Lips That Touch Mine by Wendy Lindstrom Page A

the cheroot between his teeth,
struck a match, and drew on the cigar until an orange glow traveled
a quarter inch up the length. He braced his elbows on the bar and
exhaled a ring of smoke that circled their heads. "Did Marshall
Thomas give you and Amelia a rough time today?"
    Kyle scraped his brown hair off his forehead.
"Doc said a fourteen-hour birth is a blessing. Amelia delivered
without a problem, but it sure wrung me out."
    "Well, look on the bright side," Boyd said.
"In about six weeks you and Amelia will be able to use those
handcuffs you never gave back to Duke."
    Duke's shout of laughter made Kyle grin.
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"
    "Not a chance."
    If Boyd lived to be a hundred years old, he
would never forget the night that Kyle, who'd been married for two
weeks and hadn't yet consummated his marriage, had demanded Duke's
handcuffs then bolted from the bar with a determined look on his
face. Boyd suspected that Kyle had wanted the cuffs for himself, to
ease Amelia's fear of him, but he'd never said and Boyd had never
asked.
    Kyle pulled another cigar from his pocket for
Radford, who'd just entered the saloon. "I'll have to tell you
about it sometime."
    It would be a cold day in hell before Kyle
would give Boyd that kind of ammunition, but Boyd laughed, amazed
at the change in his older brother. Just three years ago, Kyle had
been a humorless, miserable man. His fiancée, Evelyn Tucker, had
fallen in love with their oldest brother Radford, which had nearly
destroyed their family. Then, barely six months after Kyle's broken
engagement, Kyle was forced to marry Amelia Drake, their
competitor's daughter. It seemed a miracle to Boyd that they all
had ended up happy.
    "What did I miss?" Radford asked as he
stomped snow from his boots and straddled a barstool beside
Kyle.
    Boyd signaled Karlton to bring a mug for his
brother. "Kyle is going to make a confession about his love
life."
    Kyle laughed. "My adventures consist of
fighting for a place in bed between two spoiled cats and my wife's
protruding belly. Your love life would be far more entertaining,
Boyd."
    Duke shot a wry look at Boyd. "When has
love
ever had anything to do with your affairs?"
    A small ache started in Boyd's chest. He
struggled not to show any outward sign of the emptiness that
overwhelmed him at times. He would never fall in love. He wasn't
worthy of it. He asked too much. And gave too little. He would
spend his life with his crazy, mixed-breed mutt. All Sailor needed
was regular meals and a good daily scratch behind his ears. Boyd
didn't want anything more emotionally challenging than that.
    Radford picked up the mug of ale that Karlton
had just set in front of him. "Don't look so smug, little brother.
You'll take the fall someday, and when you do, Kyle and I are going
to enjoy every minute of it."
    It would never happen, but Boyd didn't argue.
He glanced at Duke and changed the subject. "Heard you got a new
deputy today."
    Duke nodded. "Levi Harrison signed the
ladies' temperance pledge, then accepted the position."
    "He signed their pledge?" Boyd asked in
disbelief, exchanging a disgusted look with Karlton.
    "Said he had to if he wanted to become a
lawman. The ladies pressured him to stop selling liquor in his
hotel and set an example for the rest of us men."
    Boyd rolled his eyes. "Next thing you know
they'll be hounding you to sign their damned pledge."
    "They already have."
    "You won't do it, will you?" Karlton asked,
butting into their conversation.
    "I don't see any need to. I don't have an
unquenchable thirst for alcohol, or a family I'm neglecting because
of it. And I don't sell liquor." Duke shrugged. "Can't see how my
stopping for an occasional mug hurts anyone or keeps me from doing
my job."
    "Neither can I, and I wouldn't let their
nagging sway you," Boyd said. "Besides, the ladies will get tired
of marching in this cold weather and give up this nonsense before
long."
    Kyle and Radford glanced at each other