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

Bravado had carried her many a day and this one was no exception.
    "Not my place," Travis replied, clearly feeding her curiosity.
    "Where is your manservant, Miss Severin?" the marshal asked.
    "Isaiah has gone to visit his family."
    Travis strolled around the table looking, searching. "I heard that bell somewhere near this table. It sounded muffled."
    "You won't find a bell, Mr. Burnett, as the spirits ring a bell to announce their arrival and departure, not I."
    "But I thought they were always here," Travis said mockingly.
    "They are." She smiled. "But they only speak to me when they ring the bell."
    Travis glanced at her and shook his head. "One thing for certain, you're definitely not a quitter. I'd have run you out of town that first night if I'd known how stubborn you could be."
    "For what?"
    Travis shrugged. "Who says I need a reason?"
    The marshal lifted the scarlet tablecloth off of the table and looked beneath.
    "What are you looking for, marshal? I'd be glad to help you," she asked innocently.
    He put the tablecloth back in place and glanced up at her, missing the bell that was tucked under the table. "My brother's charging you with fraud. Claims you tried to con our mother. My mother has been hurt enough by the disappearance of my brother, Tanner. I don't need for you to make it worse."
    She whirled around and faced Travis. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, his gaze amused, but his eyes were cold, as if there were no joy or spark in them.
    Rose glanced at Travis, her fists clenched at her sides. "Why? I haven't seen . . . your mother."
    The memory of her brief visit the other morning returned with gale force.
    "You're lying."
    "No. She came to see me. She wanted to talk. We didn't speak with your brother. I didn't even charge her. It was a social call, nothing more."
    "I told you to stay away from my mother." His voice was quiet and even. No emotion at all.
    "She came to me. What was I supposed to do, slam the door in her face?"
    "Yes."
    "I'm arresting you for fraud, Miss Severin," the marshal announced.
    "But why? I only give my customers what they want! They receive a chance to heal their wounds, a chance to speak with their loved ones once again. Your mother came to see me!"
    "The same could be said for some of the madams in this town, but I arrest them too," the marshal answered.
    "I'm a medium, not a whore! I speak with the dead. How could that hurt someone?"
    "And I run a boarding house for innocents," the marshal replied. "You're one of the slickest con artists I've come across. And female to boot!"
    "Prove that I cannot speak to the dead!"
    Travis leaned forward and shoved the chair she'd been sitting in under the table. She cringed at the tinkling sound of the bell rolling and clanging beneath the table.
    "Oh, merde! "
    Travis bent down and lifted the tablecloth. He reached under the skirt and came up smiling, holding the bell by his fingers, swinging it back and forth. "Proof! The spirits left their bell behind."
    Oh! A mist of pure fury glazed her eyes. "No, I've been looking for that dinner bell. I wondered where it went."
    He shook his head. "Arrest her, Tucker."
    The marshal took hold of her arm and pulled her toward the door. Rose felt a moment of panic and dug in her heals. She'd never been to jail before. "Why jail? You said you would have me run out of town."
    Travis stepped in front of her. He lifted her chin with his finger and tilted her head back. "That's where cheats belong. And you, Miss Severin, are the queen of cheats, conning little old ladies with your French accent and your sweet lies. I hope you enjoy your stay in Fort Worth's jail."
    Like an errant child, she swung her foot out at him and smacked him hard in the shin.
    "Ouch!"
    " Espéce de trou du cal! " she said.
    He smiled. "And what sweet word did you just call me?"
    She tilted her nose up at him, "I called you an asshole."
    The marshal laughed and tugged on her arm. "Come along, Miss Severin. My boarding house awaits you."
    She glanced back over her shoulder one last time and shot a look at Travis Burnett that she hoped would singe the edges of his cowboy hat.
    ***
    Jail! Rose gazed at the steel bars that enclosed her, trying to stem the rising sense of panic the small space evoked. She couldn't get out. They wouldn't let her go. She was stuck inside a cell that held, including herself, four women, two cots, one pail of water, and a chamber pot. The El Paso Hotel it was not.
    Travis Burnett was a pig-sucking,