Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,92
door. Maybe one of their guests had left something. Though part of him knew it wasn’t likely. On the other hand, the men hunting him and Addie wouldn’t knock.
Ridge met the alarm in Addie’s eyes. “I’m sure it’s nothing. A slight delay.”
The knock sounded again, this time more insistent. He set her down and drew a Colt from his holster, glad he’d worn one to dinner. But then, he rarely went without these days.
“Who is it?” he called.
He could barely hear the mumbled reply. Pistol raised, Ridge jerked the door open.
Startled, the woman on the porch stepped back. A dark scarf partially hiding her face made it difficult to make out any detail in the night.
“I apologize for scaring you, ma’am.” Ridge lowered his pistol but didn’t holster it. “Can I help you? Are you lost?”
“I’m looking for Ridge Steele, and I came a long way to find him.”
“Who are you?”
The strange woman glanced down. “Shiloh.”
The name was vaguely familiar, but not enough to help him understand. Who the hell was she? Why couldn’t he place her? Something whispered he should.
Addie edged around him in the doorway and took the caller’s hand. “Won’t you come in?”
“One moment, ma’am.” Ridge moved Addie back into the house and kept his voice low. “Don’t invite her in without first knowing what she wants.”
“We will be civil and charitable to anyone who comes to our door,” she whispered furiously. “It’s the polite thing to do. She appears to have come a long way to talk, dear.”
“Not if you’re a wanted man—sweetheart,” he grated back.
“Don’t you think if she came to kill you, she’d have done so when you opened the door? Let her in, and let’s discuss whatever she came for.”
“Fine.” He ignored the tempting urge to strangle his lovely but naive wife. Ridge strode back to Shiloh. “Please come in, ma’am, where we can talk in private.”
Before the woman could take another step, she fainted dead away on the stoop. Ridge reached for her but was too late.
Addie scrambled outside and knelt beside her. “No fever. Ridge, carry her to the parlor, and I’ll get the smelling salts.”
While he did that, Addie hurried to the kitchen. By the time he laid Shiloh on the sofa and removed her scarf, Addie had returned. Most of the woman’s face lay in shadows where the lamp didn’t reach, but Ridge thought she seemed rather pale. He could see that she had coal-black hair, and no silver threaded through the strands. He guessed her to be young.
Addie waved the smelling salts under Shiloh’s nose, and her eyes fluttered open.
Shiloh startled awake. “I’m sorry,” she gasped.
When she tried to sit, Addie stopped her. “Give yourself a moment to recover. I’ll get a glass of water.”
The woman’s piercing dark gaze swept to Ridge as Addie left the room. Her eyes were the key, jostling his memory. They’d looked the same on that night long ago when his faith in God and humanity was driven out of him.
“I know you. That’s why you didn’t give your last name.”
“Duke. I’m Shiloh Duke.” She sat up. “I was afraid if you knew, you wouldn’t let me in.”
He knew that family name all too well. Bitterness enveloped Ridge, and his voice turned to ice. “You’re damn right. You and your lies ruined my life. Put a bounty on my head. Set the Calders on my tail.”
Addie returned with the water and handed it to Shiloh. She stood silently, her earlier warmth gone.
Shiloh drained the glass and glanced down. “I wanted to find you and apologize. What I did was despicable, but believe me, I had no choice. My father would’ve killed me as soon as we got home if I’d gone against him. He was a mean drunk, and he’d already shot my mother.”
“So you decided to frame an innocent man instead. How can I believe you?” Although her story smacked of the truth, Ridge was in no mood to let bygones be bygones just like that. She’d have to give him some proof of her sincerity first. “How can I trust anything you say now?”
Shiloh pulled herself to her feet with considerable effort, her faded cotton dress hanging limp on her scrawny form. “I... You… This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.”
“Damn right,” Ridge managed through stiff lips. Her arrival had brought back all the painful memories he’d tried his best to lock away for years.
Addie stopped Shiloh before she took two shaky steps. “I can’t let you go. You’re obviously