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Table Of Contents

A Bride to Melt the Sheriff’s Iron Heart

The Extended Epilogue

A Thank You Note to Starfall Publications

About Melynda Carlyle

A Bride to Melt the Sheriff’s Iron Heart

Chapter 1

Melanie had suddenly taken ill and decided to head home to rest. At least, that was the excuse she had given to her friends when they’d stopped her as she’d hastily made her way toward the door of the regal mansion. It was another dull affair her aunt had forced her to attend, the older woman doing everything in her power to find Melanie a suitor. She didn’t understand her aunt’s insistence on the matter, and it was insulting that her aunt thought she knew better than Melanie on what was best for the young woman.

The loss of her father a few years back was still very much an open wound. Days would go by where the clouds of sadness would seemingly begin to disperse, only for something to remind her of her father and bring them rolling right back in. When her mother had died, her father had single-handedly taken on the duties of raising her. Even with him being the busy head sheriff of the town where she had grown up in Kansas, he had always made time for her and ensured that she had everything she needed to succeed.

His means of doting on her all her life should have made her spoiled, but her father had been certain to instill discipline as well. As the daughter of the town sheriff, she had been intimately familiar with the laws that her father upheld, and it also kept her somewhat grounded because her actions could negatively affect her father’s station were she to act out. Still, that didn’t mean that her father hadn’t allowed her plenty of freedom, and as an only child, she had enjoyed far more liberties than most women she knew. In some ways, she had been able to become the son her father had never been able to have.

She had not only been taught how to read and write, but she did those things at a near collegiate level thanks to her father’s scholarly interests. Despite his slightly unkempt appearance and mildly dopey expression, her father had been an extensively educated man, and he had been certain to ensure that his daughter was equally educated. He taught her how to ride horses and how to hunt, along with many other life skills that he assured her would serve her well in the future.

She had been in the sitting room with her mother, barely older than the age of seven, when her father had burst through the front door of the small one bedroom home the three of them shared. There was a triumphant gleam in his eye, and his right hand was waving around wildly. “It’s happened, my lovelies! I told you that your old Pop would take care of us!”

His hair was a deep mahogany brown, a perfect match to the warm pools that were his eyes. He wore a plain brown pantsuit that had more than a few stains from its use. However, he never seemed to mind. He said that wearing it kept him humble, though she didn’t understand his reasoning.

“What is it, Papito? What has made you so cheerful?” Isabella, Melanie’s mother, asked as she rose from her chair.

“We’ve finally done it. I won a large sum of money from a man in the tavern in a bet! Our troubles are over! I’ll pay for us to get a bigger house, and I’ll finally be able to buy you all of those beautiful dresses you’ve always told me about. This is our big break!” Manny Thompson was beaming as he scooped up Melanie. “And for you, my dear, all of the books your little heart could desire.”

Melanie’s eyes widened, her heart leaping in joy. “Do you mean it, Papa?”

“Absolutely! Daddy is going to make sure that you are a well-rounded and wise individual by the time you are a grown lady. That way, when there comes a day when Papa and Mama aren’t around, you will be able to take care of yourself.”

“But that won’t be for a long time, right Papa?” Melanie asked, eyes filling with tears at the thought of having to be without her loving Mama and Papa.

“Not for a very long time, Melanie. Not ‘til you are much older,” her father promised, slipping his pinkie finger around hers. “I promise.”

True to his word, her father had not passed away until shortly before her eighteenth birthday. Since she had no other family in the area, she had been left in the hands of her father’s sister. Aunt Victoria had housed and fed Melanie, asking very little of her in return, aside from occasionally attending some parties to help keep up appearances. After all, it wouldn’t be good to have rumors start spreading around town about a reclusive shut-in living with Victoria Thompson.

Melanie held a two-week-old newspaper in her hand, her eyes idly scanning over the article that inspired her trip. Schoolteacher wanted for immediate hire in New Mexico. Small stipend granted each month to assist in living expenses. More can be discussed in your response or upon meeting.

Melanie didn’t have any experience teaching, but she’d had more than her fair share of tutors throughout her young life. She reasoned that being a tutor couldn’t be all that different from being a teacher, so she would just utilize the tricks she had picked up from her own instructors and apply them to her new job. As a fairly educated young woman, she saw no reason as to why she would fail.

She felt the carriage come to a slow halt, which seemed curious as the driver had told her earlier that it was at least another few hours to their destination, the bustling city of Santa Fe. Perhaps more time had passed than she’d previously thought.

“What is going on out there?” she called out the open window, huffing slightly with impatience. “Have we arrived already?”

“Shepherd with a flock of sheep, Missus. I have to pause while they make their way across the road. It will be only about another five minutes or so. Kindly be patient for me,” the driver replied calmly, the older African American’s voice steady and slow. “I promised to take good care of you and take you to your destination, and that is exactly what I plan to do.”

Settling back in her seat and letting out a soft sigh, Melanie could do nothing but lie across the spacious cushioned seat of the carriage and do her best to rest for a bit. As she began to doze off, she thought back on why she had decided to uproot herself from the only place she’d ever lived and undertake this month-and-a-half-long journey to her new life.

She was attending the party of one Jezebel Murphy, a well-known socialite and longtime friend of Melanie’s aunt, Victoria. Melanie felt uneasy about accepting the invitation, especially given who her date was. She’d been convinced to come with Edward Brighton, the man her aunt had been suspiciously eager for Melanie to spend extra time with for the last few months. There was nothing really wrong with him at first glance. He was reasonably handsome and wealthy enough to guarantee a comfortable living. He was a fantastic choice of suitor and would be considered a catch by many women. But Melanie was not hurting for money, and wealth alone was no reason to marry.

As she made her way down the hall toward the privy, she heard the sound of a light giggle coming from further down the hall. It seemed some merry partygoers had decided to sneak away to have a bit of fun in private. Normally, Melanie wouldn’t pay it any attention and simply continue on her way, but there was something familiar about the male voice she heard speak softly in reply. Edward had excused himself earlier, and it seemed she had just discovered why.

Right before she darted into a nearby empty room, she caught sight of Edward standing with a woman Melanie didn’t recognize. It was obvious that the two knew one another, especially given how close they stood. She knew it was Edward because his family insignia was etched on the back of his suit. The crest of the black raven on his back was impossible to confuse with any other family’s marking.

Indignation rose within Melanie, an angry blush beginning to burn her cheeks. He and her aunt had just spent the last week pestering her into coming to this incredibly stuffy party, and the first chance he got to slip away from her, he was getting familiar with another woman. Why even invite her if he could have just come with the other woman and save her the trouble?

“I don’t understand why you had to come with that Thompson girl. She’s been such a stick in the mud. She just stands there sulking while looking like she would rather be anywhere else,” the woman complained, causing Melanie’s cheeks to turn pink with shame.

“You bite your tongue,” Edward barked, the sound cracking through the air like a whip. “That woman is a white rose in the desert. With her family’s money and mine, I could retire early and be left to my favored pursuits. Are you telling me you don’t want to be one of those pursuits when that time comes?”

His voice was like the whisperings of the devil, and Melanie inhaled sharply. If Edward was so keen on this other woman, then she could continue to accompany him. Ducking quickly out of the room and treading as silently as she could, she made her way back toward the front door. Her friends had greeted her cheerfully, though Melanie only gave a hurried excuse of feeling ill before she exited. She needed time to process what she had just managed to overhear. Thankfully, the warm spring weather was pleasant that night, and Melanie spent her entire walk home with what Edward had said spinning in her mind.

Melanie woke with a start when the carriage suddenly lurched forward, peeking her head out the window and glancing around. The silence of the coachmen in front was odd to her since they had kept up a relatively consistent conversation most days. It was enough to cause her to worry.

She caught a brief glimpse of a sign that said Santa Fe in the distance. It was a rather simple sign that was slightly weathered from the constant sand blowing through, but the letters could still be read. It served as a reminder to Melanie that she was truly going along with her plan. She had successfully escaped from Edward, and for the first time in her life, she was on her own. She couldn’t contain her excitement.

Chapter 2

The early morning was not the preferred time of awakening for Peter Matherson. Most would describe the young sheriff as a hard-edged man, and his sharp tongue and firm will were legendary around the town of Santa Fe. Paired with his typically uncombed hair and his stone-gray eyes that seemed to pierce a person’s very soul, he was a recipe for catching people’s attention. Gray wasn’t a typical eye color, and he’d heard his fair share of whispers about it in public.

His rough demeanor was one of many souvenirs he carried from his ex-outlaw days. Back when he was young and didn’t know any better, he had gotten into trouble running with a group of young men who quickly gained a reputation for being notorious criminals. They’d started with small crimes like picking pockets and occasionally robbing stagecoaches. However, as time had gone on, the scale and severity of their crimes began to grow.

His gang had spent months trying to plan out a bank robbery, and they all would have gotten away had one of his fellow members not been forced to betray them to the police. The memory was still somewhat bitter in his mind, and he’d promised himself that he would kill the man that had sold them out should they ever cross paths again.

The former sheriff, Michael, had taken on a nearly impossible task when he decided to take Peter under his wing. Peter had been just as surprised as everyone else when Michael had named him the new sheriff. His distrust of the law hadn’t abated that much in the time they’d been together.

The old lawman was unnaturally patient with Peter, taking the time to show him the ins and outs of keeping the peace. He’d learned how to lasso a target in motion and was given improved tips for sharpshooting with both the pistol and the rifle. Michael wasn’t exactly fully on the straight and narrow either, and there had been more than a few occasions when his reactions to a problem hadn’t exactly been orthodox.

Even if Peter had a thousand lifetimes, he didn’t think he would ever be able to repay the kindness he had received from that man. He was the only reason why Peter hadn’t gotten strung from the tallest tree with a noose around his neck. He’d helped the residents of Santa Fe overcome their fear of the ex-outlaw and made him feel like one of them.

But he’d changed when he saw the old man lying unmoving in the black casket the town had chipped in to buy for him.

Peter shook his head adamantly as if trying to shake the very thoughts from his mind. He’d been no stranger to life and death situations during his run as an outlaw, but that didn’t mean that he was eager to find himself in more of those kinds of scrapes. Better to have some sense of safety and peace of mind rather than spending every waking moment on high alert. Besides, waking up to the sight of a man trying to draw a gun on him was what Peter used to consider exciting. It had made him feel alive and strong, but he’d gained wisdom since then. That was the kind of excitement one can only take in small doses.

Still, a chance to show your mettle to the people every now and then wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was a good way to remind the townspeople and criminals alike that he had no trouble upholding the law. Violence was not the only way for a man to settle his problems, however. Sometimes, good ‘ol diplomacy would prevail when intimidation and aggression failed.

“Sheriff! Sheriff! We have a situation!” a voice hollered from outside of the jail. Peter let out a sigh of irritation as he slowly set down the freshly brewed cup of coffee. He had just enough time to turn away from the fireplace to watch someone barge through the door of the jail.

His deputy sheriff, a young man in his early thirties by the name of Chris, leaped to his feet at the sudden entrance. He’d always been a bit of a nervous youth, and Peter had spent long hours instilling in him the importance of not allowing sudden noises to take him by surprise. The young deputy ignored all that advice in that instant, tumbling backward out of his chair and dropping his coffee cup to the ground. The shattering of china a moment later was just another reason for Peter to close his eyes in frustration.

Standing in the doorway now was a young African American boy, no older than fifteen, dressed in a rather respectable-looking, but dusty, black suit. He looked frantic, his hands gesticulating wildly as he spoke. “Sheriff, I need your help very badly.”

“What seems to be the problem, stranger?” Peter asked, doing his best to sound amicable as he picked up his coffee cup.

“We’ve been robbed, sir. Right as we were coming into Santa Fe,” the young black man said, wringing his hat in his hands nervously. “My mistress is very angry about the whole thing, and she demanded that I come to retrieve you at once.”

“So, you are a stagecoach assistant, then? That means that you guys must have had the poor luck of running into the gang of brigands that we’ve been chasing after for the last few months.” Peter sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Still, I suppose we better get a statement either way and check on your mistress.”

“I’ll come with you,” Chris said, having finally managed to disentangle himself from his chair and return to his feet. Peter silently watched as Chris went about collecting the pile of bounty posters they’d just gotten in the mail that he’d now managed to scatter on the floor. “Wouldn’t want you to be given too much of an earful without some backup handy.”

“Thank you for your kind concern,” Peter replied sarcastically, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it down on his desk. He gave it one last look of longing before pulling a hunk of beef jerky from his pocket instead.

Peter slipped one of the large chunks of pork meat that he’d prepared for breakfast into his mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully. He glanced back at the young assistant, who was shivering where he stood in place. “Take us to your mistress.”

He almost choked on the remainder of his breakfast when he suddenly inhaled at the sight of the beautiful woman that stood before him. Bearing the tan skin of an Italian woman, her green eyes blazed like emeralds. She wore a lovely blue dress, and when she turned to face him, he was able to see that her skin was smooth and gleaming with youth. Peter silently noted that there were some hardly noticeable frown lines on her forehead and in the corners of her eyes. She must have been through some hard times; being robbed would have done little to improve her mood.

“Are you the sheriff around here?” she asked him immediately, storming toward him and standing directly in his path, forcing him to come to a somewhat awkward and abrupt halt. “I’m Melanie Thompson, the new schoolteacher, and I have just been the victim of a crime.”

“I am the purveyor of law around these parts. My name is Peter Matherson. Now, why don’t we start at the beginning?” he asked, doing his best not to come off as aloof or disinterested.

“These spineless cowards just stood by and did nothing as some good-for-nothing outlaws held up my wagon and robbed me of all of my possessions that weren’t inside of the carriage with me,” she huffed, visibly seething.

“I can certainly empathize, miss. Unfortunately, you aren’t the first to have this happen to them, and unless your drivers have some kind of lead we can go on, I’m afraid there isn’t much I’ll be able to do to help immediately,” Peter replied apologetically. “All I can do is try.”

“Try? That’s the best you can tell me? That you’ll try? Do you understand what sort of trouble I am in if my belongings aren’t recovered? Important paperwork and precious family heirlooms were among my luggage,” she said, her expression showing that her mood was only worsening by the minute.

“I assure you that we are going to do everything in our power to return your items to you. In the meantime, is there someplace that we can take you? Somewhere you’ve arranged to be? I’d be happy to escort you there to ensure that no further misfortune befalls you. We wouldn’t want you getting robbed again.” Peter smirked.

“I am glad this is all just some big joke to you! How am I supposed to take care of my expenses? I had my purse sitting inside my carpet bag, and they took that too! That held all the money I had to my name as well as my checkbooks!” she barked, tears now glittering in her eyes. He could tell she was about to start yelling again, so he took the preemptive approach and cut her off.

“Worst comes to worst, I’ll pay for you to stay in the town inn for a couple of days,” Peter said, tilting his hat to cover his eyes.

“How very generous,” she replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “And if you cannot figure out who took my possessions and retrieve them in those couple of days, what am I to do? The generosity of people only goes so far, and I am not willing to debase myself just for a place to live.”

“I promise you that you will not be required to debase yourself,” Peter said, casting a sideways glance over at Chris. “You are being truly ridiculous. Your fears are unfounded at best. We aren’t a bunch of slack jaws around here. We take our work very seriously, don’t we, Chris?”

“I hope for both of our sakes that is true, Sheriff,” she said shortly, turning her head away from him.

“Chris, could you be so kind as to escort Miss Thompson here to the local eatery? Tell Hank it’s on me, she can have what she likes. Also, see if you can get in touch with Miranda Daisley and see if she would be willing to put her up a couple of days. I’ve got an investigation to do,” Peter said, walking away before the woman had a chance to say anything else.

Chapter 3

This is all just great! It was bad enough that she was sore and exhausted from the lengthy trip and she hadn’t been able to even enter the city limits before being robbed. Then, to make matters worse, the sheriff didn’t seem all that interested in solving the crime. How exactly was he planning on handling it? How could she calm down when robbed of literally everything of value she owned?

Those robbers could have gotten a good distance away, so tracks would be sparse. The few tracks that they would be able to find would be hard to distinguish from the tracks left by the general coming and going of wagons and horses. For all she knew, her luggage was already being divided up amongst the robbers and was on its way to be hawked at the nearest general store for whatever they could get for it.

I couldn’t be more frazzled from the whole ordeal if I tried. I’ve already given my driver enough of an earful that his head will be ringing for weeks, and I made it very clear that I was hell-bent on complaining to the carriage company about this.

“I truly am sorry for all of this, Miss Thompson.” The coachman had made his way back from giving his side of the story to the deputy, his hat held tightly and nervously in his right hand. “I was outnumbered ten to one. If I had so much as reached for my pistol, they would have pumped me and the boy full of lead. With us out of the way, they probably would have taken their time to search the carriage. I can only imagine what they would have done had they found you alone.”

“Next time, you should be armed with a little more than a six-shooter when you are carrying hundreds of dollars’ worth of property with you,” she said coldly. “This all happened because of you and your assistant’s cowardice.”

“I understand your anger, Miss Thompson,” the old black carriage driver said softly, his eyes staring down at the ground. “We can help the sheriff find your things if you’d like.”

“No, I don’t think you’ll be able to offer much help. Just make sure that you don’t leave town for the next couple of days. I want time to pen the letter that I will be sending back with you to the owner,” she snapped, noting how deflated the older man seemed to be.

She begrudgingly allowed herself to be shepherded by the young deputy into the nearby diner, where a stout, brown-haired man with a wild and unkempt beard was standing behind the front counter. He was in the middle of wiping a stack of wet glasses dry with a dishrag that was beginning to grow threadbare, whistling tunelessly all the while. His simple black vest looked like it would burst open any moment around his massive gut, and when one of his fellow workers whispered something in his ear that made him laugh, it looked like someone was shaking a platter of gelatin.

“I got a new customer here for you, Hank. Sheriff says you are supposed to treat this one real nice and have her tab combined with his. He’ll pay for whatever she has,” he said with a smile, turning in Melanie’s direction. “Miss Thompson, I really am sorry that you have been subjected to such a terrible event here in our own beloved little slice of home. But I can guarantee you this: we take what happened today very seriously, and we will not rest until we can give you some sort of closure to this whole mess.”

“What mess?” Hank’s voice was deep with a distinct Texan drawl; a few of his top front teeth were missing. “Not another stagecoach robbery, I hope.”

“Are you telling me this is a common occurrence?” Melanie asked, rage slowly welling up inside of her once more.

“Oh, not at all. If anything, this is highly unusual for these parts. However, this town has been no stranger to crime in the past, and people have memories that are a lot longer than they would like you to believe,” he said simply, rolling his shoulders. “I’ll keep a helpful ear out, and if anyone happens to mention something questionable, I’ll get in touch with you.”

“You seem to have eyes and ears all around this town, so having your help would truly be of great assistance,” Chris said, unable to conceal his goofy grin. “I’ll go reconvene with the sheriff. In the meantime, please attend to Miss Thompson here.”

“Oh, come on now, gents,” a voice said from behind Melanie, causing her to turn her head to look. She was greeted with the sight of a cheerful-looking woman in what looked to be her early thirties, her stomach swollen in the telltale signs of a late pregnancy. She had curly brown hair that fell in graceful swirls down to her shoulders, her amber-brown eyes twinkling with genuine warmth. She looked to be white, albeit with the distinctive tan that came from living in such a hot climate. “A town diner is no place for a young woman to sit all on her own.”

“Ah, Iris. It is good to see that you and the baby seem healthy,” Chris said pleasantly. “How much longer?”

“I feel as though it's a matter of weeks now,” Iris replied, rubbing her belly absently.

“How many is this now?” Hank asked from behind the counter, setting down his dry glass and picking up a wet one.

“This will be John and mine’s seventh,” Iris said proudly.

“And here is to our continued good fortune and family’s good health,” said a clean-shaven man with dark brown hair and blue eyes as he stepped forward, resting his hand on Iris’ shoulder. “I don’t know what I would do without this wonderful woman at my side.”

“Oh, John, you flatterer,” Iris said playfully, smacking her hand softly against her husband’s chest. He was dressed in a three-piece suit, a faint sheen of sweat visible on his forehead until he wiped it away with the handkerchief from his front pocket.

“Flatterers speak lies rather than truth. I speak truth rather than lies, and my compliments are genuine,” John shot back with a grin before turning his attention to Melanie.

“My wife is absolutely right. Having you sit around bored in a shop like a child whose parents have left it unattended would be a poor welcoming from a hospitable town such as ours. Why don’t you come with my wife and me to our house? You can stay with us for a bit until the sheriff has a chance to try to retrieve your belongings, and then we can get you where you need to go. What brings you to town?”

“I answered an ad in the newspaper that said there was a teaching position open here that needed to be filled immediately. As I had no prior obligations that kept me tethered to where I was, I figured making a new life for myself wouldn’t be too bad of a decision,” Melanie said slowly, choosing her words carefully.

“That is all the more reason why you should come stay with us. Iris here is the schoolmarm that you are going to be replacing,” John said, noting the look of surprise that managed to splash across Melanie’s features for a brief instant.

“I wouldn’t want to make myself a burden,” Melanie replied with uncertainty. “I don’t know how long it will take to reclaim my things. And with how large your family sounds, I wouldn’t want to add to your stresses.”

“Nonsense,” John said with a booming laugh. “We have more than what our family needs; I made sure of that. You’ll come home with us, and we won’t hear another word to the contrary.”

“But what if I never find the money to be able to pay you back?” Melanie choked out, the overwhelming kindness she was being faced with nearly bringing her to tears. She hadn’t been treated this well by anyone since her father had passed on.

John looked her directly in the eyes, the seriousness in his tone matching the expression on his face. “It is a favor, not a loan. I expect no repayment. Now, enough of this talk of debts. Let’s get some food in your belly, and then we’ll take you back to the house to get settled in.”

Chapter 4

After he’d left Chris to escort the beautiful spitfire off to the eatery, he’d made his way with both the stagecoach driver and his assistant back to the spot where the robbery had taken place. He could make out five pairs of tracks side by side on either side of the road, which somewhat corroborated the driver’s report that there had been ten robbers. Taking care not to disturb the hoof prints, Peter carefully walked around the tracks and inspected the dirt on either side of the road.

He noticed that both the driver and assistant were strangely quiet as he worked, and when he glanced over in their direction, both were looking downtrodden.

“I know how you feel, fellas, but this isn’t your fault. Despite how much Miss Thompson hollered at you, I understand that it must have been a frightening situation,” Peter said as he knelt in the dirt.

“It simply surprised us to hear her yelling so loudly, is all,” the assistant said sheepishly. “She was such a quiet and polite little thing for the majority of the ride here.”

“How long have you two known Miss Thompson?” Peter asked, his finger tracing along the deep ruts on the dirt road that their carriage had made.

“Only for a month or so. We met her the day she chartered our coach, and we hadn’t heard of her beforehand. Our proprietor told us that we were to take care of her like she was royalty, and we did our best to do that,” Charlie replied.

“How old did the men sound?” Peter took a couple of steps out into the sandy dirt nearby and halted when he felt his boot tap against something hard.

“They sounded relatively young, but I would have no way to know for certain. His face was covered by a bandana, but there was no mistaking the look in his eye. He probably wouldn’t have even pulled the trigger, but I didn’t want to take that chance,” Charlie added, rubbing the back of his head.

“I imagine that would be rather hard to have to explain to a future employer,” Peter said dryly, his fingers brushing against something cold and metallic. When he picked the object up, he realized he was looking at a pocket watch. “What have we here?”

“What did you find, Peter?” Chris asked as he rode up on horseback, coming to a halt on the road beside where the carriage was stopped. The brown stallion beneath him whinnied softly, quieting when the deputy leaned forward and held a carrot out for him. “Is it a clue?”

“Looks like someone dropped their watch,” Peter said, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Initials of D.W.J. on it, and I don’t know many people with those initials that live in this area, do you?

“I sure don’t,” Chris said with a small smile. “In fact, I think I only know one person whose initials match those, and that would be old Donald Johnson.”

“He has a son, doesn’t he? Just turned fifteen a few months ago?” Peter asked, clicking open the watch and checking the inside for anything that might help pinpoint who it belonged to. He could make out an engraving on the inside of the cover that said, “Happy fifteenth birthday, son.”

“I think this might be his.”

“What makes you think that?” Chris asked, watching as Peter walked to his horse and quickly leaped up onto the saddle.

“Call it a hunch,” Peter said, glancing over at where Charlie and his young assistant, Daniel, were sitting. “You two can head back to town and get yourselves situated somewhere. My deputy and I are going to go have a chat with a possible suspect.”

The two men rode down the dusty road side by side, the gentle clopping of their horses’ hooves the only sound they heard. Don Johnson and his family lived in a brand-new house that had been built on the plot of land he’d acquired four years prior in a card game. He was a nasty individual, and his son was shaping up to be a chip right off the old block. When they rode up to the house and the front porch came into view, Peter was unsurprised to find it covered in stolen goods.

“Why’d you do it, boy?” Peter roared, spooking the group of young men that were sitting around Donald Johnson’s front porch. One of the boys tried to run, but Peter tossed a bola at him, which wrapped around his legs and tripped him up, putting an end to his escape attempt right there. The rest of the youths all eyed him warily as he dismounted his horse, his gun belt clanking quietly against his side with every step. “You fellas think it is funny to hold up honest people and take their things?”

“It was just some innocent fun against some out-of-towner, Sheriff,” a blond-haired boy said from the front of the group.

“That out-of-towner happens to be the new schoolteacher,” Peter snarled, closing the distance between him and the other boys and pressing his finger into the blond boy’s chest. “Where is Donald Junior?”

“I am Donald Junior,” the blond he was poking replied, causing Peter’s eyes to blaze brighter. “How did you know that it was us who did it, anyway? There could have been any number of folks who would have been willing to rob that coach. What sort of rich person travels with just an old man and a teenager to guard their things?”

“They weren’t hired guns; they were just drivers,” Peter said, cuffing the boy upside the head. “And she isn’t rich. Even if she was, that doesn’t make you robbing her any better. Now, you boys have exactly ten minutes to bring all the things that you stole in front of me pronto. Otherwise I am hauling every last one of you down to the station until all your fathers come to collect you, and I’ll turn a blind eye while they beat each of your hides raw!”

The boys quickly scattered, and soon Peter was looking at the majority of the items that he’d received complaints about in the last few months. He sent Chris back to the station to grab a few more deputies to help return the stolen goods while he chose to drive the cart. I’d love to see someone try to hold me up for this stuff. I wouldn’t be nearly as passive as that old man was.

“I knew you’d be able to sort it out quickly,” John said as he came out of his house, Melanie running out not far behind him. “I kept telling this young lady that if anyone could find her things, it would be you.”

God, she is beautiful, even when she looks embarrassed. “I do hope that this makes up for the bit of unpleasantness, Miss Thompson. I will, of course, need you to go through your belongings to ensure that everything is accounted for,” Peter said, doing his best to give her his most winning smile.

