The Outlaw Bride by Sandra Chastain Page A

ask for a jury trial. The evidence was all circumstantial. With any luck she could cast enough doubt about his guilt to get him off.
    Josie realized that Ellie was prattling on about something. “I’m sorry, Ellie. What did you say?”
    “I was asking you about Sheriff Spencer. Do you care for him?”
    Josie shook her head, confused at the question. “Will? Care for Will? Is he sick?”
    “Not his health, Miss Miller. Don’t you know the man is crazy about you?”
    That stopped her. Dan had suggested the same thing once, but Josie hadn’t taken him seriously. “Why would Will be crazy about me?”
    “I don’t know, Miss Miller … Josie. Maybe because he’s a man and you’re a lady. Does he need a reason?”
    “I’m not interested in Will, not that way. If a woman cared for a man, he’d know, wouldn’t he?” She let her horse slow for just a moment, then said, “I mean, Will is just a friend. Actually, he’s more Annie’s friend than mine.”
    Ellie let a slow smile curl her lips. “It’s Callahan, isn’t it? You’re sweet on him.”
    “Don’t be silly, Ellie. I’m not sweet on Callahan.”
    “You can’t fool me. I heard it in your voice. There’s something between you two, I can tell.”
    Something between them? She tingled at the mention of his name. Her insides felt like Lubina’s yeast dough, rising in the sun. It quite simply overwhelmed her when she allowed herself to remember his touch.
    “Josie?”
    She didn’t answer Ellie; she couldn’t. This kind of truth was private.
    Ellie’s whoop was her own response. “Good for you. You sure you know what you’re doing? You could be getting yourself into a mess of trouble.”
    “Ellie, I’m not getting myself into anything. He’s my client. Nothing else.”
    “Yeah, and Will Spencer’s going to suddenly forget I work in a saloon and invite me out for a Sunday drive,” Ellie said with a touch of bitterness in her voice. “I mean, he’s too old for me, anyway, and I’m too … used for him. You’d do better to go after him and leave Callahan for me.”
    Josie finally grasped the reason behind Ellie’s questioning. “You really care about Will?”
    “Everybody seems to know that but Will.” Ellie slowed her horse and glanced at Josie, frowning. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”
    “If he doesn’t know you exist, it’s because you haven’t made him aware of the real you, the woman who stood up to Virgil Wayne, the one who cares about other people. You’ve proved yourself. You even look different, Ellie. Just keep on standing up straight and looking Will in the eye, and he’ll notice.”
    “As long as Will is interested in you, I’m thinking that he won’t notice me. But maybe if you and Callahan—”
    “There is no
me
and Callahan,” Josie snapped. “I’m his attorney, nothing more. Tomorrow I’m going to Sharpsburg to talk to the banker who holds the mortgageon Callahan’s ranch and anyone else I can find. I have to defend Callahan in court, and I need more than case law. I need facts.”
    “You’re going to Sharpsburg alone? I can’t let you do that. Look what happened to Callahan, and he’s a man.”
    “But I’m not carrying five thousand dollars.”
    “That’s not the only valuable thing a woman has to lose,” Ellie argued. “I’ll go with you. And don’t worry, I know how to use a gun.”
    Josie patted her saddlebag. “You mean the gun you gave to me? So do I, if I have to.”
    The moon was high overhead when they rode into town—too bright for secrecy, Josie decided, riding straight up to the jail and dismounting. “Take your horse around back and wait for me, will you, Ellie? Leave mine out front. If anyone comes, you mustn’t get caught.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Ellie climbed from her horse and started around the building, then stopped. “Are we breaking you in or Callahan out?”
    Ever since the dandy representing Perryman had left, Callahan hadn’t been able to stay still. Who had