Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range by Danica Favorite (summer beach reads txt) 📕

shadow passed in front of the opening. Mr. Langdon appeared before her, his disturbing eyes fixed on her face.

She skidded to a stop, bumping a fragile table near the wall. The vase on it shuddered and she reached over to steady it. She breathed shallowly and tried to slow her quick breaths before she panicked.

An evil-looking smile lifted the corners of his lips. He appraised her and she hauled her bag in front of her.

“We have a visitor?” he asked.

Mrs. Silver’s wheelchair appeared beside Mary. “Yes, this is Mary. She brought our Josie back last night. She was just leaving.” Another cough seized Mrs. Silver, but Mary did not dare look away from Mr. Langdon.

No, she could not for fear of what might happen. Mrs. Silver and Baggs were no match for him. He frowned at his sister, then turned that unblinking gaze on Mary.

“You’re leaving so soon? Might we have a word?”

Before she could react, he caught her arm in a painful grip and propelled her out the door and into the hallway.

“Brother,” Mrs. Silver gasped, but he yanked the door behind them. It pounded shut and then they were alone in the hallway.

His gaze bore into her, as deep and painful as his grip on her arm. The look on his face was menacing in its lack of emotion. “Forgive me, but I overheard your conversation. You must know my sister is very ill. Dying.”

He said this last word as though he relished the thought.

Mary’s skin prickled all over.

“Therefore, as custodian of her estate, and of my niece, I feel it’s in Josie’s best interest to be at home during the last days of her mother’s life. I will personally pay for you to stay on and teach Josie for one year. When my sister passes, I will relinquish the guardianship of Josie to you.”

It sounded too good to be true. That alone made her pause. Be employed by this man to take care of Josie and eventually become her legal guardian? Both elation and terror filled Mary, two opposite emotions that tangled her senses. She blinked. Swallowed. “And if I do not accept?”

Now he smiled, if the baring of his teeth could be called such a thing. “Her mother will think she’s been sent off to school. That won’t be the case. There are plenty of orphanages for girls like her...or other places.”

A sick feeling rushed through Mary so quickly her vision wavered. She knew what he was suggesting, knew his plans for Josie, should she decline his offer, were evil, but this? No, it could not happen.

Still, one thing she’d learned from Lou and Trevor was caution in bargaining with wicked men. Forcing a calm look to her face, refusing to let him see that his threat had already won him what he wanted, she met his gaze.

“I will consider your proposal.”

Lou woke in a surly mood. Everything got worse when he found the note on the floor outside his door.

Dear Lou,

As I am not sure how I’d like to be employed in the future, I have gone to see about another opportunity. I appreciate the agent you’re sending to escort me home but am unable to pass up the job I have in mind. Please give the agent my regards and I do apologize if I have complicated the situation. I shall be fine on my own. Thank you for all you have done.

Mary

Where could she have gone? Groaning, he passed his palms over his face. Stubble grazed his skin. There wasn’t time to track down a stubborn woman today, let alone shave. He had a ten o’clock meeting and before that he was determined to find Langdon. He also wanted to meet the undercover agent assigned to protect Mrs. Silver and Josie. If he could see the guy for himself, his gut would let him know whether Josie would be safe or not in his care.

Lou snatched the note, folded it, and then slid it into a pocket. After tossing on blue jeans and a respectable shirt, he stalked out of the hotel room. He grabbed a slice of banana bread on the way out of the hotel.

The ride to the Silversʼ seemed to take forever. He scanned the case files he’d been handed yesterday, a few reports, but his brain insisted on taking him back to how Mary looked last night. What he’d told her... His chest pinched.

Worst of all, he’d exposed something he hadn’t meant to—the root of his anger at God and everything religion represented. He felt like a fool. He pressed his head against the wall of the streetcar, glad no one tried to make conversation with him.

He was lousy at that type of thing.

Mary would be better off without him. An attraction didn’t guarantee a good marriage. Let alone their differing religious beliefs. He cringed at what had sneaked into his thoughts.

Marriage.

Rolling his eyes, he straightened and began pressing the paperwork back into his satchel, listening as it crumpled into place.

Marriage.

He’d been so young with Sarah. Naive and in love. He thought he knew all the answers. He worked a job with the military that required long hours. Applied for a place in the new unit known as the Bureau of Investigation. He left Sarah at home and worked hard. She waited. He visited.

They had Abby. A tic tugged at his eyelid. He blinked. So many mistakes he could never take back, and now his thoughts had wandered to marriage. Absolutely unthinkable. He couldn’t even blame the detour on a single kiss, because he’d kissed others and never had he felt what he did when he embraced Mary. It was a cruel realization that over the course of twelve years, Mary and her quiet presence had worked itself into his soul beneath the guise of friendship.

His only recourse remained backing off. Leaving town and letting the figurative dust settle. If Mary opened a store, she’d surely meet a nice fellow to create a home with.

The tic pulled his