To Love an Outlaw (Into the West #1) (A Wattpad Reading List Choice)

Chapter 1

     

 “Oh, my gosh, Callie! You can’t sit down and eat with that man! He’s a hired killer!”

 Samantha Peyton, Callie’s older sister by a number of years, grabbed her younger sibling’s forearm in a surprisingly tight grip, her green eyes that mirrored Callie’s wide as saucers. Willie, Samantha’s nine-year-old son, hung about the two women, hoping to get a piece of pie if he stayed close.

 Pulling her arm gently but firmly from her worried sister’s grasp, Callie said drily, “Even if he is a gunfighter, Sam, I don’t think he’ll waste ammunition on li’l ole me, the pie baker. I think he bought the pie because…well, he likes pies! Besides, all the cooks are sitting at the same table with their purchasers, Sis. Safety in numbers.”

 Callie didn’t really care at this moment; she was just thinking of how many ingredients she could buy with McQuade’s dollar…

  “I like pies,” muttered Willie, a skinny, freckle-faced, brown-haired boy who seemed to have a hollow leg when it came to home-baked desserts. Over and over he kicked at a rock stuck in the dirt, until his mother hissed, “Stop that annoying habit, William Jr.! Auntie Callie bakes all the time for us!”

 Samantha narrowed her eyes on the gunslinger as he picked up his pie in preparation to finding its maker.

She continued. “I don’t like the way he looks, Callie. He’s way too…sinister looking. Don’t you dare go for a walk with him! Stay at the table, and make sure he keeps his hands where you can see them, at least.”

 Callie grinned and rolled her eyes, grabbing her nephew’s shoulder while ribbing her sister, “You’ve been reading those dime novels again at night, haven’t you, Sam? The man wants pie, Sis! Look at him; he’s kinda on the thin side anyway. And don’t worry, Mr. William. I’ll make you and your sister each a peach tart this week, alright?”

This last was said in a kindly tone to her nephew, whose wide-mouth grin was payment enough for more baking in the summertime heat of Texas.

 “Excuse me. Miz West?”

  Both women and the boy swiveled about, staring at the owner of the voice. It was the gunfighter, holding Callie’s pie with both hands. Hat tipped back just enough to reveal his silver-blue gaze as it bore into Callie’s, as well as his unusual, scruffy, two-toned hair color.

 Shooting her sister a quick look, Callie returned her eyes to the man before her, a tentative smile crossing her face as she briefly bobbed her head and replied, “That’s me, Mr. McQuade. I guess we’d better head on over to the table and start this pie supper.”

 Callie glanced up into the gunslinger’s impassive face, received no response, and turned to her sister and nephew, where the boy suggested hopefully, “If you can’t finish it all, I can help!”

The women laughed stiffly, while the man simply stared at Willie, studying him as though he were a snake in the road and he had to decide how best to eliminate his presence.

 Laughter dying just past their lips, the women stood awkwardly until Callie mustered the courage to say gaily, “See you later, Sis. Don’t forget what I promised you, Willie.”

 And then Callie turned toward the pie supper tables, leading the gunfighter along without benefit of speaking.

 Once they’d reached the table, Callie made to pull out one of the wooden chairs before her spot when suddenly a brown, long-fingered hand clasped the back of the chair and a gravelly voice close to her ear said, “Let me.”

 Amidst Callie’s open-mouthed surprise at his unexpected courtesy, the gunfighter pulled out her chair with one hand while balancing the peach dessert in his other.