Give My Love to Rose(1st in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Twenty-Six

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"I'm surprised that boy didn't want to come with you," Duke admitted as he and Jeremiah rode their horses beside the cart Marston was driving.

Marston snorted. "He had his nose buried in that book Jeremiah stole for him."

"It doesn't matter if it was stole," Jeremiah grumbled. "It's the thought that counts."

"I'm gonna raise that boy different from how we were raised," Marston argued. "I'm gonna teach him to work hard for what he wants, that stealing is never right and that killing is wrong..." Marston grinned. "Most of the time."

Duke didn't say a word in response but Jeremiah spent most of the remainder of the trip to town grumbling about how Marston was ruining the boy.

Marston pulled the cart to a stop at the H&H mercantile and hopped to the ground. He frowned when Duke and Jeremiah dismounted as well. "We're coming in with you."

"Why?" Marston demanded, feeling more than a little tired of having two new shadows.

"Because it'll piss you off," Jeremiah grinned.

"And because we want to meet the fine women that we borrowed those lovely presents from," Duke added.

Marston simply shook his head and entered the store with the duo on his heels. "Oh look, Hattie," Hester sneered from behind the counter. "It's our favorite and most loyal customer..and he brought a couple of his smelly friends with him as well."

"Hello there, Hester," Marston greeted with a tip of his head. "I see you're just as charming as always."

Hattie waddled in from the backroom and nearly collapsed when she took in the sight of Duke grabbing some jerked beef from a barrel while Jeremiah absently flipped through the pages of the catalogue in his hands.

"You've done it now!" Hattie hissed at her sister. "You were rude and now he's brought his gang back to kill us."

Marston grinned over at Duke who was frowning. "You told her it was your gang?"

Marston shrugged. "I never mentioned a gang. I suppose I just have a certain leadership quality that you lack."

"Damn oak tree," Duke grumbled before tearing off a piece of the dried meat with his teeth.

"So what can I do for you gentlemen?" Hester inquired, pulling off her spectacles and wiping them on her apron before settling them back over her cow eyes.

"There's that friendly service that folks come for miles just to experience," Marston chuckled. He pulled out the list Rose had written. "I need you to get these things ready for me."

Hester peered down her hooked nose at the list he placed in her hand. "Well, I must say this isn't Rose's usual shopping list. I never have known the woman to be quite so frivolous."

Marston wondered what the hell was so frivolous about getting a bit of extra fabric and a few treats for the kitchen. He tapped the counter with his fingertips. "Well, I must say that it's none of your concern. Your only job is to gather up the things the woman wrote down." He moved away from the counter and paused. "Just lay them on the boardwalk when you're done. I'll save myself the loading fee and do it myself."

Marston was heading for the door when Hester cleared her throat. "You know a rather odd thing happened."

Marston turned back to her, plastering that false smile on his face. "The anticipation is killing me."

She licked her thin lips and laid the list on the countertop. "My sister and I came in the day after Christmas to find that we'd had more merchandise stolen."