There was a hotel, a mercantile, a saloon, the sheriff’s office, a barber, livery stable, blacksmith, and a church. Several homes were on the outskirts of town, and then there were the shanties. Those tiny buildings, built of scrap, where men and women lived with barely enough room to survive. Ruby cringed at the thought of having to live in a dwelling that was more like a cell than a home. Usually, they consisted of a kitchen and a bed. Nothing else. “I’ve been thinking, Ruby. Maybe we should check into the hotel and pretend we’re married. That way you’ll be protected,” Deke said, glancing over at her. She shot him her surliest look, her lungs freezing at the audacity of him. The man was married. And she wasn’t sharing a hotel room with a man who had a wife. “Absolutely not.” “Why?” “If I need to explain the reason why a single woman and a married man do not share a hotel room, then you’re not the man I thought you were. In fact, I’m going to check into the Hide Town Hotel and pretend I don’t even know you.
