Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,60

then—didn’t see any need for one. I made the mistake of dismounting to speak with the woman, and the men grabbed, slamming me to the ground.

“I remember them shouting and trying to figure out what to do with me. One hollered that I was the preacher and would talk. Another said it’d be a cold day in hell when he’d let me ruin them. I got back to my feet, but one of them—probably not even old enough to have been in long pants too many years—got in my face. I shoved him away.” Ridge winced at the memory he couldn’t shake. “He went down hard, striking his head on a rock. Died right then.”

Addie gasped.

Ridge tried to keep his voice even, but the words came out rusty. “The law says I killed him. His pa refused to hear the truth.”

A chair scooted away from the table, and Addie’s footsteps came to him, and her warm hand was on his back. He turned to see her tear-filled eyes. Wordlessly, he opened his arms, and she walked into them.

* * *

Addie glanced up and tenderly laid her palm against his jaw, her heart aching for the man she’d married. Telling this story was tearing him apart, yet he kept going—for her sake, because he wanted no secrets between them. A twinge of guilt pricked her. She rose on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. The kiss, though brief, would let him know she admired and cared for him.

“Let me finish while I can. I’ll never speak of this again,” he murmured.

She nodded, and he continued. “They dragged me and the girl into town to the sheriff. One of the men, her own father, forced her to say that I was the one who committed the crime against her, and my worthless accusers heaped more lies on top of that.

“I found out later that her bastard father had given her to them for the night to pay off a debt. They threatened to put a bullet in the man’s head unless he got his daughter to lie and save their hides. The sea of voices drowned me out. No one listened to what I had to say.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She held him tightly, her arms around his waist, wishing she could take his pain from him.

“A group of vigilantes grabbed a rope, and they took me to a tree. I remember staring up at the stars, wondering why God had let this happen. I had always lived an exemplary life and done His work without complaint. How could my life end because people who knew me chose to believe lies instead of the truth?” Ridge shuddered. “They put the rope around my neck, and I knew I’d seen my last sunset.”

Addie held him tighter, pressing herself against his tall body. It was all she could do to make him aware he wasn’t alone.

“The next part was a bit fuzzy. As I waited to die, Clay Colby galloped in, shot the rope in half. I didn’t know him before that moment, but he helped me escape. His only explanation was that he never liked a stacked deck.” Ridge glanced down, his haunted eyes boring a hole into her. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Addie saw how these events had crushed his spirit and turned him into someone he’d never planned to be. She took a moment to look at her situation and found that Ezekiel, the punishment, prison had also changed her in countless ways. They were both different people.

They stood in silence for several moments, and she watched a muscle in his jaw work. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down when he swallowed. Finally, he spat in anguish, “I’m a killer, and a lie branded me a…despicable piece of humanity.” He stepped away from her. “Me, a man of God, someone who preys on women! I vow to you that I’ve never done that. Ever!”

She reached for her paper. “I know that.”

“That wasn’t the end of it, though. The young man I killed was the favorite son of a wealthy rancher. Tom Calder and his older son gathered some men and came after me with a vengeance. I ended up shooting his namesake between the eyes. I took both his boys from him. Calder went home a broken man, vowing to see me in a grave before he dies.” Ridge rubbed the day’s stubble along his jaw. “Killing only leads to more killing. It