“I just can’t believe that you got it all back,” Melanie replied quietly, turning her back deliberately on Peter so that she could address Mr. Broughs. “Can you help me carry my things inside?”

“I’d be happy to help,” John said, winking in Peter’s direction. “Just point out what is yours, and I’ll start hauling it in.”

Peter figured there was no harm in helping, and within five minutes, they had managed to haul all her belongings up to the small guest bedroom near the back of the house. When they were finished, Melanie and Peter slowly walked to the door together.

“Well, Miss Thompson, I do hope that this helps to smooth things over between us. I may not come across the best at first glance, but I am a man of action. That’s why the people of Santa Fe count on me,” Peter said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get out of your hair now, hard as it may be,” he added with a grin, stepping forward to take his leave.

“My hair is not tangled!” Melanie practically snarled the words, a hand moving self-consciously to her hair. Before Peter had a chance to correct the misunderstanding, she stormed off, leaving him standing there, perplexed.

“Yikes, and I thought I was bad. It is a wonder that you are still single,” John said, laughing from where he stood on the front porch.

“I was just trying to compliment her,” Peter said wearily, shaking his head with wonder. “If anything, I really like her hair.”

“I don’t think that is the only part of her that you like, Sheriff. Not that I blame you. She’s a special kind of woman with the heart of a wild mustang. It is going to take a lot of time and a lot of developed trust before she is even willing to come within range. Those are the kinds of things you can’t rush,” John added, glancing back into the house through the kitchen window.

“I’ll take your word for it. After all, if any man in Santa Fe County knows how to keep a woman, it’s you. How is Iris doing with the baby?” Peter asked, leaning against the porch rail briefly.

“She says she has less energy than she did when she was pregnant with the others, but I reckon that after going through it this many times, I would be tired from it too,” John replied good-naturedly. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her, so she should be alright.”

“You are a good man, John. I appreciate you putting Miss Thompson up. Let me know if there is anything you need, and I’ll be happy to pitch in for it,” Peter said, climbing back into the wagon and snapping the reins gently. The horse let out a loud snort of protest before plodding forward, the cart slowly beginning to trundle on its way.

Chapter 5

Iris turned out to be the best friend Melanie hadn’t known she needed in her life. Though she was only ten years older than Melanie was, the pregnant woman was rapidly proving to be a vast fountain of information. It had been too late for Iris to show Melanie the school by the time the sheriff had managed to reclaim her belongings, so they’d put it off until the next morning.

After a dinner of stewed lamb and thick-cut potatoes, Melanie was feeling more content than she had been in the entire trip that she’d just undertaken. It had been so lonely on the road.

Iris proved to be wonderful company. The pregnant woman apparently had a fondness for trivia due to how educated John was, so the two women had been able to spend long hours into the night sharing tidbits about their lives and their history.

Melanie even shared a couple stories from her childhood with Iris. She found herself getting misty-eyed as she recalled the fond times back when both her parents were alive and her life had been so much more stable.

“I reckon you miss your life back in Kansas, but believe me when I say that the people around here will help you get settled in no time,” Iris said with a laugh, taking Melanie’s hand gently in hers and giving it a soft squeeze.

“Between you and me, things weren’t all that great back home,” Melanie admitted reluctantly. “Things were alright when I first moved in with my aunt Victoria, but then she started trying to marry me off to a bunch of random suitors.”

“Now, Melanie, I’m sure that wasn’t her intention. You know how the times are. If you aren’t married off or have kids by the time you are in your mid-twenties, people start spreading rumors about you or assume there is something wrong with you. I know that this kind of life isn’t for everyone,” Iris commented casually.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d chosen men I could converse with, rather than the multitude of self-important dullards that she paraded in front of me,” Melanie replied dryly.

“Surely, there was at least one gentleman caller who didn’t seem so petty?” Iris prodded, the older woman clearly able to tell that Melanie was keeping something from her. “Or did he turn out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Melanie replied quickly, not wanting to invite Iris to interrogate her about her previous romantic life. “I don’t know what it was, but none of them seemed right.”

Iris nodded gently. “They just want a wife who will smile and nod and do as they ask. I found it was especially that way the richer one got. That was why I settled with John; he makes just enough to support us and have a little left over. He doesn’t hoard the extra away; he offers it freely to those around him. His generosity and his selflessness have kept me falling in love with him for the eight years we’ve been together.”

“Eight years. That feels like a lifetime,” Melanie breathed, gazing silently into the distance for a moment. A single tear managed to roll down her cheek before she realized it was there, hastily reaching up with her hand to wipe it away.

“Did I say something to upset you?” Iris asked, looking at her with blatant concern.

“No, it isn’t your fault, Iris. It’s just been a long couple of years since my father passed away, and it is still really hard to come to grips with,” Melanie said, taking a deep breath. “Do you think that we might go take a tour of the school in the morning?”

“Oh, of course we may! That had been my intention, though you’ll have to forgive me if the tour is a bit slow. I’m not able to do much more than a heartfelt waddle in my current state,” Iris laughed, her hand stroking over her rounded belly affectionately.

Melanie smiled widely, already feeling her familiar eagerness welling up inside of her. “Fantastic.”

True to her word, the next day Iris and Melanie rode with John into town. The school building was an interesting combination of wood and brick, Iris telling her proudly that John had been part of the group of townsmen that had rebuilt the school three years ago when it had been burned down by bandits. Iris was absolutely glowing as she recounted to Melanie how the sheriff had dealt with the bandits singlehandedly.

“It was the kind of gunplay that you only ever read about in dime novels,” Iris said, waving her hand emphatically. “Every time he raised that pistol and lowered it again, a man fell dead to the ground.”

“You were there when it happened?” Melanie asked aghast, looking at Iris with wide eyes.

“Unfortunately. I happened to be in the bank when they came in to rob it. They tried to hold me hostage, but I screamed when they grabbed me, and the sheriff charged in shortly afterward.”

“Were you scared?” Melanie noticed that John was looking uncomfortable where he sat driving the wagon. “What about you, John? Where were you when this all happened?”

“I was at home taking care of the kids,” he said, obviously sulking. “You can bet that situation would have never happened had I been there.”

“Of course, it wouldn’t have, Papa Bear,” Iris said affectionately, leaning over and kissing her husband. “There is no need to be so angry about it. I’m still safe and here with you, and that’s all that matters.”

“We can meet up at the tavern when you ladies are all finished with your tour. I’m going to go to the general store and talk to Tom about whether he can help me arrange a shipment of meat. I figure the kids would like to eat something other than chicken or fish,” he said, offering a wink to his wife before urging the wagon forward once more.

“When it comes to the requirements for the schoolmarm around here, the job isn’t too difficult,” Iris said dismissively. “I have some of my old lesson books that you can use, and I’m always happy to offer pointers. I typically start classes around ten o’clock, and we let out at roughly three o’clock.”

Melanie nodded gently, following Iris as they made their way into the front of the school. There were already youths of many different ages sitting in their various seats, a rather harried looking older woman sitting at the front of the class. Upon seeing Melanie and Iris, the old woman rose from her seat and smiled. “You must be Miss Thompson, our new teacher. My name is Glenwys Close, and I am the headmistress here. You would think a simple school like ours wouldn’t need one, and the position is admittedly more ceremonial than anything else, but I take my duties very seriously. I am assuming that your presence here means that you are preparing to take on the responsibilities that Miss Iris previously managed?”

“That is correct. I am pleased to meet you face-to-face; I believe you should have long since received my letter of intention,” Melanie replied, reaching out and gently shaking Glenwys’ hand. The older woman’s grip was a lot stronger than Melanie had assumed it would be. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“I do have to thank you for coming out here so expediently. I am afraid that I won’t be able to offer you much in terms of reimbursement for your travel expenses, but I can assure you that the payment for the work is fair. We will prepare a small house of your very own, and that will be yours so long as you continue your duties here. You will also receive a stipend of five dollars every two weeks to spend at your leisure,” Glenwys said, smiling softly. “I’m afraid that there is not much more I can offer you than that.”

“It already sounds perfect,” Melanie said quickly, looking around at the class. “Hello everyone, my name is Miss Thompson. I’ll be taking over your instruction soon.”

“Hello, Miss Thompson,” the class replied in unison, warranting a small smile from her. A smile that soon vanished when she glanced down at a piece of paper that had fallen from one of the kids’ desks. She reached down and plucked it up from the ground, eyes widening slightly as she saw that it contained plans for another stagecoach robbery. She said nothing, merely excusing herself and walking out of the school with Iris in tow.

“I have to go see Sheriff Matherson,” she said immediately, glancing over and blinking in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to be nearby. “Sheriff! I need to talk to you immediately! It is important!”

She watched him visibly grimace as he walked over. “What is it, Miss Thompson? I have a lot of things that I need to get to,” he said, taking the piece of paper from her when she wordlessly offered it. He scowled as he read it, shaking his head. “Just perfect,” he muttered under his breath. “I’ll look into it, Miss Thompson.”

“Do you want me to bring you the boy who I got it from?” Melanie asked, wanting to be helpful.

“That won’t be necessary. These things are a dime a dozen these days,” he said, slowly crumpling the piece of paper up in his hands.

Melanie couldn’t even bring herself to reply, disbelief etched clearly on her face. Was this guy seriously the sheriff?

Chapter 6

His morning began with him breaking up a drunken brawl between two men who had fallen asleep at the tavern and woken up fully inebriated. He ended up taking a bottle to the side of the head as a result, and had a small migraine building ever since.

“Alright, boys, you sit here in these cells and sober up for a bit. My deputy will let you be on your way when you aren’t a danger to yourselves or others,” Peter said gruffly, hobbling out of the front door of the jail.

Peter paused on the front step of the jail, his hand reaching out to grip the wooden railing beside it. The early morning sunlight forced him to shield his eyes, the warm breeze feeling pleasant on his skin. His mood was gradually beginning to improve until he heard someone call out to him. “Sheriff! I need your help in a dispute! That Mackeny bastard is trying to infringe on my land again!”

Peter let out a deep sigh and glanced in the direction of the voice. “Alright, alright. Just let me untether my horse,” he said, clearing his throat gently. “Chris, saddle up my horse,” he called out, smirking to himself as his deputy ran to do as he asked.

He found himself sitting on his horse in the midst of two groups of men. The leaders of both sides held maps in their hands, waving them angrily in the air as they shouted over one another to be heard. Peter closed his eyes and tenderly rubbed the spot on his temple where the bottle had struck him, raising his voice above the din. “Enough! Bring me the boundary maps for your property, and I’ll decide. I’ve had enough of this. We are civilized people, and we are going to deal with this like civilized people.”

He snatched up each of the offered maps and held them up side by side. Even in his cloudy state of mind, he was still able to recognize some distinct formations. As he turned his head around to glance at the nearby surroundings, he began to piece everything together. Learning to read maps had been his least favorite part of training under Michael Norton, but he thanked him silently for it in his head.

Spurring his horse forward, Peter grabbed a pitchfork from one of the nearby men and dismounted. Dragging the pointed tip of the farming implement through the dirt in a very tell-tale line, he began to carve out a boundary line using a large nearby tree as the guidepost.

“Now, you all listen here. I have divided your lands with these lines. The series of tracks on the left are for you Mackenys, the other for you Stoldhardts. You are to build fences on your appropriate lines and no further. The center line here,” he gestured with the pitchfork as he spoke. “The center is no man’s land. Neither of you has any claim to it, and we will leave it as a bit of a buffer zone between the two of you. I don’t want to hear that any of you have crossed onto the other’s land, or the violator will be arrested and thrown in jail for no less than two months. Do you all understand?”

“Yes, Sheriff,” the two sides grumbled begrudgingly, beginning to dissipate now that the matter had been dealt with. Peter handed the pitchfork he had borrowed back to its owner and jumped back up onto his horse, then made his way back to the jail. On the journey, he came across a pair of men arguing over a cow that was standing between the two of them. The cow looked just as unamused as Peter felt as he walked up to the pair of gentlemen.

“Fellas, what seems to be the matter here?”

“This cow is mine, Sheriff,” said the first man, the leather suit he wore barely concealing his girthy abdomen and sizable muscles. “It broke out of my pen two days ago and I’ve been looking for it ever since.”

“This is ridiculous, Sheriff Pete,” replied the second man, a mousey-faced individual with spectacles and loose clothing that hung off his slim body. “Just because he has a brown and white cow doesn’t automatically mean every cow that wanders out of a pen is his. I had a young calf of the same colors go missing from my herd just the other day, and I have a strong suspicion that this man had something to do with its disappearance.”

“Can you prove that he had anything to do with the disappearance of your calf, sir?” Peter was already losing interest in the conversation, the urge to make his way to the nearest saloon and have a shot of whiskey or two was growing with every passing moment.

“If I had concrete proof, do you think I wouldn’t have come to you to have this man arrested?” the mousey man asked incredulously.

“Let us go to your farm, then, and take a look at the not-so-concrete evidence you purport to have, sir,” Peter said cheerfully, his plan already working in his mind. “If everything is as you say, and I am convinced that you are telling the truth, then the cow will be yours.”

When he reconvened with Chris, Peter’s head was clearer, and he was in slightly higher spirits. After a quick snack of crackers and beef jerky, he was feeling a little less sour. As they prepared to go on their usual tour of the town, Chris filled Peter in on what had transpired while he’d been away. “Iris and Melanie are in town at the school building. Maybe you can make your way over there and luck into her. You need to try and smooth things over with her if you are ever going to hope to have a chance with her.”

“That is absolutely none of your business, Chris,” Peter replied, his cheeks burning with a sudden blush. “The day I will take romantic advice from you is the day I hang myself from the nearest tree.”

“No need to be so harsh, Sheriff. I figure as a younger guy who is more often around the ladies, I can help out a gruff old-timer like you.” Chris grinned, scurrying off when Peter glared at him. When he was left alone, he took a deep breath. Chris’ idea hadn’t been terrible, and as much as Peter hated to admit it, the younger man wasn’t wrong.

He called Chris back out, and they made their way out to the school, commenting on a bit of poetry that had been painted on the back of the school sign. On the one hand, he should have been angry with the local youths for having defaced it. On the other hand, they could have done far worse things.

Peter had to work hard to hide his pleasure at the sound of Melanie’s voice calling out to him. She ran up to him and handed a sheet of paper to him that was covered in scrawled writing.

As Peter’s eyes scanned over the paper, his smile immediately began to fade. Another robbery plan? Has it started to rub off on the younger children as well?

He was going to have to work even harder to try to uncover the truth of what was going on. Glancing up in time to see Chris giving him a funny look, the young cop’s eyes darting back and forth toward Melanie, he realized he hadn’t been paying attention to what Melanie had been saying. Irritation flashed across her face again. “I’m sorry, Miss Thompson. Can you repeat that last part?”

Melanie’s hands rose and fell in agitation. “Can I just do your job for you, since you seem to be incapable of keeping these kinds of things under wraps on your own?”

“I am not going to listen to you continue to harp on me about how to do my job. I have been the sheriff in this town for two years now, and I trained under one of the best damn lawmen that the United States has ever seen. You aren’t going to come to my town and second-guess me, Miss Thompson. You are here to be a teacher. Let me take care of being the law,” he said, rolling the piece of paper up and pointing toward the school. “Now, what desk was the boy sitting at?”

“Front row, third seat from the door,” Melanie replied flatly, walking away with Iris trailing not far behind.

Chapter 7

It had been an entire week since she had last seen the sheriff, and for that, she was grateful. Their previous encounters hadn’t been the greatest, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t hesitant about running into him again.

On day eight, Melanie was sitting with Iris in the garden area of the school, enjoying the lunch they had packed for themselves earlier that morning. It was a simple meal of small pastries filled with slices of beef and various root vegetables. They had just baked them a couple hours prior, and even though they weren’t piping hot, they still tasted wonderful.

“I’ll have to remember to have you share the recipe for these with me,” Melanie said pleasantly, wiping her slightly greasy fingers clean on a spare handkerchief she’d brought. “These are beyond incredible. I feel like I could sit here and eat them all day, despite how full I feel.”

“It is an old recipe that my grandmother used to make until she passed away when I was sixteen. She died in her sleep, so I am assuming she didn’t feel too much pain, and I will always be thankful for that. A sweet woman like Grandma deserved to be able to go in peace,” Iris said softly, smiling at the memories. “She would be delighted to know there was another person who loves her meat pies.”

“Miss Thompson, I was hoping I could bother you for another moment of your time,” came the gruff voice that Melanie had been hoping to avoid a little longer. She turned around to find Peter standing nearby, a sheepish smile on his face. “I know that you probably don’t want to see me, but as the new schoolteacher, you are going to be the best person for me to cooperate with,” he added, sounding slightly embarrassed.

“Come on, Sheriff, let me go. You're wrinkling my nice shirt,” complained a young man that Melanie only just now noticed was being dragged by the sheriff. Peter seemed to have a firm grip on the youth thanks to the scruff of his shirt, the young man stumbling and hopping awkwardly to try to keep his balance. “I already told you everything I know!”

“I wish I could believe that, Mr. Gregorson, but your new teacher here already told me that you were the boy who dropped that drawing of the stagecoach robbery plans. I intend for you to tell me where you got those plans. And don’t think that I can’t make things quite unpleasant for you if you don’t cooperate,” Peter added, his eyes glittering with annoyance as he looked down at the youth.

The boy shot Melanie a mean look but was immediately cuffed on the back of the head by Peter for it. “Don’t go making ugly faces just because you were foolish enough to let yourself get caught. If anything, you should be mad at yourself for getting embroiled in such tomfoolery to begin with,” Peter rebuked him, pulling his hat off his head and looking Melanie fully in the eyes. “Have you had the honor of meeting our good friend Darwin Gregorson? I’m sure that you’ve heard some of the rumors floating around about him by now.”

“I’ve heard his name, but I haven’t heard of anything overly harmful that he’s done. It all sounds like the typical kind of mischief that a young boy his age would normally get into,” Melanie replied simply.

“Oh, is that Darwin? Now, Peter, there is no need to go manhandling the students just because you need to have a chat with them.” Iris clicked her tongue, moving over to Peter and gently disentangling the haggard-looking youth from the lawman’s grip.

“I wouldn’t have had to get rough with him if the boy had agreed to just come with me to begin with,” Peter said indignantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’ve told him time and time again that I don’t bend the rules for anyone. That includes him too, no exceptions.”

“You come off as too harsh to the students at times. They’ve come to fear you, Peter, and I don’t think that is a good way to keep authority in a town. That’s just my two cents, though, and with your proven track record, I can’t complain about how you’ve gone about your duties up until now,” Iris said evenly. “Now, Darwin, honey, we’ll go talk privately over here,” she said, herding the youth away from Peter and Melanie before either of them had a chance to respond.

Melanie swallowed nervously, her attention now forced back onto Peter. The sheriff was looking slightly better dressed than the last time she’d seen him, his cotton shirt clinging to his skin from a faint sheen of sweat. He looked like he was a bit winded, the effort of escorting Darwin from wherever he had been obviously taking quite a bit out of him.

“He’s not a bad kid; he just tends to act out to get attention,” Peter eventually said, placing his hat back on his head. “It makes me want to be harder on him, but I see so much of myself in him that it makes it difficult. Plus, after what happened to his parents, I can’t really blame him for being the way he is.”

“What do you mean?” Melanie asked, chancing a glance over in the direction where Iris and young Darwin had disappeared. She couldn’t see either of them, and the rest of the students were slowly starting to trickle back into the school building as well. “What happened to his parents?”

“His mother died of consumption, and his father was a coal miner who got caught in a mine collapse. The deaths both happened within only a few months of one another, so that must have made the blow even worse,” Peter said, grimacing despite himself. Melanie kept herself mostly quiet as she spoke, growing more confused.

“I can empathize, but how does that involve you? Can’t the orphanage caretakers keep him disciplined on their own?” Melanie asked, keeping her guard up around him the whole time. Who cared if he could be a nice guy sometimes; that didn’t erase everything he’d done so far.

What has he done so far that deserves my anger, though?

“He tends to act out,” Peter replied in exasperation. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to come to the school to talk to him because he’s gotten out of line in class. I won’t even mention the amount of mischief he gets up to around town, but it had all been relatively minor up until a few months ago. Now, it seems like things are escalating, and I can’t tell if it's just the kids behind it or if it's something bigger I need to look into.”

“What does this all have to do with me, Sheriff?” Melanie replied carefully, the gnawing suspicion that she was about to get roped into something tingling on the back of her neck. “I don’t see what a young woman such as myself could possibly offer. I am not the best when it comes to discipline, and I’m certainly not at the level that you seem to be.”

He closed his eyes briefly, drawing in a deep breath. “I want to help this kid get himself on the straight and narrow before he finds himself in a bad situation he can’t get out of.”

“What assistance do you need from me? You are a strong, capable man. Surely you can handle whatever demands the boy might have yourself,” Melanie retorted.

“I can’t do much once he is inside the school; that is your domain,” Peter replied amicably, his boot tapping impatiently in the dirt. “I can make sure that the boy comes to school each day, even if I have to drag him here by the scruff of his neck. Once I bring him, I need your word that you will do everything in your power to keep him here until school lets out each afternoon. I am sure he won’t make it easy for you, but it is in both of our best interests if we keep a tight leash on him.”

“How do you expect me to do that? Do you really think that he is going to listen to a woman like me?” Melanie protested, already shaking her head to decline his offer. She felt bad for Darwin, but that didn’t mean she wanted to act like she pitied him either. For all she knew, this was just an elaborate ruse on the sheriff’s part to have an excuse to come see her.

“I reckon that a pretty young woman like you might offer enough of an incentive to an eight-year-old,” Peter replied gently. “The young ones are always attracted to pretty people, and I can already tell that he is going to take a shine to you…”

“I can’t make any promises that it will help, but I guess I can do what you’ve asked of me for now,” Melanie agreed reluctantly. “I need to get back to work, if that’s alright.”

“Yes, sorry to keep you for so long,” Peter replied evenly, offering Melanie a warm smile. She cleared her throat and took a few steps back from him, realizing just how close to him she had ended up standing. She noticed that his chin was a lot more defined now that she took a minute to look at him up close, those gray eyes of his were slightly hypnotic to her.

“Is there something on my face, Miss Thompson?” Peter asked suddenly, causing Melanie to jump slightly. She hadn’t realized that she had been staring at him so openly.

“No, it is nothing, Sheriff. I thought there was something I needed to tell you, but I can’t think of what it might have been,” she said, giving him a small nod before heading toward the front of the school building. “Good day.”

Chapter 8

That could have gone better. Peter had hesitated only long enough to watch Melanie retreat into the school building before he continued on his way. Questions were buzzing around in his mind like a swarm of angry bees. The sense of unease that he had been feeling for the past couple of days hadn’t managed to dissipate, something that he found especially troubling.

As he watched Melanie leave, he had been unable to look away from her. He didn’t know how she managed to do it, but she looked even more radiantly beautiful each time that he saw her. She wore an emerald green dress that matched her eyes perfectly, the lower half of the garment crisscrossed with white lace. He’d heard some whispers about the young teacher around town now, and that meant that other men were starting to take notice.

How could he tell her that his thoughts had been filled with nothing but her for the last week? How could he admit to her that his interest in solving these crimes was driven partly by the motivation of proving to her that he was a dependable man who could take care of her? Deep down in his heart, Peter Matherson desired that woman more than he’d ever wanted anything else in the whole wide world.

Finally tearing his gaze away from the school, Peter began the solitary walk back toward the sheriff’s office. A cool breeze had managed to stir up in the time he’d been talking to Melanie, forcing him to pull his thin leather jacket tightly around himself. He hoped that Chris had the common sense to get some coffee started for him. From what he’d managed to get out of Darwin, the flyers about the robbery had started to spread around school almost two weeks ago.

Pulling one of the crumpled flyers from his pocket, Peter took another moment to read over its contents. Each person who agreed to assist in the robbery was being promised a small percentage of the spoils. Violence was discouraged but bringing weapons for intimidation purposes was both encouraged and recommended. He’d need to ask the other students who had or hadn’t gotten one of these flyers and make lists appropriately. Perhaps he would have to ask Melanie for a copy of her class lists. Maybe I’ll send Chris to do it instead.

“Chris, what did you manage to find out?” Peter asked when he finally got back to the station. Chris had dragged a nearby log over and had sat it upright to use as a makeshift seat by the fire, traces of ash clinging to his hair.

“Ah! There you are, Peter. I was wondering how much longer you were going to spend flirting with the new schoolmarm before you made your way over. I was certain that you would take at least a good hour or so,” Chris said cheekily, handing Peter a cup of dark brown liquid.

“Coffee, huh? You must have known I was going to beat you today if you didn’t have the coffee out for me when I got back,” Peter joked, sipping gratefully as he took a seat on another nearby log.

“I definitely didn’t want to risk your wrath,” Chris joked. “You might send me home without pay again.”

“I guess that means that particular lesson stuck.” Peter laughed, giving his knee a playful smack. “I told you time and time again that if you kept testing me, you were going to see a side of me you wouldn’t like.”

“I don’t know, Peter. I thought that was just a little harsher than necessary,” Chris countered, sipping from his cup. “You don’t know how much it hurts to lose a day’s pay when you are in my situation.”

“What sort of situation is that? Last I checked, you live with very few worries in a shack you made on the outskirts of town. The stipend you are paid by the state is more than enough to keep you going. I know this because you only make slightly less than what I make, and I’m not hurting for anything,” Peter shot back.

Chris’ face turned beet red then, the deputy sputtering and hastily trying to change the subject. “Didn’t you ask me something when you first walked up?”

“Yes, I did.” Peter set his empty glass down on the ground next to him. “I asked you if you found out anything more about all of these robberies. You know, one of the only tasks I’ve actually burdened you with.”

“As a matter of fact, I did manage to find out a couple of things. I talked to Kimmy Hansen, the wife of the town butcher. She said that she noticed some boys have started gathering on the roads down the way from her house. They never come unless they have a wagon, and they each have their own horse.” Chris had a smug smile on his face, barely concealed while he took his drink.

“It sounds like we know where they go to either meet up or split up the goods. Either way, we are going to need to follow up on that,” Peter said, pacing slowly in thought. “The problem is, if an adult is behind all of this, then they aren’t going to be as hesitant about crossing the line like young boys would be.”

“They haven’t killed anyone up until now, Peter. It has purely been monetary gain that these thieves have been after, and they chose teenagers to help because they are around and always willing to make a little extra coin on the side for themselves. You might just be chasing shadows,” Chris dismissively replied, gesturing in the older lawman’s direction. “I think that you are so caught up in trying to follow Sheriff Norton’s example that you are making mountains out of molehills.”

“You can’t tell me that it isn’t a strange coincidence that these stagecoach robberies started just a few weeks before our new schoolteacher arrived. We never seem to be able to have the crimes reported until well after, because our deputies never seem to be around in the places they happen,” Peter lamented.

