Tall, Dark, and Determined Read Online Free PDF

us will let you make the mistake again.”
    â€œWe all make mistakes.” Naomi’s reminder held a private sorrow, and Lacey winced alongside her cousin. “Which is why I won’t say nay to Mr. Granger. I feel I know enough about the man to see how he cares for Evie. He has the time it takes the rest of us to choose husbands to iron out the rest.”
    â€œWe’ll be watching to make sure you don’t get burned.” Cora’s vow made her sister smile, though it died swiftly. “We’ll start by finding some way to be sure the former Mr. Creed is the real Mr. Granger. Once that’s certain, we can investigate more.”
    â€œMama’s old friends back in Charleston will help. There’s no one like a society matron to sniff out a bachelor’s background. Particularly if he’s eligible, and Mr.
Granger
would fit that bill.” Satisfaction starched her spine as Lacey found something to take charge of—a concrete way to safeguard her friends.
I should have done it before. Why didn’t I stop to think?
    â€œMr. Lawson and Mr. McCreedy vouch for his identity,” Naomi pointed out. “Since he knew we approved of him as Creed, I doubt the man would trouble himself inventing a name at this point. I believe he truly is Granger, and now that he’s caught Twyler, he’s setting things straight. It’s only good sense, after all.”
    Cora nodded, but added, “He brought Lawson and McCreedy, so we might do well to assume they’d support him regardless.”
    An exasperated sound escaped Evie, but she didn’t remark.
    â€œStop huffing.” Lacey resolved to telegraph Charleston that very day. “If there’s one lesson we can take away from this entire debacle, it’s that we can’t trust anyone in Hope Falls. From now on, we take a hard look at every new hire.”
    For instance, Lacey didn’t quite like the looks of the fellow conferring with Riordan, Clump, Williams, and Cree—Granger. She caught herself thinking of Evie’s intended by his false name and stopped short. But thinking about fake names was the first step in a dance she’d rather sit out, so she studied the new man instead. She took in his broad shoulders. The confident stance. The sun-bronzed skin, and head of hair dark enough to drown doubts. Lacey Lyman gave a heartfelt sigh.
    Of regret. After all, nothing good came dressed like
that
.

    FOUR    
    Y ou’re going with the next train.” With the biggest threat safely stuffed onto the train and on their way to who-knew-where, the rooster bringing up the rear of Granger’s crew bobbed his head toward Chase. “Nice of you to step in, but you weren’t needed then, and you sure as shooting aren’t wanted now.”
    Two sentences, and the man cemented Chase’s poor opinion.
Yep. More mouth than muscle, and more muscle than mind
. He shook his head. Once. That’s all it took to acknowledge the man’s insulting order to board the train and refuse it. It also served as a silent invitation for the rooster—which was always just a chicken with a strut—to try and enforce it.
    Granger stayed clear, a silent show of respect from a man whose esteem he’d earned long ago. Bear, the big Irishman, gave a growl of disapproval but otherwise held his peace. The German, whose primary concern had been for the women, ignored those cues. The man either disregarded or didn’t know the Rule.
    There were few unspoken exceptions having to do with protecting women and children or preventing injustice, but otherwise male interaction could be boiled down to one rule: handle your own business; leave other men to handle theirs.
    Most conflict in the world could be traced to some idiot ignoring the Rule. And here stomped the German, spluttering about how the other man lacked manners. Poor sap never even saw the blow coming, just doubled over with