me?”
Sam frowned. He looked down at her hand resting on the blanket only a few inches away. “It seems I’ve been trying to die for years, Sarah. For a long time after I saw my family die, I wanted to go with them. Then when I grew up and watched my friends shot while I stood right beside them, I thought nothing made sense.”
“So you became a bounty hunter?”
He laid his fingers over hers. “Life lost all reason. I didn’t really care if I lived or died.”
“And now?”
His dark eyes met hers. “You gave me a reason to care.”
NINE
SAM SAT ON THE BACK OF THE WAGON AND WATCHED his new wife as she walked down the creek’s bank. Eventually she’d turn around and come back. Then she would have to talk to him no matter how much she hated the idea.
He seemed to have found the one thing that would make her think less of him. In truth, if he had any good traits, he might have told her about them. But he was a loner who had few friends. And the good he’d done, he couldn’t tell anyone about, not even Sarah. Lives depended on his silence. He’d buried more than one coffin filled with rocks to give an outlaw a second chance. Now he only wished he had another chance with her.
She knew all of it now. He was a bounty hunter.
Hell, he thought, he would settle for a first chance. She hadn’t liked him from the start. The silence right after they married had been their best time together. Now that she knew half the outlaws in the state would gladly kill him, conditions between Sarah and him were not likely to improve.
But in his line of work, every year he made a few more enemies who thought they would be doing the world a favor if they killed him. Every year more tried. Sometimes he thought he was the one with his picture on a Wanted poster. Folks thought the bad guys should be brought to justice, only no one wanted to get too friendly with the man who did the job.
He’d lived the life of a bounty hunter for so long he hardly knew how to talk to normal folks. Maybe he should have tried to visit with her the night they married. If she’d learned about him then, she might not look so angry now.
But she seemed so frail and frightened, he decided to wait. Then there had been no time to explain why a man like him would even want a wife.
“One question?”
Sam hadn’t noticed Sarah turning around and walking back to the wagon. Now she stood eye level to him almost bumping his knees as she leaned toward him.
“Just one?” he asked, trying to act as if the sight of her standing so close didn’t bother him. People usually made a point not to get within reach of him.
“Why’d you marry me?” She narrowed her eyes as if she planned to evaluate his answer carefully.
Sam wasn’t sure he knew the answer. Maybe because she looked so helpless in that jail. Maybe he was sick of being alone. Maybe the thought of her going home with one of the farmers rubbed him the wrong way. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “Maybe I thought I was doing you a favor. I had this idea life with me might be a little easier than jail.” He almost laughed.
“Well, I know.” She paced in front of him with her hands locked behind her back like a tiny general before troops. “You wanted someone to nurse you through all your ‘accidents.’ You wanted a mother for your children....”
“I haven’t got any children,” he reminded her.
She ignored him. “You wanted someone to keep your house, only you don’t have a house. And cook your meals and sleep in your bed.”
She looked like a top going faster and faster in the wind. “You wanted someone who would be at your beck and call but who wouldn’t mind being dropped from a window or two if the need arose. Well, Sam Gatlin, I—”
“I never said I didn’t have a house.”
Sarah whirled around. “Yes, you did!”
“I said I didn’t have a cabin. I have a house.”
She looked confused. “Tell me true: Do you have a house the way you don’t have
Sam frowned. He looked down at her hand resting on the blanket only a few inches away. “It seems I’ve been trying to die for years, Sarah. For a long time after I saw my family die, I wanted to go with them. Then when I grew up and watched my friends shot while I stood right beside them, I thought nothing made sense.”
“So you became a bounty hunter?”
He laid his fingers over hers. “Life lost all reason. I didn’t really care if I lived or died.”
“And now?”
His dark eyes met hers. “You gave me a reason to care.”
NINE
SAM SAT ON THE BACK OF THE WAGON AND WATCHED his new wife as she walked down the creek’s bank. Eventually she’d turn around and come back. Then she would have to talk to him no matter how much she hated the idea.
He seemed to have found the one thing that would make her think less of him. In truth, if he had any good traits, he might have told her about them. But he was a loner who had few friends. And the good he’d done, he couldn’t tell anyone about, not even Sarah. Lives depended on his silence. He’d buried more than one coffin filled with rocks to give an outlaw a second chance. Now he only wished he had another chance with her.
She knew all of it now. He was a bounty hunter.
Hell, he thought, he would settle for a first chance. She hadn’t liked him from the start. The silence right after they married had been their best time together. Now that she knew half the outlaws in the state would gladly kill him, conditions between Sarah and him were not likely to improve.
But in his line of work, every year he made a few more enemies who thought they would be doing the world a favor if they killed him. Every year more tried. Sometimes he thought he was the one with his picture on a Wanted poster. Folks thought the bad guys should be brought to justice, only no one wanted to get too friendly with the man who did the job.
He’d lived the life of a bounty hunter for so long he hardly knew how to talk to normal folks. Maybe he should have tried to visit with her the night they married. If she’d learned about him then, she might not look so angry now.
But she seemed so frail and frightened, he decided to wait. Then there had been no time to explain why a man like him would even want a wife.
“One question?”
Sam hadn’t noticed Sarah turning around and walking back to the wagon. Now she stood eye level to him almost bumping his knees as she leaned toward him.
“Just one?” he asked, trying to act as if the sight of her standing so close didn’t bother him. People usually made a point not to get within reach of him.
“Why’d you marry me?” She narrowed her eyes as if she planned to evaluate his answer carefully.
Sam wasn’t sure he knew the answer. Maybe because she looked so helpless in that jail. Maybe he was sick of being alone. Maybe the thought of her going home with one of the farmers rubbed him the wrong way. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. “Maybe I thought I was doing you a favor. I had this idea life with me might be a little easier than jail.” He almost laughed.
“Well, I know.” She paced in front of him with her hands locked behind her back like a tiny general before troops. “You wanted someone to nurse you through all your ‘accidents.’ You wanted a mother for your children....”
“I haven’t got any children,” he reminded her.
She ignored him. “You wanted someone to keep your house, only you don’t have a house. And cook your meals and sleep in your bed.”
She looked like a top going faster and faster in the wind. “You wanted someone who would be at your beck and call but who wouldn’t mind being dropped from a window or two if the need arose. Well, Sam Gatlin, I—”
“I never said I didn’t have a house.”
Sarah whirled around. “Yes, you did!”
“I said I didn’t have a cabin. I have a house.”
She looked confused. “Tell me true: Do you have a house the way you don’t have
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