“We could increase the range of our patrols after nightfall,” Chris offered.

“What we need is to set up a trap of our own. I just don’t know what we could do. If only something would happen that could give me a clue as to who might be behind it,” Peter said, slamming his fist on his desk.

“You don’t think that that it could be someone working here in the station, do you?” Chris asked softly, the two men watching various other officers mill around inside the jailhouse.

“I can only hope that isn’t the case, Chris. We might have much bigger problems if that turns out to be the case,” Peter said, stepping out of the jailhouse with Chris following after him.

The sight of a carriage hurtling suddenly down the road past them caught Peter and Chris off guard, the two lawmen throwing their hands in front of their faces to shield their eyes from the spray of dirt and sand that the carriage left in its wake. When it came to a halt in front of the school and the occupant stepped out, Peter knew exactly who it was. The distinct features and pompous smile on the man’s face would have given him away even before he stepped out of the carriage.

As he watched the man straighten the lapels of his suit and then boldly walk up the slight slope that led up to the school building, Peter felt a sting of jealousy. Johnny Carrington was a man who had vied for the position he now held, and Peter knew that Johnny had always resented him for it. Johnny came from money, and he thought there wasn’t a single thing in the world that couldn’t be bought.

Maybe Johnny needs to have an eye kept on him for a while too. Can’t rule out the possibility that he might somehow be behind all of it. But with his kind of money to play with, the men I can gather might not be enough.

Chapter 9

Melanie was having the most wonderful time. Now that Iris had seen that she was capable and quick on the uptake, the pregnant woman surprised her at dinner with an announcement. “I think that I am going to start letting you teach the classes on your own, Melanie.”

Melanie was swallowing a bite of the savory meat pie that Iris had prepared for them with John’s help. She had to take a moment to prevent herself from choking, grinning stupidly the whole while. “Do you really think that you can trust me to handle it all on my own, Iris?”

“I don’t see why not. You have my lesson plans and a basic understanding of the letters and numbers that we should be teaching them. You have plenty of life lessons and experience under your belt despite your youth, so I know there is plenty you could teach the children. Bringing in baked goods now and then won’t hurt either,” Iris added, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she giggled.

“I will do everything that I can to live up to your expectations, Iris,” Melanie promised, noting the approving nod that John gave her. He had ended up being like the brother she never had. He was the kind of man that her father had told her good men should aspire to be, and the devotion he had toward his wife was the kind she hoped for herself one day.

“I know that you will, Melanie. You’ve already exceeded my expectations,” Iris replied flatteringly, causing Melanie’s cheeks to flush pink. “Oh, look at her, John! As pink as the early morning sunrise,” the pregnant woman added, giggling all the while.

“Don’t pick on her too much now, Iris,” John replied sagely, a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Melanie here is just a bright young woman is all. This much is to be expected of someone so capable. We shouldn’t act like this has come as a big shock. Though, I am certainly relieved that things are going so well. That can put my mind at ease for a while.”

“I did want to bring up my living here,” Melanie said gently, fidgeting slightly. “The headmistress mentioned they would make a house for me, so when they finish building it, I imagine I'll move in there shortly afterward.” She felt sadness at the thought of no longer living with the cheerful couple. It was such a welcome change from having spent her time locked up in her bedroom sulking. At least now, she was in her stride.

When the next day came and Melanie went to the school building early to greet everyone as they arrived, she saw Peter making his way toward her with Darwin in tow. The young boy looked far better groomed than he had the previous time, and when she greeted him, Darwin returned it shyly but politely. Peter gave her a grateful look, tipped his hat, and went on his way. Melanie found herself briefly watching his back retreat into the distance, smiling faintly.

It was so infuriating to her that her mind seemed to drift to thoughts of him. When she was talking to John and Iris the night before and watching the two of them interact, she realized that she wasn’t as opposed to the idea of settling down as she had originally thought. The only reason she ran away from her aunt and her onslaught of suitors was that none of them had really resonated with her. If she could find the right man, though, she was willing to live the home life. She wouldn’t be a submissive little flower, but her husband would find himself well taken care of.

Why was she even thinking about these things? Melanie shook her head angrily and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. The last of the children were making their way into the school building now, and that meant that it would be time for instruction to begin.

“Okay, children, I thought we would do a getting-to-know-you-better exercise. This is when we all go around the room, reintroduce ourselves, and tell everyone something that we like to do in our free time. This will help me get to know you all a little better, and will help me arrange some of the extra lessons that I have planned for you all,” Melanie said cheerfully, noting the slight groans from some of the children. She laughed softly. “I promise that the lessons will be fun and engaging.”

“How do you know that we will find it fun?” Darwin replied rudely, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had chosen a chair as far away from her as possible, but she assumed that was just how he was with everyone starting out.

“Because it will be things that you and your classmates have already told me you found enjoyable,” Melanie answered swiftly, keeping her tone even and pleasant.

He didn’t seem to have a retort, so Melanie smiled and pointed to the young brown-haired girl who sat on the front left side of the class. “Why don’t you go ahead and start us off, sweetling?”

“My name is Rebecca Wilmers, and I like to listen to my mommy and daddy tell me stories about Indians! Sometimes, my daddy takes these little dolls that he made way back when I was younger, and he uses them to put on shows for me,” the young girl said delightedly.

“What a wonderfully imaginative thing for your daddy to do!” Melanie said, slightly awed. “It sounds like your parents care about you quite a bit,” Melanie said, watching the girl nod her head eagerly and feeling a slight lump forming in her throat.

As she let the kids go around the room, Melanie made sure to pay attention to both their names and faces. She wanted to get to the point where she had everyone’s names and habits memorized like Iris seemed to, even if it would take time to do so. Darwin managed to surprise her by saying that he enjoyed reading in his spare time. If he was serious about that, then Melanie would need to nurture that particular habit of his. Perhaps it could be the key to helping ease him out of his trouble-making ways, and to their bonding.

There was a blond-haired gentleman who sat himself in the back of the classroom at some point. Iris seemed to know him as she popped over to him, and the two conversed quietly for a while. He had the same kind of aura about him as Edward; he obviously came from old money. He sat perfectly straight-backed with his right leg lounging on top of his left. His fingers were laced together over his stomach, careful not to wrinkle the suit he wore. She had assumed for a moment that he was a parent, but he kept his eyes on her the entire time.

Moving on with her lesson in which she explained the differences between certain poisonous and non-poisonous plants, Darwin proved to be relatively knowledgeable on the subject already. To her surprise, he had mason jars in his backpack with different plants. They all looked freshly picked, which only added to Melanie’s puzzlement. She didn’t think that most of these plants were native to New Mexico, and definitely wouldn’t still look this vibrant.

“I’m friends with the town apothecary,” Darwin offered, gesturing to his collection of jars. “I told him that I was studying various plants in case I ever got lost in the wild, and he gave me these. I have to take them back to him when school lets out, though. He said he could only afford to be parted with them for a short while.”

“I’ll have to go and thank him for the service he’s done me today. Thank you for bringing these in today, Darwin. You’ve been a big help.” Melanie beamed at him.

“It wasn’t that special,” Darwin replied, doing his best not to look pleased with himself and failing miserably. “I do this kind of stuff for myself all of the time.”

When the school day ended and the grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the room began to chime, Melanie and Iris walked the majority of students to the front of the school building to say their goodbyes. Darwin was soon collected by Peter, the sheriff taking a few minutes to allow Melanie to brief him on how the day went. He seemed genuinely surprised that Darwin hadn’t tried to skip class, but Melanie wasn’t going to jinx herself. So long as she could figure out a way to keep him interested in coming every day, her job would be half done.

“That was a wonderful display today, Miss Thompson. You have assuaged my fears about your lack of credentials in one fell swoop. I’m sorry for ever doubting you,” the blond-haired man said, slowly striding up from behind the two of them. He lifted his hand to his chest as he bowed at the waist, drawing Melanie’s gaze to the white gloves that covered his hands. “If you ever need an esteemed escort to show you around the town, please do not hesitate to call upon me. I am prepared to be at your disposal, should you desire it. I would be infinitely delighted to host someone with such exotic beauty.”

“I’m sorry. You seem to know me, but I don’t know you,” Melanie said uneasily, something about the man causing the hairs on her arms to stand on end under her dress sleeves.

“Where are my manners? My name is Johnny Carrington. I am hoping that the two of us are going to be seeing a lot more of one another in the future,” he said, offering Melanie a final nod before walking past them to where a carriage waited at the street below the hill.

“That’s Johnny Carrington. He’s one of the wealthiest men in Santa Fe. Relatively popular and generous from what I hear. Might be a good man to try and pursue,” Iris said teasingly.

“Popular, wealthy socialite, huh? I’m familiar with the type,” Melanie said, memories of Edward flashing through her mind. “Can’t say I’m an admirer.”

“That sounds like you have some things to say on the matter,” Iris replied seriously.

“Nothing to be said, really. I knew some men like him who turned out to be questionable, so I keep my distance from them. Call me crazy, but I have my reasons. Now I don’t wish to talk about him anymore. We should discuss those changes to the schoolhouse that you mentioned to me earlier,” Melanie retorted, desperate for a chance to move away from the subject.

Iris looked like she wanted to ask more, but Melanie had turned away from her and walked back into the school before she had a chance to. She knew that the changes to the school would all amount to small repairs that any of the menfolk in town could finish in about a day’s work, but they served as a perfect distraction. The feelings that she had bubbling up inside her were not entirely pleasant, and a lot of the anxiousness from Kansas that she thought she’d escaped was slowly starting to return.

It seemed that no matter what she did, she wouldn’t be able to escape social politics. Perhaps this was just her curse for having been born a beautiful woman.

Chapter 10

“Come on, Sheriff! You can’t do it without me,” Darwin hollered, kicking his feet in protest as Peter attempted to drag the boy to school. It was the date that the stagecoach robbery was supposed to take place, but Darwin had managed to discover what was happening when Chris let it slip to him in conversation. “I promise that I won’t get in the way!”

“You and I both know that your big mouth is not suited to ambush or stealth work of any kind,” Peter replied through his gritted teeth. “Now stop fighting me and get your rear into that darn schoolhouse. I’m not going to let you put yourself in harm's way just because you have misguided notions on what it means to be a hero.”

Darwin craned his neck to look up at him. “What do you know about being a hero? In case you forgot, you used to be a criminal too, Sheriff Matherson. Don’t think I haven’t heard some of the stories. They talk openly about you when they sit in the saloon and the eatery.”

“I don’t care what you think you know about me, boy,” Peter snarled, spinning the boy around so that he was gazing up into Peter’s face. “I am the law, and if there is one thing in this world you better learn, it is that you respect the law.”

They met Melanie at the front door. Darwin immediately seemed to straighten himself up in front of the schoolteacher. As she greeted him, he immediately brightened. When Peter tried to offer his own greeting to her, however, Melanie seemed to ignore him outright.

Resisting the urge to call out to her and force her to speak with him, Peter chose to retrieve a horse from the nearby stable and ride around the town. Together with Chris and some of his other deputies, they made their way to the base of Atalaya Mountain. Rumor around town was that a group of bandits had taken up residence in the area, camping out of sight and using their position to rob unsuspecting travelers.

“Alright, men, so here is what I am thinking. We are going to spread out to different vantage points around the area. I want everyone keeping a constant view of everything in their immediate surroundings. I don’t need anyone being snuck up on by these bandits, and we want to try and catch them while they are in the act and occupied. Preferably with their hands full of the loot they are trying to take so they can’t put up as much of a fight,” Peter said, speaking just loudly enough that the assembled men could each hear him.

“Where are you going to station?” Chris asked, craning his neck to take a look at the rocky crags that surrounded them. “This doesn’t exactly look like the most advantageous spot to mount an attack. Are you sure we got the right place? Did we read the map upside down or something?”

“I did not read the cockamamie map upside down,” Peter snapped, pulling his lever-action revolver from where it had sat holstered in his saddle, holding the firearm up so he could test the sights. “Someone could easily use the limitations caused by the crag formation here and be planning to use that to their advantage. They could wait right at either end of this place and waylay coaches before they have a chance to come through. We are going to make it so that we are at either entrance instead.”

“Do you really think that this could turn into a firefight, Sheriff? I agree that we need to put a stop to the robberies but can’t we do it without violence?” asked one of the men. He was the town’s tailor, a man in his early thirties with a walrus mustache. He was dressed surprisingly simply, with a white cotton tunic and a pair of brown pants. On his feet, a pair of brown shoes gleamed under a layer of fresh polish.

“I am hoping that it does not come to that, Frank,” Peter replied. “However, we don’t know if these men know us or not. I’d like to try and capture as many of them alive as possible, but I know that’s not always possible.”

“Wow, that is pretty brutal, even for you,” Chris said with a laugh, the other men joining in shortly afterward. “It almost sounds like you are taking this personally.”

“It is a fine line that keeps the world in order, Chris. There is the rule of law, and there is lawlessness. I used to play on the other side of the fence, so I know all about the so-called joys that it brings. I know all the motivations for it because those motivations were once mine. Whatever the reason, it is our job to show them that what they are doing isn’t right. That there are consequences for stepping over the law,” Peter said, his eyes moving to each of his volunteers one by one.

He was grateful for them being there. These were the men in town that he trusted without question, and ones who he was certain would have his back in a confrontation. Chris might be a little green, but he was dependable when it counted. Maybe they didn’t track down the number of men he’d hoped for, but the quality of men he was faced with was a good close second.

He heard a hawk cry out, glancing up just in time to see the winged creature duck out of sight. While it wasn’t unusual for a hawk to be flying around in these parts, he found the timing peculiar. He’d heard plenty of stories about men training hawks to spy for them. How they did it, he didn’t exactly know, but he wasn’t taking a chance either way.

“You all need to get into appropriate hiding places. Someplace you can’t be seen from above,” he said with a pause, giving the surrounding terrain another glance. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it could provide just enough coverage for their purposes.

Pulling out his pocketwatch, Peter clicked it open to check the time. “We will try to do this with as little bloodshed as possible, but if someone points a gun at you, I won’t hold you responsible for defending yourselves.”

As the men slowly spread out to seek out their hiding spots, Peter pulled his collapsible spyglass from his pocket once more and used it to take a look around, seeing a faint cloud of dust being kicked up in the distance. He guessed that was either the stagecoach or the bandits. Either way, it would be no good for them to be caught with their pants down. Letting out a single high-pitched whistle, Peter made his way to his chosen hiding spot and crouched down in wait. If his hunch was correct, that dust would be a scout coming to investigate the cause of the hawk’s cry.

I really hope that Melanie managed to keep Darwin away. Knowing that stupid kid, he’s going to try and sneak away from the school at any moment.

Melanie was another issue entirely. Sure, she came across as spunky and in control, but with the size of her class, it would be a simple matter to lose track of Darwin. Especially with how good the kid had gotten at being able to slip away without people noticing.

He could be a private investigator in the future if he could get his act together. He reminds me of Billy from the old days.

Lying in wait like this was reminding Peter of the old days. As he glanced over at Chris, he temporarily saw Billy’s face superimposed over his deputy. When he rubbed his eyes and looked again, the vision had faded, but the feeling of homesickness didn’t. He thought of the many nights he and his gang had sat around a roaring fire, cracking jokes and philosophizing under the night’s sky. He wondered if Alfred had ever straightened out and gotten into the shipping business like he’d talked about. Hawk, the young blond sharpshooter that Peter had saved from a group of bandits, would have just been turning of age now. He wondered if she had grown up to be just as beautiful as he’d always told her she would.

They’d unwittingly formed their own little family throughout those years of stirring up trouble together and being apart from them still felt like a fresh knife wound in his side. He’d never thought that he’d be in a position where he understood the feeling of longing for people that his friend Deangelo used to talk about. The feeling where you are surrounded by familiar faces but still feel like you are standing all by yourself. It was a lingering sadness that never faded.

The sound of hoofbeats in the distance forced Peter to focus his attention back to the present. He could hear the faint sound of a horse snorting, the crunch of boots on dirt following shortly after. He turned to where he could see Chris was hiding and raised his watch case so it caught the light, causing it to shine briefly where the deputy could see. He used the gold case to reflect the light three times, his deputy repeating the same action using the badge that was clipped to his vest.

The time was drawing near, and Peter still had so many questions. They were going to need to stop this person and find out if they were with the bandits. If they were a high-profile person, his posse would be serving as their escort the rest of the way into town. He only hoped the stranger didn’t alert the bandits to their presence.

Chapter 11

She was used to seeing Darwin look bored and distracted at times, but that was nothing compared to how the youth was acting now. As the time grew closer and closer to noon, the boy had begun to look more and more restless. While she had her back turned to the class to write the occasional term on the blackboard, she had to continually tell him to stay in his seat. She’d gone so far as to blockade the class door using one of the spare tables, an admittedly draconian but effective approach.

Iris had only laughed and watched while Melanie had gone about dragging the table into place since she wasn’t in much shape to be doing any heavy lifting. Iris had continued her pattern of allowing Melanie to take control of the class throughout the day, and Melanie was almost comfortable with the thought of doing it alone.

Darwin was proving to be a unique challenge in that regard. To say that he had the spirit of a wild animal would have been a gross understatement. Darwin was like someone had trapped an infernal fire in the body of an eight-year-old boy. He seemed to constantly be burning with unseen passion; whether from anger or something else, Melanie couldn’t be certain. She’d helped her father break in stallions that had been easier to handle than this boy was proving to be.

When lunchtime finally dragged around, Melanie ordered the kids to follow her in a single-file line out toward the picnic area behind the school building. She and Iris thought the children would like to spend time outside of the school in the plentiful sunshine. Melanie had put Iris in charge of shepherding the younger children over to the picnic area while she kept Darwin and the older children under her watchful eye. Darwin had already tried to slip out of her sight twice now, so she was giving him most of her attention.

She heard the familiar clopping of hooves coming from the front of the school, turning toward Darwin with an accusatory glare. He was already hurtling himself down the side lane of the school, Melanie only having enough time to yell for the rest of the class to listen to Iris until she got back before she did her best to run after him. She rounded the corner of the school and got to the top of the hill just in time to see a boy she didn’t recognize handing Darwin the reins to a brown mustang.

“Darwin, don’t you dare!” Melanie called out, doing her best to summon all her authority into her voice. “Sheriff Matherson specifically requested that I make sure you stay in school. What has gotten into you that you think you can just ride off in the middle of my class without so much as a word to me? Do you even know how to ride a horse?”

“I don’t have time to explain it to you, lady. You only have two options right now. You either get on the horse and come with me, or you watch as both the horse and I disappear into a cloud of dust in the distance. The sheriff needs all the men he can get, and last I heard, he only has ten people. I know how to shoot, so if they give me a weapon, I can protect you too,” Darwin replied impatiently, leaping up onto the horse’s back with surprising grace. “Make your choice, Miss Thompson.”

How could a child possibly know how to use a gun? “Darwin, you are sounding ridiculous. Do you even know where they went?”

“They went to Atalaya Mountain to see if the bandit camp is responsible for all the robberies,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Chris told me. Please, Miss Thompson. He’s a good man, and I don’t want to risk him getting killed.”

Melanie bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. Reaching out her hand for the reins, she jumped as best she could onto the back of the horse. No sooner than she felt herself slide into place behind Darwin did the youth dig his heels into the side of their trusty steed, spurring the animal forward into a breakneck dash. She was forced to wrap her arms around Darwin in front of her, trying to peer over his shoulder as the terrain whipped past them.

The town buildings faded away in no time, the wind managing to pry loose hairs from her bun, giving her a frazzled appearance. When Darwin finally allowed their heaving horse to slow his gait, she found that she was gazing at the mountains. She could see a nearly cavernous structure up ahead of them where a few unrecognizable dots moved in the distance.

Melanie had hoped that she’d be able to use the short horse ride to talk some sense into Darwin and encourage him to abandon his reckless plan, but the boy was either unable to hear her or was flat out ignoring her. She could see the sweat beading on the back of his neck as they rode, his knuckles white from how tightly he was holding the horse’s reins.

The scowl spread across his features upon their arrival told her that Peter was not happy they were there. The throbbing vein on his forehead that threatened to burst out from underneath his skin was another subtle hint. “What in tarnation are the two of you fools doing here? Did I not specifically stress to both of you how much you should not be here, Darwin?”

Darwin had the sense not to answer, the boy looking genuinely cowed for the first time since Melanie had met him. She, on the other hand, didn’t like the ingratitude in Peter’s voice. “He rode out here because he was worried about you and wanted to help you somehow,” she snapped back angrily.

“The greatest amount of help that he could have given me would have been to not bring two unarmed civilians into the midst of a potential firefight. Now I have two liabilities that I have to look after, one of whom is a hotheaded idiot who is likely to get himself killed. The worst thing you could have done was come, yet here you are,” he added dryly. Melanie had the good sense to look ashamed.

“I was the one who made her come with me, Peter,” Darwin finally piped up, the boy sitting up taller in his saddle. “Plus, I rode all the way out here just so I could make sure that you were alright.”

“Okay, thanks for the concern. You’ve seen that I am fine. Now take that horse you rode here on and take both of your butts back to town now. If you leave now, maybe I will be a little more lenient with your punishment!” Peter snarled at Darwin, looking up at Melanie. “Make him go, please. Before you two manage to get yourselves killed.”

Melanie slowly slid off the horse, deciding it was finally time for her to start raising her voice to tell him off. “I am not just some fragile little flower that needs to be taken care of. I’ll have you know that I am the daughter of a former sheriff, thank you very much.”

“Do you have a gun on you, Miss Thompson? Do you currently have a pistol or any means of defending yourself? If so, then you are more than welcome to join the fray. If not, then like I said before, make yourself scarce!” Peter barked, not backing down from her for an instant. His eyes were wide with panic as if he was particularly bothered about the fact that she was there. “Do you know how bad it would make me feel if something were to happen to you?” he added, looking Melanie directly in the eyes.

Right as his words began to click into place for her, the resounding sound of a gun discharging echoed throughout the valley. She could briefly hear a bullet as it keened through the air, watching as the dirt about a foot to the right of her suddenly exploded.

“See, now!” Peter roared, turning back in the direction the shot had come from and shouting. “The first shots have been fired. To arms, men! Form up around the woman and the boy, and don’t let anyone through you. Shoot to disable their horses; do not shoot to kill unless they do first!”

Melanie felt like time slowed down for her. The ringing in her ears from the shot meant that she couldn’t hear the words that Peter was saying. She could feel herself growing short of breath, her feet suddenly feeling unsteady beneath her. Glancing around, she could see Darwin all scraped up, and it was at that moment she realized the horse they’d ridden on was nowhere to be seen. It must have darted off after the gunshot.

Melanie had enough time to realize that someone was hurtling toward her just as she felt someone collide with her stomach. She was suddenly grateful for her light breakfast as she grunted in pain, reflexively curling up as she fell to the ground. All the air in her lungs was suddenly forced out, leaving her gasping as her body seemed to remain suspended in midair before she slammed hard into the ground.

She didn’t have a chance to cry out. She didn’t know if the person who had tackled her was a friend or a foe. For all she knew, she was about to be staring down the business end of a gun. All of the fears about stories of what bandits did to defenseless women on the road flooded back into her mind, causing her to briefly go into a blind panic.

Resigning herself to the dull throbbing in the back of her head, Melanie found herself suddenly sleepy. It seemed ridiculous to feel as exhausted as she suddenly felt, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She must have hit her head harder than she thought.

Like a person trying to breach the surface after diving too deep underwater, Melanie continued her struggle. Her thoughts were becoming slower and slower, every attempt for her to remain conscious proving to be ineffective. One of the last things that she remembered before everything went black was that she hoped Peter would have the wherewithal to keep her safe. Without him to watch over her, she would be as good as dead.

Chapter 12

It had been pure reflex. He lunged forward, knocking Melanie down to the ground and shielding her with his body. His right hand shot out as he fell past Darwin, yanking the boy’s leg and tripping him, causing him to fall flat on his face. “Move for your life, Darwin! To the rocks! Get behind the rocks!”

Darwin hadn’t taken even a moment to argue, though he did turn around and help Peter drag Melanie to cover. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the rocks resounded all around them, but after a quick check, it didn’t look like any of them had been wounded. Peter cursed softly as he used his pocket watch to flash a quick signal to Chris. Stay. He watched his deputy flash a short response soon after. Waiting.

“If I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t have anyone to warn you about the bandits you are going after!” Darwin managed to choke out, struggling free from the grip Peter had on him. “They aren’t who you think they are.”

Darwin went silent, the young man not meeting Peter’s gaze. Peter could tell that the young man was hesitant of saying more for fear of further provoking his wrath, but he needed answers. The sheriff now had a firefight on his hands, like it or not, and they were going to need to get moving if they hoped to get out of the situation without dying. “Darwin, if you know anything else, you need to tell me. This could be a matter of life and death for us!”

“I can’t tell you that, Sheriff. All I can tell you is that I managed to overhear it. You never listen to what I try to say, so this time I was going to come along and prove to you that you can stop treating me like a child,” Darwin shot back, speaking in a hurried whisper.

“You and I are going to have a long talk when we get back to town, assuming this half-cocked plan of yours doesn’t get the lot of us killed. You won’t tell me how you know about the bandits, but at least tell me what you know,” Peter relented, scratching the back of his head.

“From what I heard, the so-called bandits are really just various men from different towns that have been camping out here after responding to the flyer. It sounded like they sent out a whole bunch of them to get whoever would reply to gather. I tried to tell Chris that he would want to take the extra time for more men, but he said your skills more than made up for the lack of numbers.”

“That sounds like something stupid he would say,” Peter said, hefting his rifle and slipping some bullets from his pocket into the chambers of his weapon before cocking it. “They were probably planning to pick us off from a distance. Bunch of cowards.”

“What are we going to do, Sheriff? Miss Thompson still hasn’t come to, and we are surrounded by the enemy. This isn't exactly a great situation to be in,” Darwin exclaimed, eyes wide with terror.

“The most important thing is that you help me keep her out of harm’s way. If you actually listen to my orders this time around, we might have a chance,” Peter replied, moving his gaze back over to where Chris was kneeling. Keeping himself low, Peter made his way over to his deputy.

“It looks like we weren’t the only ones invited to this party,” Chris said with a scowl, the deputy having to shout to be heard over the gunfire that seemed to rain down around them. “What should we do?”

“Darwin says there are four riflemen placed roughly ten feet apart along the upper lines of the crags over there. I’m going to need some way to get over there to take them out one by one. Can you and the men create a distraction? You’ll need to look out for the rest of the bandits as well,” Peter asked, wishing desperately that he had a shaving mirror with him.

Sheriff Norton had taught him how to use a mirror to check around corners of buildings or rocks to see what his opponents were doing. “You have to ride out each day with a plan in your mind that’s better than anything your foes could come up with against you. If you aim to outlast your enemies when in a prolonged firefight, it is always prudent to ascertain your enemies’ locations before doing anything else,” the old man would say, grinning wide enough to show all of his teeth.

