The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

low-life bastard of the worst sort. And Rose couldn't wait to get out of this hellhole and tell him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him and his gun-toting, tin-star brother.
    Of all the cowardly things! She couldn't believe he had put her in jail because his mother had visited her! Visited!
    She had collected nothing that morning from Mrs. Burnett but a free trip to jail.
    Unable to sit any longer, Rose stood and began to pace the small area. How long before she could find Mr. Burnett and give in to the urge to scratch his eyes out? How long before she could get out and shake the dust of this awful city from her feet? She'd done nothing to his mother. Absolutely nothing.
    She wrung her hands in front of her. Isaiah would not return until Friday. She had two days to pace this small cell. Three steps forward, turn, and three steps back. Hour after hour to contemplate, wonder, and worry.
    "Honey, sit down. You're goin' to wear a hole in your shoes with all that walking. You ain't goin' nowhere," a blonde woman who shared the cell advised.
    "I can't," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I didn't do anything to her, and that bastard put me in here."
    "Which one, honey?"
    A lady reclining on the cot spoke up. "If he's male, does it really matter which one?"
    "Oh, Henrietta, not all men are bad. Some can be really nice," the blonde said.
    "Yeah, as long as you're on your back, they're happy."
    "Don't mind her, miss. Tell us who put you in here."
    "Travis Burnett."
    "Ooh, he's one cowboy I'd let wear spurs in my bed. I'd even be willing to play giddy-up.'' The women laughed. "It's kind of dangerous to double-cross him—after all, he's got the law on his side."
    "Yeah, I found out."
    "What did you do to him?"
    "Nothing!" Rose stopped her pacing, but her foot tapped nervously against the floor. "He warned me to stay away from his mother, but she came to me. She was the one who came to my business. She was the one who insisted on talking to me. And then he blamed me."
    "Men in this part of the country are mighty protective of their womenfolk." The blonde pushed back a stray lock of hair and leaned against the cell wall.
    Rose threw up her arms and let them fall to her side. "But I did nothing!"
    "It doesn't matter to a man like that. He's going to protect what's his." The woman stared off into the distance, and a deep, soulful sigh escaped her lips. "I'd love to have a man like him who wanted to protect me, and keep me tucked away real safe-like."
    The woman on the cot rolled her eyes. "Betty, he wouldn't look twice at a woman like you. Not for a wife. Hell, that's the reason he ain't married now."
    "He has looked twice at a woman like me. He used to visit Belinda occasionally, before his brother became the marshal."
    "That's different. He was using her to take care of his needs. Just like all men use us."
    Rose stared at the two women in annoyance. "I don't care who he visited. I only know he has ruined my business!" She swallowed, trying to hold back the hot tears that threatened to fall. "Things were going so well. We could have earned enough money to make it to New York. Now I'm stuck in this cage."
    Henrietta stood and handed Rose a handkerchief and patted her on the arm. "Don't worry, honey, things will be okay.
    "Hey, lady, I'll marry you. I'll wear spurs," an anonymous man yelled from two cells down. The Fort Worth jail had only four cells, and men occupied three of the four.
    "Only if I can use my lead chucker on ya," Henrietta yelled back. "Why do the men get a separate cell, while we're all crammed into one? I don't think it's fair."
    "Who said women were ever treated fairly?" a woman called Buckskin Sue replied, sitting on the floor leaning against the cool steel bars. With only two cots, the four women in the cell had to take turns lying down.
    "I'll recite poetry if I don't have to pay next time," the man yelled back.
    The women groaned.
    "Nothing in life is free, honey. You'll pay just like all the others," Betty informed the man.
    The door to the cell area opened. "Quiet down in there."
    Rose turned, her tears momentarily forgotten, and faced the deputy. "Why should we keep it quiet?" Rose said, raising her voice. "I didn't ask to be put in here. The charges are hearsay."
    The door slammed shut.
    "Honey, is this your first time?" Henrietta asked.
    She glanced up at the whore. "Yes."
    "What are you in for, Miss . . .?"
    "The name's Desirée Severin." She glanced through the bars.