To Tame a Renegade by Connie Mason Page B

flew open and Carrie’s oldest daughter rushed up to her mother. “The baby is awake, Mama, and cryin’ somethin’ fierce. Papa says you gotta come home now.”
    “Oh, dear,” Carrie said, realizing she had lingered too long. “My family needs me, Sarah. If Abner is finished he can come along and play with my brood.”
    “Can I go, Mama?” Abner asked hopefully. It wasn’t often he got to play with children who didn’t call him names he didn’t understand.
    Sarah wished life could be better for her son but circumstances wouldn’t allow it. If playing with the Barlow children made him happy, then she certainly wasn’t going to deny him. “Go on, honey. I’ll be just fine.”
    Abner scampered off behind Carrie and her daughter, leaving Sarah staring wistfully at her bowl of oatmeal. Unless she wanted to lap up her cereal like a dog, she’d get no breakfast today.
    Chad awoke early, ate with the other boarders, and paid for his night’s lodging before setting out for the livery, where he’d boarded Flint. The walk to the livery was just long enough for Chad to ponder his next move. The logical thing was to try to pick up Freddie Jackson’s trail. But as he mounted Flint and headed out of town, his thoughts took him in another direction.
    He wondered how Sarah and Abner would survive once all the food he’d bought was consumed. The staples he’d purchased wouldn’t last forever. He hated being saddled with responsibility. The feeling that he was abandoning Sarah and Abner made him angry. He didn’t owe them a damn thing.
    Chad looked around to get his bearings and groaned in dismay when he saw what he had done. Without realizing it, he had ridden straight to Sarah’s house.

Chapter 4
     
    C had desperately wanted to turn Flint around and ride hell for leather out of town, but something stopped him. That something had a name. It was Sarah Temple. He hadn’t wanted to come here. He hadn’t expected to see Sarah again, but some perverse demon demanded that he dismount and go inside. It was almost as if he could hear Sarah’s plea for help and it annoyed the hell out of him.
    Chad despised the idea of being needed. He didn’t want to feel any strong emotion for a woman. Yet something had drawn him to Sarah’s house like a bee to honey. Resignation set his feet into motion as he approached the front door. He didn’t knock. He merely opened the door and stepped inside. The house was small. He could see straight through the parlor into the kitchen, where Sarah sat staring with consternation into a bowl of oatmeal.
    Sarah sensed his presence and swiveled around to face him. “If you’ve come to tell Abner goodbye, he’s not here.”
    Chad strode into the kitchen, noting with satisfaction that, for the first time since her accident, Sarah was fully dressed in a gray gown that looked as if it had seen better days. “Mrs. Barlow must have been here this morning. I’m glad it’s working out.”
    Sarah glared at him. “Why are you here?”
    “Damned if I know.” He glanced at the bowl of oatmeal sitting in front of Sarah. “That’s going to get cold. Don’t you like oatmeal?”
    “I…” She glanced down at her hands and shrugged. “Carrie had to leave and my hands won’t hold the spoon.”
    Chad spit out a curse. This wasn’t going to work, he could see that now. Carrie Barlow’s family came first and Sarah was likely to starve before she was capable of feeding herself. With resignation he sat down and picked up the spoon.
    “Open your mouth.” His voice was harsher than he intended but he was so damn frustrated he couldn’t think beyond the fact that Sarah was this way because of him.
    Sarah’s chin jutted out “You don’t have to…”
    “Yes, I do. Just do as I say.”
    Sarah’s mouth fell open and Chad shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into it She chewed and swallowed and opened her mouth again when the spoon returned to her lips. In a surprisingly short time the bowl was