The Anonymous Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

Stop throwing rocks and sticks, you hear me, Jack?”
     
    “But I wasn’t gonna throw it at the dog. Honest, Marshal.”
     
    Luke studied her pleading, dark blue eyes, so different from Rachel’s. They begged him to believe her. Maybe she was telling the truth. “We don’t throw things at people, either. You can hurt them, too.”
     
    The girl had the sense to look ashamed and nodded. “Can I go now?”
     
    “Yeah.” He wondered if his speech had done a lick of good. How could feminine Rachel end up with a girl who dressed like a boy and even wanted to be called a boy’s name? He shook his head. What did he know about raising young’uns?
     
    Tracking the dog, he found the mongrel sniffing at the trash barrel behind the saloon. The yellow mutt’s ribs showed, and his skin hung loose. Luke needed a dog about as much as he needed a pink house, but he couldn’t let the poor creature starve to death or be treated cruelly by others. “C’mere, you ugly thing.”
     
    The dog hunched down then trotted ten feet away. He looked as if he’d like a friend but was afraid to trust. Luke sniffed a laugh. “I know exactly how you feel.”
     
    Luke kicked through the trash, looking for something to tie around the dog’s neck. Not finding anything, he marched up the boardwalk to the freight office. His cousins kept rope for tying down their freight and wouldn’t mind if he helped himself to a few feet of it. Pulling out his knife, he whacked off a ten-foot length from a large roll. Hurrying back, he hoped the dog was still there and that the boys hadn’t found him. He fastened a noose on the move and had it ready when he rounded the corner.
     
    At first he didn’t see the critter, but then he found him lying under one of the few trees in town. Luke tiptoed toward him, the rope ready. The dog sniffed the air, saw him, and stood, looking ready to bolt. Luke couldn’t blame him after the way those kids had treated him. He tossed the rope and caught his target on the first try. The dog yipped and shied away, pulling up the slack and causing the noose to tighten around his neck.
     
    Luke grinned. Maybe he’d just roped a new friend.
    ***
     
    Garret drove the team away from Snake River Ranch. Without the weight of the heavy load, the wagon jostled more, but the horses were able to move faster. They should be home to Lookout by evening.
     
    The morning sun broke over the horizon, chasing away all shadows of night. He pulled down the brim of his hat as his mind wandered to their next shipment. Maybe it was time to hire someone to help with the deliveries so they could keep the office open all the time. But that would mean not traveling with his brother, and he’d miss that. He and Mark shared a bond that many brothers didn’t.
     
    Garrett peered sideways. How Mark could read a book while the wagon dipped in and out of ruts in the road, he’d never know.
     
    Too bad Luke had taken the marshal’s job, or they could have hired him. He’d fit right in.
     
    “Why do you suppose Luke decided to come home after all these years?” Garrett nudged Mark in the shoulder to draw him out of his book.
     
    “Huh?” His brother glanced up, his mind obviously still in the story. After a moment, his gaze cleared. “What did you say?”
     
    Repeating the question, Garrett took the novel from his brother’s hand, knowing he’d be distracted by it.
     
    “Hey!” Mark grabbed for the book, but Garrett held it out of his reach.
     
    “Answer my question, and I’ll give it back.”
     
    “I don’t know. Maybe he got tired of riding all over the frontier, chasing Indians and outlaws, getting shot at, sleeping on the ground, and eating beans with dust in them.”
     
    Garrett grinned. “When you say it that way, it makes perfect sense.”
     
    Mark snatched back his book, found the page, and started reading again.
     
    Garrett didn’t care much for reading, except on a winter’s night when there wasn’t a whole lot else