“I don’t understand. How can we deal with the shooters if we are pinned down? It is laughable to think we’ll be able to accomplish much unless we take care of the first few shooters,” Chris inquired, raising his rifle level to glance through the scope.

“We just need to manage to crawl far enough up the hill that we can get a sight on the other shooters. If we get some warning shots off, most of them will run off,” Peter said, the assembled members of his posse each exchanging looks. “Then we’ll deal with the ones that don’t run.”

“That sounds reasonable. We got to spread the word to the rest of the fellas about what the plan is,” Chris smirked, looking around at where their various comrades were hidden. “Are you going to run over to each of them to check in?”

“No, that would be far too dangerous to me,” Peter countered, his face deadpan. “That’s why I am going to send you to do it.”

If it weren’t for the fact that their lives were in danger, Peter would have burst out laughing as he watched Chris scramble from hiding place to hiding place amidst a hail of gunfire. The deputy must have had a guardian spirit because there was no other explanation for why all of the bullets seemed to just miss him.

Returning to where he’d left Melanie and Darwin, Peter was pleased to see the schoolteacher regaining consciousness. “Sorry I had to get so rough with you back there.”

“I suppose I can forgive you considering the circumstances,” Melanie replied haughtily, rubbing the back of her head gingerly. “I’m going to have such a headache in the next few days.”

“Let’s hope that we all live long enough for you to experience it,” Peter said, gripping his rifle tightly and looking her directly in the eye. “Now you and Darwin stay behind this boulder. I don’t want either of you to move a muscle until I give the all clear.”

“Yes, Sheriff,” Darwin mumbled softly. Darwin’s compliance came across as a bit strange to him, but Peter wasn’t about to complain. If Darwin was going to listen for once, this would be the best time to do it.

Satisfied that they wouldn’t be running into danger half-cocked, Peter snuck around to the right side of the boulder and began to dash between rocks, slowly making his way toward where the riflemen were supposed to be hiding. He made sure to tread silently, suddenly thankful for all of the hunting lessons he’d been given while growing up.

He found the first rifleman hiding at the top of the crags, the man lying flat on his stomach with his eyes gazing through the scope of his gun. It took only one blow to the back of the head to knock him unconscious. Peter took the man’s gun and tossed it over the crags into the hole below.

Peter repeated his tactic for each of the four riflemen, though he messed up with the third gunman by slipping on a pebble as he was sneaking toward the unaware shooter. The gunman immediately leapt to his feet and tried to round his gun on Peter, but a quick smack to the side of the head with the butt of his rifle put an end to that confrontation.

A shot whizzed past him, forcing him to duck down. He raised his gun and fired a shot toward the bandit running up the hill toward him. Slumping forward, the bandit fell to the ground and didn’t move. Spinning the chamber of his revolver with his left hand, he pulled back the hammer and fired two shots in rapid succession toward the next two men that suddenly appeared to his right.

A pain-filled scream froze his blood. He could hear fewer and fewer gunshots, and they were overwhelmingly coming from his men. He darted out of his hiding spot and raced out, firing shots each time one of the bandits came in range.

He didn’t shoot to kill, only to disarm. Each shot was aimed at the hands of the robbers, their pained shouts echoing through the air as they dropped their weapons to cradle their now injured extremities. None attempted to surrender, so Peter couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

Together with Chris and his comrades, they managed to disarm and capture a large number of the bandits. Even with having been outnumbered, Peter soon found himself staring at a group of tied-up men. He walked past each one, counting slowly. “...thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. We are missing one.”

“How truly unfortunate for you,” came a voice from behind Peter. “You should have been more careful with your count.”

Peter immediately swung in place, his hand going for his gun. The clicking of the man’s revolver as he pulled back the hammer caused Peter to stop moving, slowly raising his hands in the air. “Let’s not be foolish. You are outnumbered and outgunned.”

“I’m not going to jail, Sheriff. We’ve had it with your attitude. Plenty of people want you gone, and when people find out I’m the one that did you in, my name will live on in infamy. My old lady will even get a pretty penny to raise my kids with after I’m gone. Thanks for making it all so easy for me,” the man said with another hearty cackle, his finger moving to pull the trigger.

With the gun centered the way it was, the shot would be headed right for his head had the man gotten the chance to pull the trigger. Instead, Peter heard two distinct screams, the sound echoing in his ears. The sound seemed to disorient the gunman for just a moment, a blur running past Peter registering in the side of his vision.

Darwin had pushed past Peter, slamming into the side of the gunman with enough force to knock the man over. The man let out a deep grunt as he fell, his gun skittering across the rocks to fall over the edge. Peter watched as Darwin began to slam his fists repeatedly into the gunman’s face, blood spurting from his nose.

Chapter 13

Despite how Melanie had grown to feel about Peter, the sight of someone pointing a gun at him sent feelings of horror racing through her. It had caused her to scream, the sound piercing through the air. She heard a scream come from behind her as well, the shock of it causing her own to be cut off prematurely.

She’d felt the strong compulsion to move forward. Even as her heart hammered in her chest and her mind screamed for her to run, she’d found herself moving out from behind the boulder and trying to run toward him.

Darwin was right beside her, and she reached her hand out hastily to grab his arm. She had to summon every last bit of strength to keep him from immediately wrenching himself free from her grasp, and she grew fearful of the look of rage that was in his eyes when he turned to face her.

Melanie watched Darwin pry himself out of her grip and race toward Peter, knocking the gunman over before she had the chance to register what had just happened. She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, watching Darwin as he angrily lashed out at the man that had nearly taken Sheriff Matherson’s life.

She had never before seen the level of sheer rage that Darwin was displaying. She was struck by how attached to the grizzled old sheriff the youth seemed to be, and she couldn’t understand why. He was so unpolished and blunt, and the passiveness with which he acted toward her had roused her indignation every time she saw him.

Yet his words from earlier were still echoing in her mind, the only thing certain through the faint haze that currently clouded her thoughts. She had hit her head a lot harder than she’d originally thought; she was still able to feel the faint trickle of blood coming from the back of her head.

“Shouldn’t someone stop Darwin?” Melanie called out to the various men assembled. It seemed strange to her that no one was showing a lot of concern about Darwin beating a man half to death before their very eyes. “He might kill that man!”

Peter rushed forward, pulling Darwin off the man and shaking him by the shoulders. “Darwin, that’s enough! You need to listen to me!” Peter grabbed a lasso from one of the nearby men and tied up the final gunman while two of the other deputies held Darwin in place.

Darwin’s chest was heaving, his hands trembling and still covered in blood. Peter clapped the boy gently on his shoulders. Darwin looked up, taking a deep lungful of air. “I’m sorry, Sheriff. I saw him point the gun at you, and I just sort of lost myself.”

“You did a wonderful thing for me today, son. I can’t claim I would have acted any differently. This man might be injured, but his injuries won’t be life-threatening. Hopefully, this incident will help to rehabilitate him along with a nice long stay in jail,” Peter said, smiling at Darwin gently. “You did me real proud.”

Melanie watched the exchange between the two with misty eyes. All she wanted in that moment was her bed, the dull throbbing that was starting to grow in her temple making every second seem to drag on for an eternity.

It took a little longer for Peter to calm Darwin down than she’d have thought, but once the boy’s breathing returned to normal, he’d been silently pushed toward Melanie by the sheriff. There was so much Melanie wanted to say to him, but Peter turned away from her without so much as another word.

“Mr. Brough! If I could have a word with you, please,” Peter called out, gesturing with his hand. Melanie briefly turned her gaze from Darwin and glanced in the direction Peter’s eyes were centered on.

John slowly strode over from where he’d been helping load the prisoners into the two wagons that they’d brought with them, the men that were still conscious hurling a series of insults his way. Some of the names they used caused Melanie to blush bright red.

“What do you need, Sheriff? We’ve just about got everything taken care of here. Did you want me to drive one of the wagons back to the jail? I brought Daisy Mae, by the way. She jumped on at the jailhouse and wouldn’t get out.” John’s forehead gleamed with sweat from the ordeal, a patch of blood on his left sleeve quickly drawing Melanie’s attention.

“Oh, John, you didn’t get hit, did you?” Melanie inquired, stepping forward and quickly examining his arm.

“It only grazed me,” John replied dismissively, rolling up his sleeve to reveal the sizable gash that the bullet had made as it slid across his flesh. “I just tend to bleed a lot when I get cut.”

“If you say so,” Melanie replied softly, the look on John’s face leaving no room for argument. She didn’t have it in her to push the issue too much anyway.

“John, can you make sure that Melanie and Darwin find their way safely back to town? They can ride with you on the front of the wagon,” said Peter, who let out a shrill whistle shortly afterward. Immediately, Melanie heard a deep bark that echoed across the rocky crag. A furry blur shot past Melanie a moment later, materializing before her eyes in the form of a massive dog that could have been mistaken for a small pony. It had sleek brown fur and a wide black nose that sniffed excitedly at the air.

“Daisy Mae, I want you to guard the wagon. Comfort the boy and the lady. You are far better at that than I am,” Peter admitted, walking away to leave Melanie and Darwin in the company of the coffee-colored dog and John.

“Come along, you two. I don’t think our sheriff is in much of a mood to argue. Chin up, Darwin. Had you not come today, we’d be burying the sheriff. That makes you a hero,” Melanie said soothingly, hugging the boy tightly in her arms.

He felt so skinny and small, his constant shivering showing her just how shaken up he was by everything that had happened. She helped Darwin climb to his feet, slowly shepherding him over to where John was waiting with the wagon.

Melanie coaxed Darwin into climbing up first, watching as Peter’s large mutt bounded up next to him. She sniffled at the boy’s hand and licked it repeatedly until it was covered in slobber. She rested her head on his leg, her big eyes gazing up at him lovingly. He reached out and petted the top of her nose lightly, a weak smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The ride that they took back into town was relatively uneventful by comparison, John doing his best to crack jokes to lighten the mood that had descended on the group riding in the wagon. “So, a man is walking down the road when he sees a three-legged chicken run by. Now the chicken is running really fast, mind you, and the man decides that he wants to know where this chicken came from. So, he follows it home and finds the farmer and asks him, ‘Are you the man who owns these chickens?’ The farmer says yes, so the man asks him how come they have three legs. Farmer says that he thought it would be useful to breed them with a third leg so there would be three legs to share at the dinner table in case he and the wife had company over. The man replies, ‘That’s fair. So how do they taste?’ and the farmer replies, ‘No idea, never caught one.’ “

Melanie shook her head, rolling her eyes and resting her cheek on her hand, gazing out at the scenery around them as they passed by. She would have never dreamed when she woke up that morning that she would be involved in something like this. The fact that she had nearly been on the receiving end of a bullet didn’t exactly have her in the highest of spirits.

“Don’t let his words sting you too much, Melanie. You were just doing your job and keeping an eye on Darwin. The sheriff may be moody about it now, but he’ll come around, you’ll see. Just give him some time. He seems like a stickler at times, but that’s only skin deep,” John said, offering her a gentle smile.

“How well do you know Peter?” Melanie inquired, figuring this was a good enough time to ask. It was going to be a bit of a ride back to town, and she didn’t want to spend it in silence.

“I have known him for roughly five years now. That was how long ago it was that Sheriff Norton, Peter’s predecessor, brought him to town. You should have seen him when he first showed up. The man was constantly picking fights with people, and I can’t tell you how many times Michael had to go around and apologize to various townspeople for Peter’s actions,” John said, chuckling as he reminisced.

Melanie shook her head in wonder. That sounded like a completely different person from the Peter Matherson that she knew. But she didn’t really know him, did she? What she knew about him could be numbered on a single hand, and none of it was that positive in her opinion. The only thing that confused her was that he seemed to get along with the other townspeople so well now. “What happened to Mr. Norton?”

“Michael passed away a little more than two years ago,” John said sadly, his eyes suddenly looking downcast. “He had grown to be a part of the town. Hard not to do when you are the sheriff for over ten years. He was everything that a town needed. He was kind to the kids and looked out for them like a father. He ensured his neighbors were fed and well taken care of, even at cost to himself. You don’t find many men like Michael Norton, but I believe that Peter is doing his best to try to live up to that. They are massive shoes to fill, let me tell you, so he probably spends a lot of his time stressed out because he doesn’t feel like he’s doing enough.”

Could that be what it was? That he was so preoccupied with trying to uphold the responsibilities of his job that it was overburdening him and making him short-tempered? It seemed like too convenient of an excuse, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility either. Even if that is the reason, he can’t just treat people badly because he’s stressed. He’s not the only person in the world with problems.

“I need to get back to the school. Iris is probably wondering where I am, and I left her with all of the other kids to look after,” Melanie began, gasping as she realized that she had forgotten all about classes in the commotion.

“Don’t you worry about that. Iris has been handling those kids single-handedly for years now. She is more than capable of dealing with the entire class load on her own. Sheriff told me to take you back home, so home is where we are going. He didn’t look like he was in the mood to argue, and I certainly wasn’t going to risk his wrath by refusing,” John said with a toothy grin.

Melanie didn’t have the energy to argue with him. She would have to apologize to Iris personally the next time she saw her but she figured her friend would understand once she heard about everything that had transpired. But something was still nagging in the back of her mind. Darwin had mentioned that the bandits weren’t who they thought they were. That had given her an idea. The leader of this group must be in Santa Fe. That was why they all were hiding outside the city limits.

He probably wouldn’t want her help, but Melanie decided that she was going to start doing some investigating of her own. There was a plot underfoot, and there was no chance that Melanie was just going to let people do as they pleased. She might not be the strongest, but brains would always triumph over sheer brawn.

Chapter 14

It was well past sundown when Peter and the rest of his posse had finished rounding up all of the robbers and getting them in their own jail cells. Peter had stood on the front steps of the jail house for ten minutes counting out money to divide amongst the men who’d come to volunteer. It was their share of the reward he had promised for assistance. He thanked each man one at a time until he was left holding the last share. It belonged to John, and despite his exhaustion, Peter figured he might as well stop by the Brough’s homestead to give it to him.

Most of the house was dark when he rode up to it, his lantern shining in his right hand. He could see a faint glow coming from the front sitting room, so at least one person was still awake. He had a feeling that once he stepped through the doorway he was going to be bombarded with questions, and he didn’t know if he had the energy to answer them all. He promised himself that he would be patient and do his best not to lose his temper or sound short, least of all with Melanie. Still, facing her after what he’d admitted to her earlier was going to be harder than he’d like to acknowledge.

He pushed open the front door, greeted by the distinct bark of Daisy Mae as she trotted up to greet him. The sandy canine let out another softer bark when he reached out and ran his hand along the top of her head, scratching behind her ear. “Hi there, Daisy Mae. Did you protect everybody like I asked you to?”

Daisy Mae barked as if in response, her head bobbing up and down like she was nodding. Peter chuckled and ran his hand along her back, giving the chubby canine a good rubdown before he stood up and made his way further into the living room. There, he found Melanie, John, and Iris sitting around the fire waiting for him. John was the first one to greet him. “I figured it was you when Daisy Mae started looking so excited.”

“She can sense my presence, it seems,” Peter agreed wearily, sinking into the only available armchair and letting out a soft grunt as Daisy Mae immediately put her paws on his lap. “Oof, it is good to see you too, Daisy Mae.”

“I can only imagine how exhausted you are Peter, so we’ll do our best not to keep you here too long. We just have a couple of questions, and then you can be on your way. The rest can wait until you’ve had a chance to get some rest. You look dead on your feet,” Iris said gently, rocking in the wooden rocking chair she sat in. “Do you have it in you to eat something?”

“I definitely won’t refuse some grub after today. I didn’t realize how late it had gotten,” he half-lied, watching John get up and head into the kitchen. “We found out a lot of information today, yet I feel like I’m left with more questions than answers.”

“What do you mean?” Melanie asked, handing him a cup that was steaming. When he brought it to his lips, he was pleased to find that it was coffee, grateful for the pick-me-up. The coffee would help him stay awake long enough to do what needed doing. “Did you manage to find out anything about the robberies?”

“We’ve found out a good deal, actually. The most important being that none of the men that we fought today are from our town,” Peter said, holding his coffee cup out of the way as Daisy Mae attempted to jump up onto his lap. He laughed softly and set his cup down on the nearby table, pulling the footrest from nearby and setting it up so he could sit comfortably with Daisy Mae across his legs. “They were all called here from out of town by someone, though they won’t tell me who.”

“Well, it would have to be someone from the town, wouldn’t it?” Melanie said quietly, looking at Peter meaningfully.

“That doesn’t exactly narrow down the list. I’m sure there are plenty of people who have known me throughout my life who would love to see me dead. I don’t know if you’ve heard the rumors by now, but what they say about my old days as an outlaw is true. I did a lot of people wrong in the old days, and it could just be that my poor luck is catching up to me,” Peter replied, grimacing. “Plus, I don’t want to make accusations against every person in this town who would have reason to pull something against me. Half of this town would be on the chopping block.”

Melanie shook her head. “There has to be something that we are overlooking.”

“Good luck getting them to talk,” John said, having finally returned to the room with a plate piled high with refried beans, thick sausage, and bread made from leftover potatoes. He accepted it gratefully, Daisy Mae glancing up at him but making no move to take his food. “Half of them have already clammed up, and the others aren’t going to be budging any time soon.”

“I just want to know how Darwin knew. I have no doubts that whoever it is has either paid Darwin for his silence or has threatened him into not telling me. Either way, I’m not expecting many leads to come from him,” Peter said, digging into the food gratefully.

“I did ask Darwin about how he knew of the bandits, but he didn’t want to talk to me about it. I told him that if he cared about you as much as he seemed to that he would help you solve the case. I can be quite persuasive when I want to be,” Melanie said proudly, watching Peter eat. He didn’t seem too worried about appearances, but he did have the manners to keep wiping his mouth clean on a handkerchief.

“And what did you learn from our young friend Darwin?” Peter said through a mouthful of his dinner. “Anything of use?”

“All he would tell me was that it was someone from his class that told him about it. They heard about it from their father. I know that doesn’t necessarily narrow it down, but it does tell us it is someone that Darwin is relatively close to and that trusts him. Perhaps we should keep an eye on who Darwin is spending time with in the school and get as much information about them as possible. That may be the only lead we have for now,” Melanie admitted, her hands fidgeting.

“I am of half a mind to wake the boy up right now and make him tell me,” Peter said, setting his plate down on the stool beside him, Daisy Mae immediately moving her big head to lick up the leftover gravy on the plate. Peter didn’t even try to stop her, his gaze remaining on Melanie.

“I say that we let him continue sleeping, and I can ask him more about it tomorrow during free time. They told you when you got here that we aren’t trying to keep you long, and you trying to interrogate the willfully silent one is not going to get you home any faster,” Melanie said wisely, forcing Peter to nod in agreement.

“I suppose you are right about that. No reason to try and get him to talk if we know he isn’t going to. I can think of plenty of things I would rather be doing than trying to get a brick wall to tell me its secrets,” Peter said, laughing bitterly. “We dealt with it for now, and we can always try to get some of those men we captured to crack and tell us what they know. It will just be a matter of biding our time and following up on the few possible leads we’ve got.”

“That’s the spirit. Peter, can I interest you in a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie? I cooked it for our dessert and for the kids to snack on tomorrow, but I figured that you would appreciate my special recipe,” Iris said, noticing the way that he’d been looking at his empty plate somewhat remorsefully.

“You can read me like a book, Iris. I would love that,” Peter admitted, a weary smile pulling at his lips. “Do you need me to go grab it?”

“No, please. I’ve been sitting most of the day, and I’m about to be lying down. I’d prefer to walk as much as I can before I’m not able to. I have a feeling I’m going to be recovering from this young one for a while yet,” Iris admitted, looking distant briefly. Peter knew that something important was being left unsaid, but it was not his place to say anything.

When she had left the room, Melanie looked at Peter. “I’ll make sure that Darwin gets to school tomorrow morning. You should go ahead and take the extra rest, however little it might be. You look like you could sleep for days.”

“I feel like I could sleep for days,” Peter admitted, taking the piece of pie from Iris and thanking her politely. “The problem is that I can’t trust anything to get done at the jail if I’m not there.”

“I think you are giving Chris too little credit. He might be a little wet behind the ears, but he’s really coming along. He does a lot of stuff I don’t think you give him credit for, Peter. Any man can tell that he looks up to you and is constantly seeking your approval. He held his own in that ambush today, and I can vouch for that,” John said, taking a seat beside Iris and taking her hand. “Besides, we have no shortage of lawmen. I could even go in early tomorrow until you get in, then head home to be there when the kids get out of school.”

“That could be, John. I could be completely blind to what he does and the things that he takes care of so I don’t have to. I could be, but I am not. I know how good Chris is to me, but I can’t let him know that. Not yet, anyway. He needs to keep the mindset that what he does now is the bare minimum of what he should be doing to serve these good people. At least, that is what Michael believed,” Peter said, finding himself unable to say any more.

“You are doing real good, Peter. Real good,” John said softly. Iris merely nodded in agreement, looking between Peter and John curiously. “Michael would be proud to see what you’ve done these last few years.”

“I can only hope so,” Peter said, popping the last bite of pie in his mouth and gently pushing Daisy Mae until the hound rose off his stiff legs. He slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll put this in the kitchen before I head out.”

“Remember, you can sleep in a little late tomorrow,” John said, giving him a wink as he walked past. “Enjoy it while you can.”

Peter chuckled weakly. “Thanks for your concern. I’ll be sure to take care of myself. Daisy Mae will make sure that we get home alright. I’ll probably just let Daisy Mae ride in the back of my wagon. Here’s your part of the reward, John. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Chapter 15

Melanie felt far more distracted than usual. After what she had been part of, it would have been crazy if she weren’t. The memory of being tackled by Peter and being covered by his body had her cheeks burning as she thought of the compromising position they had been in. She was just grateful that no one had been around to see it.

Even Darwin was more out of it than usual, the boy gazing at the same page of his book for over five minutes before he would turn to the next one. Melanie really wanted a chance to talk to him alone again. He was probably suffering worse than anyone else, besides Peter, and the sheriff had to be used to attempts on his life by now. Darwin was a different story. The youth had not only had his own life threatened but had seen one of his idols held at gunpoint. That was an experience the emotionally scarred youth could have gone without.

When she and Darwin had arrived at the Brough’s homestead the night before, she had sat with him on the front porch away from where the Brough’s children were playing so the two could talk alone. She’d made him tell her everything about what he’d heard about the bandits in the taverns as well as from his classmates. He’d been hesitant, but she had convinced him by telling him that it would be a great service to Peter if he would help out.

“You don't even have to give me anybody’s name. I just need to know if it is someone that the sheriff and I know,” Melanie had urged, taking Darwin’s hand gently in hers. “I want to be able to help the sheriff. He works so hard to keep all of us safe. He deserves at least that much from us.”

“You are right, Miss Thompson,” Darwin had replied shortly. “I guess it isn’t fair to him to be kept in the dark. It’s not like I want to keep quiet about it. It’s just that there are far too many ears around the school. Word of mouth tends to travel fast, and there are people who would be really mad if I blabbed about it. You could say my life relies on my silence.”

“Darwin, if someone has threatened your life, then you need to tell the sheriff. He can confront the individual and take him to task. You can’t just let someone bully you into silence. Sometimes doing the right thing means that you have to put your life on the line. I know that you are a smart and brave boy. I know you want to help,” Melanie had pleaded, looking Darwin right in the eyes as she spoke.

“The sheriff never lets me help, no matter how much I want to. I don’t understand what his problem is. I know how to fire a gun and ride a horse, yet he still views me as a kid who's just playing at being a man. I don’t want him to baby me anymore,” Darwin had said gruffly, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“So, because the sheriff is trying to keep you safe you are going to hold a grudge against him? That doesn’t sound like the intelligent Darwin I know. There has to be something more to it. Is it so embarrassing that you can’t bring yourself to confront your true feelings?” Melanie had asked, frowning.

“You wouldn’t understand!” Darwin had shouted, closing his eyes and looking away from her. “He’s constantly bossing me around and forcing me to do things that I don’t want to do. Yet he isn't always in a bad mood, you know. Sometimes the two of us can get along. He was the one who taught me how to shoot a gun and ride a horse when no one else would. He’s also one of the only adults who actually takes time for me aside from Iris, and now, you,” he had added, his voice having gone soft once more. “He also occasionally takes me out to eat or buys me little treats when I do well in school.”

“What does that tell you?” Melanie had asked, prodding Darwin to really consider the ramifications of what he was saying. “That he cares about you, right?”

Darwin had still refused to reveal to her the source of the threat, and she didn’t really have it in her to keep drilling him over it. She’d let him go to bed and had waited up with the others for Peter. She felt a pang of guilt over the look of relief he had briefly given her when he’d seen her safe and sound in the house the night before.

As Melanie managed to finally break herself out of her reverie, the end of the day bell rang. She figured the headmistress must have rung it, since she and Melanie were the only two women there today. “Alright, class! Everyone, please form an orderly line and follow me single file out of the school. Once you get to the front gates, you are free to go off as you please, but not before.”

Darwin slowly gathered his things, one of the other children calling out to him as he crossed the room to fall in line behind him. Melanie didn’t pay much attention to the boy talking to Darwin, dismissing him at first as just a fellow student. Peter had told her to keep track of Darwin’s friends, but this was the first time she’d seen this particular child approach Darwin.

“Miss Thompson!” She turned in time to see that Peter had arrived to pick up Darwin, the sheriff looking much more rested than he had the night before. The dark rings that had been under his eyes were gone now, and his eyes looked far more alert, regaining some of their usual intensity. “I hope that Darwin didn’t prove to be too much of a handful today.”

“On the contrary, Sheriff. I don’t think I heard him say a word all day,” Melanie replied glumly, glancing back at where the line of students was nearing its end as the children scattered once they hit the school gates. Darwin was walking next to another boy with bright blond hair and blue eyes, something about the boy nagging at the back of Melanie’s mind. “I think that Darwin might still be mixed up from yesterday.”

“Can you honestly blame the boy? I’d be a little rattled if I’d just nearly beaten a man to death the day before. I know I told the men that I wouldn’t hold them responsible if they were protecting someone, but since Darwin acted out of anger, I’m not sure where the law would stand. I figure that his own mind is providing him the best punishment right now, but I also need to make sure that this incident doesn’t lead him down the wrong path,” Peter said empathetically, shaking his head. “I don’t want to have to punish him, so I’m giving him a chance to prove to me that he’s not going to go over to the wrong side.”

