Read Online Desperate Hearts by Rosanne Bittner - Free Book Online Page A

won’t take place until tomorrow or the next day. That gives people time to prepare thescaffold.”
    Elizabeth shook her head. “I’ve never seen a hanging, and I don’t think I want to see thisone.”
    “Your choice. They aren’t pretty, that’s certain. By tomorrow you will have a room of your own and you can stay there during the hanging if youchoose.”
    Elizabeth leaned back in the rocker. “I think I will do just that.” She wondered at Mitch’s ability to be up and about already and at his strange sense of doing the right thing, combined with a seeming unconcern for the fact that he was sending two men to the gallows. “Who was that man who tried to defend that oneoutlaw?”
    “That was Hugh Wiley’s brother, Sam.”
    “Will he really try to get some kind of revenge against Mr. Brady?” sheasked.
    The doctor shrugged. “It’s a possibility. They’re all a bad bunch, but some men have a way of blustering bravery and vengeance when they really don’t intend to do a damn thing. I can’t think of one man in Alder who’d willingly go up against Mitch Brady.” He frowned and looked at her teasingly. “Are you worried about Mitch? Maybe you care a little toomuch?”
    Elizabeth rose. “I only care because the man helped me. It’s nothing more than that.” She walked into the room where she’d spent the night and closed the door. She sat down on the cot and put her head in her hands. What had she gotten herself into? The last thing she wanted was this much attention. Worse, being around Mitch Brady created disturbing emotions. She worried that she was starting to care about the man, which went against every vow she’d made to herself upon leaving NewYork.

Seven
    The so-called trial took hardly any longer than it took Elizabeth to repack what little she’d used overnight and twist her hair into a bun at the back of her head. By the time she’d secured the bun and attached a small hat to her head with a couple of large hat pins, Mitch was at the door again. “See if Miss Wainright is ready to leave,” he was telling DocWilson.
    Elizabeth opened the door and faced Mitch. “I’m ready. And you can call me Elizabeth…both of you. I think the experiences of the last couple of days call for first names, since I intend to stay here in Alder for some time tocome.”
    Both mennodded.
    “Actually, nobody calls me by my first name,” he told her. “It’s justDoc.”
    Elizabeth nodded and glanced at Mitch, thinking how the man seemed to fill every inch of the room, not just because of his size but also because of the impact of his demeanor and attitude. “Can I call you Mitch, then, or do you prefer Sheriff Brady—or is it MarshalBrady?”
    “It’s Sheriff, but call meMitch.”
    Elizabeth felt a bit too warm at the way his blue eyes scanned her. She hardly knew this man, and it irked her that she enjoyed the feeling of safety she experienced when he was near. “What about my things?” sheasked.
    Mitch approached, and she stepped aside as he went into the room and picked up one of her bags. “I’ll come back for the other two and that trunk,” he toldher.
    “You should send someone else after the other bags,” Elizabeth suggested. “You need to get cleaned up and get some more rest, and although you are obviously a very strong man, you are in no condition right now to be lugging the biggest, heaviest bag all the way to the boardinghouse, whether it’s six blocks away or one. Surely there is someone you can send to get them for me. After all, you know everyone intown.”
    Mitch pushed his hat back slightly. “Much as I hate to admit it, I do need more rest. Let’s get you to Ma Kelly’s.” He carried the lighter bag and Elizabeth followed him to the door, turning to thank the doctor for boarding herovernight.
    Doc Wilson smiled. “Ma’am, having you here has been a puredelight.”
    Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile as she left. Men like the doctor and Mitch Brady were a far cry from