The Devil's Daughter by Laura Drewry

not particularly taken with you, either.”
    Deacon brushed unseen dirt from his spotless lapel, then frowned at the toe of his shoe, set deep in the middle of a crumbled buffalo chip.
    “Sorry,” Lucy smiled. “Must’ve missed one.”
    He raised his eyes slowly, each movement deliberate. With his right hand, he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out his ferret, which he cradled like a baby as he stroked its neck.
    Deacon meant to unnerve her – and Jed – but Lucy would have no part of it. She’d barely moved a breath before Jed’s hand closed around her arm and tugged her closer, his hard glare never leaving Deacon’s face.
    “You’re saying you walked the ten miles from town?”
    Deacon hesitated briefly, then shrugged. “Okay.”
    “That’s an awful long walk.” Jed didn’t seem to pay any mind to the rodent sniffing its way around Deacon’s neck.
    Deacon shrugged again. “’Suppose.”
    “And yet your clothes look like they’ve just come back from Mrs. Lee’s laundry.”
    Lucy released a soft chuckle. “Except his shoe, of course.”
    Deacon’s expression didn’t change, but the fire in his soul belched enough steam to reach Lucy’s. Jed held Deacon’s gaze, not challenging him, but simply making it clear he would not be intimidated.
    If she didn’t need his trust and his soul, Lucy might have laughed at him. Jed seemed to think Deacon was no threat to any of them, a mistake he’d soon regret.
    Jed relaxed, but barely. “Any family of Lucy’s is welcome here, of course.”
    As Lucy fought back a groan, Deacon’s face lit up.
    “Excellent,” he said, his gaze still fixed on Jed, almost testing him. “There’s nothing more important than family, isn’t that what they say?”
    Lucy and Jed both snorted, then glanced at each other in surprise.
    “Yeah,” Jed agreed. “That’s what they say.”
    The fire crackled gently behind them – the only sound for a few very long seconds.
    “Where’s our manners, Lucy?” Jed finally spoke. “I’ll bring out the chairs and we can all sit down for a visit. It’ll give me a chance to get to know your brother.”
    “Yes,” Deacon sneered. “Wouldn’t that be. . .nice?”
    He eased the rodent from around his neck and set it back in his lap. It leapt to the ground and scurried off toward the barn, yet still Jed paid it no mind.
    With a short nod at Deacon, Jed gave Lucy’s hand a quick squeeze before heading to the house.
    Lucy turned on her brother the second Jed disappeared behind the door. “What do you want, Deacon?”
    Her brother’s eyes were void of any emotion. “Just wanted to stop by for a little social time with my sister. Is that wrong?”
    She cast a glance toward the house, then lowered her voice to a tight whisper. “Let’s not waste each other’s time.”
    “It’s not me wasting time.” He flicked an ash from his sleeve, and looked up at her with complete indifference. “You’re the one who insisted Mr. Caine’s pride would be his downfall. Either that or his lust. And yet here we are, a week later, and you’ve made little to no progress.”
    Before she could answer, Jed pushed open the door and carried the two chairs toward the fire.
    “Have a seat,” he said, offering Deacon the first one, and Lucy the other. “Miss Blake will be out in a minute.”
    Deacon wiped the chair with his gloves as he’d done before, then perched himself on the edge, his bowler hat balanced upside down on his lap. His ferret darted back across the yard, up Deacon’s pantleg, and disappeared inside his bowler hat.
    Deacon reached inside to touch his pet, then jerked his hand back, a single drop of blood falling from his fingertip. Instead of reacting violently, as Lucy expected, Deacon simply wiped the blood on his handkerchief and smiled down at the ferret.
    Suppressing a shudder, Lucy took the other chair as Jed bent to the coffee.
    “Do you live in town?” Jed asked, not looking up from his task.
    “No.” Deacon