Outlaw's Honor

Flint nodded and stepped away from the window. This was the fourth break-in in a matter of days. The first one had been during daylight hours. The burglars had gone through the screen door into the kitchen and taken a six-pack of beer, some candy bars and a bag of potato chips. The second one was more of the same except that a screen had been torn out of a window to allow access.

“It’s got to be the same ones, don’t you think?” Mark said.

Flint nodded again. What disturbed him was that for this one the thieves had broken in through a window at night and, as at Irma Tinsley’s, the thieves had taken more than snacks.

* * *

BACK AT THE Stagecoach Saloon the next day, Mariah took a seat at one of the tables in the corner to fill out the paperwork Darby had given her.

She could feel his gaze on her, a mixture of curiosity, puzzlement and worry. She smiled to herself. He should be worried. But given that, why had he hired her?

“Not sure what to put down for my address,” she said, looking up at him to catch him staring at her. He quickly glanced away, adding to her amusement.

Last night, after she’d moved into the old cabin, she’d stood outside staring up at the stars and questioning what she was doing here. The smart thing to do was to keep moving. The thought made her smile since being a nomad was in her Romani genes. And like her ancestors, her reasons were much the same. She had to keep ahead of her past and the people who wanted to destroy her.

“I’m staying in that cabin down the road. I don’t think it has an address.”

Darby looked surprised. “That’s where I was staying up until recently. Now I live upstairs here.” He stopped as if he hadn’t meant to be that forthcoming. “Unless you need to get mail, you can leave that blank. I will need a forwarding address when you leave, though.”

She smiled. “Don’t you mean if I leave?”

He nodded. “Right.”

She finished and took the papers with her social security number on them over to him, pulling up a stool.

He looked through them, stopping occasionally to glance up at her. “You don’t stay long at any one place.”

Mariah shrugged. “Maybe I’m looking for the place I want to settle down.”

“Apparently you haven’t found it yet.”

“No,” she agreed. “But I like it here so far.”

“Guess we’ll see how you feel in a few days,” Darby said.

“Guess we will.” She slid off the stool. “So, you sure you don’t want me to start tonight?”

“No, my sister, Lillie, is working along with our other barmaid and waitress, Kendall Raines.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a dark-haired beauty with her brother’s gray eyes came in from the kitchen. Those gray eyes widened when she saw Mariah.

“You must be our new waitress,” the young woman said, holding out her hand as she stepped to Mariah. “Lillie Cahill,” she said, smiling as she shook her hand. There was more than interest in her inquiring gaze.

“Mariah Ayers.” They were about the same height and close in age. She felt a connection that surprised her. Another strong, determined woman. Mariah didn’t have her grandmother’s clairvoyance, but still she could tell that Lillie was very protective of her brother.

“I was surprised to hear my brother had hired someone,” Lillie was saying. “But he said he was impressed with your skills.”

“Did he?” she asked, raising a brow as she shot Darby a look. With amusement, she saw that the cowboy looked as if he wanted to throttle his sister.

“And he already gave you a Stagecoach Saloon T-shirt.”

“Actually, I picked this one up at the Chokecherry Festival yesterday,” Mariah said.

“Lucky you.” Lillie cut her eyes to her brother. “So is that where you two met?”

Mariah smiled at Darby and waited.

“We might have crossed paths at the festival,” the cowboy said. “But we didn’t meet until yesterday when she came in looking for a job.”

“What a coincidence,” Lillie said, still studying her brother and no doubt wondering why he looked flustered. “And so lucky we had an opening.”

“Lucky for all of us,” Mariah said.

She told herself that this would be fun for the short time it would last and then she’d be gone again. She couldn’t stay long in any one place. Not if she hoped to stay a step ahead of her past.

“I see you didn’t put down a cell phone number in case I need to call you,” Darby said to her as he busied himself with her paperwork again.

“If you need me, you know where I live,” she said. “Otherwise, I’ll be here.”

They all turned as a blonde, blue-eyed young woman wearing jeans, a Stagecoach Saloon T-shirt and boots came in. The blonde stopped as if she thought she might be interrupting something.

“Kendall, this is Mariah, our new alternate waitress. Kendall Raines, Mariah Ayers.”

Kendall frowned. “Oh.” She took a few steps forward to shake Mariah’s hand. “I didn’t know you were thinking about hiring another waitress.”

“She’ll work my schedule,” Darby said, making Kendall raise a brow.

“With the busy season ahead, it will give us all more flexibility,” Lillie said, clearly bailing her brother out.

Mariah watched the interactions with interest. Her hiring had shaken things up around here. Kendall didn’t look pleased. Was there something going on between the young waitress and the cowboy?

She met Darby’s gaze, saw his disinterest in Kendall Raines and was surprised. Apparently he didn’t go for cute, blonde and blue-eyed. She realized she liked him better because of it and quickly she reminded herself why she was here. Also she warned herself that this wasn’t some easy mark. This cowboy was on to her. He’d caught her red-handed at the festival and yet he hadn’t gone to the law. Why was that? More to the point, what happened now?

He’d be watching her, that was a given. He probably expected her to steal from the cash register like a common thief. He had to know that she was here for her bracelet. But he wasn’t about to just hand it over, was he? She got the feeling he was waiting to see how far she would go to get it back.

Clearly, he was waiting for her to make the next move. She didn’t plan on disappointing him, she thought as she flashed him a smile and saw his eyes narrow.

* * *

DARBY SADDLED UP his horse, anxious to clear his head. After Mariah had left the saloon, he’d felt too antsy to stay upstairs in the apartment. And there was no way he was going to hang out at the bar. His sister wouldn’t shut up about the new hire. She was more curious about Mariah than he was—and that was saying a lot.

He swung up into the saddle and reined the steed toward the rolling foothills past the ranch. He’d been riding horses since he was a year old, but he hadn’t taken to it like Lillie—until recently.

This feeling of being closed-in had been bothering him for a while. He’d been so excited about opening the Stagecoach Saloon with Lillie. That had kept him busy for a while. After it was a success, though, he’d felt antsy again as if uncomfortable in his own skin.

“You need a woman,” their cook Billie Dee had told him one day when he’d paced around the kitchen for no good reason.

“What?” Her words had taken him by surprise.