E.E. Burke's Best of the West: A new series from New York Times bestselling author Beth Williamson

Plum Creek, Colorado 1872

The Right Man Comes Along

Madeline Brewster practically owns Plum City, Colorado. But at thirty-two, she knows she has missed any chance for happiness. Until she finds a tall, strong, handsome Irishman on the wrong end of the hangman’s noose. Suddenly this unconventional woman comes up with an outrageous idea...

Teague O’Neal has rugged cheekbones, tousled black curls, and eyes as blue as the sky, even if he is caked in Colorado mud. The men insist they caught him horse-thieving, and there’s something desperate about him that says he’d do anything for a buck.

Maybe it was pure chance, or maybe it was something more that brought Madeline and Teague together. But one thing’s clear, between a woman who has just about everything she could ever want, and a man who’s lost that and more, they might find something in between worth living for.

Here's an excerpt:

Madeline pinned on her hat, tugged on her gloves, and swept out of the bank with her head high and her heart pounding. She was about to go meet the man who might change her life. She walked down the wood-planked boardwalk with her back straight as an arrow. Most people nodded a greeting, but no one spoke. They rarely did.

Her heeled boots clacked along without slowing. Even so, the walk to the edge of town took more than ten minutes. By the time she got to the tree, a group of twenty men had gathered. In the midst of them, perched upon an old draught horse, was the biggest, filthiest man she had ever seen.

He looked to have black hair, although the dirt and twigs caking it made it hard to tell for certain. His clothing was matted and wrinkled. The original color was impossible to discern beneath the caked-on dirt. His legs hung down past the horse’s belly. Everything about him was big, from his hands to his feet, and everything in between.

The incompetent sheriff and the drunken judge had put the man on a horse too small for their purpose.

Wrapped around his neck was a thick noose of the sturdiest hemp. He had at least a week’s worth of whiskers on his face. His bright eyes glanced through the crowd, searching. When his glance landed on her, the only woman present, he cocked his head to the side and lazily ran his gaze up and down her body.

A flush stole over her cheeks at his perusal. Never, not once, had any man looked at her as a woman. And what does she do when one finally does? Blush like a schoolgirl!

Madeline had been right to come. With a long bath, a razor, and several bars of soap, he would be perfect. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said, raising her voice.

A hush fell over the crowd as the entire group, which had been pointedly ignoring her, turned to look.

The Irishman’s eyebrows rose.

She clasped her hands at her waist, while assuming her frostiest expression. “I would like to know what the charges are against this man.”

Judge Earl Martin walked over to her with his silly bowler hat perched atop his shining head. His suspenders looked to be holding up nothing but the thumbs he’d hooked beneath them, since his pants were tight against his round belly. He stopped three feet away -- his usual habit since she was at least six inches taller.

He regarded her with his bleary brown eyes over his mottled red nose and mutton-chop sideburns. “Now, Miss Brewster, you know this ain’t no place for a lady.”

Someone in the crowd snickered.

“A hanging is man’s business,” he said with a superior nod. “Why don’t you go on back to the bank and take care of things there? Your pa wouldn’t have wanted you to witness this.”

Madeline raised one eyebrow and looked down her nose at the judge. “My father has been dead two years, Earl. And unless you find a much bigger horse, there is no way you can hang that man.”

Mumbles and curses emanated from the crowd.

His bushy eyebrows lowered. “We were just working on that problem, Miss Brewster. But like I said, this ain’t no place for a lady.”

His harsher tone didn’t sway her from her purpose. “What are the charges?”

The judge took off his hat and ran his hand down his face, a sheen of perspiration evident on his bald pate. “You ain’t going back to the bank, are you?”

“Not without the information I have asked for.”

The sheriff held the reins of the horse. Jackson Bailey was a pompous braggart who couldn’t find his ass with both hands. They had been in school together until she reached the age of twelve and had to stay home with a private tutor.

Jackson had always been a bit of a bully, and the silver badge pinned to his shirt gave him all the authority he needed to exercise that bad habit.

She grudgingly admitted he was a good-looking man, well built, with dark blond hair and blue eyes. Unfortunately, he was as dumb as he was handsome. She turned her head toward him. “Sheriff Bailey?”

