Mail Order Brides: A Bride for the Banker (Bozeman Brides Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

their feet. He was bleeding from the mouth and Margie went to him instinctively. “Are you hurt?” she asked.
    The man looked at her and grinned. “Nothing a little kiss from you wouldn’t cure,” he answered cheekily.
    Theo motioned to Ruth and Robert to go on and quickly came to Margie’s side, tugging her away. “Never mind, Margie. Let’s be on our way.”
    “Shorty don’t mean no harm,” declared a voice from the entrance, a voice that sent a chill down Theo’s back. But surely, it couldn’t be… He didn’t want to turn around to confirm or deny his suspicions, but his body betrayed him and he found himself standing face to face with the brother he’d run away from so many years ago. The man grinned at him, but there was no humor in it. “He just likes pretty women is all.”
    Margie’s grip on his arm tightened, and he felt a similar band constrict around his lungs. He fought to breathe.
    “We don’t want any trouble here. We’ll be on our way,” he heard himself saying, neither acknowledging nor ignoring the man’s identity. “Good day to you.”
    But the other man was not so easily put off. “What’s your hurry? Surely you can spare a minute to welcome a newcomer to your fair town. Never hurts to be kind to a stranger, right? Something about entertainin’ angels?”
    Margie was watching him closely, so he gave nothing away. He wanted to deny that possibility of these men being angels, but that would be announcing his connection to them. He watched as a third man emerged and tried to hide his recognition of him as well. Bile rose in his throat, but he choked out a jovial response regardless. “Yes, well. That’s definitely true. Welcome to Bozeman. I hope you enjoy your stay.” He tipped his hat to the men and pulled Margie away from the scene as swiftly as he could.
    He heard some chuckles as they left, but that didn’t matter. All that he was concerned with was getting them out of there as fast as possible.
    “Do you know those men?” Margie asked him, carefully looking at his face. He didn’t want to lie to her, and the truth might come out whether he liked it or not, but he struggled with what to say. If he admitted that the man was his brother, would she turn tail and flee back to New York? Instead, he settled for a non-answer.
    “Where would I ever meet such men? They are not likely to come into the bank now, are they? Anyway, as you heard them say, they’re newcomers.” He struggled to sound neutral, and she seemed to accept it for she asked no further questions.
    “Well, they certainly were a bit familiar with you. No matter. I want to talk to you about something more important.” He sighed with relief inwardly as she began to talk about her concerns regarding Jackson. She was introducing the very topic he wanted to discuss, but he felt ill-prepared to do so at the moment and sought a way to address her concerns without revealing the whole of his plan.
    “We certainly need to find a way to guide him. He needs some kind of discipline, something that will occupy his time in a worthy manner and distract him from the corrupt side of life,” he stated evenly.
    Her face registered mild surprise. “That sounds well enough, but what are you thinking? You sound as though you have something specific in mind.”
    He shook his head distractedly. “I need to think it through more before we discuss it. Can you give me some time?” The truth was that seeing his brother had thrown him. He couldn’t sort out his thoughts about Margie and Jackson at that moment. He needed to know what was going on with Austin first.
    She nodded her head mutely as they approached the Sanderson house. He thanked God that she was so agreeable. He knew that if she pressed him, he might say something prematurely about what God had revealed to him. He might also say it badly, given the shock he’d suffered. No, it would have to wait. How long, he couldn’t possibly know.

Chapter 5
     
    The afternoon was