Prairie Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

watch you turn raw ore into gold.”
    “Only God can perform such a miracle.” She met his eyes, determined to have the upper hand. “You cannot stay.”
    “I reckon I will.”
    “I’ll lock you up and leave you to die.”
    “No, you won’t.”
    “Sheena will find you.”
    “You’ll keep her away.”
    “I’ll tell Jimmy.”
    “Nope.” He stood and held the door open for her. “I’m precious , remember? What was that you said about me last night? Oh yes. You love me.”
    “Turn my words against me, then. Make light of what I said to you in honest Christian charity.” She squared her shoulders. “You are as wicked as they say, Mr. Cornwall. Though the good Lord commands me to love all men, I certainly don’t like you. Not in the least. You are rude and stubborn and selfish. Sure, I rue the moment I laid eyes on you.”
    Aware she must hurry to the mercantile or someone would come searching for her, Caitrin stepped past Cornwall. Relief at escaping him had just begun to seep into her when he caught her elbow. Her heartbeat skidded to a halt. Would she never be able to get away from the man without his barricading and accosting her?
    She spoke through gritted teeth. “What is it now ?”
    “I wrote a letter to my parents last night.” He pulled an envelope from the hip pocket of his blue denim trousers. “I understand you run a post office at that mercantile of yours. Suppose you could mail this for me?”
    “Give me one good reason why I should do anything for a man like you.”
    “All right. A fellow I ran with at the end of the war has been searching for me. He thinks maybe I can pull our old bunch out of some hot water they got themselves into. My folks need to be on the lookout for this man.”
    Caitrin snatched the letter and stuffed it into her apron pocket. “Anything else I can assist you with, Mr. Cornwall?”
    He smiled. “The key. You wanted to lock your storage room, remember?”
    “Take it,” she said, tugging the ribbon necklace over her head. “Lock the door yourself from the inside. And if my prayers are answered, you’ll use that key to let yourself out tonight and leave us all in peace.”
    She whirled away from the man before he could capture her again. As she raced for the barn door, she heard his voice ring out behind her. “Good-bye, Sparky. Don’t work your pretty little hands too hard.”
    Mortified, Caitrin turned on her heel. “ Whisht! Be quiet, you great rogue!”
    Jack Cornwall was standing in plain view, his broad shoulders gleaming in a patch of morning sunlight and his brown hair ruffling in the breeze from an open window. If not for the bloodstained bandage on his shoulder, he would have passed for the finest specimen of a man Caitrin had ever seen. He wasn’t handsome and elegant like Sean O’Casey. His face was rough-hewn. His form was lean—all flesh and muscle without the hint of softness. His clothes were worn, dusty, faded. But he filled up the barn with a powerful presence that froze her breath in her throat and turned her feet into blocks of wood.
    Clutching her shawl at her throat, Caitrin stared at the man. Outlined in sunshine, he stood calm and unafraid, studying her across the open space. And she understood.
    Jack Cornwall was not staying in Jimmy O’Toole’s barn in order to heal his shoulder. Nor to hide out from his enemies. Nor to filch himself a few free meals. In fact, he wouldn’t care much if someone discovered him.
    He was staying because of her. Because she fascinated him … just as he fascinated her. Fiery Caitrin Murphy and Blazin’ Jack Cornwall, a matched pair.
    “Auntie Caitie!” Erinn’s high voice sang out just beyond the barn door. “Are you there, Auntie Caitie?”
    Unnerved, Caitrin lifted her skirts and turned away. “I’m here, Erinn! Will you go with me to the mercantile this morning?”
    The little girl danced into view, her pigtails bouncing at her shoulders. “Oh yes, I’ll go with you! And after lunch may