“He stole Old Clem’s horse, Madeline. We’ve got an eyewitness.”

“Is this the horse?” she asked, eyeing the creature in question.

“Yup, this is Bud. Been Old Clem’s horse for years and years.”

“And the eyewitness?”

“Arnie Jones saw him leading it into town, pretty as you please.” He looked up at the Irishman, a smug smile curving his mouth. “Danged fool didn’t even try to hide his thievery.”

Madeline tapped her toe beneath her skirt where it couldn’t be seen. “Did you ask him how he came to be in possession of the horse?”

The group was silent for a moment.

“Of course, we did. He said he bought it at the hostelry over in Coopersville.” Jackson snorted a laugh. “As if we would believe that.”

“Why not?”

“Old Clem would never sell Bud. Never! So, obviously, this here fella took him.”

Madeline controlled herself, just barely, from rolling her eyes. “And have you spoken to Old Clem?” she said, fighting to keep her tone even.

“No, he’s not at his house. Pete says he went to visit his daughter in Denver for a month.”

The situation was worse than she thought. They were all a bunch of incompetent fools. She drew a deep breath. “Sheriff Bailey, you cannot hang this man.”

A collective groan arose from the crowd.

The sheriff’s face turned red. “And why not? You’re not going to stop another hanging with your fancy words. Horse thieving is a hanging crime.”

Madeline nodded. “I understand that. But you have not proven that he committed a crime. Simply because he had the horse does not mean he stole it. There must be corroborating evidence.”

“Corrobo—what?”

“Evidence that proves conclusively he stole the horse. I suggest you wait for Old Clem to return to determine if Bud was indeed stolen, and send someone to Coopersville to check whether or not Bud was sold to this man.”

“What do we do with him in the meantime? He wouldn’t last one hour in that tiny jail cell, much less a month.” Jackson frowned so hard, his bushy eyebrows met.

Yes, oh, yes. Her intervention was working out exactly as she hoped. Madeline walked toward the horse, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea. “Put him in my custody. He can work for me for a month, taking care of some repairs I need completed at the house.”

Beth Williamson, who also writes as Emma Lang, is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of both historical and contemporary romances. Her books range from sensual to scorching hot. She is a Career Achievement Award Nominee in Erotic Romance by Romantic Times Magazine, in both 2009 and 2010, and a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest.
Beth has always been a dreamer, never able to escape her imagination. It led her to the craft of writing romance novels, fueled by Reese’s and tenacious pursuit of the perfect story. She’s passionate about purple, books, and her family. She has a weakness for shoes and purses as well as bookstores.
Life might be chaotic, as life usually is, but Beth always keeps a smile on her face, a song in her heart, and a cowboy on her mind. ;)

Contact info (website, author page, social media links, sales links)

Website: http://www.bethwilliamson.com
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/bethwilliamson
Twitter:https://twitter.com/authorbethw

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/fd822

Beth, if you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why??

A fabulous question to ask someone who is a history nerd! I’ve always had an affinity for history. Although I knew I could write from a very young age, I was also drawn to and fascinated by history.

I remember in 9^th grade or so having to do a project about Visigoths. I wrote a monologue and recorded myself on a cassette performing it. Then played it for the class while they were supposed to have their eyes closed. Oh how I loved the drama and the history!

I have two favorite historical periods. The first is Medieval. Oh how I got lost in any Medieval book I could find. The castles, the knights, the bloody battles, and the strong women who had to survive it all. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to live there but I would love to travel there to England or Scotland and experience the intensity of living in that time.

Second favorite historical period is the Old West. Oh yes, yes, yes, this is the time period that draws me in and locks me down. I cannot look away from the 19^th century in the United States. People say I must’ve lived during that time and have unfinished business. Maybe so? Perhaps I’m completing that business by writing historical westerns. ;) As for where, I would love Texas, Colorado, Arizona, or Wyoming. I can almost touch it through my words but being there would give me the visceral taste of that which I cannot touch.

Now the same question for our readers? If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why??

Beth is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card and an eBook of The Education of Madelaine.

Leave a comment and enter the drawing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway