Read Online Distraction by Tess Oliver - Free Book Online Page B

she
left the room to see what the ruckus outside was.
    Libby peered over my shoulder at the mirror. “You
look like a picture, Poppy. That pink color suits you. We’ll have
to work on a suitable style for that long hair of yours. Although,
it seems a shame to hide it in hair pins. It is truly lovely.”
    I turned to face her. “I don’t know how I’ll ever
repay you, Libby.”
    “Oh hush, child. There’s nothing to repay.”
    “Libby,” Susan called from the front of the shop,
“you’d better come see this.” There was urgency in her voice, and
Libby and I rushed out to the front room.
    The crowd had moved to the center of the road, and
there was a fair amount of yelling and cheering making its way
around the circle of onlookers. The center of their attention
appeared through a break in the bodies. Two men were having an
intense fist fight. Libby took one look at the brawlers and marched
outside to the street. She stopped several feet away and put her
hands on her hips. Curiosity drew me outside, and I walked up to
stand next to her. The sickening sound of fists hitting flesh and
groans of pain filtered through the mass of bodies. The entire
front window of the gambling hall was shattered into a pile of
glass shards. The crowd split apart as one of the fighters was
thrown clear across the street. He landed directly at Libby’s feet.
His lids were swollen but I could see the pale green color of his
eyes as he looked up at Libby. The other fighter, a man with a
shoulder span that matched the building behind him, pushed out of
the circle toward the man he’d just thrown. He took a faltering
step as he met Libby’s furious glare and then spun around and
stumbled angrily away.
    Libby tapped her foot directly in the face of the man
on the ground. “The east fence needs mending.”
    With some effort, he pushed to sitting and swiped at
the blood on his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yep.” He looked
at me for a long moment but didn’t say anything.
    “And hurry up.” Libby turned on her heels, and I
followed her back to the shop.
    “Can I at least get my hat?” he called to her.
    “Just make sure you pay the owner for that window,”
Libby yelled without looking back at him.
    I peeked over my shoulder. He pushed to his feet and
swiped at the blood on his shirt. Just as I watched him, he watched
me until the shop door shut behind me, breaking our line of
vision.
    I watched him once more through the window as he
disappeared into the gambling hall. It hadn’t been my imagination
at all. Even bloodied and bruised, I recognized my knight.
     
     
     

Chapter 9
Cade

    A cold bath relieved some of the swelling and
bruising from the week’s activities. One all night poker game, two
bottles of whiskey, and a fight with the loser who weighed more
than a plow horse had made it tough to think clearly. But one
thought drifted through my mind over and over again as I washed for
supper— the girl was still here.
    She was not at the dining room table but there was an
empty place setting. Libby carried in a platter of chicken and set
it down in front of Jackson.
    I looked up at her. “Do you think that’s wise?”
    She slid the platter toward the center of the table
and Jackson sneered at me. My stomach was so empty it was eating
itself. I leaned forward and grabbed two pieces of chicken just as
the screen door swung open. A streak of lightning could have shot
through the ceiling and split the kitchen table in two and I still
would have had less reaction. Her slim hips swung side to side
beneath the smooth calico dress as she strolled into the dining
room and sat down.
    Libby set down the bowl of potatoes and smiled at her
expectantly. “Well, how did it go, Poppy?”
    “My method worked,” she answered confidently. “He
came at me with a look of fierce determination, but I didn’t give
him the satisfaction of looking him in the eye. Just like my
Chauncy back home, he took it as an insult and stomped away