“Sheriff, I wanted to talk to you last night, but you were so tired, I didn’t want to weigh you down with it. I talked to Darwin last night, and he told me that someone is threatening him into keeping the details of that day secret. I don’t think that it is one of his fellow students that he is afraid of, so it has to be someone else that he comes in contact with relatively frequently. At least, that’s what I am thinking,” Melanie admitted reluctantly, her gaze wandering from the sheriff back to where Darwin and his mystery friend were talking. As she looked closer, she recognized that the boy Darwin was talking to was Lawrence.

Lawrence had been sitting in the front of the class when she had first come to the school and found that flyer. And now that she thought about it, he had been seated directly behind Darwin. Could the piece of paper that she’d found that day have come from Lawrence and not Darwin? Had she been accusing the wrong person the whole time?

“What is the matter, Miss Thompson? You keep looking distracted,” Peter said, turning in place so that he could look where she was. “Is it something to do with the boy he’s talking to?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Melanie replied, placing her hand on her hip. “I think that it might be something very important too.”

Peter’s eyes widened at that briefly, narrowing shortly afterward. “Tell me what you are thinking.”

Before Melanie had a chance to say another word, the sound of a loud horse whip cracking through the air drew their attention toward the front gate. The clopping of hooves came from a horse-drawn carriage that had now halted in front of the school building. The unmistakable initials on the back of the carriage left no confusion as to who had arrived.

“Oh, great, him again,” Melanie muttered softly under her breath, hoping that Peter didn’t hear her. She didn’t want him getting the wrong idea; she just happened to be less interested in the man who now strode toward her than she was in Peter. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Greetings and salutations, my beautiful flower in the desert. You are looking radiant as ever, but I could expect no less from a beauty such as you,” Johnny said slyly, his eyes glittering with their characteristic mischief. He turned to Peter and gave a curt nod. “Good to see you in one piece, Sheriff. Heard you got into a bit of a skirmish with those bandits yesterday.”

“You heard right, Johnny. A shame you weren’t there to help out, but you told my deputy that you had some previous engagement,” Peter replied casually, his steel gray eyes glinting as he returned Johnny’s curt nod. Melanie could immediately sense the tension between the two men.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were accusing me of something,” Johnny said coldly, his blue eyes glinting like chips of ice. “I must just be imagining things, right, Sheriff?”

“You must be imagining things, Johnny. Maybe you’ve been out in the sun too long. That would explain that uneven tan that you’ve got going on,” Peter replied with a smirk. “Now, would you mind telling me what business you have here? School is over and you don’t have any children, last I checked.”

“Looks like you’ll need to update your sources, Sheriff. I’m sure there is at least one child here who could claim to be my son,” Johnny said smugly, spreading his arms wide. “It’s not like I need to beg for the attention of women. They practically throw themselves at me when I walk down the street. Besides, a smart officer like you couldn’t be foolish enough to assume I don’t have any family around?”

Great, another wealthy clod who thinks that the world begins and ends with his pocketbook. Melanie silently hoped that Peter wouldn’t make an excuse to run off now that Johnny was there. Just like the first time they’d met, Melanie got the impression that this man could be dangerous. She went to take a step closer to Peter unconsciously, gasping when she suddenly found Johnny standing between the two of them.

“Now, Melanie, I’ve come a long way to try to talk to you. The least you can do is offer me a polite ear,” Johnny said, his voice dripping with politeness. “It would be the ladylike thing to do.”

Chapter 16

Peter had come to the school to pick Darwin up as usual, still worried about the boy. He’d been secretly grateful for the opportunity to give someone else the responsibility of ensuring the boy went to school, and he wanted to ask Melanie how he’d behaved for her that morning.

He’d immediately recognized the change in the way Melanie acted toward him, the indifference that she had attempted to project now completely gone. What it had been replaced with he wasn’t certain, but at least it seemed like they weren’t at each other’s throats anymore.

When Melanie said that she thought she knew something about the real identity of the bandit leader, Peter was suddenly all ears. Had she managed to catch the lucky break they had been waiting for? He didn’t know if he would be overjoyed at the help or incredibly annoyed that Melanie had managed to solve the mystery before him. He’d get over it eventually, probably.

Before she’d been able to speak again, Johnny Carrington had arrived on the scene. The blond-haired socialite stepped carefully down from the steps of his carriage, his cane tapping against the ground gently. He was being careful not to allow too much dust to gather on the tops of his well-polished brown shoes, his right hand gripping the golden handle of his cane tightly. “Greetings and salutations, my beautiful flower in the desert. You are looking radiant as ever, but I could expect no less from a beauty such as you.”

Melanie had rolled her eyes but made no immediate reply. She was watching Johnny carefully now, eyes narrowed. Peter noticed the look but was too busy having his back and forth with Johnny. When Johnny asked if he might have a word in private with her, red warning flags had gone up in his mind. However, if there was anyone in town who might have information about someone trying to sabotage Peter, it would be his archenemy, right?

Before she had a chance to refuse, Johnny was wrapping his arm around her shoulders and gently walking with her toward another side of the schoolyard, leaving Peter where he stood. He crossed his arms, watching as they walked. He was close enough to still be able to hear them, albeit straining all the while.

“You are too kind, Mr. Carrington,” Melanie replied unsteadily. “I guess I am just a magnet for flatterers.”

“Flattery? Hardly. I would never use such empty words for a beauty such as you. Only a commoner would try to butter up a woman above his stature. You are worthy of me. Therefore, I will treat you as such. Openly fraternizing with suspicious characters will cause people to gossip about you,” Johnny said, his eyes narrowing in Peter’s direction as he smirked. “Or is he the kind of man that you are looking to keep? No, I must be mistaken. Without a doubt, I would be the better partner, don’t you think?”

Melanie hadn’t immediately answered, but Peter could just barely see the faint blush that spread across her cheeks as she looked away from him. Johnny must not have noticed or pretended not to, strolling back to Peter and staring him in the face. “Tell me, are you so lacking in things to do that you have time to sit here and eavesdrop? I didn’t realize that the sheriff job was so easy. Could have sworn there were plenty of duties to keep you busy.”

“I will have you know that I am here to take one of our more unruly citizens back home, so he doesn’t make a nuisance of himself or anyone else. I don’t see why you would concern yourself with what I’m doing. I’m on official business, which is more than I can say for you. So, don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” Peter shot back. “I’ve got things well in hand around here.”

Johnny scowled at that, turning his face away from Peter and back toward Melanie. His smile was immediately back on when he spoke to her. “Miss Thompson, would you mind accompanying me to the town eatery? I was hoping that we could have a word outside the range of eavesdroppers.”

Melanie was already shaking her head before Johnny had finished talking. “That is a rather kind offer, Mr. Carrington, but I fear I must decline. I have some other errands I intended to run today, and afterward, I shall surely be exhausted and unable to even consider the possibility of keeping someone else company. Perhaps at another time?”

“No need to fear. I promise that being seen with me would only boost your public image,” Johnny said smoothly, moving beside her and taking her hand gently in his. “You need not turn me down for the sake of this lesser creature.”

“Such bold language in front of the man who could find ways to lock you up in a cell,” Melanie said with a small smile. “I didn’t think anyone would have the gall to talk to a sheriff like that.”

“If a man is not allowed to speak his mind, then the world will truly have come to an end.” Johnny’s eyes were glittering ominously now. “Sometimes, public servants need a reminder of who it is they serve.”

“I serve the people, not the rich. Just because your father has money doesn’t mean that I don’t hold you to the same laws as everyone else. If I find out that you have been up to mischief, I’ll personally put you in your cell.”

“Gentlemen, please. There is no need for this,” Melanie cut in, looking at Peter incredulously. “Peter, what sort of example are you setting for Darwin?”

Peter glanced over his shoulder to find that Darwin had approached without him noticing, the youth looking even more wary and withdrawn as he gave Johnny a wide berth while walking around him. That struck him as suspicious, but after Melanie had broken up his argument with Johnny, he kept his silence. Peter would need evidence to do anything to Johnny. He silently promised himself that he would wipe that smug grin off Johnny’s face one day.

“So, if not today, is there another day when you would agree to allow me to accompany you for lunch? Perhaps on a weekend when you are not otherwise engaged in your schooling duties?” Johnny asked, now ignoring Peter completely.

“I will think about it,” Melanie replied quickly, keeping her tone polite. Peter could tell it was taking all her willpower to keep from telling him off, and it was amusing him greatly. Johnny seemed to be oblivious to just how uninterested Melanie was in him, but Peter could see it written all over her face.

“I shall hold you to that,” Johnny replied smoothly, looking back at Peter with a smug look of triumph in his eyes. He bowed stiffly to Melanie and tilted his chin in Peter’s direction before excusing himself, giving a short whistle as he strode back to his carriage. “I look forward to spending some time together in the near future.”

Peter crossed his arms and watched as Johnny climbed into his carriage and it drove off. “I feel bad for you. Imagine finding yourself in that creep’s sights. That would likely be a fate worse than death. Do you want one of my men to keep an eye on him?”

“Did you hear what he said earlier about how one of the students here could probably claim to be his son? Do you think he meant that figuratively or literally?” The young schoolteacher gazed in the direction that Johnny’s carriage had driven off in, rubbing her arms to ward away the sudden chill she felt.

“Could it be that one of the kids around here is the bastard child of Johnny Carrington?” Peter asked incredulously, thinking back to Lawrence with increased curiosity. “If that’s the case, it could explain some of the events.”

“I get that he’s kind of full of himself, but without evidence, we can’t really do anything to him,” Melanie said, causing Peter to turn his attention to her with a grin.

“What is this ‘we’ business? I know I asked you to help me find out things about the bandits, but from here on out, you are off the case, Miss Thompson,” Peter said sternly.

“What? Why?” Melanie exclaimed loudly, making Peter wince. “How can you ask me to help you and then tell me that you don’t want my help anymore without any notice?”

“It’s not about that. This is going to get big, and I’m not going to have you in the crossfire. It is bad enough you were in a literal crossfire yesterday,” Peter said gruffly, turning toward Darwin. “Come on, Darwin, we are heading back to the orphanage.”

Before Melanie had a chance to say anything else to him, Peter began making his way down the hill toward the front gate of the school. He heard the faint sound of Darwin’s footsteps behind him, and he was surprised the boy was so submissive. “Is everything alright with you, Darwin? You haven’t said anything for a while.”

“Everything is fine, Mr. Matherson,” Darwin replied simply, not making eye contact with him. “Nothing out of the ordinary going on here.”

“You honestly expect me to believe that? I could take your words and manure an entire field with them,” Peter replied, grinning from ear to ear. “And since when have you ever called me Mr. Matherson. I thought you liked to call me Sheriff P., or Petey because you knew it got on my nerves.”

Darwin didn’t respond to that, turning his head away from Peter instead. The silence between them dragged on, Peter’s spurs rattling on his boots and the faint tap of Darwin’s shoes the only sounds around them. When they finally got to the front gate of the orphanage, Darwin uttered a hasty goodbye and literally ran away from Peter into the building.

Now, Peter knew that something was going on. After how dodgy Darwin had been around Johnny, he deduced something had happened between the two of them. Peter furrowed his brow as he began to slowly walk away from the orphanage, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he went. What was it about the day before that had thrown everything off? Darwin would usually stand on the front steps, and the two would talk about projects that Darwin was going to busy himself with to stay out of trouble.

Something’s rotten in Santa Fe.

A red flag had been lifted in his mind now, his thoughts repeatedly returning to Johnny. He was one of the few villagers who Peter wouldn’t put it past to put together an arranged accident, and his words today hadn’t exactly helped his case. Johnny Carrington. The man who wanted to be sheriff but couldn’t. If anyone held a grudge against him, it would be Johnny.

While walking past the tailor’s shop, he paused in front of the window and looked at the suit on display, catching sight of his reflection. He had some faint stubble growing on his chin that he would need to take care of, but he didn’t think he would look too bad in the black garment. Would Melanie like him more if he dressed in these flashy kinds of clothing? She didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who cared for such things.

All he knew was that he should get back to his duties. The words that Johnny had said to him earlier were bothering him. What right did he have to give Peter grief about doing his duties? He hadn’t once seen Johnny do a single thing that was worthy of gaining the title of sheriff. If anything, he came across as the kind of man who would quickly break the law to get what he wanted.

Peter shook his head forcefully, stepping away from the tailor’s window. He wondered what it was that Melanie had been about to say to him about Lawrence. He really should have asked her before he left.

Chapter 17

The sun had barely finished climbing its way into the sky when Melanie awoke. She had no idea what time it was; her first instinct was to simply roll over and drift back into slumber for a while. After all, it was Saturday, and that meant there would be no classes in session for the next couple of days.

Stretching and groaning as her back popped in a couple of places, Melanie ran a hand slowly through her messy hair, doing her best to work some of the tangles out with her fingers. Her mind now slightly more alert, she found her thoughts drifting in the sheriff’s direction. She wondered what he was up to, and whether he would be opposed to her coming to visit. She’d done a lot of thinking in the last couple of days, and all of a sudden, her reasoning for avoiding the sheriff had disappeared almost overnight. She was headstrong, but that didn’t mean she was foolish. She knew that she hadn’t given him a fair chance, and she was legitimately regretful of that.

She wasn’t sure what it was about him that caused her to act that way around him. She had her assumptions, but none of them seemed to be a good enough reason to continue her little grudge against him. He had been visibly doing his best to be kind to her so they could get back on good terms. Even now, as she thought back to the time she thought he’d insulted her hair, she realized that she had merely taken what he’d said the wrong way. When it came to him, it felt like she’d done more things wrong than right.

Curse her pigheadedness! She’d let her bad mood get in the way of her manners, and yet he’d still gone out of his way to protect her. She would just be ungrateful if she didn’t try to smooth things over between them. And lately, being around him hadn’t been as bad as she’d originally thought it would be.

After she’d given her face and hands a good scrub with some hot water and lilac-scented soap, she got dressed in a light blue dress that she’d purchased from the town tailor, loving the way that it fit snugly and comfortably while still keeping her modesty intact. The frills and lace that ran across the bodice of the garment had her feeling like a princess from some of the dime novels she had read.

Content that she had made herself presentable, she got John to take her into town so she could see the sheriff, telling him she had some shopping she wanted to do. He had given her a knowing smile before driving off, leaving Melanie standing directly in front of the jail. She hesitated momentarily, feeling embarrassed at how she felt about the possibility of even seeing Peter. Each time she saw him, her heart would skip a beat in her chest, and she wasn’t quite ready to accept that she had fallen for the gruff sheriff.

Besides, it would be hard enough for her to love a lawman after what had happened with her father. Every time that Melanie saw the badge on Peter’s chest, she’d feel a pain in her heart like she’d just been stabbed. It hadn’t been quite as bad back at her aunt’s house because she’d had limited contact with the law but being around Peter was starting to dredge up memories that were still quite painful to her. It was hard to understand her feelings at times, and that was only half of the reason she was constantly frustrated.

Pushing open the door to the jail, Melanie was just in time to watch a jack fall onto the floor in front of her. She knelt to pick it up, looking over the simple toy before placing it on the desk next to the younger lawman. “No criminals out for you to catch today, Deputy Sheriff?”

“Things have been relatively quiet since that bandit business. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that someone in town was deliberately causing crime to constantly rise and fall to catch us with our guard down. It is hard to keep the peace when the peace is constantly being broken and fixed. We do our best, but I can tell that it is wearing Peter down,” the deputy replied, gesturing behind Melanie on her right-hand side. “See for yourself.”

She turned her head to see Peter leaning back against the wall behind his desk, his chair propped up on two legs. His feet sat on top of the desk in front of them, his chest rising and falling slowly. He looked so peaceful as he slept, though Melanie could still see the deep dark circles under his eyes. She felt so bad for him, her heart fluttering softly in her chest. If only there were something she could do to help alleviate his burden, even if only a little bit. “I don’t suppose you would accept a female applicant?”

“I don’t think Peter would allow it. Call it our pride or whatever, but Peter is of the opinion that we should never have someone around who could prove to be a liability. If you ask me, it is because he is worried that having a woman around would distract him from his duties, and that’s why he won’t give it a thought. You saw how he flipped out when you showed up to the ambush. Now imagine you had to deal with that kind of reaction every time some big crime went down, or you were forced to remain in the station and do paperwork while he rushed off to handle things himself. Believe me, it took a long time for me to convince him that I could do anything more than watch the jail while he was out,” Chris said, smiling gently. “Took even longer for him to remember my name. It’s Chris, by the way.”

“I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing that he worries about people, though. If he is looking out for those who can’t look out for themselves, that makes him a good person. Even if he comes across as a grumpy old man half the time,” Melanie said with a laugh.

Chris smiled gently, but his eyes seemed troubled. “It isn’t helping that Darwin is still acting strange. Peter’s been watching the boy closely, and he says that he is like a completely different person. The boy is walking around acting like he is afraid of his own shadow. Sister Sophia at the orphanage has told us that he hasn’t been eating much lately either. Sheriff’s been losing a lot of sleep over it.”

“I could always try and go visit Darwin and see how he’s doing. He might not be able to talk to you fellas about it, but maybe he’ll be willing to talk to me. I am good at getting people to open up to me. My father used to let me help him interrogate prisoners because I got people to let their guards down and admit things they wouldn’t with him alone,” Melanie said proudly.

“That’s quite a thing to hear. Your father must have been really important to be able to allow you to do those kinds of things,” Chris said in awe.

“My father was the sheriff where I grew up. When it came to the law, my father was the first and last person that made most of the decisions in the jail. He only answered to the feds, and they never came around. The only time I ever saw anyone from the government was when my father died because they sent a couple of men to offer condolences and speak at his funeral,” Melanie said, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.

“Wow, that’s rough. I’m sorry to hear that, Miss Thompson,” Chris said.

“It’s alright. I just worry that Peter is going to drive himself into an early grave. He already looks like hell,” Melanie added, pointing toward where Peter still sat sleeping.

“That is just the weight of the job getting to him, I think. You’ll see that once we can manage to find the mastermind behind these incidents, he’ll be right as rain. For now, we can only let him enjoy his occasional breaks and try to be understanding. With that being said, he has been asleep for the better part of two hours now. I think that is quite long enough for him to be watching the back of his eyelids, don’t you?” Chris smirked, rising out of his chair and slowly tiptoeing over to where Peter was sleeping.

“I don’t think you should bother him, Chris,” Melanie started to say, but it was too late. As she watched, Chris pulled back his leg and then swept the chair leg sideways, sending both Peter and the chair toppling to the floor. Peter let out a shout as he was suddenly awake, his arms flailing at the last second before he slammed into the wooden floor below.

He was immediately on his feet, his eyes blazing. “Hang it all, Chris. I am going to shoot that hat off your head and hopefully the little brains you have with it! I am going to stick my foot—”

Peter stopped when he saw Melanie standing beside Chris, practically choking on his own words. Melanie could see a distinct red blush spreading across the sheriff’s cheeks, his hand moving in front of his mouth as he began coughing violently.

Melanie had to bite down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing, pretending politely to cough. Chris didn’t even bother hiding his laughter. “I figured you didn’t want to sleep through Miss Thompson’s visit, seeing as how she seems to have come specifically to talk to you. Now that my no-account sheriff is finally awake, I am going to get myself some breakfast while the two of you chat.”

Peter glared at his deputy’s retreating back until the door to the jail closed, sighing heavily as he turned his attention back to Melanie. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” he said, reaching down to pick up his chair and put it back in place before seating himself again. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me what brings you here, Miss Thompson.”

“If it makes you feel better, I tried to stop him from waking you,” Melanie said pleasantly.

That made Peter smile.

Chapter 18

Peter was still groggy from his nap, the irritation from having been woken up in such a rude manner still coursing through him. Sometimes he wanted to strangle Chris, but Peter knew better than anyone what the consequences of that would be. He ran his pointer finger and thumb across his eyes quickly, rubbing the sleep out of them before reaching over to where a pot of water was sitting. Pouring some into the cup that sat beside the pot, he took a deep drink before he turned his attention back to Melanie.

He watched her gracefully fold into the chair that sat across from his desk, the two sitting at roughly equal height, though Peter had a couple of inches on her. He found himself gazing deeply into those emerald eyes of hers for not the first time, noting how they glowed like the innermost depths of a fire as they reflected the sunlight streaming in through the window. He heard his stomach rumble but ignored it for now.

“I hope that you have not been running yourself ragged over Darwin,” Melanie said gently.

“It’s hard not to worry about a kid like that. He’s always been kind of like a little brother to me, even if he drives me up the wall with his free-spiritedness at times. But now, he looks like all the fight has been taken out of him. I would have thought that saving my life would have just served as an incentive for him to call himself a hero and get a big head, and I’d prefer that compared to what he’s like right now,” Peter admitted. “The boy seems like a shell of his former self, and it breaks my heart.”

“I can imagine that this has to be hard for you, but I just want you to know that I’m worried about him too. I’ve been keeping an eye on him in class, and it is just as you say. He used to make snide comments and constantly interrupt the class, but now he doesn’t even seem like his mind is there. He looks like he’s been getting very little sleep too,” she added, causing Peter to slowly shake his head.

“I was afraid of that. I don’t know what we can do to help the kid snap out of it, but something has to happen soon. Do you have any ideas about what we can do to try and help him? I’m afraid I’m not the best when it comes to dealing with people’s emotional needs,” Peter admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“It’s a skill that we work on every day for our entire lives,” Melanie replied gently. “But I wanted to tell you what I tried to say the other day. That’s one of the bigger reasons for me coming here,” she said seriously, leaning forward on his desk.

“Right, before Johnny showed up and rudely interrupted us,” Peter said, unable to believe that he had completely forgotten about it. “You were saying something about how Lawrence and Darwin had been talking to one another a lot more.”

“That’s right. When I first came to the school, Lawrence was one of the kids I noticed spending time around Darwin. They always talked quietly and in out-of-the-way places, going silent if they thought I was coming over. He was also sitting right behind Darwin on the day that I found that flyer in my class,” Melanie said, gently biting her nail.

“Is that right?” Peter asked, leaning forward a little. Something was nagging at the back of his mind. “Do you believe that there is a possibility that Lawrence might have known something about the ambush?”

“More than that. I have reason to believe that Lawrence is the one who spread those flyers around. Every time I would come near his desk, he would go out of his way to cover up his papers so I couldn’t see them. He also never responds to my greetings, yet I constantly find him staring at me when he thinks I am not looking,” she said softly. “I can’t even begin to imagine what he might be thinking.”

“Do you happen to remember Lawrence’s last name by chance?” Peter asked slowly, that nagging feeling at the back of his mind starting to grow in intensity.

“I sure do. I’ve managed to memorize the names of all the students in my class,” Melanie replied proudly. “I’ve also memorized the names of the parents who come to pick up their kids as well as many of my students' birthdays and their favorite hobbies.”

“That’s riveting and all, but that isn’t exactly what I need to hear right now, Miss Thompson. You can regale me next time with it all, but for now, we need to stay on track. Lawrence’s last name, please.” Peter did his best to keep his tone warm, not wanting to create a standoff with her now that they were civil with one another.

“Oh, right.” Melanie didn’t try to argue with him like she would have when they first met. She didn’t make any snide comments or snap at him, instead, closing her eyes as if in thought. “Let me see, what was Lawrence’s last name?”

Peter sat silently to allow her to think, nearly dropping his glass of water when she suddenly jumped to her feet. “Carrington!”

“What, is he here?” Peter asked, whirling around in his chair so fast that he nearly fell out of it again.

“No, that is Lawrence’s last name! I was looking over the class list yesterday because I was trying to find some sort of lead to help you. I also did a little bit of asking around at the saloon, and from what I've gathered, Johnny doesn’t seem to have any children, illegitimate or otherwise. But he does have a brother that lives near the coal mines about half an hour north of the city. Perhaps you could go ask him and see if he has any leads?” Melanie offered.

“I want to, but I can’t help but feel like that might create more problems than it solves. Word gets around quickly, even more so when you live in a town like ours. If I go to see his brother, you can bet your last dollar that I will have Johnny Carrington on my doorstep by the end of the day. I’d like to do things a little more covertly than that, if possible,” Peter said dismissively, the look on Melanie’s face causing him to quickly add, “But it was a good thought!”

“Maybe I could get some information out of Johnny? Work for you undercover or something? After all, who would expect the schoolteacher to be working with you?” Melanie was practically beaming with excitement, making it hard for Peter to reject her offer outright.

“I’ll consider it, Miss Thompson. I don’t want to give you a knee-jerk response, so give me a couple days to think it over,” he replied with a weary smile. “Can’t say I am opposed to help. I just don’t want to risk putting you in harm’s way.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but you don’t have to treat me like a child. I am not just some helpless flower that needs to be protected. I can use a gun and ride a horse just as well as any other man around here. I come from the family of a lawman; I am not just another helpless civilian,” Melanie sputtered.

“I know you aren’t,” Peter replied safely, holding out his hands toward her placating. “Like I said, I would just feel horrible if anything were to happen to you.”

She took a deep breath but said nothing, visibly holding back whatever retort she had been about to give. Peter slowly rose from his chair and strode over to where a picture of Michael Norton hung on the wall. Melanie noticed this, slowly stepping up beside him. “Is it because of how Michael died?”

“It’s because of how he and his wife died,” Peter replied softly, his voice a quiet enough whisper that Melanie had to strain to hear it. “Bank robbery went wrong where they just happened to be. His wife, Sandy, had the same kind of attitude that you do. She always wanted to help Michael, always wanted to help him solve the dangerous cases because she couldn’t bear the thought of sitting at home waiting for him to never come back. She stepped out to try and save Iris when she got taken hostage, but they shot her immediately. Michael shot a couple of them in retaliation, but they gunned him down too shortly afterward. I got there and saw everything, and my vision went red. When I came to my senses, I stood over the dead robbers and Iris was the only civilian still breathing. I failed Michael and Sandy when they needed me most.”

His voice felt raw as he spoke. Peter cleared his throat as he felt a lump rise in it. He still viewed Michael’s death as the most prominent example of his failings, and not a day passed that he didn’t wish he could go back and do things differently. Melanie reached out, setting her hand gently on his shoulder. “It sounds like you got there as quickly as possible. You did everything you could, Peter.”

“Not just yet, I haven’t. But I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve. I’ll keep my promise to Michael and keep this town safe, no matter what I have to do to achieve this. People need consistent safety, or they’ll never feel comfortable enough living their lives. Spending your time constantly looking over your shoulder is no way to live,” Peter sighed. “I learned that lesson the hard way.”

“I really do hope that you can grow to trust me enough to share some stories from your past with me sometime. I have a feeling that your stories would be better than any novel I could ever read,” Melanie said, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Had he just imagined that, or was she trying to flirt with him? Not wanting to risk it in case he proved to be wrong, Peter simply stepped toward the door of the jail, watching Melanie rise from her chair. They chatted in the doorway of the jail for a little while longer before Melanie excused herself.

“I’ll continue to keep an eye on Darwin. I know you can’t help but worry, so try worrying a little less. You aren’t in this alone. Chris and I are here to help, as are plenty of the townspeople. They look up to you, Peter, and most of them respect you. I might go so far as to say that some of them might even be a little afraid of you,” Melanie said, giving him a small bow before heading off toward the inn to find John.

