Teton Sunrise (Teton Romance Trilogy) by Peggy L Henderson Page B

the bottle from him. “Sarah can stay here with me and help.”
    “I want to go to see the race, too,” Sarah protested, and held her hands to her hips.
    The boy named Matt boxed his brother in the arm and nodded, and both of them took off running.
    “Come back here,” Sarah called. Then she glared down at her mother. “That’s not fair. Why do they get to have all the fun?”
    “Sarah, right now I need you to quit your complaining and help me. Clean that area right here on Alex’s chest with the alcohol so I can make an incision.”
    The young girl huffed in protest, but obeyed her mother. Despite everything, Evelyn couldn’t help but smile. Sarah reminded her of herself when she was younger. She’d often defied her mother and gone off to see what the men were doing. It always seemed that the women were left to do the tedious chores while the men went off to have fun.
    Silently, Evelyn observed what was going on a few yards from the tent. The woman’s back was turned to her, so she couldn’t see exactly what Aimee was doing, but when Sarah stuck a branch near Alex’s head and told him, “Here, bite down on this so you don’t scream like a baby,” Evelyn had no doubt that the healer woman was cutting into Alex’s flesh. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine. Silently she prayed that the knife would inflict all the pain it possibly could. This man did not deserve her sympathy.
    “There. That wasn’t too deep,” Aimee said after a few minutes. “Let me sew this up, and you’ll be good as new. Like a seamstress, Aimee’s arm moved up and down, a needle and thread in her hand. With a quick snip of a pair of scissors, she cut through the ends of the sting. Had she actually sewn Alex’s skin back together?
    Sudden anger coursed through Evelyn. Why was she hiding out, watching this woman care for the man who had shattered her world to pieces? Her eyes fell to the knife lying on the ground next to Aimee. Without contemplating her actions, Evelyn pushed through the tent opening and lunged for the weapon. With trembling hands, she held it in a tight grip and took a step back. Aimee jumped to her feet, and so did Alex. Blood covered his chest.
    “Why do you help him? You should have driven this knife through his black heart,” Evelyn shouted, her wide eyes darting from Aimee to Sarah.
    Aimee held one hand out in front of her, the other motioned for Sarah to stay back.  She shot a quick look at Alex, whose eyes briefly widened in surprise before his brows furrowed. He took a step toward her, and Evelyn thrust the knife out in front of her. Quicker than she could blink, Alex’s arm snaked out and his hand wrapped around Evelyn’s wrist. With a soft cry of surprise, she dropped her weapon.
    “Hello, Evie ,” Alex said slowly. “I figured this would be the sort of greeting I would receive. You certainly didn’t disappoint.”
    She pulled away from him, but his hand of steel held tightly to her wrist. His grip intensified, and his cold stare sent a wave of dread down her spine.
    “You vile, evil monster,” she spat. “You killed my parents. After all they did for you, why did you kill them?” She swung back with her free hand, then brought it forward in an attempt to strike his face, but Alex’s reflexes were faster. He grabbed her other wrist, then pinned both her arms to her sides, stepping closer to her. His bushy face was mere inches from hers. Evelyn stared up into his deep blue eyes, her heart pounding fiercely in her chest.
    “Let’s get one thing straight, Evie ,” he said in a low, menacing voice. “I don’t know who gave you or Henry the idea that I killed your folks, but whoever is accusing me of that is a liar.”
    “Release me, you savage.” Evelyn gritted her teeth. The more she squirmed, the tighter he squeezed her wrists until his hold was almost painful.
    “Alex, let her go,” Aimee said softly. She stepped to his side and placed her hand on his arm. “You’re hurting