Mail Order Bride - Westward Justice: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 6) by Linda Bridey Page A

against women were committed every day was a testament to her incredible strength. 
                  “You might be used to it, but you shouldn’t have to be,” Mitch said.
                  Sammi said, “I know.  So are you looking for a deputy, since I’m taken?”
                  Mitch let the other subject go and dealt with her question.  “Yeah, but I don’t know who yet.  I know it’s only a few days since Travis passed away, but I can’t let it go much longer.  I pretty much know everyone around here and I can’t think of anyone who would be qualified or steady enough to do the job.”
                  “Maybe your next advertisement should be for a deputy,” Sammi said.
                  “I think you’re right about that,” Mitch said.
                  “Oh.  About that?  Marcus figured out that I answered your ad.  I’m sure it won’t be long until other people know about it since his whole family does now,” Sammi said.
                  Mitch shrugged.  “I don’t care, do you?”
                  “Nope.  I’ll just have to be extra careful about sneaking into your house,” Sammi whispered. 
                  Mitch kept a straight face but his eyes smiled at her. 
                  “I would like to see it in the daylight so I can get a proper look at it,” Sammi said in a serious tone of voice.
                  “I think we can arrange that,” Mitch said. 
                  Another horse rode up on the other side of Mitch.  “Afternoon, Sheriff,” Joe said.  “Sammi.”
                  “Hi, Joe,” Mitch said.  “I need you to do me a favor.”
                  “Name it. Never let it be said that I don’t help out law enforcement,” Joe said.
                  “Joe, you’re half the reason law enforcement is needed around here,” Mitch said.
                  Joe was offended.  “What are you talking about?  I am not.”
                  “Need I remind you of how many arguments you’ve started because of hustling people at poker?” Mitch said.
                  “You probably do need to remind be because I was probably too drunk to remember most of them,” Joe said, which made Sammi laugh.
                  Mitch said, “You’re lucky I like you.  You owe me for all of the times I saved your bacon.  Now, come with me and Sammi to my house.”
                  “Why?”
                  “Because I want to show it to her and I need someone to go with us.  And, I want to talk to you about something.  I can kill two birds with one stone,” Mitch said.
                  “Why do you need someone to go with- oh! I get it.  Sure,” Joe said.
     
                  The outside of Mitch’s house was in pretty good shape, but the inside was another matter.  As they went in the front door, Sammi saw the extent of the disrepair.  There had been water damage to some of the walls and a lot of the floorboards were warped.  The rooms were huge. Sammi liked all of the open space.  She’d known that the foyer was large, but in the dark she hadn’t been able to fully appreciate the size of the other rooms. 
                  The staircase was elegant and the banister ornate.  As they moved from the parlor through the dining room and into the kitchen, Sammi had no trouble picturing living there.  For all of the damage, she could envision what it would be like when they were finished with it. 
                  “Good God, Mitch,” Joe said.  “I didn’t know this place was this big inside. I mean, you can see that it’s a sizeable house, but I didn’t know it ran this far back from the street.”
                  “Yeah, plus there’s a carriage house out back,”