The Marshal Meets His Match

Spinster by Choice?

In a world of marriage-minded females, Meri McIsaac is steadfastly single. She’s happiest riding on her father’s ranch. At least until the town’s new marshal startles her and causes her to fall—literally—at his feet. Then he has the gall to implicate her ranch in a bank holdup, turning her entire life upside down.

This is the woman the local matchmaker thought he should meet? Meri is stubborn and headstrong as a mule. Yet he recognizes her courage and loyalty, too, and the grief she carries over her mother’s passing. And if he can protect her from a criminal desperate to cover his tracks, he’ll prove that risking her heart could be the greatest adventure yet.

“You chased them! After they shot at you? Have you lost what little sense you may ever have had?”

The marshal’s glare sizzled as he growled in her face.

Meri blinked. When had he gotten so close? And how was it possible for him to be so close when they were both still on horseback? She fought the impulse to move her horse away from the growling marshal and instead leaned toward him. “Yes, I chased them!”

He copied her movement, leaning in until she felt his breath on her face. He held her eyes for several breaths without blinking. In a low dangerous tone, he asked gently, “Why?”

Meri barely heard him over the pulse thudding in her ears. “Because...”

Why had she chased them? At the moment she couldn’t remember. His nearness was making it nearly impossible to think. “Because they made me mad?” she finished lamely, feeling as foolish as she no doubt sounded.

He blinked, and warmer hazel softened the steely gray. Settling back in his saddle, he shook his head. “Remind me never to make you mad.”

CLARI DEES

An avid reader by age seven, Clari Dees loved to hang out at the public library, and the local bookstore staff knew her by name. Her favorite books included Marguerite Henry’s horse stories, Louis L’Amour’s Westerns and Grace Livingston Hill’s romances. Her fascination with books and libraries continues, and Clari now works as a public librarian by day and a writer by night. When she’s not locating books for an overdue term paper or tracing down a missing genealogy link for patrons at the library, she can be found at her computer plotting the lives and fortunes of hapless fictional characters.

A preacher’s kid from a large family, Clari has been in forty-one states and two countries on mission and singing trips. She still travels with one sister to singing engagements, but firmly believes there is no place like home, which happens to be the beautiful state of Missouri. She loves to spend time with her family and the horses, dogs, goldfish, cat, rabbit and bearded dragon that inhabit their country place. You can visit Clari on her blog, cdeesbookshelf.blogspot.com, or drop her an email at [email protected].

The Marshal Meets His Match

Clari Dees

He healeth the broken in heart,

and bindeth up their wounds.

—Psalms 147:3

Weeping may endure for a night,

but joy cometh in the morning.

—Psalms 30:5

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

who gave me the desire of my heart.

To my mother, who taught me to read.

To my father, who taught me to love God’s Word. To my brothers and sisters, who believed I could write and encouraged me along the way.

I Love You So Much!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt

Chapter One

Little Creek, Colorado

Spring 1883

Meri McIsaac stepped through the doors of Van Deusen’s Dry Goods and Mercantile into the enveloping aromas of dried spices, leather goods and pickle barrels and straight into the even more enveloping arms of Mrs. Van Deusen.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you. It’s been an age since you’ve been in town.” The diminutive, white-haired proprietress ambushed Meri with an exuberant hug. “Are you going to be at the church picnic a week from Saturday?”

Meri shrugged. She’d forgotten about the annual church picnic that heralded the end of a long winter and the welcome arrival of spring. “I don’t know, yet. The weather’s been so wild lately...”

“Oh, the roads are drying up nicely now, and you just have to be there. The new marshal has arrived, and you have to meet him. I’ve told him all about you. And if you don’t like him, there are a several other new single men who’ll be at the picnic, as well. You can look them all over and see which one strikes your fancy. You’re not getting any younger, my dear, and it is high time you found someone to marry. Your dear mother wouldn’t want you grieving for her any longer. She’d say it’s time you got on with your life. You don’t want to spend your entire life as an old maid, so be sure to come to the picnic where you can meet all the new bachelors at once.” The woman’s head nodded sharply to emphasize her point as she finally took a breath.