm from sunup to sunset. She’d cleaned and cooked and had his meals on the table like clockwork. She’d strove to do everything as well as her mother. Why weren’t either of us good enough to earn your love?
    Her only answer was a sudden clatter behind her—hooves on rock and sod, claiming purchase up the rise. A dappled gray galloped toward her with a tireless stride. The long-legged cowboy riding the horse looked equally at ease.
    Damn him as well.
    Her curses went unheeded. Noah Ballantyne pulled his mount to a halt next to her buggy. He dismounted with effortless grace, not a hint of weakness about him. Their differences riddled her determination with the persistence of a tick.
    Always it amazed her how a creature as tiny as a tick could be so strong, so relentless. She’d do well to find a way to be just as unstoppable.
    She studied the man who’d moved to stand within an arm’s reach of her.
    Deep lines framed his mouth and dark smudges underscored his eyes, but his mood remained a mystery as he assessed her as well. His gaze traveled from the teardrop-shaped boat hat perched on her head down to the delicate front-laced boots below the ruffled hem of her dress. The skirt displayed an immodest portion of her stockinged calves, while the hat was so tiny it offered scant protection from the glaring sun. All perfect for suggesting a profession she was trying hard to maintain.
    She forced herself not to squirm under his perusal. Finally, his gaze moved to the graveyard and froze on her father’s headstone. He tugged his weather-beaten Stetson from his head.
    “Didn’t know your father passed.” A long silence elapsed before he spoke again. “I’m sorry, Miss Sullivan.”
    His hushed tone made her think he was sorry for a heck of a lot more. But he didn’t share his thoughts with her. He just kept frowning at her