Read Online Lauri Robinson by Sheriff McBride - Free Book Online Page B

down, boys. There are some things I need to tell you about.”
    “Our bossman said you’re marrying his brother, the sheriff. Is it true?” Tom asked again.
    She waited until she had sat down on the chair then nodded while motioning for them to be seated again. “Yes, it’s true.”
    “Hannah!” Joe exclaimed.
    “He knows about us. He knows everything.” She tried to sound reassuring.
    They both groaned.
    “Don’t worry; he’s going to see the charges against all of us are dropped.”
    Their heads snapped up. “How?” they asked in unison.
    “It’s a long story.”
    “Then talk fast,” Joe suggested.
    At that she did want to smile—would have if she wasn’t worried sick over the fact Adam and the posse hadn’t returned to town yet. Her mind tried to conjure up a million terrible thoughts of what might have happened to him, but she refused to let them come through. Refused to believe he could be injured. “All right, I’ll talk fast,” she answered. “Adam arrested Nathaniel—”
    “Kingston’s here too? Holy shit!” Tom removed his hat, slapped it against his bent knee.
    “He arrested Kingston?” Joe’s eyes were as wide as sausages.
    “I think you need to talk faster,” Tom said.
    “I would if you two would shush up and let me.” She glanced from one to the other.
    They both shrugged, Tom motioned for her to go on.
    “Well, like I started to say, he arrested Nathaniel and in the process found out that Buford is Nathaniel’s cousin. So is Sheriff Acer.”
    “No!” Joe gasped.
    “Yup. And it turns out my grandmother on my mother’s side left a will that say’s I inherit all of her holdings when I get married. So that’s why Nathaniel wanted to marry me so badly.”
    “Figures it would be on your mother’s side, since we are on your father’s side,” Tom said.
    “I always said there was something more going on with Kingston.” Joe slapped his knee, and then turned red as he said, “Not that you aren’t a right fine gal, cuz. Everyone always said you were the prettiest thing in Paradise.” He slapped Tom’s arm. “We were always having to fight the boys off you, weren’t we Tom?”
    Tom nodded in agreement.
    She smiled. “Thank you both very much for all you have done for me. I don’t know what I would have done without you this past year.”
    “None of this explains how this marriage to Sheriff McBride came about,” Joe said after a moment of silence.
    “I think it was fate.” Her cheeks felt like they were being pricked with a thousand pins. “I think I fell in love with him the day I arrived here.”
    “Love at first sight?” Tom asked before he looked at Joe. “We always said you read too many of those dime novels Widow Miller got in the mail.”
    “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s even harder to explain. He’s…he’s wonderful,” she paused, searched for more of an explanation, “and he’s going to clear all of our names.”
    Joe looked around the room. “So, where is Mr. Wonderful?”
    A sad frown tugged at her face, and she pressed a hand to her chest. “Nathaniel broke out of jail. Adam and a posse rode out after him.”
    “Kingston broke out of jail?” Tom let out a deep sigh. “I think you need to start over, explain things a little more thoroughly.”
    She did, and tried with all her might to make the boys understand her rushed marriage, and the possible inheritance.
    When she explained how they could all travel to Ohio together, Joe held up one hand. “Whoa up there, Hannah. Return to Ohio? Not on your life.”
    She squinted. “What? Why wouldn’t you want to return to Paradise?”
    The boys glanced at one another. Tom was the one to answer. “Why would we?”
    “To right all the wrongs Nathaniel caused.”
    “Those weren’t our fault, why should we have to fix them?” Joe asked.
    “Because if there is an inheritance, and we have the means to help, we need to do it. It’s the right thing,” she tried to