Read Daring for Free Online Page A
Authors: Sylvia McDaniel
let her hunt alone.
Caroline hung her head, her voice that whispery soft caress. “I know I’ve had two shots misfire, but I don’t want to be forced to marry that horrible, stinky, pig farmer.” She crossed her arms across her chest. Big tears formed in her eyes, making Ruby feel guilty as sin. She didn’t want to hurt Caroline. She only wanted to protect her until she was ready.
“Then don’t get married. Go home and practice your skills. When I come back for the birth of Annabelle’s baby, then you can come out with me again. I’m not saying you can never go bounty hunting with me again. Practice and get better, then we’ll go together. I just don’t want to be responsible for you getting killed.”
Ruby could see the determination in Caroline. She knew she wanted to do better, and the woman had a very good reason. When a girl approached the old age of twenty, mothers began to get nervous and tried to force their daughters to accept any proposal. That’s what Caroline’s mother was doing. She wanted her daughter to marry the pig farmer. It was a marriage proposal. Accept it, her mother had insisted, like Caroline should settle for less than what she wanted.
Drawing her shoulders back stiffly, Caroline sighed and lifted her head. “Okay, you’re right. I wasn’t ready. But when you return home, I’m going to be so dang good at shooting I’ll be able to knock all the cans off the fence without closing my eyes or my hand shaking.”
Caroline scooped up her share of the bounty and stuffed it in her skirt pocket. “This is a start. Now I know what I’m getting into and what kind of money I can make, I have a goal to work toward. A goal where I can go alone. A goal where I’m a good bounty hunter.”
If only there was a way to make her sound tough. Right now, she still talked like she was soft as cotton and not as durable. There wasn’t a criminal alive who was going to tremble in his boots at her gentle, mellifluous voice.
“Please don’t go out on your own. You’re not ready yet,” Ruby said, gazing at her cousin, hoping she would listen to reason. She wanted Caroline to like being a bounty hunter, but Ruby didn’t want to see her get hurt.
“I won’t. I’ll wait for you, unless you do something stupid like get killed or married,” Caroline promised.
Ruby started laughing. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m careful. I’m not worried about getting killed. And I’m never getting married.”
“Yeah, well, you better tell that to Deke. That man looks at you like he’d enjoy nothing better than a good roll between the sheets with you.”
“You don’t have to get married for that.”
“Ruby, you need to save your virginity for your husband,” Caroline insisted.
“I’m not getting married. And I’m not having sex with Deke Culver. I once asked him to bed me and he refused.”
“Ruby!” Caroline exclaimed. “What were you thinking?”
How could she explain to Caroline or anyone else the complete loss of power a woman felt when a man forced himself upon you and treated you like a whore? How could she explain the loathing that swept through your body and how she’d shriveled up inside to escape the revulsion that permeated from every pore?
“I was thinking I wanted a man to erase all the bad memories of Clay Mullins’s attack. Deke refused, saying I wasn’t old enough.”
“Well, you were just a girl.”
Yes, she’d been young, but she had friends who were married and expecting their first baby by that age. Then, to erase the bad memories and to understand why a man would overpower a woman just to have sex, she’d gone to the one man she’d had such a compelling attraction to. And when he’d turned her down, it had been crushing. Totally defeating.
Now, she was cured. No need for an escort, a husband or a man in her life. She could live independent and alone.
“I was old enough. And I’d just buried my papa. I was ready to learn what it’s all
Caroline hung her head, her voice that whispery soft caress. “I know I’ve had two shots misfire, but I don’t want to be forced to marry that horrible, stinky, pig farmer.” She crossed her arms across her chest. Big tears formed in her eyes, making Ruby feel guilty as sin. She didn’t want to hurt Caroline. She only wanted to protect her until she was ready.
“Then don’t get married. Go home and practice your skills. When I come back for the birth of Annabelle’s baby, then you can come out with me again. I’m not saying you can never go bounty hunting with me again. Practice and get better, then we’ll go together. I just don’t want to be responsible for you getting killed.”
Ruby could see the determination in Caroline. She knew she wanted to do better, and the woman had a very good reason. When a girl approached the old age of twenty, mothers began to get nervous and tried to force their daughters to accept any proposal. That’s what Caroline’s mother was doing. She wanted her daughter to marry the pig farmer. It was a marriage proposal. Accept it, her mother had insisted, like Caroline should settle for less than what she wanted.
Drawing her shoulders back stiffly, Caroline sighed and lifted her head. “Okay, you’re right. I wasn’t ready. But when you return home, I’m going to be so dang good at shooting I’ll be able to knock all the cans off the fence without closing my eyes or my hand shaking.”
Caroline scooped up her share of the bounty and stuffed it in her skirt pocket. “This is a start. Now I know what I’m getting into and what kind of money I can make, I have a goal to work toward. A goal where I can go alone. A goal where I’m a good bounty hunter.”
If only there was a way to make her sound tough. Right now, she still talked like she was soft as cotton and not as durable. There wasn’t a criminal alive who was going to tremble in his boots at her gentle, mellifluous voice.
“Please don’t go out on your own. You’re not ready yet,” Ruby said, gazing at her cousin, hoping she would listen to reason. She wanted Caroline to like being a bounty hunter, but Ruby didn’t want to see her get hurt.
“I won’t. I’ll wait for you, unless you do something stupid like get killed or married,” Caroline promised.
Ruby started laughing. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m careful. I’m not worried about getting killed. And I’m never getting married.”
“Yeah, well, you better tell that to Deke. That man looks at you like he’d enjoy nothing better than a good roll between the sheets with you.”
“You don’t have to get married for that.”
“Ruby, you need to save your virginity for your husband,” Caroline insisted.
“I’m not getting married. And I’m not having sex with Deke Culver. I once asked him to bed me and he refused.”
“Ruby!” Caroline exclaimed. “What were you thinking?”
How could she explain to Caroline or anyone else the complete loss of power a woman felt when a man forced himself upon you and treated you like a whore? How could she explain the loathing that swept through your body and how she’d shriveled up inside to escape the revulsion that permeated from every pore?
“I was thinking I wanted a man to erase all the bad memories of Clay Mullins’s attack. Deke refused, saying I wasn’t old enough.”
“Well, you were just a girl.”
Yes, she’d been young, but she had friends who were married and expecting their first baby by that age. Then, to erase the bad memories and to understand why a man would overpower a woman just to have sex, she’d gone to the one man she’d had such a compelling attraction to. And when he’d turned her down, it had been crushing. Totally defeating.
Now, she was cured. No need for an escort, a husband or a man in her life. She could live independent and alone.
“I was old enough. And I’d just buried my papa. I was ready to learn what it’s all