Mildred
Just Call Me Sheriff
“A Short Western Romance”
By
Rhondee Barlow
Copyright © 2020
Also By Rhondee Barlow
Western Romance Series:
THE LADY AND THE PROSPECTOR
Gold Rush, Book 1
Gold Rush, Book 2
Gold Rush, Book 3
Gold Rush, Book 4
Gold Rush, Book 5
Gold Rush, Book 6
THE LADY AND THE GAMBLER
The Risk, Book 1
The Risk, Book 2
The Risk, Book 3
The Risk, Book 4
The Risk, Book 5
The Risk, Book 6
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or placed into any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (mechanical, electronic, recording, photocopying, photo imaging, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This western romance is fiction. Characters, places, names, brands, incidents are either products of this author's imagination or used fictitiously. This book or ebook is licensed for your personal use only. No rights to transfer this story to anyone else is authorized. If you would like to share this book with someone else, please purchase another copy for each person with whom you would like to share. If you enjoy western romance stories, be sure to check out other works by this author. If you are reading this without having purchased it, please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting this author's work.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all of my friends who enjoy warm but clean, western romance who enjoy the passion that happens when love surprises us.
May you never grow too citified.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Introduction
When Mildred decided to move from Cheyenne to Rock Springs, Wyoming, she hoped for a quieter life as the Sheriff of a small town.
Of course, not everyone in the west wants a female sheriff. She knew the challenges well, but she had never run from a fight in her life.
Her biggest supporter is a tall, handsome man who also asks her to be his date to the town dance.
Mildred is able to take on the challenges of a Judge who is accustomed to running the town, and some outlaws who enjoy the freedom of raisin' a ruckus in town.
Mildred is up to the task.
Chapter 1
The ride from Cheyenne to Rock Springs had been a long one. I pulled the wagon into town and felt everyone's eyes on me. Likely they had no idea who I was – or where I came from. I reached around to touch my rifle in the rack to the left of my buckboard seat, almost in reflex to the men standing outside of the saloon.
It was late afternoon and the hotel cast a shadow toward the mercantile across the main road.
Looks like a nice enough town. Homey enough. Not as full of bustle and noise as Cheyenne, the city I had just left a few days ago.
I had become weary of the fast-growing area of Cheyenne. More people moving into the center of town, and more noise. I enjoyed the quiet space where I had been raised. The youngest of eight children in a family that respected God and the law, I was happy when I pinned on a Sheriff's badge. I was one of four sheriffs in Cheyenne and was quite tired of the "old boys' club" there. When the opportunity to become the sheriff in a small town was posted on the board at the jail, I jumped at the chance to move west – closer to the beauty of a western skyline, fewer buildings taking over the landscape and more agriculture. Back to the routes of my farm living as a teen.
I thought back to when I was learning to rope calves from my daddy. He's been gone three years now. He fell victim to the Typhoid Fever and wasn't able to recover. It was hard when we lost him, and harder still the next summer when mama got taken by the outlaws. She tried to fight them off, but her shotgun only held two shells. She got one of 'em, but there were three more masked men that came bustin' through the door right behind him. If she hadn't told us to hide in the woods at the end of the field, they likely woulda got all of us too.
I was the baby, but I was 19 – old enough to have gotten married and be havin' babies already.
But – that just wasn't for me. I wanted to ride a horse. As far back as I could remember, I had wanted to ride a horse for a living. In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to be a lawman, well, law-woman. There weren't many women in law jobs these days. My being a tomboy all my life had helped, but I was petite, so folks always thought I wasn't much force when they first met me. I took on the nickname of Jake when I was a kid. Mostly the boys called me that to make fun of me. But, it stuck. I had been known as Jake for a long time now. So long, that I not only introduced myself as Jake, I even used it as my legal name.
Chapter 2
"Hey, little lady. Can I help ya?" the raspy voice called out to me.
Startled from my reverie, I looked over and saw the cowboy standing at the side of my wagon. "I'm looking for Judge Adams. Do you know where I can find him?"
"What would you be lookin' for the judge for? You in trouble?' He leaned in and looked up at me, letting his cigar hang loose from his lips.
"Nope. Just looking for the Judge."
"Well, all right then. You can find him over there in the Saloon, he's playing poker." He pointed across the dirt road to a building with swinging doors. "But we don't usually allow no ladies in there, unless you're one of the 'entertaining' type." He smirked at me.
"Nope. Just