Peter returned to his chair and sat down, shaking his head gently. He hadn’t expected her to have grown quite so attached to the boy, not that it was a bad thing. She was turning out to be a much better person than he had originally given her credit for. Not to mention how beautiful she had looked in that dress.

Peter shook his head slowly, trying to clear the thoughts away. He was letting himself get carried away in flights of fancy and it was time for him to ground himself back in reality. Maybe one day he and Melanie could be an item, but that was going to take a lot of hard work on his part and he would have to compete with every man for miles.

Yet there was still a thrill to it. Getting the girl that everyone wanted would only make him feel more pride in the end. For now, though, he had his work cut out for him.

Chapter 19

True to her word, Melanie had gotten to work trying to cheer Darwin up. She started small by getting him to agree to eat lunch with her or help her out with things around the school, but soon she had convinced him to start spending a little extra time with her after school let out.

She figured that he wouldn’t really have much else to occupy himself with, and she certainly didn’t have anywhere she had to rush off to. Besides, Peter hadn’t yet shown up to pick up Darwin like he usually did. So, to pass the time, Melanie had offered to play a game of jacks with Darwin.

Despite how simple the game was, Melanie found that it was slowly helping to draw Darwin out of his shell. He won the first round easily, looking far more invested when the second game began. Melanie had only gotten the gist of the game from watching Chris, but Darwin seemed to know the game well enough that she could get by. As she bounced her ball gently, she reached forward and swiped up two jacks before catching her ball. She was winning by exactly two, but she had a feeling that Darwin would not let her remain in the lead for long.

He tossed his ball down at the table, watching it ricochet straight up into the air. He reached forward and swiped up four jacks, barely managing to catch his ball before it touched the top of the table once more. “And just like that, I lead by two, Miss Thompson.”

He looked so pleased with himself that Melanie couldn’t help but smile. This was more like the boy that she had met that first day. He might not be completely back to his old self, but this was a step in the right direction. She attempted to bounce her ball but missed with her swipe when she reached forward, accidentally scattering the remaining jacks onto the floor. “Oh, drat!”

“I know that you were losing, Miss Thompson, but I think throwing the game pieces onto the floor might be a little much,” Darwin said teasingly. “Don’t you and Peter keep telling me that one should lose with grace when bested in a game?”

“Using my own words against me now, are you?” Melanie narrowed her eyes at him in mock anger, yet her lips kept twitching as she tried not to smile. “You barely speak for almost a week, and when you finally do, it is to mock me? Such an ungrateful and rude boy,” she giggled, helping herself to one of the strawberries she’d brought with her.

“Hey, I am not rude! At least not all of the time,” Darwin relented, crossing his arms. “I just get in a bad mood from time to time. No different than anyone else.”

“I guess that is fair. However, what we need to work on with you is how you react to others when you are in that bad mood. Between you and me, the sheriff could use a lesson as well. Trying to talk to him when he is in a bad mood feels like standing in front of a wild animal that could maul me at any moment,” Melanie admitted, sighing gently. “Plus, when he spends as much time as he does worrying about people, it is no wonder that he’s never happy. Having a job where people are only happy to see you when something goes wrong is hard, but having a job where people blame you each time something goes wrong is even worse.”

“You mean like what you did to him the first day you two met?” Darwin replied cheekily, causing Melanie to gasp and whirl to face him.

“Who told you about that?” Melanie asked, her cheeks turning beet red.

“Why, the sheriff, of course,” Darwin said, raising an eyebrow. “Where else would I have heard it? He and I typically talk when he walks me home from school, you know. Lots of things come up in our conversations, and you haven’t managed to escape the topic roulette from time to time.”

“I didn’t realize that you were so close that he would confide in you like that. Though, he did say something pretty interesting to me the other day about you,” Melanie said, grinning as she saw Darwin’s face light up.

“What did he say about me?” he asked, hopping up and down in excitement. “Was it something good?”

“I guess it depends on how you look at it, but I’m also not sure I should tell you. It might ruin the way that you think about him, and I don’t want to hurt what you’ve got going on. It might be something that he wants to tell you in his own time,” Melanie added. “It will probably be worth the wait.”

“No way, you can’t sit on potential information I can use against him. You have to spill the beans!” he demanded. “If you don’t, then I’ll be mad at you and won’t listen to a thing you say.”

“Oh, dear, that would be problematic. I would hate to ruin our relationship now that you no longer act like a complete ruffian around me,” Melanie teased, giving him a playful shove. “I will just say that the sheriff is very fond of you and worries about you. We both do. I told you before that you could talk to me if something was troubling you, and the offer is very much still open.”

“I know he cares.” Darwin sighed, flopping back into his chair. “I just don’t like the way he keeps treating me like a kid. I am only two years away from being ten years old, and then I'll practically be a man. Ever since my parents died, everyone just keeps treating me like a kid. I’m so tired of people acting like I need to be protected all the time. My dad treated me like a man, and I miss that.”

“Believe it or not, I know exactly what you mean,” Melanie said wistfully. “I used to have those exact kinds of complaints when my father would prevent me from doing something while growing up. I used to think that he was babying me and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let me prove myself to him.”

“What changed?” Darwin asked.

“My father told me that while he understood my frustrations, he was just trying to make me spend my time as a kid worrying about a child’s responsibilities. When he was a young boy, his father always seemed to stop him from doing those things he wanted to do. He wouldn’t let my father go out hunting with him until he was thirteen, and it seemed like every time my father asked my grandfather if he could do something, my grandfather would refuse,” Melanie said, noting the look of displeasure on Darwin’s face. “Then, one day, my father decided he was going to go behind my grandfather’s back and do what he wanted anyway.”

“What happened then?” Darwin popped a strawberry into his mouth, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Well, my father decided that he was going to go out with one of his friends and climb a tree. My father ended up slipping and falling off that tree, but his leg caught in one of the branches on the way down. He ended up breaking that leg. My grandfather found him hanging upside down from the tree, unconscious from the pain because my father’s friend ran back to the house to go get him,” Melanie said, remembering how her father had grimaced as he told her the story.

Darwin’s eyes were huge now. “What did your grandfather do? Did he beat your father’s hide raw?”

“Surprisingly, no. My grandfather sat with my father every day while his leg healed, helping him rehabilitate it. But when they first reset his leg, my grandfather told my father that when he told him not to do something, it was because he knew that the outcome would not be worth the momentary pleasure. When he said no, it was to spare him from pain like this. When kids show interest in something, we don’t want to say no. But we also understand the risks that come with certain actions that young people like you just don’t know about yet. My grandfather didn’t want my father to feel like he couldn’t pursue his interests, but he wanted him to know where to draw the line,” Melanie said, noting how quiet Darwin had gotten.

“I think it is time for me to head back to the orphanage,” Darwin said quietly, quickly gathering his things. Not wanting to argue, Melanie rounded the rest of the fruit up in a basket and gave it to Darwin to take home. As they were coming out of the school building, Darwin suddenly stiffened beside her. Turning her gaze to where he was staring, she felt her heart sink when she spotted Johnny Carrington once again making his way toward the school building. The last person she wanted to see right now was him.

“You need to be careful around him, Miss Thompson,” Darwin said quietly, eyeing Johnny with obvious vehemence. “That man is a snake that walks on two legs.”

“That is some rather strong language to use against him, Darwin. I am sure that Mr. Carrington can’t be that bad. He comes across as unsavory, but I’m sure first impressions don’t do him justice,” Melanie said dismissively.

“If you say so,” Darwin mumbled. “I’ll see you later, Miss T.”

“Okay, have a good day, Darwin,” Melanie said quickly, waving as the young boy departed. “I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“Miss Thompson, what a surprise to see you still around so long after classes have let out. Could it be that you were waiting around hoping that I would show up?” Johnny asked, his teeth glinting as he smiled. “Does that mean that you are finally free enough for us to have that dinner date?”

“I am afraid I shall have to disappoint you yet again. I was only staying around because I was waiting on Peter to come and pick Darwin up. The sheriff seems to be running late, so I told Darwin he could head home early rather than waiting around all day for him. Now that he’s headed off safely, I have other errands to attend to,” Melanie replied pleasantly, doing her best to walk around Johnny.

“Are you absolutely sure? We wouldn’t need to go far. It might not be the finest, but that eatery isn’t famous around here for no reason. Or you could allow me the pleasure of inviting you to my personal abode where I can have my chef prepare something worthy for you,” Johnny pressed, his voice oozing with charm. It was enough to make Melanie’s skin crawl. As he continued trying to coerce her, Melanie found herself silently hoping Peter would show up to free her from this situation.

“Miss Thompson, sorry to keep you waiting! I ended up having to help the Wathe and Pith families with a land dispute. Did Darwin head off already?” Peter asked, jogging up to her and glancing only momentarily in Johnny’s direction. “Sorry, Johnny, but I am afraid I would like to talk to Miss Thompson in private regarding one of her students. If you’ll excuse us,” Peter said, putting his arm around Melanie’s shoulders and firmly guiding her away before Johnny could reply.

Melanie had to bite her cheek once again to stop herself from smiling, taking pleasure in the sight of Johnny seething as they went on their way.

Chapter 20

The day had started uneventfully, but around the time the sun reached its zenith in the sky, Peter was roused from his nap by the sound of people shouting outside of his jail. Upon going out to investigate, he had found two men inches from coming to blows. They both tried to talk over the other while trying to tell him what happened, pushing one another constantly.

Their yelling had caused his head to throb, the vein in his temple pulsing visibly. “That is quite enough!” he said loudly enough to silence the two men, who each took a step back in surprise. “If you two can’t tone yourselves down, then I cannot help you. I’m not going to sit here and be subjected to your shouting match. Explain what happened nicely or deal with it yourselves.”

The two men had looked at one another, frowns deepening. Eventually, the first man broke the silence. “I told him from the beginning that this didn’t need to be something that you would be bothered with, but this idiot here won’t accept any other outcome.”

“That’s because I have no proof that you won’t try to rip me off, you old goat,” the second man spat back, the two obviously not on the best of terms to begin with. “It wouldn’t be the first time that you’ve conned me on the value of something.”

“Are you accusing me of dishonesty?” the first man had snarled.

“I’m not nominating you for sainthood, that’s for sure,” the second one retorted. “You would probably cheat your mother if it meant making a few more bucks.”

“Let’s see how you bad mouth me when I knock all your teeth out!” the first man said, pulling back his fist to strike the second.

Peter had pulled his pistol from its holster and raised it in the air, firing off two shots, the sound of which cracked loudly enough to make him wince. The two men then immediately dove down into the dirt, their hands raised above their heads in an attempt to shield themselves.

“Are you out of your mind, Sheriff? You can’t just treat Walter Pith that way,” the first man said indignantly, slowly climbing to his feet and fastidiously dusting himself off.

“That goes for Marcus Wathe too,” the second man huffed, eyeing his dusty suit with distaste. “You made me ruin my favorite suit.”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t the one who told you to dive into the middle of the street. I told the two of you that if you didn’t explain nicely, I wasn’t going to listen. Now, I’ll give you one last chance. Try not to ruin things for yourselves this time,” Peter had snapped, holstering his gun and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I am truly not in the mood for this.”

Mr. Pith and Mr. Wathe eyed each other warily for a moment before the former finally said, “Just follow us, Sheriff. We will show you what it is we need your assistance with.”

It had all come down to a section of fence that had blown over from one of the recent dust storms. It had only fallen over maybe a foot away from where it used to be, but it made it look like the owner of the fence had arbitrarily extended a single section over into what Peter assumed was the neighbor’s land. After grabbing the out of place post and returning it back to where it lined up with the others, Peter had turned to the two men. “Do me a favor, gentlemen, and do this without me next time. I have many duties but helping you fix the boundaries on your lands is not one of those jobs.”

“Yes, sir,” the two men had replied apologetically, hats held in their hands.

Glancing at the clock tower, Peter had cursed to himself as he saw how late it had gotten. Moving that fence post had taken a lot longer than he’d expected, and it was well past the time when he was supposed to have gone to pick Darwin up from his classes.

Peter had first made his way to the orphanage, surprised when he found Darwin kneeling beside the main road. He hadn’t expected to stumble across him this long after school got out. “Darwin, there you are. I’m sorry I didn’t come to get you today. My duties had me occupied elsewhere.”

“Whatever. I preferred being able to walk without you nagging me the whole way,” Darwin said dismissively, tossing a small pebble out onto the dusty road before him.

Peter could tell the boy was moody, but he couldn’t understand what had caused his sudden mood change. When he had dropped Darwin off earlier that day, the youth had been in relatively high spirits. “Yikes, what got on your bad side this morning?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Darwin replied snippily. “I’m just an orphaned boy no one seems to want to take time for and that everyone treats as a kid and a nuisance. What could possibly be going wrong in my life?”

“If nothing is wrong, then why didn’t you wait for me at the school?” Peter prodded, his mind filled with the sound of warning bells.

“No reason. I just didn’t feel like waiting for you today. I had a good time with Miss Thompson after school and wanted to be able to enjoy my good feelings for a while,” Darwin then snapped back. “Not that I need to explain myself to you.”

“I can do without the attitude, Darwin. I’m just trying to help,” Peter growled in response. “You don’t have to be so insufferable when I’m just trying to ask some basic questions.”

“It was because Mr. Carrington showed up, okay? I saw him coming toward the schoolhouse and decided I didn’t want to be there anymore,” the boy replied gruffly. “He’s not the kind of person I want to be around.”

“I mean, I can certainly understand the sentiment, but what makes you say that? Mr. Carrington has a tendency to rub people the wrong way, that’s all. He has a rather abrasive personality, but that doesn’t make him a bad person,” Peter replied dismissively.

“I just don’t like the way he acts around Miss Thompson. Always trying to come onto her no matter how much she tells him she isn’t interested. He is a bad man, Peter. You can tell from the look in his eyes. He’s a snake on two legs if I ever saw one, and just as dangerous. Whatever ideas he has for Miss Thompson, I can tell they aren’t good,” Darwin admitted softly.

“Is that so? Then I guess it is a good idea for me to check on her, isn’t it? That way, I can put your fears to rest,” Peter replied cheerfully, clapping Darwin on the shoulder gently. “Thanks for your help.”

“You promise you will go take a look?” Darwin’s eyes were pleading as they looked up at him, making it impossible for Peter to tell him no.

“I promise. I’ll make my way over there right now.” Peter held his hand over his heart and made a quick X motion that was soon copied by Darwin. It was a little handshake that the two of them had come up with for when they made a big promise. Whoever broke their promise would run the risk of having their heart explode from a curse.

When Peter had gotten in view of the school building, he was surprised to find that Melanie was still standing in front of it. What was more, she was standing directly in front of Johnny, the two looking like they were in the middle of their conversation.

Something she said caused Johnny’s face to visibly darken with rage, and though Peter was enjoying watching the pompous fool get put in his place, he was also fearful of what Johnny would try to do in retaliation to Melanie should she kindle his wrath. This would probably be a good time to intervene, before things escalate.

Peter called out to her, jogging up to them and glancing only momentarily in Johnny’s direction. “Sorry, Johnny, but I am afraid I would like to talk to Miss Thompson in private regarding one of her students. If you’ll excuse us,” Peter said, putting his arm around Melanie’s shoulders and firmly guiding her away before Johnny could reply.

Melanie seemed so grateful for his sudden appearance that she didn’t even object as he threw his arm around her, leading her away from Johnny and the school grounds. “Just keep walking with me and don’t look back at him,” Peter murmured, speaking out of the side of his mouth.

“You have fabulous timing,” Melanie breathed as they finally found themselves out of earshot. “I swear if that had gone on any longer, I would have smacked him. How dare he assume that he can bully me into doing what he wants. I’m not some weak-willed woman that will bow to his whim, unlike these other women around here.”

“Darwin was worried about you and told me about Johnny showing up. I admit that I was a little worried about you myself,” Peter said, cheeks flushing red in his embarrassment. “I promised him I would check up on you, and that’s the only reason I’m here, I promise. I’m not trying to stalk you or anything like that.”

He could tell from the look on her face that Melanie didn’t believe him, but if she had any smart remarks, she kept them to herself. Personally, he was grateful for that, since after the dispute earlier, he’d had his fill of shouting for the day. “Do you have spare time? We can talk back at my office where there won’t be ears around to overhear us.”

“I suppose I could spare a little bit of time,” Melanie replied, turning her head as she heard the sound of a carriage trundling close. She and Peter watched as Johnny’s carriage passed by, Peter able to feel the other man’s rage from where he stood. That only made his smile widen.

That’s what he gets for thinking he can make any woman swoon for him. It’s about time someone came along to knock him down a couple of pegs. Still, Peter couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to be brewing soon. He just wished he had some semblance of an idea of what that might be.

“Peter, are you alright? Your eyes got distant there for a second,” Melanie said, peering up into his eyes as she was standing before him.

“What? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get down to business,” he replied quickly. “I have more questions for you about Lawrence.”

Chapter 21

When they’d seen Johnny’s carriage finally wheel away, they doubled back and returned to the school so that Melanie could lock it up for the night. After slipping the small key ring back into one of the small pouches sewed on the outside of her dress, Melanie returned her attention to Peter.

“Now then, is everything alright? Did something happen to Darwin?” Melanie asked urgently.

“Not that I know of,” Peter said, shaking his head slowly. “The boy looked a little angry about nearly having a run-in with Johnny, but that was about it. All he told me was that he didn’t think it was wise for you to be left alone with the man. Darwin told me straight to my face that he doesn’t think Johnny Carrington is a man to be trusted, and honestly, I can’t say I blame him.”

“Sounds like there is a story you aren’t telling me.” Melanie grinned, poking a finger into Peter’s chest gently. “I thought that you were considering having the two of us work together. Do you always keep things from your prospective partners like this, or am I just being kept out of the loop?”

“I would say that my vagueness is something that everyone who has worked with me has had to deal with at some point. I’m the kind of person who is used to doing things on his own, so I’m not used to having men nearby that I can call upon to assist me. I certainly didn’t have anyone in town who would be willing to spy on Johnny Carrington for me. He has a lot of money, and a lot of friends around this place because of it. Though, I am not sure you can call a person who only has an acquaintance with you for money a friend,” Peter replied, shaking his head. “It was really interesting around here when I got announced as the new sheriff; I’ll tell you that.”

“Interesting how, exactly?” Melanie asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. “He didn’t try to attack you or anything like that, did he?”

“Honestly, it is a long story that I don’t want to get into right now. Just suffice it to say that Johnny and I have had bad blood between us ever since I was announced as Michael’s successor. Johnny probably thought that he was a shoo-in for the job given that he had worked with Michael far longer than I had, and I honestly wouldn’t have been bent out of shape if he’d gotten the job instead. The fact that he has a vendetta against me for having been chosen, however, makes it really tempting for me to boast about it each time I see him,” Peter chuckled, grinning.

“I doubt that is going to win you any points with him,” she said with a laugh, shaking her head gently. “I just can’t believe you sometimes.”

“Believe me, people do not want to be able to say they saw me at my most petty. They would not like me if I chose to be as vindictive as some of my constituents would have you believe I am,” Peter huffed, leaning against the wooden post of the fence behind him and crossing his arms. “I’m tired of being made out to be the villain just for trying to do my job.”

“I honestly think that the number of citizens in town that don’t like you is significantly smaller than the number that does. Rather than focusing on the people who believe that you can’t do anything right, focus on those who recognize the effort that you are putting in and appreciate you for it,” Melanie replied comfortingly. “People like me.”

She gazed up at Peter, realizing that the two of them were still standing quite close to one another. He had removed his hand from her arm but hadn’t made any move to step away from her, nor she from him. Her eyes slowly traced along his slim cheeks and those gray eyes of his, the exotic color only making him more fascinating to her.

Standing this close, she could see the faint scar that adorned the right side of his face, running across his cheek. It looked like he had been slashed with something, albeit not too deeply. She wondered if that had happened before he had become the sheriff or after he had taken up the role. She was too afraid to ask him for fear that he’d think she was nosy, but it surprised her even more to find that she genuinely wanted to know more about him.

“Has Johnny been coming by the school a lot?” Peter finally asked, doing his best to make it look like he wasn’t overly concerned with her answer. “Seems like I keep seeing his carriage pulling up to the school building as of late.”

“Honestly, it feels like he comes every other day. In the beginning, I just made excuses to be polite, but after today, I’m going to be treating him differently. Admittedly, I found his determination kind of cute at first. The fact that he seemed so desperate to get on my good side only helped to improve my confidence. However, the fact that he was ignoring me and basically telling me that I was going to have dinner with him whether I wanted to or not lowered my opinion of him,” Melanie admitted, blushing gently as she looked away from him. “I actually found myself wishing that you would show up so that I could get away from him.”

“Is that right?” Peter asked cheekily, his eyes glittering with amusement. “Hoping for your knight in shining armor to come to your rescue, were you?”

“Knight in shining armor? Please!” she exclaimed, laughing gently. “I far prefer your company to his, that’s all.”

She could tell that her words were giving him the wrong idea, his smile only seeming to grow the more that she spoke. “You like my company more than his, huh? Last I checked, that was just a subtle way of telling someone that you like them,” he teased, leaning down so his face was mere inches from her own. “Methinks you protest too much.”

“If you say so,” Melanie said, swallowing nervously now that he was so close to her. It would have taken only a second for him to lean forward and steal a kiss, but he managed to control himself enough to refrain, much to Melanie’s relief. She didn’t know what she would have done if he’d tried it, but she didn’t trust herself enough to know that she wouldn’t have let him do exactly that.

“Johnny Carrington…” Melanie’s voice trailed off. “Lawrence’s last name is also Carrington. Did you ever find out if the two of them were related?”

“From what I could find out, Johnny’s his uncle. Lawrence is the son of Johnny’s brother Jacob, who also happens to live in town. Why do you ask?” Peter’s eyebrows rose as he spoke.

“Because Lawrence is the boy who was hanging out with Darwin, and if I were a betting woman, I’d say that Lawrence knew something and told Darwin about it. I’m sure you found it just as suspicious as I did when he revealed that he had known about it. If he had just known about the bandit camp, it would have been one thing, but the fact he knew how many riflemen there would be means he was in deep,” Melanie asserted. “I’m not sure why Darwin would agree to help with something like that, but I can safely say that I think Lawrence is involved. If we keep our eye on Lawrence and do a little more snooping, we might be able to find a clue that can link him to the crime.”

Peter took a deep breath and sighed. He explained to her his history with Johnny and how he’d been one of the other deputy sheriffs under Michael. He explained how Johnny had always disliked him and thought that Michael should have hung him rather than trying to rehabilitate him. It was fascinating to be able to hear tidbits about his life as an outlaw straight from the horse's mouth, but it only made her suspicions surrounding Johnny seem more justified. “Did you ever consider that Johnny might be behind this string of crimes because he is trying to make you look bad?”

“Consider it? There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t suspect he is doing precisely that. However, with no proof, there is nothing I can do to him. He is too powerful of a man for me to be able to get most of the judges around here to go after him without concrete evidence, and even if I got it, there would probably be more than one who would tell me just to look the other way. Ironic, isn’t it? That a former outlaw has more of a sense of morality and honor than the supposed law-keepers?” Peter asked, laughing humorlessly. “At least I can affirm I never sold my soul for riches.”

“Do you think that Johnny might be threatening Darwin into silence? If so, then we need to get to Darwin right away. We need to force him to answer our questions so we can know once and for all whether Johnny is involved. If Darwin tells us that is the case, I will be more than happy to help you take Johnny in myself,” Melanie said, her eyes burning with sudden resolve. “We need to get to the orphanage without a moment to lose!”

She took off in the direction of the orphanage without giving Peter a chance to say anything. She only knew that he was following her because she could hear his spurs jingling with every step. She already had a million thoughts racing through her mind, and none of them were pleasant. She only hoped that she and Peter would be able to get to the orphanage in time. Because if not, there was the genuine chance that Darwin’s life would soon be in danger.

Chapter 22

“Sister Francesca, can you tell me where Darwin is? It is important that we see him right away!” Melanie’s words tumbled out of her in a hurried rush, gratitude coursing through Peter as he saw how genuinely concerned Melanie seemed to be for Darwin.

“Oh, hello there, Miss Thompson. Darwin was here just a little while ago. He’d been sitting on the front desk looking moody, so I asked him if he wanted to be so kind as to help me hang up the laundry. He was with me only a short time before Mr. Carrington showed up asking for him,” Francesca said politely, smiling. “I’d never seen Mr. Carrington take an interest in any of our young wards before, and I didn’t want to interfere with any chance that Darwin could get adopted, so I let Darwin go with him.”

Peter immediately felt something icy settle in the pit of his stomach. “Did they mention where they were going, by any chance?”

“I believe Mr. Carrington said they would be back at his home tonight,” Francesca replied cheerfully, her smile vanishing when she saw Peter and Melanie exchange a silent look. “Is something wrong, Sheriff?”

“I hope not, Sister, but I can’t be entirely certain. Things have been highly unusual as of late, so I’m not sure. I don’t want to say anything yet for fear of having to eat my words later, so for now, let’s just leave it at that. Thank you for your time,” Peter replied amicably, leaving the nun to her work as he took Melanie by the arm to keep her from running off again.

“Peter, you heard what she said! If Darwin’s at Johnny’s, that means he is in danger,” Melanie said irritably, stomping her foot on the ground in her temper when Peter stopped her once more.

“If he is at Johnny’s, then we can’t just barge in there unprepared. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the mood to be shot and killed today. You have been acting strangely ever since I told you that Johnny and Lawrence could be related, and I want to know why. You promised me after the ambush that you wouldn’t run off half-cocked into dangerous situations again, remember? If you are going to act like one of my deputies, you have to follow my orders,” he said, moving to stand in front of Melanie so that she was forced to focus her attention on him.

“I’m only worried about Darwin! If Lawrence is a part of Johnny’s family, that means he knew about Johnny’s involvement with the bandits. We suspected, sure, but now you have that solid evidence you were hoping for. Or you will, at least, once we head over there and confront Johnny about it,” Melanie said in an angry whisper. “Every moment that we stand here arguing is more time that they could be doing who knows what to Darwin.”

Peter ground his teeth. “I understand your frustration, and I can very much relate, but we need a plan first. At the very least, I’m going to need Chris and some of the other men for backup.”

“It’s my fault,” Melanie said softly, wringing her hands. “While I was talking to Johnny, I think I let slip that Darwin and I had been talking about him. He probably took it to mean that Darwin had ratted him out. Now Johnny is going to punish Darwin for it,” she added in a horrified whisper, taking a deep breath as her eyes suddenly gleamed with unshed tears.

