Read Luke’s Runaway Bride for Free Online Page A

father gets ahold of you.”
    “Daniel has a way of convincing people. I’m sure he can handle your father.”
    Her voice rose. “Not this time. My father will know something’s wrong.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’ve never missed writing a speech for him before.”
    He pressed his back against the cold wall, facing her directly. “You write your father’s speeches?”
    She nodded and plucked at the straw near her boots.
    “You’re educated then. Went to college in Boston?”
    “Well, not precisely. My brothers did.”
    “But not you?”
    She furrowed her brow. “I read every one of their books.”
    “Why didn’t you just go to school?”
    “Because women don’t go to college, that’s why,” she answered.
    He paused. “But I hear they do.”
    Glancing down at her fingers, she twisted her engagement ring. Her voice dropped to nearly a whisper. “It’s what my father always tells me.”
    “Oh.” Luke was touched by her tender admission. “Yet he gets you to write his speeches.”
    “But no one knows I do.” She met his eyes with such honesty, it upset his balance. “Well, except you.”
    “Your father sounds like a hypocrite.”
    Jenny’s eyes sparked. “Do you always say exactly what’s on your mind?”
    “Mostly.”
    “That’s why your chest is all scarred up.”
    He grinned with sudden humor. “That’s a pretty fair deduction.”
    Jenny lowered her head and swallowed. “Can’t you please let us go? Where is Olivia?”
    “She’s safe in the next car.” He spun away so she wouldn’t see his eyes softening. For a moment, he stared up at the stars, feeling the cool wind on his face, the wheels of the train thundering beneath his boots. Mustering strength, he turned to face her. “As soon as Daniel arrives, and I expect it’ll be tomorrow, I’ll release you.”
    She searched his face. “You promise you will?”
    He prickled under her scrutiny. Suddenly the boxcar seemed very small and her nearness overwhelming. “Yeah.”
    “Both Olivia and me?”
    He nodded in reply, respecting her for her devotion to her friend. She slid a piece of straw from her hair, above her ear. The absent movement made her jacket slide open, revealing the creamy flesh of her shoulders. His pulse dipped.
    “Why can’t you be more like your friend? Daniel turned out so good and you turned out so bad.”
    Every muscle in his body tightened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Oh, I think I do.” She coolly appraised him. “You’re down on your luck. Instead of working hard to get yourself out of the hole you’re in, you’re stealing money. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
    Her comment stung. He braced his feet against the movement of the train. “People aren’t always what they appear to be. This isn’t about money.”
    Her face became set. “Then what’s it about?”
    “Doing what you know is right. Truth and honor.”
    She shook her head. Her hair was a mass of tangles. “What do you know about those? No wonder Daniel never mentioned you much. I wouldn’t be proud, either, if I had a friend like—” She stopped abruptly and averted her eyes.
    An angry reply burned his lips. He didn’t care what in blazes she thought of him. In about thirty-four hours, it would be settled. And then Daniel alone would have to deal with his new Boston bride.
    But when she gazed back at him with confusion in her misty eyes, Luke floundered. She stirred him. He didn’t want to be stirred. He didn’t want to be conflicted.
    “If this is about the truth,” she said in a voice that reached him somewhere deep, “explain it to me. Tell me the truth, Luke.”
    The trusting way she said his name weakened his resolve. Should he tell her about Adam? She was engaged to be Daniel’s wife, and didn’t she have every right to know about the boy? She seemed strong enough to handle it.
    But he had to be careful how he explained it, so she wouldn’t get too upset. His own neck was on the line, and