COLLEEN: A Sweet Western Historical Romance by Ashley Merrick Page A

pool at one of the two tables and Ricky noticed, as usual, that the place looked as though it hadn't been swept in a few days. Peanut shells littered the floor, carelessly dropped as men sat cracking them open at the bar while they drank their beers. Ricky's stomach grumbled and he reached for a handful from the bowl sitting next to his beer. He needed something more solid than licorice.
    He was cracking open his second peanut when he caught the scent of sweet perfume and felt a swish of soft hair brush across his cheek.
    "Excuse my reach," a soft voice said. Ricky turned to see who it was and was surprised to see a saloon girl that he didn't recognize. She must be new. She was happily munching on a peanut as she slid into the chair next to him. Ricky pushed the bowl of peanuts closer to her.
    "Here you go."
    "Thank you," she said as she reached for another, popped it in her mouth and then held out her hand. “I'm Sarah, and you look like you're about ready for another beer. They go so well with peanuts, don't you think?"
    Ricky smiled. Subtle, she wasn't. But, he was planning to have at least one more anyway, so he was happy to give her credit for it.
    "I'm Ricky, and yes, I think I will have another." He noticed that her hand was soft and smooth in his before she quickly removed it and flashed him a smile. He couldn't help but notice that she was a very pretty girl. She looked to be a few years older than Colleen and her hair was much lighter, golden blonde with a little red. What did they call that? Then it came to him, strawberry-blonde. She was a tall girl, maybe five seven or eight and slender, but not too thin. It was impossible not to notice that she had curves in all the right places. He was a bit surprised to see that she also had a very wholesome look. She didn’t appear to be as worn down and weary as most of the other girls—although she looked quite a bit younger than most of them.
    "I don't think I've seen you here before. Are you new?"
    "Brand new. We just arrived yesterday, on the three o'clock train from Philadelphia."
    "That's a long way," he commented. "Why here?"
    "That's a bit of a long story." She sighed and then smiled brightly, but he didn't miss that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She was clearly trying to put on a brave face. He reached for another peanut and hoped that she would continue.
    "I didn't have many options. I'm a widow. My husband died unexpectedly last year and we lost everything. We'd finally bought a house the year before, but after Eddie died, there wasn't enough money left to keep paying the mortgage. Neither one of us had any family. It was always just the three of us."
    "The three of you?"
    "Yes, I have a son. Andrew is five, and the love of my life. He's the image of his father."
    "How did you choose to come here?" Ricky was curious.
    "There was an ad in the local paper looking for saloon girls, and the job included room and board, for both of us. It was a long way to go, but there no other jobs available. I wrote straight away that I was interested and they replied back with train tickets."
    "Where is Andrew now?
    "He's upstairs in our rooms. One of the other girls is with him. I'll be running up to check on him during my breaks. He thinks it's all a big adventure. That's what I keep telling him, anyway."
    Nick returned then and set his turkey sandwich in front of him.
    "He'd like another beer," Sarah said quickly, before Nick could ask if he wanted one.
    Nick raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "He would, would he?"
    Ricky confirmed it. "Yes. Sarah suggested it and I thought it sounded like a good idea."
    "Well, I'll leave you to your dinner, then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ricky." Sarah eased herself out of the chair.
    "The pleasure was all mine," he said warmly as he watched her walk away and then turned his attention to his sandwich. He felt bad for Sarah. She seemed like a nice enough girl and to be widowed with a young child couldn't be easy. Especially if her