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

Chapter 5

 

Sheriff Micah Benson prided himself on protecting all the citizens within the surrounding areas of the community of Round Rock, Texas. He did so by making himself visible in town, as well as travelling to the outlying ranches and homesteads at least once a week just to check in and see if there had been any problems during the six days he hadn’t visited. Most often he also got invited in for suppers or desserts; a bonus that Micah took advantage of and which probably figured into his carefully scheduled calls around family meal times.

Micah Benson wasn’t a bad sort of man. He didn’t swear to excess, or drink himself under the table, and he was known to reason with people before resorting to firepower. But being ex-military, the sheriff displayed a much disciplined demeanor. Everything had its place in his world. Which belief made him a narrow-minded person.

 He liked his life to run in an orderly fashion, and likewise preferred it if his town did, too. He didn’t suffer drunks and he kept the soiled doves from plying their trade on the streets of Round Rock as well. But most of all, Sheriff Benson didn’t cotton to outlaws. Especially gun-toting hombres such as one Sonny McQuade. That man’s existence simply stuck in his craw. The outlaw had to go.

Granted, McQuade moved himself out to Marge’s boarding house on the outskirts of town within the first few days of his visit; but the gunfighter managed to come back to town daily, as if he were taunting Benson with his continued presence. And since he maintained a law-abiding image, there wasn’t a Sam Hill thing the sheriff could do about it!

Add to that the fact that the gunfighter seemed to gravitate toward the lovely widow Callie West whenever their paths crossed and Micah Benson found himself doing a slow burn. Hadn’t he been patiently waiting for the proper mourning period to pass before setting his hat into the arena of vying for her hand? Hadn’t he waited tolerantly before pressing his case for their bonding?

And then here came the gunslinger on the Fourth of July, all swagger and tall good looks, buying the widow’s pie for the obscene amount of a whole dollar and rescuing her runaway horse while flashing those silver eyes in her direction! It made the sheriff want to hit something.

Or someone.

So that was why on this particularly hot July afternoon Sheriff Benson purposely made his way towards the West ranch just in time for the afternoon respite he hoped Ms. Callie West would offer.

That woman could bake the best damn peach desserts in the whole county! Add to that her sweetly tart lemonade as well as her bright smile and curvy silhouette and the good sheriff clucked his horse to a canter just to speed up their imminent get-together!

Turning his horse down the peach-tree lined lane leading to the West homestead, Sheriff Benson straightened in his saddle, smoothing his shirt front and running a hand through his thick hair before returning his hat to his head. His timing was just right for a midafternoon break on the porch of his old friend’s ranch house. In the company of his old friend’s widow…

Obadiah West had always told Micah he was like the son he’d never had. He had even commented on several occasions that the younger man reminded him of himself in his youth. So it stood to reason that Micah would like his old friend’s wife, didn’t it?

With the afternoon heat simmering under his horse's hoofs, Sheriff Benson guided his mount upin to the stable yard, nodding at the youth watering the peach trees along the road. Then he glanced into the corral where he caught activity.

And pulled up his horse sharply, staring at what he was witnessing.

“Well, I’ll be…” The sheriff swallowed his words, glaring at the back of none other than gunfighter Sonny McQuade as he flicked a whip in the dirt around the feet of Callie West’s fancy new horse.