Maureen McKade Read Online Free PDF

snorted. “Helpless! You’re about as helpless as a she-grizzly protecting her young. And I got news foryou, lady, you ain’t that sightly that a man’s going to lose his head over you. There was a piece of pie on your ankle.”
    “Oh.”
    At her subdued reply, Matt regretted his sharp retort, but he couldn’t apologize. He didn’t dare let her know he had wanted to remove the pins that bound her hair, and explore the curves beneath her proper clothing.
    He gritted his teeth against the vision his imagination created. “I think we got it about cleaned up.”
    “Thank you, Sheriff. I’ll take care of the rest.”
    “You’re welcome, Miss O’Hanlon.” He paused, still puzzled by her strange behavior. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    Libby fingered the broken china, and her gaze skittered from the floor to the cupboards behind Matt. “Just fine, Sheriff. Why don’t you go on into the dining room and join the others?”
    “Ain’t you coming in for pie?”
    The corners of her lips quirked upward. “I think we just cleaned up my piece. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on yours.”
    The tilt of her stubborn chin was softened by the bare hint of a smile. Her green eyes twinkled. He stared at her full, sensual lips, then quickly looked away, wondering if he appeared as foolish as he felt.
    He splayed a hand through his collar-length hair and listened to the voices from the dining room, then scowled. “Sounds like the mayor and his wife are here.”
    Libby frowned. It appeared she was about to ask him a question, but she remained silent. She studied the door leading to the dining room with a troubled gaze.
    “Have you met the Beidlers yet?” Matt asked.
    “No.” Libby dropped the dish fragments in a roundbarrel. “And I don’t believe I’ll meet them this evening either. Good night, Sheriff.”
    Libby whirled around and slipped through the door that opened into the front hallway. Pausing in the doorway, she faced Matt one more time. “Thanks for your help, Sheriff. And your concern.”
    Puzzled, Matt stared after Libby. He prided himself on his ability to size up a person in one measuring glance, but he couldn’t figure her and that worried him. One moment she seemed scared of her own shadow, and the next she acted like a tomcat defending his territory. It made little sense, and Matt didn’t like mysteries in his town. Not even one as beautiful as Miss Libby O’Hanlon.
    Libby tiptoed up the stairs and into her room. She closed the door with a quiet click, breathing a sigh of relief. She’d escaped. She’d expected to be questioned about her teaching credentials, though she hadn’t figured it would be the first day she arrived in town.
    Libby settled into the Boston rocker and wrapped her arms around her waist. What was she going to do? The only certificate she had was her medical degree, and nobody must know about that. She had no doubt Harrison’s housekeeper had given the lawmen a detailed description of her, including her skills as a doctor. It was even possible Sheriff Brandon had a paper on her in his office. Libby shook her head. No; if he had recognized her, he would have arrested her.
    She could lie. She could tell the mayor and his wife she’d lost her papers on the long stage trip. She had traveled many miles, and it wasn’t impossible to lose one bag in that distance.
    Another lie, another foot deeper into the pit of deceptions. But it was either lie or be hung for killing her husband, and Libby had no desire to walk through the fires of hell any earlier than she had to.
    She had to keep her distance from the sheriff. Hewould undoubtedly receive information on her, and despite his coarse speech, she suspected a shrewd mind lay beneath the unpolished surface. She had glimpsed the intelligence in his somber eyes and it made her uncomfortable. Her first impression of him had been that of a backwoodsman lacking common courtesy. He hadn’t even removed his hat when she’d