Read A Lawman's Christmas: A McKettricks of Texas Novel for Free Online

born.
    â€œI’ll be fine over at the jailhouse, at least until spring,” Clay replied, rising once again to his full height. He was tall, this man from the Arizona Territory, broad through the shoulders and thick in the chest, but the impression he gave was of leanness and agility. He was probably fast with that pistol he carried, Dara Rose thought, and was disturbed by the knowledge.
    It was the twentieth century, after all, and the West was no longer wild. Hardly anyone, save sheriffs and marshals, carried a firearm.
    â€œI’m going to school today,” Edrina announced happily, “and I plan on staying until Miss Krenshaw rings the bell at three o’clock, too.”
    Clay crooked a smile, but his gaze, Dara Rose discovered, had found its way back to her. “That’s good,” he said.
    â€œWhy don’t you stay for breakfast?” Edrina asked the man wearing her father’s badge pinned to his coat.
    â€œEdrina,” Dara Rose almost whispered, embarrassed.
    â€œI’ve already eaten,” Clay replied. “Had the ham and egg special in the hotel dining room before Mayor Ponder swore me in.”
    â€œOh,” Edrina said, clearly disappointed.
    â€œThat’s a fine horse, mister,” Harriet chimed in, herhead tipped way back so she could look up into Clay’s recently shaven face.
    Dara Rose was still trying to bring the newest blush in her cheeks under control, and she could only manage that by avoiding Clay McKettrick’s eyes.
    â€œYes, indeed,” Clay answered the child. “His name’s Outlaw, but you can’t go by that. He’s a good old cay use.”
    â€œI got to ride him yesterday, down by the railroad tracks,” Edrina boasted. Then her face fell a little. “Sort of.”
    â€œIf it’s all right with your mother,” Clay offered, “and you go to school like you ought to, you can ride Outlaw again.”
    â€œMe, too?” Harriet asked, breathless with excitement at the prospect.
    Clay caught Dara Rose’s gaze again. “That’s your mother’s decision to make, not mine,” he said, so at home in his own skin that she wondered what kind of life he’d led, before his arrival in Blue River. An easy one, most likely.
    But something in his eyes refuted that.
    â€œWe’ll see,” Dara Rose said.
    Both girls groaned, wanting a “yes” instead of a “maybe.”
    â€œI’d best be getting on with my day,” Clay said, with another slow, crooked grin.
    And then he was at the door, ducking his head so he wouldn’t bump it, putting on his hat and walking away.
    Dara Rose watched through the little window over the sink until he’d gone through the side gate and mounted his horse.
    â€œWe don’t have to go to the orphanage!” Harriet crowed, clapping her plump little hands in celebration.
    â€œThere will be no more talk of orphanages,” Dara Rose decreed briskly, pumping water at the rusty sink to wash her hands.
    â€œDoes Mr. McKettrick have a wife?” Edrina piped up. “Because if he doesn’t, you could marry him. I don’t think he’d send Harriet and me away, like Mr. Maddox wants to do.”
    Dara Rose kept her back to her daughters as she began breakfast preparations, using all her considerable willpower to keep her voice calm and even. “That’s none of your business,” she said firmly. “Nor mine, either. And don’t you dare pry into Mr. McKettrick’s private affairs by asking, either one of you.”
    Both girls sighed at this.
    â€œGo get your shoes and stockings on,” Dara Rose ordered, setting the cast-iron skillet on the stove, ploppingin the last smidgeon of bacon grease to keep the eggs from sticking.
    â€œI need to go to the outhouse,” Harriet said.
    â€œPut your shoes on first,” Dara Rose countered. “It’s a nice day out, but the ground is