The Outlaws: Rafe Read Online Free PDF Page B

before he did something he'd regret later.   "So long, Angel."
    Then he was gone, leaving Angela with an empty space inside her she couldn't explain.   She raised her fingers to her lips; they felt fuller and plumper than they had before Rafe kissed her.   They were not afire, as they were only a few minutes earlier when his lips were pressing against hers, but only slightly warm.
    Angela wondered why she hadn't resisted more strongly.   At the very least she should have placed a well-aimed knee in his groin.   But she hadn't.   She had rested complacently in his arms and let him kiss her, playing her mouth as if he owned it.   Her knees were still weak and her stomach roiling.   For the sake of her sanity, she sincerely hoped she and Rafe Gentry never crossed paths again.
     
    Rafe found scant rest in his bedroll that night, or what remained of it.   He rose at the first hint of daylight, washed up at the stream, saddled his horse and rode off, gnawing on jerky he carried in his saddlebags.   He rode west, toward Pueblo, deciding it was as good place as any to buy supplies and take in the lay of the land.   He was nearly out of cash and if there were no wanted posters out for his arrest in town, he might decide to find a temporary job to fill his empty pockets.
    For both their sakes, he hoped he didn't run into Angel Abbot again.   At some point during their brief acquaintance he'd named her Angel in his head, and the name seemed to fit.   It was his dearest wish to block her from his mind entirely, but he knew that was a lost hope.   He would never forget his brief marriage to the woman with the voice of a songbird and sweet face of an angel.   Or the compelling attraction that made him want to learn all Angel's secrets and to keep her close to him.
    It was late when Rafe reached Pueblo.   He stabled his horse and found a hotel room.   He fell into bed totally exhausted.   He arose early the next day, bought breakfast and strolled through town.   Ducking into the general store, he asked about a job.   The proprietor told him the Circle K ranch foreman was hiring men for the roundup and to wait in the Whistle Stop saloon for him to show up.
      Rafe headed over to the Whistle Stop, pushed through the swinging doors and bellied up to the bar.   He ordered a beer and carried it to a nearby table to await the Circle K foreman.
    It was still early.   The saloon had few clients.   A pair of Easterners sitting at the next table alerted Rafe.   Without knowing either of them, Rafe felt an immediately animosity toward them.   He rarely judged on sight, but for some unexplained reason the two men raised the hackles on the back of his neck.   He took a swig of beer and tried to tune out their conversation, but something they said captured his attention.   He could have sworn they were talking about a woman named Angela.   Pretending disinterest, he leaned closer and listened.
    "Angela hasn't shown up yet, Dexter.   What if she isn't coming?"
    "Relax, Chandler, Angela is traveling with the Conrads and Pueblo is the evangelists last stop on the circuit.   The revival tent has already been erected in anticipation of their arrival.   They'll be here.   We'll give them another couple of days.   If they don't show up soon, I'll wire Ordway and find out what's keeping them."  
    "Angela's not going to like it," Anson Chandler said.   "If you recall, she left me standing at the altar.   Hell, Dexter, you promised we'd share in that gold mine of hers if I married her.   You said we'd both be rich if that mine is producing like it has in the past."
    "It's producing, all right.   I had it checked out years ago, after Simon Abbot began sending money to Angela.   Simon's partner thought he could pull the wool over our eyes by telling us it had played out, but I know better.   Once you marry Angela, all that gold will be ours."
    "It had better be," the younger man grumbled.   "I'm not too keen on marriage, but