His Secondhand Wife. Cheryl St.John

features. “He is…” Her voice faltered and her expression softened. “He was my husband. Of course, it’s his child.” She raised a hand to tidy her hair and tuck stray wisps into the thick knot on her neck, then looked back at him. “What happened to him? I mean, how did he die?”

      “Shot.”

      “Shot?” Sincere-looking tears gathered in her eyes. Her delicate lips trembled. “Who shot him?”

      “A man.”

      “Is the man in jail?”

      “There’ll be a trial.”

      “What aren’t you telling me? I’ll find out, you know.”

      “Might be it’s better to let—”

      “Don’t hold it back. I’ll go to the sheriff myself and find out if you don’t tell me.”

      “Fella name of Robinson shot ’im over Pony Creek way.”

      “Why?”

      “Caught Levi with his wife.”

      It wasn’t shock that passed behind those hazel eyes, it was more like hurt…and shame. She didn’t have anything to be ashamed of.

      “How’d you know about me?” she asked.

      Before he could reply, the door opened.

      Noah turned to see a reed-thin, stoop-shouldered woman in a worn coat enter the room. Her suspicious gaze shot from Katherine to Noah. “What’s he doin’ here?”

      “This is Levi’s brother, Mama.”

      She hung her coat on a hook inside the door, revealing a thin shawl and faded dress. “And where is that no account brother o’ yourn? We haven’t seen hide nor hair of ’im since he got my Katy in the family way and lit out.”

      “Mama,” the daughter cautioned.

      “No sense mincin’ around, is there?” she asked. “You’d think the girl would have more sense than to marry on a whim, but you can’t tell her a dad-blamed thing. Always was flighty, that one. Always thinkin’ she was better and dreamin’ of a big house to live in. Told her a hundred times life deals you the rotten hand you deserve, and you just have to play it the way you see it. There ain’t no fairy-tale endings to be had.”

      Katherine’s cheeks blushed scarlet and it was obvious she held herself in check from replying.

      “My brother’s dead,” Noah said bluntly, cutting off the woman’s bleak tirade. He’d come to grips with the fact himself the day before and had used the better part of the night and this day to work up a plan and the grit to come see Levi’s wife.

      The older woman had stopped her harangue mid-sentence and blinked first at Noah, then at her daughter. Her eyes narrowed. “What happened to ’im?”

      “Shot.”

      “Up to no good, was he?” she said with a knowing shake of her head and a gleam in her eye. “Well, you’re better off without him, girlie. He weren’t going to be no kind of father nohow, and he woulda made your life miserable if’n he’d a come back into it. Now you can quit moonin’ and get your mind right and get on with your job and feedin’ that kid for the next fifteen or so years till he breaks your heart.”

      Katherine’s eyes closed against the harsh words and Noah’s temperature inched upward another degree, though he didn’t think it was due to the coat this time.

      “Mama, Levi was Mr. Cutter’s brother. We should show him our sympathy.”

      “Him? What about you? You’re the one married the weasel and landed yourself in this mess. What’s she supposed to do now?” she asked, snidely addressing Noah. “Woman like her with a babe and no man don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. She’ll be on her back down at Ripley’s inside a year, mark my words.”

      “Mama!” Katherine objected.

      Noah cut in at the same time. “I came to take her.”

      Katherine and her mother both turned to him and stared.

      His abrupt words hung in the air.

      “What did you say?” the younger woman finally asked.

      “You’re comin’ with me.”

      She blinked and glanced around the dingy room. “I don’t even know you. I don’t know where you live.”

      “Spread out by Copper Creek called Rock Ridge. House and livestock. I mean to take care of you. What more do you need to know?”

      What more, indeed? Kate’s mind whirled with concern for her desperate circumstances, fear of the future and the shock of her missing husband’s death. She struggled to clear her thoughts and to focus on what this man was saying.

      She’d worked in that godawful laundry since she was eleven years old. She was twenty-five now, so that was over half of her life. She didn’t want her child raised in this mean city environment—neither did she want him left on a back stoop all day while she worked, raised the way she had been. The thought of her detested job combined with her mother’s suffocating criticism to convince her. She had to get away. And she might never have another chance.

      “I can work for you,” she said quickly. “I can do laundry and cook and clean. I can learn to do just about anything—garden or help with the stock.”

      Her mother stared at her.

      “I’m a quick learner,” Kate added. “And I’m not sickly. What happened a minute ago, that was the only time. You won’t have to mollycoddle me.”

      “What are you sayin’, girl?” Her mother raised a hand and pointed at Noah. “You sellin’ yourself off to this man now? He just wants free labor.”

      “I got hands, lady, and I pay ’em well,” he corrected in a gruff tone.

      The woman squinted in suspicion. “What do you need her for then?”

      “Appears she’s the one needs me.” Noah turned his attention to the daughter. “Coming?”

      Kate turned, grabbed a gunny sack and stuffed her meager belongings into it. She didn’t pause to see if she’d forgotten anything, neither did she stop to think or to reconsider. She plucked her coat and bonnet from the hook, worked her feet into her boots and walked to the door. “Goodbye, Mama. I’ll write.”

      The big man followed her out, took hold of her elbow and guided her to a horse tied at the post.

      “I have a wagon at the livery,” he said. “To carry the coffin home.”

      She tied the limp ribbons of her blue gingham sunbonnet under her chin. “Of course.”

      “For now, it’s the horse.”

      “I’m fine with that.”

      He placed one foot in the stirrup and, with a creak of leather, hoisted himself onto the saddle, then reached down to her.

      “Katy, you crazy fool girl, don’t think you can come back here again after you make a mess o’ things one more time!” her mother cawed from behind.

      Kate took Noah Cutter’s gloved hand, stepped on his boot and pulled herself up behind his massive form. He raised his coat and ordered, “Hold on to my belt.”

      Kate did as told, first encountering his wide leather holster, then finding the warmth of his flannel shirt against her fingers intimate but comforting. He urged the horse into motion and she hung on.

      “Katy!”

      She didn’t look back. She’d been a dolt to fall for Levi Cutter, his handsome face and winsome ways. She’d made a fool of herself and he’d left her behind like so much used garbage. All her dreams for a better life and her hopes of leaving this place had been dashed. Taking