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can't return it, he agreed to give us his sister in exchange for not pressing charges," Stephanie Quinter explained.
    Tears stung Jessie's eyes. Russell had pawned her off as a store clerk, a nanny, and a schoolteacher the past few years, but this was the first time he promised her as a wife. She blinked past the tears filling her eyes and snuck a peek at the man next to her.
    His neck was bent backwards, the back of his head rested on the top rung of the chair. The wide, white bow fluttered as he took a deep breath. Slowly his head lifted. His dark brows furrowed and his gaze leveled on his brothers. "I think I need a few more details. Especially since none of you own a horse." Hope made her eyes grow wide.
    "We got a horse. Miss Molly. Or we had one anyway afore this thief stole her." Skeeter pointed to Russell.
    "Miss Molly? That old nag's pushing thirty. She should've died years ago. That's the horse we're talking about?" Kid Quinter looked to the sheriff.
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    Shotgun Bride [The Quinter Brides Book One]
    by Lauri Robinson
    Sheriff Turley shrugged his shoulders. "A horse is a horse, and a horse thief is a horse thief." The lawman glanced to Russell. "In these parts, we hang horse thieves." A lump formed in her throat. Jessie was mad at her brother, but she didn't want to see him hanged. She looked at Kid Quinter. His gaze captured hers. She tried to pull away, but couldn't. He didn't blink, nor did the brown eyes flutter. They linked with hers. It felt like he could see into her mind and was reading each and every thought. He broke the contact by lowering lids that had thick, dark lashes. Jessie pressed a hand to her chest, the thumping filled her palm.
    When the lids lifted he looked at the youngest brother.
    "Bug, tell me the whole story."
    "Alright, Kid." Bug shuffled his feet. "Uh-I met him in Nixon a few weeks ago." He pointed at Russell. "He was buying supplies and needed a ride home." Jessie already questioned the tale. Russell never bought supplies, ever.
    "And?" Kid Quinter lifted his eyebrows.
    "The things he'd ordered weren't in, but I gave him a ride home. Well, almost home, I dropped him off near White Woman Creek. Then yesterday, he came by to see if he could buy a horse to go to town and pick up his order. Since all the horses here belong to you, I didn't dare sell him one of those, so I sold him Miss Molly. He said he'd be back with the money. Said he had to stop at the bank. He signed a bill of sale. Ma has it." Bug looked to his mother. 37
    Shotgun Bride [The Quinter Brides Book One]
    by Lauri Robinson
    Stephanie Quinter laid a piece of paper on the table. Russell's fluent signature filled the bottom of the page.
    "Fifty bucks? You sold Miss Molly for fifty bucks? She isn't worth fifty cents." Kid Quinter acknowledged the number above the signature.
    "That's what I said. The nag didn't even make it to town. She collapsed and died before I got half way there. I told you I was swindled, Sheriff," Russell said.
    "And I told you, Mr. Johnson, you can only be swindled if money was actually exchanged. You admitted you didn't give Bug any money for the horse, nor do you have the fifty dollars you owe him. That makes you a horse thief," the sheriff said.
    "She died?" the man beside her asked. His voice sounded deflated.
    Russell nodded. "Yes!"
    Kid Quinter turned to the sheriff. "Come on, Turley, you know Miss Molly wasn't worth fifty bucks."
    "It doesn't matter how much she was worth. This man took her without paying for her. He can't return her, in the same condition she was when she left, nor can he pay for her. You know the law, Kid. This man either pays for Miss Molly or he hangs."
    Jessie gasped and with shaky hands tried to wipe at the tears that had started to fall over her cheeks. All eyes in the room turned to her. She lowered her hands to her lap, wringing them together as the tears continued to trickle down her face. Whether they were because of the poor horse dying, or her brother's imminent hanging,