Lips That Touch Mine Read Online Free PDF

and
spare the poor wives and children any more suffering.
    In the early afternoons, Boyd's saloon was
usually quiet, but Pat Lyons, who was sitting at the bar drinking
an ale, and Karlton Kane, who had been hauling in Boyd's weekly
order of liquor, both stopped what they were doing and stared as if
the women had lost their minds.
    "Ladies," Boyd said, "I admire your efforts,
but closing down drinking establishments isn't the answer to
improving your home life. A man who neglects his family or beats
his wife will do so whether he's a drunkard or not. Closing saloons
will not make those men stop abusing their families."
    "Can you prove that?" Claire asked. To his
surprise, she seemed sincere.
    "No. I can't. But do you suppose that man's
family might be safer with him drinking at home?"
    Understanding dawned in her eyes and she
exhaled slowly. "No."
    "Then you have my answer. I will not close my
saloon." Instead of debating, Mrs. Barker turned to the ladies.
    "Let's sing a hymn and pray that Mr. Grayson
will reconsider his position."
    Before he could tell her not to bother, the
women filled his saloon with a mournful rendition of "Praise God
From Whom All Blessings Flow." Sailor howled and scratched on the
door of the storeroom where Karlton had quickly caged him after
seeing the women marching toward the front door.
    The deep baritone of a man's voice drew
Boyd's attention to Pat, who was standing beside the bar singing
loud enough to wake snakes. Boyd glanced at Karlton, but the burly
distiller shrugged as if he had no idea why Pat had suddenly
changed sides.
    The hymn ended and Pat bowed. "Well done,
ladies."
    The women glowered at Pat, but to Boyd's
astonishment, Claire was fighting a smile.
    "We've done our best for this day." Mrs.
Barker shooed the ladies toward the door. Let's move on."
    Boyd winked at Claire, but the humor in her
eyes vanished. She marched out the door like a sergeant mustering
her troops.
    o0o
    On Wednesday morning Claire began her chores
with a renewed sense of purpose. The temperance cause was already
gaining ground. Monday evening, after their first march, J. D.
Maynard had signed their pledge and agreed to stop selling
alcoholic beverages in his drug store. Of course, on Tuesday D. A.
Clark warned them not to visit his drugstore again, as their visits
were annoying.
    Levi Harrison was more of a gentleman. He'd
told the ladies he would consider their proposal if they returned
to his hotel at eleven o'clock.
    Claire and her fellow marchers would be
there. Business by business, they were going to rid the town of
alcohol. Day by day, bottle by bottle, they would tear down this
mountain of evil.
    She stepped from her warm kitchen into her
cold woodshed and felt her spirits plummet. She loathed carrying
wood.
    Piece by piece, she stacked it in her arms,
then groaned as she carried it inside. This was only the beginning.
After she filled the huge bin in the kitchen, she would have to
carry three loads into her parlor, and another armload upstairs for
the fireplace in her bedchamber. If she was lucky enough to get a
boarder, she would have to carry wood for that room, too. It was
enough to make a woman wish for a man.
    Almost.
    She dumped her load of wood into the kitchen
bin with a crash, then headed back to the shed. She would haul her
own fuel each day for the rest of her life to avoid enduring
another marriage like the one she'd suffered.
    No job could belittle her or cause her the
pain Jack had. Nothing could terrify her more than losing control
of her life again, or subjugating herself to a man's cruel
demands.
    Nothing.
    The thought of Jack shattered her calm. He'd
been dead for weeks, but she couldn't escape him. His domineering
presence lived within her, ruling her thoughts, keeping her scared.
He was dead. She'd seen his gray, bloated body. She'd watched them
lower his coffin deep into the earth and bury it. But Jack Ashier
felt as alive as if he were standing behind her.
    Spiders crawled up her