Christian, too much in shock to scoff at his comment the way she should.
“I have half a mind to wire my contacts in the U.S. Army to come set this place in order,” Samuel railed.
“ You can’t make any changes to the town’s law enforcement without a vote by the town council,” Christian argued.
“Yeah? Then maybe I’ll bring it up for a vote at the next meeting. Maybe I’ll call for a vote to ban Indians from town too.” Again he glared at Lily as if she had robbed his house herself. “The whole lot of you are nothing but trouble.”
“ I’m warning you!” Christian growled, but it was too late. Samuel spun on his heel and walked away up the path leading to his robbed house and his whimpering wife. Christian swore under his breath, then called after him. “Make sure you go over to the jail tomorrow to file a report!”
“Oh, I’ll file a report, all right.” Samuel turned back to him. “I’ll file an official complaint over the gross mismanagement of this entire town!” He slammed his front door behind him.
Christian hissed out a curse and rubbed his face. “Do you see?” He directed his frustration at Lily. “Schoolyard fights in the morning, accusations of thievery in the evening. What next?”
Lily was beyond answering. She drew in a breath of cold air and stepped around him, avoiding his eyes. She was shaking, her skin prickling with a fine layer of sweat, and the man who had made her feel so safe for one fleeting moment had been replaced by an arrogant bastard.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Christian fell into stride beside her.
“Home,” she answered , then frowned at the quiver in her tone.
She hugged herself against the encroaching cold.
“Where is home?” Christian asked, in no mood to play games.
“Miss Viola Jones’s boarding house,” Lily conceded.
To her surprise, Christian swore again. “You would live out there, wouldn’t you,” he growled.
She should have called him out for his rudeness. She should have scolded him and taught him manners. But her heart was still pounding so hard the only thing she could say was, “Yes, I would.”
“Come on, then . I’m driving you home. No arguments this time.”
It was a testament to how frayed her nerves were that she only swayed on her spot for a moment before trailing after him. Her world had been so clear and ordered that morning. Now, thanks to Christian Avery, it was a mess.
Chapter Five
Christian leaned against the counter in Michael West’s general store, chewing on the end of the cigar he had yet to light. “It was enough to make a man wish he’d never gotten out of bed that morning,” he finished up his sorry tale of the day before.
The store was packed and Michael could only nod as he tallied up Angus McGee’s tab. “That’ll be eighteen dollars and forty cents,” he told Angus. He followed that immediately by saying, “Sounds like you enjoyed it,” to Christian.
“I most certainly did not,” Christian groused. He tucked the cigar in his pocket and scooted out of the way of a middle aged woman and her daughter on their way to the sewing notions. “Being frozen solid, spoken to like a child, and shot at are not pastimes I enjoy.”
“Then how come you always seem to be in somebody’s line of fire?” Michael replied. “Good morning, Mrs. Folsom,” he greeted the next customer. “How are you this fine morning?”
“Tired of waiting,” Mrs. Folsom answered with a huff. “Can’t some of these people shop at Kuhn’s Emporium in the new part of town? They’re new people anyhow.”
“You wouldn’t grudge me my business now, would you?” Michael smiled at the woman, proving why his business continued to boom in spite of the competition.
“As I understand it, Mr. Kuhn has just as much business as we do,” Michael’s wife, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ West, commented as she breezed through the curtain from the storeroom. Her black hair was done up in the latest
“I have half a mind to wire my contacts in the U.S. Army to come set this place in order,” Samuel railed.
“ You can’t make any changes to the town’s law enforcement without a vote by the town council,” Christian argued.
“Yeah? Then maybe I’ll bring it up for a vote at the next meeting. Maybe I’ll call for a vote to ban Indians from town too.” Again he glared at Lily as if she had robbed his house herself. “The whole lot of you are nothing but trouble.”
“ I’m warning you!” Christian growled, but it was too late. Samuel spun on his heel and walked away up the path leading to his robbed house and his whimpering wife. Christian swore under his breath, then called after him. “Make sure you go over to the jail tomorrow to file a report!”
“Oh, I’ll file a report, all right.” Samuel turned back to him. “I’ll file an official complaint over the gross mismanagement of this entire town!” He slammed his front door behind him.
Christian hissed out a curse and rubbed his face. “Do you see?” He directed his frustration at Lily. “Schoolyard fights in the morning, accusations of thievery in the evening. What next?”
Lily was beyond answering. She drew in a breath of cold air and stepped around him, avoiding his eyes. She was shaking, her skin prickling with a fine layer of sweat, and the man who had made her feel so safe for one fleeting moment had been replaced by an arrogant bastard.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Christian fell into stride beside her.
“Home,” she answered , then frowned at the quiver in her tone.
She hugged herself against the encroaching cold.
“Where is home?” Christian asked, in no mood to play games.
“Miss Viola Jones’s boarding house,” Lily conceded.
To her surprise, Christian swore again. “You would live out there, wouldn’t you,” he growled.
She should have called him out for his rudeness. She should have scolded him and taught him manners. But her heart was still pounding so hard the only thing she could say was, “Yes, I would.”
“Come on, then . I’m driving you home. No arguments this time.”
It was a testament to how frayed her nerves were that she only swayed on her spot for a moment before trailing after him. Her world had been so clear and ordered that morning. Now, thanks to Christian Avery, it was a mess.
Chapter Five
Christian leaned against the counter in Michael West’s general store, chewing on the end of the cigar he had yet to light. “It was enough to make a man wish he’d never gotten out of bed that morning,” he finished up his sorry tale of the day before.
The store was packed and Michael could only nod as he tallied up Angus McGee’s tab. “That’ll be eighteen dollars and forty cents,” he told Angus. He followed that immediately by saying, “Sounds like you enjoyed it,” to Christian.
“I most certainly did not,” Christian groused. He tucked the cigar in his pocket and scooted out of the way of a middle aged woman and her daughter on their way to the sewing notions. “Being frozen solid, spoken to like a child, and shot at are not pastimes I enjoy.”
“Then how come you always seem to be in somebody’s line of fire?” Michael replied. “Good morning, Mrs. Folsom,” he greeted the next customer. “How are you this fine morning?”
“Tired of waiting,” Mrs. Folsom answered with a huff. “Can’t some of these people shop at Kuhn’s Emporium in the new part of town? They’re new people anyhow.”
“You wouldn’t grudge me my business now, would you?” Michael smiled at the woman, proving why his business continued to boom in spite of the competition.
“As I understand it, Mr. Kuhn has just as much business as we do,” Michael’s wife, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ West, commented as she breezed through the curtain from the storeroom. Her black hair was done up in the latest
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