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anyone,” he
added.
    Rose had simply been different than what
he’d been expecting to see as Langston’s wife and so Marston had
been surprised and couldn’t seem to get that off his mind—that
problem was nothing a little whiskey wouldn’t fix.
    Marston slipped into his duster coat and
headed out the door determined to find whiskey. The conversations
Marston was having with that damn voice were getting ridiculous. It
was starting to feel like maybe he was growing a conscience and
that was a bad habit Marston was going to have to nip in the bud
right here and now.
    He walked out of the hotel and onto the
muddy road. Whiskey. Whiskey. Where could a man find some whiskey?
Marston thought he remembered seeing some when he’d been at the
H&H Mercantile. No doubt any whiskey they had would taste like
rot gut and leave his head throbbing in the morning, but beggars
couldn’t afford to be picky.
    The H&H Mercantile was currently closed
and locked up for the night but a place being closed had never
stopped Marston from taking what he’d wanted before. He wouldn’t
let it stop him now.
    He smiled as he slipped through an unlocked
window and realized that voice in his head was remaining silent.
Apparently his newly found conscience didn’t see wrong with
breaking and entering—at least as long as there was whiskey
involved.
    ***
    Rose stood from the bed the next morning
after a virtually sleepless night. She pulled on her nicest blue
skirt and white long sleeved blouse—both beginning to fray and wear
at the seams. She slid her brown leather belt around her waist and
yanked her worn hole-filled ankle boots onto her feet.
    Maybe she could get a new pair of shoes
today.
    She took the time to place her long red hair
into a braid and then twisted the braid upon itself and secured it
to the back of her head. She grabbed her bonnet off the bedside
table and walked out into the main room of the cabin.
    Langley was awake and already had a fire
going in the cookstove and water heated for Rose’s morning tea.
“Thank you,” she said as she kissed his red hair and headed toward
the cupboard. Her face fell when she saw the tiny amount of oats
left in the jar. It looked like she would be going without
breakfast today.
    Rose grabbed up the oats and a jar that was
a quarter full of peaches. She went about cooking and heard Langley
pull on his boots and head out the door. She opened the shutters so
she could watch him walk to the barn. Rose knew he would be feeding
the animals what little bit of food they had left for them.
    Rose refused to worry. Today she would be
able to refill the food supplies for everyone. She simply wished
that her son could be more of a child. He worked as hard as a grown
man because, the truth was, Rose needed him to. She depended on him
and all he did.
    Rose was just setting his bowl of oatmeal
and peaches on the table when Langley stepped back into the house.
He glanced at the single place set at the table and frowned.
“Aren’t you gonna eat, mama?”
    Rose laid her hand over her stomach and
shook her head. “I’m feeling a little green today,” she lied.
Langley studied her hard a moment but then seemed to accept her
response and sat down to eat. “When you’re done I need you to go
clean up and get ready so we can head into town and get some
supplies.”
    “ With that money pa sent
us?”
    Rose nodded as she busied herself wiping
down the counter. She knew that money had not been honestly earned
and everything in her rebelled against using it but what choice did
she have? None. She had no choice.
    Rose left the house and went out to the
barn. She took the brown mare from the stall and looked her over.
It was a nice horse. Strong and healthy. Rose went about hitching
her to their tiny cart.
    The rain clouds were gone and the sky was
bright blue and perfectly clear. The sun was shining strong. It was
going to be a hot one. Rose sighed as she walked back inside and
then smiled when Langley came out of