Wed to the Texas Outlaw Read Online Free PDF Page A

with an image.
    My word!
    She backed away from the window, flung herself on the bed and waited for her nerves to settle or for morning to come.
    Morning came first.
    * * *
    By ten o’clock the next day the wind had quieted. The courthouse door was left open to let in the sun-warmed air of an autumn morning.
    The sounds of wagon wheels and commerce rolled past. Scents from a nearby bakery drifted in. Boot steps fell heavy on the boardwalk then faded into the distance.
    Boone listened to the noise in an attempt to keep his heart from beating out of his chest and his shirt from becoming soaked with nervous sweat.
    Apparently, Judge Mathers didn’t want to hear more formal testimony. First thing upon entering the courthouse he had ordered Smythe into his chambers and shut the door.
    His lovely “cousin” had leaped from her chair when the slender lawyer disappeared.
    Her pacing was putting him on edge. The swish of fabric feathering around her ankles made his insides itch. The sound of the guard’s boots tapping on the floor echoed from one wall to the other when he wearily shifted his weight.
    Life was funny when one man in a room could be tied up in agitation waiting to see where his future would go and the other so bored he risked drifting into a doze.
    Melinda Winston suddenly stopped pacing and approached Boone at a quick pace. She had her mouth open, apparently ready to say something, when all of a sudden the guard came to attention and blocked her way.
    She blinked at him; she flashed dimples.
    â€œI would take it as a kindness if you would let me speak to my cousin,” she said in a voice as sweet as any he’d ever heard.
    â€œI’d like to oblige, ma’am, but it’s against the rules.”
    â€œOh, of course,” she sighed with a lift of her bosom. She shrugged then turned to walk away. Suddenly she spun around. “It’s just that I have family news. Would it be acceptable if the three of us sat on this bench with you in between me and Mr. Walker?”
    â€œDon’t know that there’s a rule against it but—”
    â€œI’d be ever so grateful.”
    Had she practiced that batting of the eyelashes? He’d wager a hundred dollars that she had. She was skilled; he’d have to give her that. He’d wager another hundred that the deputy didn’t know he was being reeled in, a fish flopping on a hook.
    â€œI reckon it can’t do any harm, as long as the two of you keep your distance.”
    â€œThank you.” She gave the deputy’s forearm a quick squeeze then sat on the bench. “You are a true gentleman.”
    Bedazzled, the man could only nod.
    Boone sat on the left side of the lawman. By damn, the fellow was preening.
    Miss Winston, with her hands folded in her lap, leaned forward so that she could peer at him around the guard.
    â€œWhat I didn’t have time to tell you last—” She stopped suddenly. Apparently she didn’t want it known that she had snuck out in the dark of night. “Last time we met, is that Lantree is more than—”
    â€œThis is a mockery of every legal standard!” Stanley Smythe’s voice penetrated the wall. He reckoned even the saloon keeper could hear the ruckus. “I will not stand for this.”
    That didn’t sound promising for his future. Melinda cast him a quick frown.
    Long silence stretched in which he could only guess the judge was speaking in a quieter tone. The clock in the courthouse seemed to tick louder all of a sudden...with a longer time between each swing of the pendulum.
    Even the deputy turned his head in the direction of the judge’s chambers, listening.
    â€œMy client should walk free on the merit of his own innocence and you know it.”
    More silence, except for the clock that grew ever louder.
    Melinda stood and turned toward the door with her hand at her throat.
    Oddly his mind conjured the sound of his brother’s voice