The Man Who Loved Cole Flores (Dig Two Graves 1)

Doc hummed, nodding, but he said nothing, unlike Zeb, whose bushy whiskers shook as he stepped closer, staring at Cole rather than Ned. “All I hear is that he wants no authority over him. He and any other fellow. Doesn’t make him a good addition to this circle,” he said and spun his index finger in the air.

“We discuss things, and people who ride with us can do as they please most times, but in some matters, I have the final word. I require one thing—loyalty. A fellow who doesn’t know what that means won’t survive long in this camp,” Tom said, placing the cleaver on his knee and tapping it gently, as if it were his beloved pet. Was it the same one he’d used—? No, Ned would not think about any of that. Not now.

“I say that’s still more freedom than most men get. I’d have a foreman over me most days, tellin’ me how to work and when to sleep. Hell, some men have a wife who tells them what to do.” He challenged Zeb by looking straight into his eyes. “But a man can’t thrive in isolation. I say some rules are there to keep folks alive and with their bellies full. If that’s the kind of authority you represent Mr. Teach, I’ll be glad to follow you.”

Tom hummed and rubbed his chin with a hand gloved in black leather. Ned had to look twice at them to realize the garment must have been custom-made to fit Butcher Tom’s six-fingered hands.

Cole seemed intent on getting Ned in and spoke. “I choose to trust a man who risks his hide to save mine. He was local to Beaver Springs, but when the floor burned under our feet, he showed us a way out of the saloon. Pearl must have told you.”

The folds of fabric behind Ned fluttered again, and one of the young men who’d accompanied Cole to Beaver Springs entered.

Tom exhaled but moved his hand, wordlessly inviting the boy in. And when all of him was revealed, it became clear to Ned why he was of such a slight stature, and why his voice had a high pitch. Ned hadn’t fully connected the dots when the stranger had worn men's clothes, but when she entered the tent in a buckskin dress that reached her knees and without a hat to keep her pale braid hidden, everything fell into place.

The woman’s features weren’t as delicate as some ladies’, with a large nose and cheekbones that were way too sharp. She was past girlhood, and the devilish charm of her smile suggested she knew more about life than most married ladies. Going straight for Cole, she squeezed his shoulders with slender, feminine fingers Ned had previously seen in thick gloves.

“Were you boys talking about me?” she asked but then slid straight into Butcher Tom’s lap.

So she was Pearl.

Tom pulled her close, and Ned itched to grab the sewing needles off the floor to stab the bastard with both. How dare he find joy in life when Ned’s own family lay dead? But he contained the hot fury, his face carved in stone.

“Is this the young man who saved you from a bounty on your head?” Tom asked.

Pearl smiled at Ned. “Sure is. Oxen strength too.”

Ned grasped at the compliment to use it to his advantage. “And won’t be hesitant to use it again if need be.”

Pearl pressed her cheek to Tom’s, as shameless in her affections as a drunk saloon girl. “Isn’t he a charmer? Pretty please, Tommy, won’t you let him stay?”

Tom gave a dark laugh. “Are you tryin’ to make me jealous, woman?”

She grinned, as if she wasn’t afraid of the cleaver in his hand, so used to its sharp blade she no longer worried it might turn against her. “Maybe.”

The two lovers watched one another, and the electricity crackling between them was so strong even Ned felt it. But as sick as that made him feel, he remained still, waiting for his sentence.

Zeb let out a hoarse moan before Tom spoke. “You can’t be serious.”

“Shut up,” Tom said and pressed a kiss to Pearl’s forehead. “If he helped out my wife, he can stay.”

“Who’ll be responsible if he turns out rotten?” Doc asked, calm yet eager to have answers beforehand.

Tom rolled his eyes. “The one who brings a new man is always responsible. Will you take that on, Cole? If he’s crooked, I’ll personally squash him in the dirt, but you’ll have a hefty price to pay too. You remember I already put one cross on you, and you don’t want another.”

Whatever that meant had Cole standing a bit straighter, as if he were a soldier about to salute his captain. “I trust Mr. O’Leary.”

Ned bit back a smile because while he was here for all the wrong reasons, in a twisted way, he was still truly joyful over Cole taking such a liking to him. As if he wasn’t some country rube but a gold nugget among worthless rocks.