Give My Love to Rose(1st in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Rose woke from a nearly sleepless night. She'd tossed and turned and been on edge, waiting for Marston to either come into the house and murder those inside as he'd promised he could or slip into her room and kiss more than just her fingertip....He had warned her that he'd do the first and yet his eyes on that porch had told her he wanted to do the second.

She wanted to drift back to sleep and was about to do just that when she was startled from the bed by the sound of banging outside of the cabin. Rose pulled on her thin robe and left her room. Her bare feet patted gently on the wood floor as she stepped into the cabin and realized that Langley's bedroom door was open and he was gone.

Was her son alone with Marston? Why didn't that thought scare her after what the man had said last night?

That banging continued outside and so Rose stepped out and walked around the side of the yard. The dew covered grass soaked her feet and the bottom of her sleeping gown but she paid that no mind. Her attention was on the duo currently fixing her crooked shutters.

Marston was holding the shutter in place while Langley, (with nails between his lips), hammered it into place and stared at Marston with what could only be called hero worship.

Rose smiled. "It's a bit early to be doing hammering, don't you think?"

Both of them whirled around with nearly identical sheepish expressions. Langley spit the nails into his hand and wiped his mouth with his hand. "We didn't wake you up did we, mama? Marston came in and got m up this morning. We did all the outside chores for you. We fed the animals, gathered eggs, cleaned the stalls and even milked the cow." Langley counted off the chores on his fingers. "Then Marston said we needed to fix the damn shutters cuz they're an eyesore."

"Language!" Rose scolded quickly.

Langley flushed. "Well that's what he said!" he insisted, pointing an accusatory finger up at Marston.

Marston removed his gray hat and wiped his brow on his shirt sleeve. "I'm afraid he's right, ma'am."

"You came into the cabin and woke Langley up?" Rose demanded. She didn't like thought of Langley's rest being interrupted for work.

"He was already awake and reading a book," Marston assured her. "I could hear him moving around so I figured he might as well be helping with the chores. Someone needs to learn how to keep things up around here or the place is gonna fall down around you."

Rose squared her shoulders defensively. "We do the best we can." Marston merely shrugged. Rose pointed at the hammer in Langley's hand. "You two could have warned me before you started pounding away," she stated before crossing her arms under her chest.

"Did we scare...." Marston's voice trailed off. His gaze had been on a downward path toward her breasts but had instead stopped on her neck and the dark purple bruise that marred it. "What the hell happened to your neck?" he roared, his jaw popping with the rage that tightened it.

Rose mentally kicked herself for forgetting about that bruise and coming out in something that didn't keep it covered. Langley's eyes widened when he too caught sight of her neck. "Oh this?" she asked, laying her hand over the mark and attempting to come up with some excuse for it.

"Yeah that. And don't try to lie to me because I can tell when a person is lying," Marston warned. His stomach was tied in knots as anger raged in his blood. He would kill whoever had put those bruises on her soft, white skin. Rose looked more like an angel than ever this morning with her red curls wild around her head and the sunshine shimmering on her white sleeping gown and robe. Her full cheeks were flushed, outlining her freckles and her blue eyes were wide and innocent as she stared up at him.