"Thirteen," she said, the word fighting to make it through her dry mouth. He'd be fourteen in the fall, a detail she didn't bother to add. Not yet.
"Thirteen. You didn't waste any time, did you," he said wryly. "How many kids did you and Ellington have?"
"I have only one child," she whispered. "And I can't just sit back and allow him to make this mistake. You know... you know what the life of a gunslinger is like. He's entranced by the glamour and excitement that's portrayed in the dime novels and the newspaper serializations, but you and I both know that's not what it's like."
"Glamour," he scoffed. "If you call learning to sleep with one eye open glamorous—"
"Tell JD that," she interrupted. "Tell him how horrible it is to live this way."
Again, his eyebrows. "I didn't say my life was horrible."
"He'll get killed," she argued. "I know he will."
"Is he any good?"
He finally managed to make her angry. "What difference does it make! He's a child, and he has no business—"
"I was on my own at thirteen, if you remember. I was a man. Maybe he is, too."
She clenched her jaw. "You can do this one thing for me," she whispered. "You owe me that much."
"I owe you?" He grinned. "Honey, what the hell makes you think I owe you any goddamn thing?"
She looked him in the eye. There was no way she'd lie to him, no way she'd hide something this important. She searched his dark eyes for a hint of the boy she had loved, prayed to see a trace of tenderness mixed in with the pain and the bitterness. For a moment, just for a moment, she thought she saw what she was searching for. Then again, maybe it was just wishful thinking that made her, for one split second, see the boy she'd loved with all her heart in this hard man.
"Don't do it for me, then. Do it for JD."
"Why should I?"
Cash stood very still and waited for her answer. Oh, this was a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake. Had she really thought the man who had deserted her would help her now? That the heartless Daniel Cash she read about would have any regard for her or for JD?
In a disgustingly hopeful moment, she had. She'd ridden toward Rock Creek with such ridiculous notions. But she lifted her chin and answered his question. Like it or not, he had to know.
"Because he's your son."
Read all the
Rock Creek Six
(in series order)
now available in eBook format
Reese
Sullivan
Rico
Jed
Nate
Cash
Lori Handeland sold her first novel in 1993. Since then she has written many novels, novellas and short stories in several genres—historical, contemporary, series, paranormal romance, urban fantasy and historical fantasy—for such publishers as Dorchester, Kensington, Harlequin, St. Martin's, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster and Penguin.
She has won two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, as well as being a Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and USA Today and New York Times best-selling author.
Soon Lori will begin a new venture, writing gritty, sensual western historical romance under the name Lori Austin. Look for the first book BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY HUNTER in October, 2012.
Lori lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband enjoying occasional visits from her grown sons.
She can be reached through her websites at www.lorihandeland.com
and www.loriaustin.net
Table of Contents
Cover
The Rock Creek Six
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Excerpt from CASH – Book 6 in The Rock Creek Six
The Rock Creek Six
Meet the Author
Nate (The Rock Creek Six) Page 25