Read Patrick's Charm (The Bride Train, #2) for Free Online Page B

room and board were covered.” Hardt acted like the inequity of the arrangement had never struck him.
    “You bought her that cheap?” Patrick’s quip didn’t elicit a smile. Maybe Hardt didn’t have a sense of humor. Though he’d made a fool out of that stupid hothead Jarvis, who’d wagered away his land. In that instance, the railroad agent demonstrated wisdom and a keen sense of fairness. Pray he would show the same levelheaded thinking in the case of a runaway bride.
    “Miss LaBelle will be performing tonight, if you’d like to stop by and see her.” Patrick didn’t mention Charm’s imminent arrival. Wouldn’t want Hardt spoiling his good fortune.
    “You cannot hire these women we brought in,” the agent said bluntly.
    Patrick’s hackles went up at being told what to do. He’d resented orders while in the army; and he sure as hell didn’t answer to a former Union officer who’d probably bought his post. How else would a southerner get to be a U.S. major? “Last time I checked, it was a free country. We made sure of it when we whipped the Rebs.”
    Hardt crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t fight for your right to corrupt decent women.”
    The irritation prickling Patrick’s skin became a slow burn. “Mr. Hardt. Yer gettin’ awfully close to insulting me.” His brogue thickened the angrier he got. “Fer the sake of keepin’ the peace, I’ll let it pass this time. Miss LaBelle came in here, she asked for a job, and I gave her one. If you got a complaint, I suggest you take it up with her. But don’t come in here again and try to tell me what I can or can’t do.”
    Some emotion flickered in Hardt’s eyes, not anger, more like grudging respect. He dropped the defensive stance. “My intention isn’t to insult you, O’Shea. If you don’t care about the legal implications, then I must ask you, as a gentleman, to consider the consequences of this decision. If you employ that young lady, she might as well announce that she’s entertaining customers.”
    Patrick entertained the idea of wrapping his fingers around Hardt’s neck, and would have if the agent had been expressing a singular opinion. He only echoed what society in general believed. “Not all women who sing in saloons and work in dance halls are prostitutes.”
    “Try convincing the men who come in here.”
    Patrick stiffened with anger. Pain radiated from hip down his right leg. He remained straight through sheer willpower. “Nobody, including you, will abuse Miss LaBelle as long as she’s under my protection.”
    “Then I’d suggest you bring her under your protection permanently. Marry her.”
    “Marry her?” Patrick repeated it because he was sure he hadn’t heard right.
    Hardt nodded. “It would solve a number of problems.”
    And introduce a host of others.
    “That’s not possible.”
    Disappointment flickered across the agent’s face. “If you won’t make her respectable then let another man have her.”
    Patrick refused the bait. He wouldn’t be bullied into marriage. “She knows what she’s getting into.”
    “She might. I’m not sure you do.” Hardt withdrew a folded paper from inside his coat. “Are you aware of an earlier claim on this property?”
    The agent shouldn’t play poker with such an obvious bluff.
    “There’s no one else who can make a legitimate claim on this land and you know it.”
    “No one other than the man who built here first.”
    “Gilly?” Patrick laughed. Talk about reaching for straws. His friend, an old army chum, had come out here and put up a sod building, but he hadn’t liked living in the wilds and swore he wouldn’t return. “He sold me his place. We shook on it. Gilly wouldn’t go back on his word.”
    “Mr. McGill sold you a sod structure. He didn’t own the land beneath it. But he and his brother filed a claim together, and it’s dated before the one you filed. See for yourself.” Hardt unfolded the paper and pushed it across the bar. “Mr. McGill