“Now you listen to me, Melanie Thompson. The last thing that is going to help us right now is playing the blame game, and even if it would, the burden for this mess doesn’t fall squarely on your shoulders. I’m just as much responsible for looking after things around here, yet Johnny has managed to get the better of me right under my nose,” Peter admitted, the words leaving a sour taste in his mouth as he spoke.

“Chris told me that he suspected Johnny was behind things when I came to visit you at the station. We honestly should have acted long before now,” Melanie whispered, the pained expression on his face causing her to rub her arm uncomfortably. “I should have mentioned it to you then.”

“We can’t focus on what we could have done. I need you to run back to the jail and grab Chris. Tell him to come to the Carrington place as soon as he can because I’m going to need his assistance. After that, I want you to return to the Brough’s house,” he said, feeling her hand clasp his arm as he tried to step past her.

“Oh no, you are not getting off that easily. I told you that I was going to help, and that’s exactly what I’ll do! You aren’t going to ship me back to the farm and expect me just to wait around while you risk your life every day,” Melanie spat, her eyes burning with determined fervor.

Peter smiled softly, shaking his head slowly in wonder. This woman could really get on his last nerve sometimes, but her loyalty was unquestionable. He felt his throat go dry, clearing it in embarrassment. “Fine. I won’t argue with you.”

Melanie nodded, the wide smile on her face helping to dampen the reservations he was feeling. “I’ll run and get Chris, and then the three of us can head to Johnny’s together.”

“No time for that. I’m going to make my way to Carrington’s ranch. You go get Chris and meet me there. If I know Johnny, he’ll have assembled a bunch of his boys. I don’t want them to have the chance to get the jump on us,” Peter replied quickly, shouting over his shoulder. “And make sure you don’t make yourself an unarmed target!” he added.

Peter ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn’t know if Darwin was undergoing a beating, or even worse, found himself at risk of being killed. Each second was precious.

It didn’t take long for Peter to arrive at the gates of Johnny’s homestead, his chest heaving from the exertion. His lungs felt like they had been set aflame, his legs threatening to cramp up at any moment. Yet he knew he had to keep pressing on, scooting around the edge of the sizable wood and brick home toward the yard near the back of the house.

He could hear men laughing and cheering, growing louder as he approached, and the distinct sound of a person grunting in pain. It caused Peter’s fists to clench angrily. He could just make out the sound of Johnny Carrington speaking over the rest of the men. “Now, Darwin. You should have just agreed to go along with our plan and keep your mouth shut. Lawrence here tells me you’ve been getting awfully close to that lovely new schoolteacher of yours, and I would hate to think I’d have a potential mole to contend with.”

“I already told you, I haven’t said anything.” Darwin’s voice was pained and hoarse. Peter was able to see his young friend currently being restrained by the arms by two large men as others took turns slamming their fists into his gut and face. Blood was pouring out of the youth’s nose, but Darwin spit a thick glob of blood onto the dirt before Johnny defiantly. “But if this is how you treat people who stay quiet, I’d hate to see how you treat spies.”

“Real cute, kid. We’ll see how smart you are talking when we put an end to that outlaw pretending to be a lawman and bring things in this town back to the way they used to be. Peter Matherson is about to be a page in the book of history, boys,” Johnny said, his eyes cruelly glittering as he smiled.

“That’s enough of that,” Peter said abruptly, rising from his hiding spot with his pistol free from its holster, cocked and ready in his right hand. “You all had best let that boy go now before you put me in a really bad mood. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee any of you are going to leave here unscathed.”

“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour himself come to your rescue, Darwin. Looks like you weren’t telling the truth after all. Otherwise, how would the sheriff here have found us so quickly?” Johnny asked aloud, kneeling next to where Darwin lay and hauling the boy to his feet, his revolver pressed against Darwin’s head. “Now, the way I see it, you got two options.”

Johnny never managed to say exactly what those options were. The men surrounding Peter had all stepped forward like they meant to approach him, but they were immediately halted by the loud sound of a shot being fired from afar. The effect that it had on the assembled men was immediate.

Many of the men outright scattered, their fearful shouts ringing out in the air. Other men charged forward, but Peter was ready for them. He swung a punch into the belly of the man closest to him,his knee driving into the man’s chin to send him sprawling to the dirt. Peter made his way forward, taking advantage of the commotion to slam his fist into Johnny’s jaw, sending the man staggering back from Darwin. “Just you and me now, Johnny. Let’s settle this once and for all.”

Chapter 23

Her feet pounded the dirt as she raced back toward the station, her heart feeling like it might explode from her chest at any moment. She’d promised Peter that she would fetch him assistance, but she knew deep down that he was going to endanger himself tonight.

When she burst through the front door of the police station, she was relieved to find Chris standing surrounded by men that she recognized from the day of the ambush. John was among the men, a serious look on his face as he looked at Melanie, taking scope of her expression and understanding that something was wrong. “Melanie, by the stars! What is the matter? Why did you run all the way here?”

“Peter sent me. Johnny Carrington has Darwin at his home, and Peter already ran there to take a look at things. Knowing him, he’ll rush headfirst into the situation without taking a moment to hesitate, and I don’t want to find him dead or beaten because of it. I need all of you to come with me right away,” Melanie practically shouted.

“You heard her, fellas! The sheriff is in trouble. I hope your guns are loaded and your nerves are steeled, because we got another fight on our hands!” Chris bellowed, grabbing the shotgun that hung on the nearby wall and quickly loading two bullets into it before stuffing a number more into the pocket of his vest. He must have noticed how Melanie was looking at him, because he offered her a placating smile. “I won’t aim for anyone unless I absolutely have to. We aren’t murderers; we are lawmen.”

His words helped to soothe some of the misgivings Melanie had, and she knew it would be naive to think that they could solve the situation without arming themselves. She just hated Johnny for having to be such an envious and spiteful soul that he begrudged Peter’s position enough to constantly cause him trouble. Why didn’t Johnny simply agree to work alongside Peter for the good of the town and help to shore up the number of actual lawmen around? What caused him to jump to the complete opposite side?

As she watched Chris make his way toward the door, she started to walk out with him. She intended to follow the rest of the men who poured out of the door. Chris threw out his arm to stop her, blocking her way. “Melanie, I really think that the sheriff would prefer if you stayed here where it was safe. You know how he got the last time you showed up to the scene unannounced.”

“Things are different than they were back then,” Melanie replied dismissively, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “Peter told me to come get you and for both of us to return for backup. I am a female deputy now, or at least an honorary one. I am coming with, and I will hear no arguments about it.”

Chris’ expression was a mixture of disbelief and confusion, but she could also tell that he was impressed by the twinkling in his eyes. “If you managed to get that old bear to agree to something like that, then who am I to argue with you? Let’s get going; we’ve already wasted enough time.”

They ran together back in the direction of Johnny’s home, Melanie doing her best to ignore the stitch that soon formed in her side from all of the running. She silently reminded herself that she would need to become a little more active in her daily lifestyle after this. The feeling of being winded was one that she did not particularly enjoy. She could see some of the other men milling around the front gate to the Carrington estate, the others mysteriously absent from view.

John was one of the men standing near the gate, and he raised his hand in greeting. “About time that you two caught up. Let’s get going. One of my other deputies already heard a shot being fired.”

“What are we standing around for? That maniac Johnny could have shot Darwin. We need to get back there and help him,” Melanie protested. “Our hesitating is going to get someone killed.”

“We only just got here!” Chris protested.

“Those men don’t seem to have those kinds of qualms. They are assaulting Darwin and are about to kill both him and Peter. Doesn’t that take just a little bit more importance?” Melanie said, trying hard not to shout. “You need to stop lollygagging and act like men!”

John grinned widely at that. “I told Iris there was a reason that I liked her. You had best listen to her before she goes off and does something crazy.”

Chris shook his head. “What should we do?”

“If we don’t do something now, we’ll have both Peter and Darwin’s blood on our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’d like not to have either!” Melanie spat, rounding on one of the men nearby who was carrying a hunting rifle. “Is that loaded?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the bearded deputy replied, holding it up to the light in front of her. “I got a spare revolver on me if you want it. I can get it loaded if you give me a couple of minutes.”

“No time for that!” Melanie replied, wrenching the rifle firmly from the surprised man’s grip before he had a chance to gather himself. She raced around the house as quickly as her worn shoes would allow. She nearly slid on the slick patches of mud on the ground near the corner of the house, holding in a soft grunt as she slammed into a nearby wooden post, turning herself at the last moment so her back slammed into it instead of the rifle in her hands.

She kept a firm grip on the weapon in her hand as she rounded the corner of the house and saw Peter slam his fist into Johnny’s face, sending the other man staggering. Darwin had managed to push himself away from Johnny, but the boy was limping badly. She felt a surge of righteous anger well up inside of her, the words of her father echoing in her mind. If you are going to fire a gun at a person, let it be the absolute last option. When all other options have been exhausted and the lives of those precious to you are on the line, you will find your inner peace in that moment. Then, when you take that shot, your aim will be true.

Melanie hefted the rifle so that she could line her vision up with the sights of the gun. As she leveled the gun so that it was pointed at Johnny, she had a moment of hesitation. If she took this shot and accidentally hit Peter, she would never be able to forgive herself. If she aimed a little higher than she wanted to hit, perhaps the additional compensation would help her accomplish what she needed. Straining to raise the relatively heavy gun into position, Melanie aimed for right above Johnny’s hat and let out a shot, the gun slamming back into her shoulder from the recoil.

Johnny’s hat suddenly flew back from the top of his head, and the crack of the rifle was still echoing in the air. The effect it had was exacerbated tenfold by the sudden shouting of Chris and the other men as they began rushing around the opposite side of the house. She ducked to the side and crouched down right before she saw the group of men race past her, biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing. She was rather proud that she had managed to hit Johnny’s hat, even if it wasn’t the real target she’d wanted to hit.

She could have left the rest to Chris and the others, but she hadn’t been raised as a coward. Ignoring the mud that now covered her dress, Melanie moved around the back of the house and found Peter standing over Johnny, while Darwin had scurried over to rest against the back of the house. She moved over next to him, ignoring the look of surprise on his face at the sight of the rifle in her hand. “Darwin, are you okay? I’m so sorry that we didn’t get here sooner.”

“You got here pretty quickly, all things considered,” Darwin wheezed faintly, clutching his stomach. One of his eyes was swollen shut and black, and his face was covered in a series of cuts and ugly purple bruises in the shape of knuckles from where he’d been struck over and over. “I couldn’t believe that Peter came here all by himself.”

“I can’t believe that you agreed to come with Johnny,” Melanie scolded. “You should have known that he would come for you. Why didn’t you let Peter and I help? Don’t try to say you were trying to keep us out of it, because that was a futile endeavor from the start. These men are actively targeting Peter, and for whatever reason, you decided you were going to tag along in all of it.”

“Peter needed a man on the inside who could find out about these things before they happened. That way, he could keep the real big things under control. I tried to warn you and him countless times, but I couldn’t be obvious about it in front of Lawrence because he would have just come back and told Johnny about it. Just like I assumed happened this time,” Darwin spat, anger etched on his face.

“There is no time for that now. We need to try and help Peter with Johnny. That revolver of his can hold four shots, and I don’t think that he’s fired any of them yet. That means until we’ve gotten him subdued, he’ll continue to be a danger to all of us,” Melanie commanded, hefting the rifle defensively in front of her as she centered her sights on Johnny once again.

Chris came out of nowhere from behind her and dragged her and Darwin back around the side of the house right before three back-to-back shots cracked through the air like lightning. Melanie’s grip on the rifle slackened as she was pulled off balance, dropping it to the ground before she whirled on Chris. “Are you out of your mind? I can’t afford to lose that rifle; it doesn’t even belong to me,” she huffed. “And what about Peter?”

“I’ll grab the rifle, and Peter is dealing with Carrington right now. Besides, I think you’ve done enough, you crazy spitfire,” Chris replied, holding up his hand to stop the stream of protests that Melanie was about to give him. “Please, just do this for me. You want to be a team player, so let’s follow the leader for now. We are fortunate that you didn’t kill Johnny just now.”

Chapter 24

As the hat fell to the ground and various men around him scrambled for cover, Johnny tried desperately to center his men again but was drowned out by their cries and shouts of fear. Peter capitalized on Johnny’s distraction, his eyes centered on the revolver still held in his hands.

The two men fell to the ground together with Peter on top of Johnny, the men rolling around while Peter tried to wrestle the revolver out of Johnny’s hand. One wrong move could result in his untimely demise, so Peter was doing his best not to let Johnny get the upper hand. He pulled back his fist as best as he could and launched a punch toward Johnny’s jaw, striking the man in the chin. Johnny responded in kind by smacking Peter across the face with his revolver, a small cut appearing on his cheek.

His face stung, but he didn’t allow it to distract him. He could feel that familiar old bloodlust trying to rise inside of him as he gazed down at the man who had single-handedly made his life hell for the last few months. It was enough to make him want to beat Johnny within an inch of his life, but Peter knew that wasn’t the kind of thing a sheriff could do. He had to do things a little more cleanly or risk being accused of abusing his power. He could already see how Johnny might be able to spin the tale of what happened tonight to make it sound bad for Peter, but there was nothing he could really do about that now.

He just had to hope that whatever judge that oversaw Johnny’s case could understand the circumstances that had brought this situation on him. He hadn’t asked for Johnny to bring trouble to the town, but he was sure ready to punish him for doing so. His inner outlaw was telling him to deal with the man once and for all, and that sparing him would only allow Johnny to try more mischief. Even as he stared down at Johnny, Peter could still see the gleam of hatred in the man’s eyes. Peter might have managed to temporarily pin down the hand that held the revolver, but that meant Johnny was still dangerous.

Johnny caught him off guard with a sudden left hook, knocking Peter back just enough that he lost grip of Johnny’s hand. He took advantage of Peter’s sudden unbalance to level his revolver toward Peter’s chest, his thumb pulling back the hammer. Peter dove forward and grabbed the gun from the side, turning it away just in time before Johnny squeezed the trigger, firing off another shot.

Peter grit his teeth as the sound of gunfire cracked through the air, his ears ringing. His vision blurred for an instant, forcing him to squeeze his eyes closed. He forced them back open a moment later, just in time to feel Johnny slam his fist into his jaw once again. “Curse you, you filthy outlaw. You may have fooled everybody else, but I know you are still the same garbage human that Michael brought here in chains.”

“You are wrong, Johnny. I was a handful back in my old days, but that isn’t who I am anymore. It isn’t who I want to be anymore. You have just been so absorbed in your bitterness that you can’t see the goodness in me,” Peter snarled, looking down at him. “You tried to kill me just now. Do you know what the penalty for trying to kill an officer of the law is? You messed up big time tonight, Johnny. I’ll make sure that you sit in that cell for a long time, whether you have the money to bail yourself out or not.”

“Don’t think for an instant that this is over or that you’ve won, Matherson. I am going to have the last laugh, you mark my words,” Johnny snarled in return, still struggling beneath Peter to throw him off. “I’ll spend every moment making sure that you don’t spend a second in peace. I’ll run you ragged until you can’t even think straight, and I’ll be the dagger in the dark that you have to worry about stabbing your back at any moment. You’ll never know who is friend or foe, balking at even your closest friends until you are left in isolation.”

“That sounds like a very thought out plan you’ve created, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to reject that offer. You are going to sit in jail until I get you in front of a judge, and then I’m going to bring my witnesses in to testify in front of you, and we’ll see if you don’t end up fashioned with one of those lovely rope neckties you seem so eager to give me,” Peter replied, seeing the fear pass momentarily in Johnny’s eyes before he raised his hand to fire off another shot, this one whizzing past him to slam into the back of Johnny’s own house.

“Get off me! You can’t treat me like this. I’ll see to it that I have your badge for this!” Johnny cried out, firing one last shot into the air before Peter finally had enough and slammed his fist directly into Johnny’s temple. Taking advantage of having temporarily stunned the man beneath him, Peter wrenched the gun away from Johnny’s grasp and hurled it to the side. The sound of the weapon dropping into a rainwater-filled barrel brought the tiniest of smiles to his lips.

“I’m afraid that when I’m dealing with a criminal who is trying to resist arrest, I can deal with you however I want to so long as I don’t permanently injure you and I don’t maim you. Even then, accidents can happen during an altercation that a lawman like me couldn’t be held responsible for,” Peter whispered warningly. “As a former lawman, you should know that.”

“Former? I will always be a lawman, whether you decided to force me out of the sheriff’s office or not. You think that you hold more sway in this town than me? I’ll be laughing when I manage to get out of jail within a few days, and you can bet that I will start my plans right back up again when that happens,” Johnny snarled, his struggling starting to grow weaker as his energy finally began to fade.

“I will be right here waiting for when that time comes, Johnny. I’ll always be ready to sniff out your crimes whenever you scheme them,” Peter said.

“We’ll see about that, Matherson,” Johnny replied in disbelief. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.”

Slamming his fist into Johnny’s temple, Peter watched as the man that had caused him so much grief up until now slumped unconscious to the ground. The sheriff pushed himself to his feet, panting from exertion as he spit blood from the side of his mouth. He could feel that one of his teeth had been knocked out in the altercation, his tongue running over the newly created gap.

He saw a blur from out of the corner of his eye and braced himself right before Darwin slammed into him from the side. The young boy was babbling an apology, his eyes gazing up at Peter with more awe than he’d ever seen Darwin show him before. He rested his hand gently on the top of the boy’s head, relieved that he seemed to be alright for the most part. “We are going to need to get you patched up by the town doctor, Darwin. You look like hell.”

“You’re one to talk,” Melanie said with a laugh, appearing out of nowhere and hugging him on the opposite side. Peter felt his cheeks burn red in embarrassment, but he didn’t try to push them away. In all honesty, he was relieved to see them hale and hearty for the most part. “You had us all worried sick. Don’t you keep telling us not to play the hero?”

“I’m the one who is supposed to play the hero,” Peter replied, chuckling weakly. “I’ve told you that before, haven’t I?”

“I feel like I’ve heard it too many times already,” Melanie countered, smiling playfully. “Don’t you have any other gems of wisdom?”

Peter just laughed at that, feeling genuine relief flowing through his body. “Chris, get some rope and tie up Mr. Carrington. I want to be able to escort him personally to his new jail cell, just like I promised him. Melanie, can you take Darwin to Doc Brenner and get him patched up? I’ll be along once I’ve got things wrapped up here.”

“Okay, Peter. Just try not to take too long. You have quite a few bruises on your face. I wouldn’t mind you getting them checked out by a doctor,” Melanie said, gently taking Darwin by the arm and guiding him away as Chris rushed past Peter to bind Johnny. Peter took a deep, slow inhale, his heart rate gradually slowing back to normal. That had been a stupidly close call today.

Chapter 25

A good while later, when the sun had finally begun to sink out of view, Melanie and Peter were sitting together at the station. Darwin lay asleep on a nearby bench, his face and hands wrapped in cloth bandages. He’d managed to come out of the affair with some hefty bruising, but none of his bones seemed to be broken.

Peter grabbed them some dried jerky and bread to snack on, Melanie forcing herself to eat despite her lack of an appetite, watching the sheriff all the while. She was bursting with pride and wanted to ask Peter how he’d liked her accuracy, but part of her didn’t want to take all the credit for what had happened. Peter was the hero today, not her, but that didn’t stop her from slipping in a snide remark about it. “Thank goodness someone with decent aim took that shot at Johnny. I’m not sure what would have happened if you two had remained in your stalemate.”

She watched Peter’s eyes briefly widen in understanding, a deep chuckle erupting from his chest. “I should have known you were the one to take that shot. None of my other deputies could have managed that level of marksmanship no matter how lucky they were. You really saved me today, Melanie.”

“Well, I couldn’t make myself a sitting duck after the earful that you gave me last time, so of course I had to come armed. Thank the man who runs the trading post next time you see him. I used his rifle to take the shot,” Melanie said, feeling bashful from his sudden praise. She wasn’t used to him being this nice to her, and it kind of worried her. “You feeling alright? Are you sure one of Johnny’s punches didn’t knock something loose in that head of yours?”

“I don’t think so, but who can know for certain,” Peter replied, shrugging. “I just know that I am glad that things can finally get back to normal around here. Maybe I’ll actually be able to have a full night of peaceful slumber when I lay my head down tonight. That would be fantastic.”

“You have certainly earned it. No one would begrudge you getting some well-deserved rest. You’ll need to stay on your guard,” Melanie said cautiously. “Someone could try to free him.”

“When you are right, you are right.” Peter nodded, his hand moving so he could gently pluck a fragment of a tooth from his mouth and drop it into the nearby wastebasket. “I guess I am just going to need to keep the keys to the jail out of the station at night. They can’t get through these bars with any tools they have at their disposal.”

She winced at the sight of the tooth, sympathy flooding through her. “At least it wasn’t one of your front teeth. Wouldn’t have wanted them to ruin your perfect smile.”

“I can’t tell if you are picking on me right now or not.” Peter laughed. “I guess I’ll choose to take it as a compliment.”

“That’s good because it was a compliment. Why would you think I was trying to insult you?” Melanie asked, reaching across the desk and poking the back of his hand playfully. “Just because Johnny was hurling insults at you doesn’t mean I feel like joining him.”

“I appreciate that. I would hate to feel like people were ganging up on me today,” Peter shot back, grinning from ear to ear. “Especially you.”

Melanie blushed beet red from the sudden change of tone in Peter’s voice, doing her best to try to change the subject. “Alright, time to spill. You seem to care deeply for Darwin and already act like a father figure to him, so why don’t you take the next step? Why not just adopt him as your own and cut out the middleman? I’m sure Darwin would be ecstatic to be able to live with you.”

“It isn’t quite as easy as all that, Melanie. I’ve never seen myself as the kind of man who would ever be able to settle down and raise a family. I lived the earlier part of my years questioning if each day would be the day that someone finally managed to kill me. I made enemies from countless states all over this country, and we saw today that I have men who wish to be rid of me even here in good ol’ Santa Fe. What fairness would it be to my spouse to have to live every day worrying about whether or not her husband was going to come home?”

“It wouldn’t be easy, but I feel like you could make it happen,” Melanie offered encouragingly. “You’ve already done half of the work. Darwin looks up to you and takes your advice, which is more than most other townsfolk have a claim to. I think that if you gave it a chance, you’d be able to surprise yourself. You just need to find someone who understands the responsibilities of your job and can handle them with you.”

“A single man like me can’t be raising a boy in any manner that isn’t going to leave that person irreparably scarred. I don’t know the first thing about being a parent, and some of the things that I yell at Darwin aren’t exactly endearing. I would need someone else there with me to keep me in line and play the good guy, and there are very few people in this world I would even consider for that position,” Peter said softly, his eyes growing distant as he looked at Darwin.

“What about me? I don’t think we make that bad of a team. I could offer you assistance and advice from time to time as you needed it. I’m not sure I could commit to anything more than that right now, no matter what my personal feelings might be. Whatever they might be,” Melanie added quietly. “But at the very least I could help keep an eye on him for you and offer you pointers.”

He gave her a long, lingering look for a while. Melanie almost wished for a moment that Peter would just come out and ask her to act like a mother to Darwin, but what she really would have liked would be to hear him admit if he had any feelings for her. She already noticed the tension that seemed to hang in the air between them, and she was guilty of shooting glances at him when he wasn’t looking. The two of them were so close to a breakthrough, Melanie could feel it. He had slid his chair around the side of his desk, so they were sitting closer to one another, his hand moving to gently take hers in his.

“Melanie, I will try my best to say this without sounding like a complete fool, but I make no promises. I’ve never been the kind of man that you could call romantic. I’m not one of those fellas who oils back his hair and buys bouquets of flowers to win his woman’s fancy, nor am I the kind of person who enjoys making idle chatter. I have found in my lifetime that sometimes the best feeling in the world is sitting silently with someone you care about, merely enjoying their presence and knowing that they are enjoying yours in return,” he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I don’t know, that sounds pretty romantic to me,” Melanie breathed quietly, her heartbeat starting to speed up as she realized that Peter had leaned closer to her now. His face was mere inches from her own. “I don’t think it is such a bad thing to want to enjoy peace and quiet from time to time.”

“Melanie, there’s something I’ve been wanting to give you for a while now,” Peter admitted, his hand now completely enveloping hers. “Something that I’ve been giving a lot of thought to and have finally steeled my resolve for.”

“What is it?” she whispered, her throat and mouth suddenly dry. She knew what was going to happen even before she felt Peter’s hand on her chin tilting her head upwards and his lips pressing against her own. It was a soft and questioning kiss, the kind you give when testing the waters. Melanie was caught off guard by the sudden act but didn’t try to pull away, a part of her having yearned for something like this to happen for a long while now. The ruggedly handsome sheriff before her had proven himself to her quite a few times now, hadn’t he?

She felt herself press her lips back against his, wanting to deepen the kiss but feeling reservations about it at the same time. His kiss felt nice, but hadn’t her whole reason for coming to Santa Fe been to escape from a relationship?

Peter was nothing like Edward, though. She had no doubt in her mind that Peter would treat her infinitely better than Edward would ever have, not to mention he wouldn’t try and court other women behind her back.

Peter still didn’t know about Edward, and she doubted that his opinion of her would be improved knowing that she had run away from a prospective lover before. Her eyes slowly fell to the brass star pinned to his chest, a fresh wash of sadness rushing through her and causing her to pull away from the kiss.

Who was she kidding? The sting of loving a lawman was still too great for her. She felt tears begin to burn at the corners of her eyes, silently hating herself for not being able to just listen to her feelings. She pulled away from Peter, her hand slipping free from his as she rose to her feet. “I’m so sorry, Peter, but I can’t do this right now. I have to get going.”

“Going?” Peter sounded confused as he rose to his feet as well, everything about his body language telling her that he didn’t want her to go. “But I thought that maybe you and I could spend more time together. Get to know each other better.”

“Oh, Peter,” Melanie breathed, tears dripping slowly down her face. “I only wish that things could be that simple for us. I wish I knew how to explain to you what I’m feeling, but I don’t. I just know that I can’t be here with you right now.”

The look of hurt on Peter’s face was almost enough to shatter her right there. Everything about how their feelings were forming for one another felt so right, yet she couldn’t cast aside her reservations no matter how hard she tried.

“I’m truly sorry, Peter,” she repeated, turning on her heel and dashing out of the door of the station before Peter could say another word, leaving her half-eaten dinner behind. She didn’t even bother to try and stop the stream of tears that began to flow. She did her best to keep her sobs silent to prevent drawing attention to herself, beginning the long walk back to the Brough’s homestead.

Chapter 26

It wasn’t hard for him to realize that something had changed between them that night, but he’d gotten no chance to follow up on it. When he tried to see her at the school, he was surprised to find Iris there instead. Upon asking her about it, he was informed that Melanie had apparently taken ill and was not feeling up to venturing out of the house.

