Honor-Bound Lawman. Danica Favorite

freedom so close at hand. Surely he wasn’t that stupid.

      Yes. She was safe. Of course, she would be safe. She had no reason to worry, no matter what the sheriff said. He didn’t know James the way she did. James was a coward, who would run rather than risk getting caught. Hopefully soon she would get her nerves to calm down. She wasn’t the woman who jumped at her own shadow anymore.

      Gathering the dirty sheets to take downstairs, Laura couldn’t help but smile at how different her life was now. While everyone in Denver had thought Laura had the perfect life back then, it had been the most miserable existence she’d ever known. She’d had money and servants, yes, but she’d also been married to a man who’d only wanted her for access to the wealth and power of her family’s fortune. When James didn’t get his way, he abused her in so many ways that Laura had quickly learned that it was easiest just to give him whatever he wanted.

      However during James’s trial, when Laura was sequestered in a hotel where only the law could reach her, she’d been forced to do most things for herself. The more she did for herself, the more she found strength in knowing that she wasn’t as helpless as James had always told her. She wasn’t stupid, incompetent, worthless or any of the other horrible names James had called her.

      One lawman in particular, Owen Hamilton, had given her the courage to do a lot of things for herself that she would have never imagined doing. Including divorcing James. Owen had even gone with her to present James with the divorce papers. A formality—however, it made Laura feel good to know that she could stand up to James once and for all.

      Laura stood tall as she stepped back and examined her handiwork. The room was crisp, clean and beautiful.

      After James’s trial, Laura had moved from Denver to Leadville, where she had opened her own boardinghouse. It wasn’t your usual sort of boardinghouse. Rather, it was meant for women like herself, women who were out of options and had no place to stay. It was so easy for men like James to catch up with their supposedly errant wives. The law was always on the husband’s side. A fact Laura knew only too well, considering all the times she’d tried to escape James’s clutches. Well, it hadn’t been all that many times. She’d learned rather quickly that running did her no good. And so she’d lived her life in meek acceptance because anything else seemed far too frightening.

      Laura moved to the next room to pick up the rumpled sheets from the bed she’d already changed. Fortunately the last two boarders had left under good circumstances. They’d gone to stay with relatives who could support and protect them.

      For once, Laura’s boardinghouse was empty. On one hand, she’d miss the company, but on the other hand, it was nice to have a break.

      As Laura went down the steps, carrying the bundle of laundry, she saw someone on her front porch.

      Owen Hamilton.

      Funny that Laura had just been thinking about him, and here he was, standing on her doorstep. With sandy blond hair that hung in shaggy waves around his face and blue eyes that probably pierced even the most hardened criminal’s heart, Owen was still as devastatingly handsome as ever. True, his hair was longer and more unkempt, and he’d grown an equally unkempt beard, with rugged clothes to match, but there was no mistaking those warm eyes. Most people wouldn’t recognize him. Except for someone who’d grown to trust those eyes.

      Even when Laura had been under his protection all those months ago, she’d felt a strange pull to him. There was something about Owen that drew her in a way she couldn’t explain. However, Owen had always been extremely professional. And so Laura kept Owen in that special place in her heart where all those schoolgirl crushes resided. Something to be sighed over with friends, but never acted upon.

      She’d exercised such poor judgment in marrying James, thinking he loved her when he’d only loved her money. Back when they were courting, she’d thought him different from all the other men of her acquaintance. His character seemed above reproach. Back then, she’d mistaken the little ways he’d tried to control her as concern or caring. Of course, it hadn’t been until after they’d been married that he’d first hit her.

      Entertaining romantic notions about anyone else... Laura couldn’t fathom doing such a thing except in the secret places of her heart. Her judgment was too poor, and even if someone as honorable as Owen declared his undying love for her, could she believe it to be true?

      Laura opened the door and smiled at him. “It’s so nice to see you. What brings you here?”

      Owen didn’t smile back. Unfortunately, that lack of smile told Laura everything she needed to know.

      “I already heard. The sheriff was here to see me.”

      “Good. Then we don’t have to waste time on explanations and small talk.”

      “It’s not as though you’ve ever made a social visit before.” She sounded harsh, and she knew it, but after her short reminiscence about him, it stung to realize that he’d simply moved on with his life after the time they’d shared.

      He took a step back as though she’d slapped him with the truth. In a way, it felt good to make him feel that way. After all, all those months in Denver, awaiting James’s trial, and the connection Laura had thought they’d shared... But when Owen had moved from Denver to Leadville, he hadn’t once come to visit her. She’d known he was in town, had even waved to him from across the church, but he hadn’t come to call. Even with their mutual friends, Laura was surprised at how little their paths crossed. No one brought up Owen in conversation, and it wouldn’t have been right for Laura to mention him either. It was as though their friendship in Denver had never happened.

      Which was why Laura knew anything she felt for Owen was simply a schoolgirl infatuation. To Owen, Laura was just another case. Any thought she had that there might be something romantic was just a foolish notion, best put aside for someone who had more sense about the ways of women and men than she had.

      “I suppose I should apologize for that,” Owen said. He shifted his weight uneasily on the porch. “The truth is, I don’t know what to say to you. I mean, we’re not...supposed to...become friends...with the people we’re hired to protect.”

      Laura’s heart twisted, and her mouth opened to give a retort back, but then she realized he was only speaking the truth. Any implied gestures of friendship were just that—implied. Further proof that Laura couldn’t trust herself when it came to her heart.

      “You’re right. I’m sorry. That was unkind of me.” She softened her expression and started again. “Would you like to come in?”

      Owen gave a quick nod. “I think that would be best.”

      There was a stiffness to Owen that hadn’t been there before. He was more formal, like her comment about his job had wounded him or perhaps had just reminded him of the truth. She truly had thought they’d become friends. Laura and Owen had been able to talk for hours, and sometimes at night, when Laura could not sleep for fear of the nightmares overtaking her, Owen would open the door to the hallway outside her room and sit with her. He on the chair outside the door, and she on a chair inside, so that no one could question the propriety of his actions.

      As Laura stared at the lines on his face, she noted that new ones had formed where previously there been smooth skin. What had happened to him in the past year or so? Then, with a pang, she realized that in all of their talks, it had mostly been about her. She didn’t know anything about Owen Hamilton. Well, she knew that he liked his coffee strong and black. That when focused on a task, he seemed to be able to shut out everything else around him. He laughed at her jokes, which no one else seemed to understand. And he was kind, always thinking about her needs and putting himself out to make sure she had every comfort he could possibly provide. But anything else about him? Laura couldn’t say.

      Where was he from originally? How long had he been a lawman? Why had he become a lawman? She couldn’t claim to know anything about his family or his hobbies outside of his work.

      No wonder he considered her a job and not a friend. And no wonder Laura was so clueless when it came to matters of the