The Bride's Prerogative Read Online Free PDF Page B

Hiram burned greasewood. No wonder all the men in town hankered after the lovely widow. But Libby gently discouraged all who came courting.
    Gert lifted her last forkful of roast to her mouth. Bitsy surely could cook, no denying that. Or maybe the rumors were true and Augie Moore did a lot of the cooking for her during the day, putting on his bartender’s apron when the men began to gather after supper.
    Libby stood. “If you’re sure you don’t need me …”
    Gert shook her head and waved a hand at the nearly empty food tables. “Git. There’s barely a thing left.”
    Her friend hesitated and looked around the hall. She leaned close to Gert’s ear. “Have you heard anyone say for sure how Bert died?”
    “Just what Ethan said yesterday. He hit his head.”
    “I can’t help thinking about it and wondering.”
    Gert studied Libby’s face. “You mean … maybe someone hit it for him? Nobody’s said as much.”
    “Good. I probably worry too much.” Libby turned toward the door. “Come on, Florence. If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss some business.”
    As the two left the schoolroom, Gert’s gaze drifted again to Ethan. He stood near the stove with the mayor and Cyrus. She wondered what Mayor Walker was saying so earnestly. To one side, Jamin Morrell sat sipping from a tin cup. He almost seemed to be listening to the men’s conversation. Gert had no use for Morrell. He’d come to Fergus a year past and opened the Nugget Saloon on the opposite end of Main Street from Bitsy’s establishment. Not that Gert approved of Bitsy’s business, but compared to the Nugget, the Spur & Saddle was practically genteel. Morrell took a long pull from his cup, and suddenly Gert wondered if he’d sneaked a bottle of spirits into the schoolhouse.
    After a moment, the two older men clapped Ethan on the back and left him. Cyrus went out the door, and Mayor Walker joined his wife and a couple who owned a ranch east of town.
    Gert busied herself setting the few remaining pans closer together so she and Mrs. Landry could clear off one table. No sense letting folks see her making calf eyes at her brother’s friend—the new sheriff, that is. She smiled to herself. Ethan might not be overly comfortable with his new position, but she couldn’t think of a better candidate for the job. Not another man in Fergus could be as impartial and honest as Ethan Chapman.
    “Hey, Gert.”
    She jumped and looked up to find the object of her thoughts looking at her with brown eyes fit to make a schoolgirl swoon.
    “Ethan.”
    “Seen Hiram?”
    “I think he went back to the graveyard with Griffin. They wanted to make sure the dirt got tamped down good.”
    Ethan nodded and turned his hat around in his hands, holding it by the brim. “Thought I’d ask Hi to go over to the sheriff’s office with me. The mayor and Mr. Fennel think I oughta go over it to see if there’s anything that will tell us more about Bert’s … demise.”
    She nodded. “Hiram will go with you if you ask him. Just don’t expect him to hold forth with his opinion.”
    Ethan actually smiled. “Right. He’s restful, your brother.” Still, he stood there, turning the hat round and round. “I guess I’ll have to sleep in there some now.”
    Gert searched his face. Fatigue etched little lines like pine needles at the corners of his eyes, and his eyebrows drew together.
    “I don’t expect you need to stay there tonight. Bert only slept there when he had prisoners, didn’t he?”
    “I guess. But I’ll have to make arrangements for someone to tend my ranch when I’m in town.”
    “Don’t you have any ranch hands?” Gert asked.
    “I had two last year, but I let them go in the fall. You know, Spin and Johnny McDade. Couldn’t afford to pay them all winter.”
    She nodded. The two had ridden over from Boonville last summer, if she remembered right. Good, steady boys. “I expect they’ll come back, now that it’s warming up again.”
    “Maybe. If so, they’ll