Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance) by Kimberly Ivey

well? The idea made her nauseous.
    “Halle,
you all right?” Molly asked, clipping her beneath the chin. “Come on, girl. Why
the long face?”
     Halle
shrugged. “I um…was just lost in thought.”
    Molly smiled big.
“You were thinkin’ about him weren’t you?”
    Halle
flinched. “What? Who?”
    “Whitehorse.”
     Hell no.
Yes. “No, of course not!”
    Molly leaned in
closer and lowered her voice. “Word was before Whitehorse
brought you in, the two of you had already done the deed.”
        
“Sorry to spoil the story for you but we didn’t.”
        
“You sure ‘bout that? Elena was pretty certain for a while you was knocked up
with his kid. ”
        
Halle rolled her eyes. “You have to
do more than kiss to get pregnant.”
        
“And….”
        
“And….nothing.”
        
Molly smacked her on the upper arm. “You’re lyin’. There was more, wasn’t
there?”
       
Rosa had since put her spoon down and was staring
intently. Halle swallowed hard. “He
just…touched my…”
      They were
both silent, staring.
      “My boob.”
      Molly’s
shoulder’s slumped and Rosa went back to stirring the
soup as if this revelation was no big deal.  Apparently Molly was
satisfied, if not bored by her answer. Molly flicked a piece of dirt from
beneath her fingernail, adding, “Well, hopefully Whitehorse’s
visit will make Her Highness happy. Anything to appease that bitch for a while
is worthwhile.”
    Rosa
agreed. Molly tapped Halle on the
arm. “Hey, did you tell Rosa we’ve been blackmailing the
man who murdered his niece?”
    Halle
flinched. She’d sworn Molly to secrecy! With her eyes, she implored her not to
divulge any more details
     Molly gave Halle
a light smack on the arm. “Hell,girl. Rosa already
knows. I told her after she said Frank Cole came in one night last week. Didn’t
he, Rosa?”
    Rosa
nodded. “There is something evil about that man. I do not like it when he comes
here.” She shuddered. “He has eyes like a wolf. Makes my skin crawl.”
    A shiver skittered
up Halle’s spine. “Does Cole come
here a lot?”
    “Only for the past
two months. Keeps to himself. Drinks, but never too much. Never asks for a
woman. Probably can’t get it up, if you ask me.”
    Halle’s
heart lurched. He’d been coming to Elena’s since she began blackmailing him.
Did Cole suspect she and Molly were the authors of the letters?  How? With
money she saved styling the madam’s hair and sewing dresses, she rented a
postal box in Union City a hundred
miles away and bribed the postmaster into silence.
    Rosa
lifted a brow. “You stay away from that Cole man Halle.
No more letters. He is no good.”
    “But he doesn’t
know it’s us sending the letters,” Halle
offered
    Rosa
snorted. “He will find out, and when he does, he will come back and hurt you.
He is so evil he might even cut your heart out and eat it while it is still
beating. The Devil lives inside him. I have seen it in his eyes.” She sketched
the sign of the cross over herself.
    Halle
looked at Molly, who gave a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Don’t worry. He
was probably just sniffin’ around and lookin’ for a good time, but like I said,
his good time couldn’t get up.” Molly winked. “Probably heard about all the new
pretty girls Elena hired. Besides, he didn’t find what he came for, so I don’t
think he’ll be back.”
    Halle prayed Molly
was right, but something in her gut said otherwise. Frank Cole knew she was
here or at least suspected. She figured it wouldn’t be the last time he’d come
snooping around. Had the postmaster in Union City betrayed her?
    Perspiration
poured from her brow. Ordinarily she’d blame it on the stifling heat in the
tiny, windowless kitchen, but that wasn’t the reason she’d broken out in a
sweat. She knew in her heart Frank Cole had found her. It was a matter of time
before she was dead meat.
    Halle mopped her
brow with a convenient dish towel.