Whirlwind Bride. Debra Cowan

touch. Just talk to them and nudge your hand under their bellies like so ….” She demonstrated on a sedate looking bird. “You don’t have to try and wrangle them like a steer,” she said with a meaningful look at Riley.

      He gave the widow a crooked grin, and Susannah bit back a smile.

      “You try it, Susannah. This hen usually lays this time of day, though I’ve never figured out why. The others typically lay at night or early morning.”

      Susannah stepped up, apprehensive but trying to copy Cora’s movements exactly. She slid her hand beneath the hen’s plump, soft belly and touched a warm, smooth surface. She drew out an egg while the bird blinked sleepily.

      “Look!” She held up the object, thrilled that she had managed to retrieve it without incident.

      “Good.” Cora tucked the egg into her skirt pocket. “We’ll come out again in the morning.”

      As the three of them walked back to the house, the older woman invited Susannah to bring her things from the hotel and move in that evening.

      Susannah smiled. “Thank you, I will. In the next few days, I’ll be able to pay you for the whole month. My brother will send me some money, and I’m looking for a job.”

      “A job?” Riley halted in midstep. “Just what kind of position do you think you’re going to find in Whirlwind?”

      “I don’t know.” She stiffened. “Please don’t sound so shocked. I didn’t say I was going to become the sheriff. I have excellent penmanship and I’m fair with figures. I’m sure I can find something,” she said with a lot more confidence than she felt.

      “I’m sure you can, too.” Cora patted her arm and gave Riley a look Susannah couldn’t decipher.

      She and Riley bade the other woman goodbye and started back toward the hotel.

      “Thank you for introducing us. I think things will work out wonderfully.”

      “You think the room will suffice?”

      “Oh, yes. I don’t need much.”

      If he disagreed, he kept it to himself. “I’ll help you move your things.”

      “Thank you.” She slid a look at him, thinking about the way her nerves had hummed when he’d touched her hand out behind Cora’s house. “I appreciate you helping me with the story about my husband. I haven’t thought out everything yet.”

      “You’re welcome.” He stopped in front of the Pearl. “Are you serious about finding a job?”

      “I have to. I’m responsible for another person now.”

      “Look, I could get you a ticket back home. Or I’m sure Adam would come for you himself, if you asked.”

      Reminding herself of Riley’s help today, she tried to squelch the burn of irritation his offer caused. “I’m not going back to St. Louis. I appreciate your help in finding me a place to live and I can tell I’m going to love Cora, but I think I can handle things from here.”

      “Are you telling me to mind my own business?” Heat flushed her cheeks, but she held his gaze. “I wouldn’t put it so bluntly, but …”

      “All right, but if you need anything, let me know.”

      “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine.”

      “Life out here can be pretty unpredictable.”

      “You’ve made it plain you don’t think I’ll last, but you’re wrong.”

      He stared into her eyes for a long moment, then touched the brim of his hat. “Let’s get your things and get you out to Cora’s.”

      “I’m sure I can manage.”

      “I’ll help you.”

      “It will take me awhile to pack—”

      He was already walking into the hotel.

      Puffing out an exasperated breath, she followed, staring a hole in his back. It wasn’t hard to see why he got along so well with Adam. Men!

       Chapter Five

      All the next morning and into the afternoon, Riley tried to shake thoughts of Susannah, but they clung like a cobweb. Until yesterday, he’d managed to stay away from her for three days. He’d agreed to mind his own business. Maybe being left alone was the only way she’d realize she didn’t belong here. Maddie had been determined, too. And she’d paid a steep price for it. Riley would hate to see that happen to Susannah.

      He glanced down at the still-red scratch across the knuckles of his right hand. The memory of her touch on his skin, her scent drifting around him, had his body going tight. She was a fine piece of woman and he didn’t have any business thinking about her.

      He stepped up on the stall slat he’d just replaced. Even though it held his weight, he cussed. His concentration was shot clean to hell and supper was still two hours away. Joe and Cody Tillman, the father and son who worked as Riley’s ranch hands, were stringing fence in the south pasture, and would probably stay out there again tonight. He might as well go to town and check on that pump part he’d ordered.

      An hour later, Mr. Haskell looked at him as if he’d asked to try on a bonnet. “That pump part won’t be here for at least a month, Riley. It’s coming from back East. Didn’t I tell you that the other day when you ordered it?”

      “Did you?” He thumbed back his hat, trying to recall. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Need any supplies?”

      “No, I’m all set.” He glanced over his shoulder and out the large plate glass window, turning slightly when he caught sight of Cora rushing past the store. “Maybe some peppermint. A quarter pound. Thanks.”

      Mr. Haskell measured out the sweets, wrapping them in brown paper. “Here ya go. That’ll be a nickel.”

      Riley handed him the coin and took his candy as he moved away from the counter.

      Cora was alone and covering ground fast. Holding her hat onto her head, she rushed as if she were being chased, into the sheriff’s office.

      Something had happened. The McDougal gang? Susannah?

      Riley strode over to the jail, stepping inside in time to hear Cora say “… should’ve been back by now.”

      “I agree,” Davis Lee said, rising from his chair behind the desk. “Abilene is a trip that can easily be made in one day.”

      “What’s happened?” Riley shut the door, noting the frantic look on Cora’s slightly lined features.

      “That’s what I’m trying to find out,” his brother said. “Susannah headed out to Abilene this morning and she hasn’t returned.”

      “Why did she go to Abilene?” Riley and Davis Lee asked in unison.

      Riley’s brother shot him a look, but he ignored it and kept his gaze on Cora.

      “She said she had business there.”

      “Maybe she boarded the train,” he said. “And headed back to St. Louis.” Where she belonged.

      “No,” Cora said. “That girl intends to stay. Besides, she took only her reticule. All her things are still at my house.” He leaned against the door. “What kind of business would she have there?”

      “That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Davis Lee came around his desk and took a seat on the corner in front of Cora. “Do you know?”

      The older woman frowned. “She didn’t say.” Riley recalled her declaration to find a job. Surely she wasn’t looking in Abilene. “Why would she do a fool thing like take off alone for Abilene? She knows about the McDougal gang.”

      “Oh,