When Peter tried to visit Melanie at the Brough’s home, however, he found that John served as the obstacle to him seeing Melanie this time. “Iris said she isn’t feeling well and to let her rest, and I’m afraid that includes everyone. I will be sure to tell her that you came by to send her your regards and to wish her well, and when she is feeling better, I’m sure she’ll seek you out on her own.”

With John busy having to look after the chores on the farm, Peter had no choice but to return to the jailhouse. He ignored Chris as his deputy tried to make cheerful chatter with him and simply made his way over to his desk, where a large stack of paperwork was sitting.

“I haven’t seen Melanie for a while,” Chris said, doing his best to sound casual. “I am surprised she hasn’t been stopping by to visit you every other day since you managed to take down Johnny Carrington. Did the two of you fight or something?”

“Of course not. Do not be ridiculous,” Peter snapped shortly. “I guess she is feeling ill and has been keeping herself at home. She’ll come to see us once she is feeling better, assuming she wants to.”

“Woah, easy there. I was just asking a simple question,” Chris huffed. “No need to bite my head off.”

“Chris, I have a bunch of paperwork that needs to be completed. I don’t have time to sit here and flap gums with you. If you don’t have something pertaining to a case, I ask you to leave me to work in peace. I’m busy,” Peter finished irritably.

Chris looked like he wanted to say something, but he refrained. Instead, the young deputy grabbed his hat from where it was hanging on the nearby hat stand and placed it on top of his head. “I think I am going to go ahead and take a walk around town. You know, patrol the place for any suspicious characters. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

Peter hadn’t meant to get so short with Chris, and he couldn’t understand why he was in such a bad mood. Surely, he should have been used to Melanie ignoring him from their earlier days together, but maybe that was half the issue in itself. No matter how hesitant and chaste it had been, he had felt Melanie returning his kiss the night before. No matter how much they might have butted heads, that kiss had told him for the first time what he had so desperately wanted to know. That Melanie had feelings inside of her that matched his own.

That was why it was all the more confusing to him that she had suddenly cut things off. He hadn’t meant to come on so strong, and he still didn’t know what had possessed him to lean forward and brazenly kiss her the way he had. Still, he had liked the feeling of her soft and slightly dry lips against his own. He could still feel his lips tingling faintly from it, the smell of her perfume suddenly tickling at his nose.

He looked up from his paperwork, hoping to see Melanie standing there. Instead, he found Darwin looking at him with a worried expression on his face. “Iris said that Melanie isn’t feeling well and isn’t allowing visitors. Is that true?”

“It was true a few hours ago when I tried to go over to talk to her,” Peter replied, setting the slip of paper he’d been reading from back down onto the sizable pile in front of him. “Unless you’ve heard something different since then, it would be safe to assume that is still in effect.”

“You didn’t do anything to her, did you?” Darwin asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at Peter. “The last time I saw her was when we headed back to the station, so that means you were one of the last people to see her.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Peter snarled, slamming his hands down on the top of his desk as he rose to his feet. “I don’t know what has gotten into that woman, but I am not going to sit here and be treated like it is my fault. If she is sick, then it's probably from all the stress that you’ve put her through recently.”

Darwin shrank away from him, causing Peter to be flooded with guilt immediately. “Darwin, I’m sorry. I will tell you what, though. Why don’t you come along with me on my rounds today? I’ll let you help me oversee some of the tasks that I need to check off the list.”

“That sounds fine,” Darwin replied softly. “If you’ll have me along.”

Peter nodded, doing his best to muster a smile for the boy. “We’ll also need to take a wagon over to the next town to pick up some spare supplies they have for us at their town jail, so we can take this opportunity to help you work on your driving.”

“Do you mean it, Sheriff? Can I really drive the wagon today?” Darwin’s face had lit up with a wide grin, eyes shining with joy at the prospect.

“I’m serious, my boy. If you can prove to me that you can do it somewhat reliably, I might even entertain the idea of you doing more errands like this for me. That is, if you prove to me that you are a man capable of handling things by himself,” Peter replied, grateful that he had managed to temporarily distract the boy from thoughts of Melanie. It wouldn’t have helped his mood much to have Darwin constantly moping around or bringing her up, which would have only served to remind Peter of his own conflicting feelings.

Peter and Darwin had spent the rest of that afternoon walking around town, helping to tick off some of the things on Peter’s to-do list. They stopped for lunch at the town eatery, treating themselves to a couple of thick slices of steak pie. The combination of spices that had been used to make it was one that he had never thought to use, but he could definitely see himself eating more in the future. In slightly higher spirits now that his stomach was full, Darwin and Peter posted up outside of the train station.

Peter had been asked to inspect the cargo of one of the incoming trains by an anonymous citizen who suspected that stolen goods were being transported on it. A large number of munitions had recently gone missing from one of the nearby military supply wagons a few weeks back, and it was believed they’d be making their way here. Peter assumed that the stolen goods were either designated for a private buyer or were going to be put to use for the nefarious purposes of the robbers themselves. Either way, it spelled possible trouble for him, and he didn’t see the harm in investigating just in case there turned out to be something to the anonymous tip.

While sitting outside of the station, Peter heard the sound of a carriage trundling toward him. He turned his head to the right, catching sight of the dust that was being kicked up in its wake. There was a black raven painted on the door of the carriage on each side, a family crest no doubt, albeit one that Peter didn’t recognize. Whoever it was, they certainly weren’t from around these parts. The door pushed open to reveal a blond-haired gentleman with blue eyes that reminded Peter of the frozen-over lakes of his youth. There was nothing warm in the man’s gaze, no matter what the smile on his face would have him believe.

“You look like a knowledgeable man,” the man said, offering his gloved hand. “My name is Edward Brighton. I have come here looking for someone and was hoping that you might be able to assist me in finding her. I’ve gone through a good amount of trouble to come here to collect her, you see. If you could tell me where Melanie Thompson is, I will be on my way and allow you to return to your business,” the blond-haired man said in a short, clipped manner.

“What is your business with Melanie Thompson?” Peter asked, doing his best to keep his voice neutral. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable just giving out her location to some random stranger.”

“Ah, with all due respect, we are far from strangers. In fact, you could say that the two of us were prepared to become quite close. I am Melanie’s betrothed; we were due to marry before she decided to randomly take this excursion out here, and now that I’ve managed to find her, I’ve come to ask her to return home with me,” he replied, his words causing Peter’s heart to sink slowly in his chest.

“Her betrothed?” Peter asked, feeling as though someone had just knocked all the air right out of his lungs.

“That is right, sir. I’m glad to see you are not slow on the uptake. Now, if you would please tell me where she is? I am very much eager to be reunited with her,” the man said, smiling expectantly at Peter.

“Follow the main road through town until you reach the outskirts, then follow the leftmost road for five miles until you come across a house with a chicken coop out in the front yard. You’ll find her there,” Peter replied numbly, doing his best to ignore the pain in his chest. Was what this man said true?

“Thank you so much for the help, sir. I’ve given you my name, but I don’t believe I caught yours,” Edward said politely. “I find myself very curious to know.”

“I’m Peter Matherson, the sheriff around these parts,” Peter answered, doing his best to keep his tone polite.

“Well, thank you for your help, Sheriff. Perhaps we will see more of one another in the coming days,” Edward said, tipping his hat in farewell before calling out to his driver and giving him the instructions he’d received. The carriage soon sprang into motion once more, careening out of sight as it kicked up a cloud of dust that forced Peter to cover his eyes.

“Are you okay, Sheriff? You look as pale as a sheet all of a sudden,” Darwin asked, peering over at him with concern. “Who was that man?”

“I don’t know, Darwin. He said his name was Edward and that he was Melanie’s fiancé. You were here with me, so you had to have heard him say it,” Peter replied brusquely. “He is the man that Melanie is set to marry.”

Turning back toward the train station as the train’s whistle sounded in the distance, Peter had never been more grateful for a distraction in his entire life. The search would help to temporarily divert him from the feeling of his heart slowly breaking in his chest.

Chapter 27

“I’m sorry that you’ve had to pick up my slack over this last week,” Melanie said apologetically, watching Iris place her feet gingerly in the tub of heated water John had brought her. She’d known that Iris was near the end of her pregnancy and expecting the baby to arrive any day now, not to mention how she’d heard her complain about the pain she’d had in her feet after standing for long periods of time. It was a source of constant guilt, but Melanie didn’t know what else to do. Even after a week had elapsed, the confusion she felt hadn’t dissipated in the slightest.

Their kiss had been wonderful, the rough contrast of his lips against her own having stirred feelings inside her that she’d never felt before. And yet, it had also been one of the worst moments of her life. This was exactly the kind of thing she’d been trying to avoid. She had told herself time and again that she couldn’t let her guard down. That she needed to be prepared for the possibility that Edward Brighton would track her down and try to reclaim her for his own. Since she was technically already betrothed, it made her feel bad that she’d developed feelings for another man. Even if she didn’t love Edward, a spoken for woman should not let her gaze or affections wander.

He was a master manipulator, so it would be easy for him to convince the townspeople of whatever he wanted. She didn’t think that Peter would be able to stand against him, and that was the worst part. Edward was exactly the kind of man who would try to sow discord between her and Peter. She wanted to tell Iris about her fears but didn’t want to burden her. She didn’t want to add any stress to what Iris was already going through, especially when her problems seemed tiny in comparison.

She’d long felt guilty about not staying at an inn, but any time she’d voiced those feelings to John, he had simply laughed and told her she worried too much. She felt like she was taking advantage of them, and that troubled her.

“I don’t mind filling in for you, but I do want to know what has caused you to avoid town like the plague so suddenly. You barely talk to any of us, but I can see the constant worry on your face,” Iris said, shaking her head as she gazed up at Melanie. “What is really bothering you?”

“I wish I knew! Every time I feel like I understand what I want and what I am here to do, something comes along that gets my thoughts all scrambled,” she admitted, doing her best to prevent her tears from escaping the corner of her eyes.

Iris clicked her tongue in sympathy. “Why don’t you start from the beginning? Tell me what happened that has you all in a tizzy like this.”

There was something about the way that Iris spoke that made Melanie wonder if the pregnant woman didn’t know or at least suspect what had happened between her and Peter a week ago. Iris had come to her the next day and asked her why she’d returned home so late the night before, but Melanie hadn’t been able to admit the truth. She simply said that she’d been helping watch over Darwin at the sheriff’s office and lost track of time. If Iris had believed for an instant that Melanie was keeping something from her, she hadn’t shown it.

“If I tell you, I first need you to promise me that you won’t breathe a word of it to anyone. I don’t want anyone finding out about this,” Melanie said conspiratorially.

“If you ask for me to remain silent, then I shall remain silent. Though I will admit that I am curious about why you insist on acting so secretive. Is there something shameful that is eating you up inside?” Iris inquired, her eyebrows arching in curiosity.

Before Melanie had a chance to explain herself, a loud knock on the front door cut her off. The women’s heads turned in unison toward the door, Melanie’s heart immediately beating faster in her chest. Could it be that Peter had grown tired of her trying to avoid him and decided to come to see her himself? John had sent him away last time at her request, but Mr. Broughs had gone to town for the better part of the day, leaving the two ladies to look after the six rambunctious children that were currently playing tag out in the front yard.

“Now who could that be?” Iris asked, placing her hands on the arms of her chair and moving to get up. Melanie gently reached her hand out and stopped her, offering a smile.

“Don’t trouble yourself, Iris. You can go ahead and keep soaking your feet,” Melanie said, patting Iris’s shoulder affectionately. “I’ll go see who is at the door. Be right back,” she promised, leaving her friend where she sat. A tall shadow had been thrown across the door, a wide-brimmed hat just barely visible through the small window. For an instant, she thought that it might be Peter, resignation on her face as she slowly pulled the door open. “Peter, I know you probably want an explanation about why I’ve been avoiding you.”

“I’m sure he would be very interested to know about that, but this isn’t the time to have that conversation,” came the cool reply, the rest of Melanie’s words dying in her throat. She was not looking at the gruff sheriff whom she seemed to have fallen for, but instead, she gazed upon the smiling visage of Edward Brighton. “You should be sure to let him know about it next time you see him. For now, I would prefer that we focus on the matter of our own affairs.”

“Melanie, who is it at the door? Someone that you know?” Iris called out, leaning forward and waving cheerfully. “No need to leave him standing on the doorstep. Let him come in!”

Melanie could see the gleam of triumph in his eyes as he took a step across the threshold. She took a step back, shrinking away from him as he advanced. “What a lovely home you seem to have found yourself in. The home of the Broughs, was it?” he asked conversationally, though his warm tone never seemed to dull the icy stare he had fixed on her. “I am so glad that I managed to find you, given the directions I received were not the most reliable.”

Iris had waddled into the room by now, her smile faltering for only a moment as she gazed between Melanie and Edward. “Who is it that I have the pleasure of addressing?”

“My name is Edward Brighton, ma’am. I come from Kansas to seek after the woman who stole my heart but disappeared before we could have the chance to exchange our vows. I came to retrieve her, and to have her come back home to be my wife,” Edward replied, the silence that followed deafening.

“Are you engaged?” Iris looked between Melanie and Edward with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. “Melanie never mentioned anything about having a fiancé. This comes as quite a surprise.”

“I’m sure she hasn’t. I fear we didn’t end our last engagement on the best note, and my heart was greatly pained when I tried to call on her at her aunt Victoria’s home only to discover that she had seemingly vanished overnight. Her aunt was worried sick about her, you know,” Edward continued, laying on so much charm that it was physically sickening.

Melanie felt a wave of nausea roll through her, clamping her hand over her mouth briefly as she turned her head away from him. “Iris, could you please give us a moment?” she asked, doing her best to communicate her discomfort silently to her friend. Iris must have taken the hint, the sound of the front door closing as she went to check on her kids soon following.

Left alone with Edward, it took her a moment to calm herself. When she managed to find her voice again, it was only to ask one simple question. “What are you doing here, Edward?”

“I have come for you, of course. I have ridden a great distance to come find you and persuade you to return to Kansas with me. The sheriff was kind enough to reveal your location to me, once I told him I was your fiancé. He looked rather surprised by the news, but after what Mrs. Broughs just said, I can’t say I’m surprised. You were keeping me a secret from everyone else. Naughty, naughty,” he teased, though his expression told her he was displeased about the whole situation.

“Edward, if you would just let me explain,” Melanie began weakly, wincing when he raised a hand to silence her.

“I am staying in town for a while. I don’t know what it is that caused you to develop this sudden issue with me, but rest assured, I am prepared to go the distance to make sure that when I decide to leave, you will be coming back with me. Your aunt would no doubt be delighted to see you again, and after all of the trouble you’ve caused her, isn’t it the least you could do?” he asked, the smug smile on his face telling her he thought he’d won. “I’ll be seeing more of you in the coming days, Melanie. Look forward to it, won’t you?”

Then he was gone just as quickly as he’d arrived, the front door shutting quietly after him. Melanie was left standing in the entryway, doing her best not to start shaking. Her absolute worst fears had managed to come to life twofold.

Not only had Peter had a run-in with Edward, but the man had just told Iris they were engaged. This was going to throw a wrench in her plan, not to mention run the risk of furthering the distance that had begun to grow between her and Peter once more. Her only chance now would be to act proactively and try to explain herself to Peter. She just hoped he would listen to her.

Chapter 28

Peter felt like someone had punched him right in the stomach. She would have brought Edward up by now if she had any sort of feelings for him, wouldn’t she? She didn’t come across as the kind of woman who would have secret lovers, so he suspected something else was at play.

It didn’t help his mood at all that wherever he seemed to go throughout the town, Edward Brighton seemed to turn up shortly after. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that the blond man was going out of his way to follow him around, as if he wanted to be in the sheriff’s gaze as often as possible. Peter suspected the man was watching him instead. He was probably suspicious of the sheriff’s relationship with Melanie and was trying to get some dirt on him.

It felt so strange to find himself in such a situation, especially since he couldn’t see a good way for him to remedy it. In the old days, when he found himself in competition with a man over a woman, he would just challenge him to a fight, and the winner would get the girl. This time was different. If he challenged the stranger to a duel over Melanie, it would immediately reveal to everyone that he harbored feelings for her. Not to mention, it would serve as the exact kind of scandal that Johnny Carrington could only dream of.

It didn’t matter if he was talking to a man or a woman, Edward seemed capable of charming just about any person who would lend him an ear. There was a group of young women getting out of their sewing circle that Edward immediately gravitated toward. Peter watched him walk to the group, the heads of each of the women turning toward him as he approached. It reminded Peter of a flock of birds after spotting a possible predator.

Peter couldn’t make out what was being said thanks to the distance between them, but the sound of some of the women’s laughter carried on the air toward him. He scowled and turned his head in the direction of the sound of a wagon pulling closer, surprised to see Melanie climb off directly in front of him. She moved across the road toward him, looking conflicted the entire time. When she spoke to him, it felt like they had returned to the first days they’d known one another.

“Sheriff,” she said politely, her eyes briefly hovering past his shoulder to gaze at Edward where he stood. “How are you today?”

“As good as I can be, I reckon. I woke up early this morning, and I’ve practically been run ragged by the sheer number of errands I’ve been asked to run so far. I was just taking a moment to appreciate your fiancé's social skills,” he remarked conversationally.

Peter watched Melanie’s face sink into a deep frown, her teeth biting her bottom lip.

“Is something the matter, Melanie? You look like your thoughts are on other things. Preparing for your wedding with Edward already?” Peter asked, his voice coming out more sarcastic than he’d originally hoped.

“Things aren’t like that between us,” she whispered furiously. “Now stop calling me his fiancée. I never agreed to it, despite what he might think.”

“Okay, easy. You don’t need to bite my head off. I’m just asking a few questions,” he snarled in return, narrowing his eyes at her. “What’s got you all in a knot?”

“He wasn’t supposed to find me,” she murmured softly, turning away from him and rubbing her arm through her sleeve. “I don’t even understand how he found me. I had hoped he would get over me and move on to someone else, but I see my hopes were in vain.”

He noticed that Melanie’s gaze was repeatedly returning to Edward’s direction, a pang of jealousy coursing through him. He wanted her to focus her attention on him and not on the manipulative gentleman before them. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but Edward gave him all sorts of unnerving feelings. Her glances didn’t seem to belong to a lover who’d been reunited with her other half.

“What can you tell me about him?” Peter asked, watching as Edward took the hand of one of the women in his and raised it to his lips. The sound of the various women giggling soon followed. “Aside from his charismatic personality.”

“His name is Edward Brighton. He is the son of a very wealthy landowner back in Kansas that my aunt Victoria wishes for me to marry. We started courting, and he was a gentleman, but I knew immediately that he was not the one for me. That was why I came out here to pursue the school teaching job, since I didn’t want to continue to burden my aunt with caring for me,” Melanie replied absently.

“What made you decide that you wouldn’t be a good match?” Peter asked, knowing he was pressing his luck. He could practically feel the way that she was walling herself off from him, knowing what her answer would be even before she began to shake her head.

“I don’t want to have this conversation right now,” Melanie said gently, her eyes no longer meeting his.

“Just reject his advances and tell him to look elsewhere,” Peter replied gruffly, beginning to suspect that there was more to Melanie and Edward’s relationship than she was letting on. “Tell him it’s off.”

“You think I haven’t tried that already? I did my best multiple times to slip him the hint that I wasn’t interested, but he willfully ignored me each time. Plus, he wraps people around his finger at every chance he gets so that no one suspects him of any wrongdoing. Even my own family doesn’t believe me about him,” Melanie whined bitterly.

Peter pursed his lips at that, his gaze silently moving over in Edward’s direction. The pompous playboy had just finished his flirting, loudly saying goodbye to the group of women he’d been talking to as they slowly dispersed. Now free, Peter watched as Edward slowly turned his attention in their direction, as if he had just realized they were there.

“Oh goodness, he’s coming over here,” Melanie murmured, her eyes wide with fear. “Please don’t let him take me off somewhere.”

“Good afternoon, Sheriff. I trust that you are keeping the peace around here,” Edward said pleasantly, offering his gloved hand for a shake. “Ah, and my precious fiancée. Good to see you as well. You were one of the people who I wanted to talk to, actually.”

Peter watched Edward’s eyes as he spoke, noticing that none of the jovial politeness that came out of his mouth seemed to be reflected in his gaze. In fact, it almost seemed like Edward was doing his best to intimidate her without being too obvious in front of him. “What exactly is it that you needed to talk to her about?”

“Nothing of significance, though the content is a bit of a private matter. I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I say that I’d like our conversation to be out of earshot of others,” Edward said, his smile containing a hint of smugness.

“Oh, certainly. It is just that Melanie and I were in the midst of a conversation, and it would be rude for her to leave now,” Peter blurted out, trying to buy Melanie more time. He could see what she’d meant about his insistence, agitation starting to well up in the back of his mind. “Perhaps you could meet up with her later and have that conversation of yours?”

“Or I can simply wait for your conversation to conclude. I am a reasonably patient man, after all,” Edward replied smoothly. “I have no other plans for the evening that require my immediate presence, so I have time to kill, as they say.”

Peter looked over at Melanie helplessly. It seemed that Edward either wasn’t getting the hint or was deliberately ignoring him. He did his best to buy them time by asking Melanie some questions about how she’d been, given that she’d been absent for the last week, but every answer she gave him was brief, leaving them in awkward silence once more.

“It seems to me that the two of you have exhausted your conversation for now. If you would excuse us, I would like to take Melanie to have that private chat of ours,” Edward said, brazenly wrapping his arm around Melanie’s shoulder and pulling her along with him.

Melanie gave him one final backward glance, the pleading look on her face causing his heart to break slightly. He felt so conflicted about everything. Would it be right for him to get involved between two people who were already betrothed?

As he watched the two of them fade into the distance, he made a silent promise that he was going to keep a close eye on them. Even without what Melanie had told him today, Peter would have been quite suspicious of Edward Brighton. Experience had taught him that if someone seemed too good to be true, they were.

He needed to do a little snooping. His senses were tingling, telling him that if left unattended, Edward would make himself a problem. The fact that Melanie would likely be involved in his plan only made Peter more anxious.

Jealousy is an ugly thing. The words popped into his mind and made him scowl. It was his own fault for having dragged his feet. He had kissed Melanie, but when she had run away from him, he hadn’t chased after her like he should have. He should have refused to let her go until she admitted to him how she truly felt.

Instead, this could very well be the last bit of time before Melanie disappeared into the arms of another man.

As he slowly looked up at the sky, he felt the first few drops of rain plop down onto his hands. A few raindrops managed to catch his face, rolling down his cheeks, as if nature were providing the tears that he couldn’t seem to muster. He’d not felt the sting of a broken heart for many years, but he recognized it all the same.

Chapter 29

It was the worst feeling in the world to have Edward’s hand on her waist as he practically dragged her through town. He seemed to be going out of his way to parade her around, ensuring that as many people heard about their prospective engagement as possible.

Even when she walked around town by herself, she was often inundated with questions about their upcoming engagement. It was getting increasingly embarrassing, as the people who approached her with questions seemed to know more about Edward’s plans for her than Melanie did.

Iris alone seemed to understand that something was going on, and she had grown more and more insistent on asking Melanie about it when the two women found themselves alone. Melanie did her best to get back to her responsibilities as the schoolteacher, but Edward simply took advantage of that to come and watch her at every opportunity. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him to leave her alone for fear of what he would do to her. The memory of his most recent threats to her were still echoing in her mind.

“You do not know it yet, but you are mine. If you try to deprive me of what is mine, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth. You will never travel to a single place or spend a single second able to live without looking over your shoulder for me. For rest assured, each time you gaze back, you will find me there.”

Even now, the words made her shiver and feel sick to her stomach. She was grateful for the arrival of lunchtime, which let her go outside for some fresh air away from everyone else. She’d ducked out so quickly that she hoped Edward would not know which way she’d gone. She was tired of him waylaying her whenever she was alone. It was shameful that she couldn’t tell him off like she wanted to. Where was the ferocity that she had shown in all of her arguments with Peter?

Edward, for the most part, pretended to be oblivious to her distaste for him. He constantly clung to her to the point where his cologne was soaked into the fabric of some of her dresses, and she made a mental note to burn those garments at the first chance. He would patter away about all of these plans he had for when they returned home, though Melanie barely listened. She wouldn’t be going anywhere with him if she had anything to say about it. Part of her wished that Peter would raise his voice in objection, and his hesitation to do so had created doubt as to his feelings for her. That only made her feel worse.

“So, this is where you disappeared to,” Iris said from behind her, causing Melanie to jump in fright. She hadn’t expected anyone to sneak up on her like that. “When you rushed out of the classroom, I thought that you might have taken ill. Judging by how pale your face is, I don’t think I’m entirely wrong.”

“I’m just so tired of seeing or hearing about Edward. I feel like I can’t get a moment to myself lately because he is always there. I don’t care what he says, but I am not interested in pursuing a relationship with him,” Melanie replied gruffly. “Most men would have taken the hint by now and left me well enough alone. The problem is Mr. Moneybags is going to try and strong-arm everything into going his way just like he always does.”

“This is serious,” Iris said softly, casting a glance around to make sure that Edward wasn’t within sight. “Have you gone and talked to the sheriff about it?”

“I talked to him a little, but I don’t think he realizes the significance of my reservations. I trust Peter, but I also know how much of a snake Edward can be. Just like how he wormed his way into my life through my aunt, he’ll do everything to keep his fangs sunk into me. He’ll just do it out of sight of everyone else,” Melanie whispered, fear apparent in her voice.

The bell to signal the end of lunch brought an abrupt halt to their discussion. Melanie cast Iris one last weary glance before she forced herself to smile and headed back toward the classroom. They were going over sewing that afternoon, so it was a perfect chance to have some relative peace and quiet. Edward had left during the lunch break, according to some of her students, and that helped her to relax. She almost took some pleasure in the mindless repetition, though she quickly hid her sewing when she realized she had stitched Peter’s initials into her embroidery.

When did that happen? She could have sworn that she’d just been following a basic pattern, but her hands had done this on their own. She blushed furiously, burying her face in her hands briefly. It took everything in her power to stifle the sob of frustration that hung in her throat, her fists clenching and unclenching in agitation.

Why do I have to be such a fool?

Why couldn’t she have listened to her heart instead of her pride? Now she might lose the chance at both her liberty and the ability to follow her heart.

Iris must have realized that Melanie was losing the will to continue because she ended up dismissing class early for the day. Most of the students didn’t seem to mind, racing out the door before Iris could even get the words out. Melanie laughed gently from her chair in numb disbelief, the first bit of genuine mirth she’d felt in a while. “I didn’t expect them all to run off like that.”

“What can you really do?” Iris asked, shrugging her shoulders. “The kids do their best to be patient throughout the day, but we can’t pretend that most of them wouldn’t rather be doing other things. You need to tell me exactly what is going on between you and Edward so I can help. You’ve kept me in the dark long enough, and that is not fair to me as a friend.”

Melanie could only nod silently, unable to bring herself to speak. The look on Iris’ face told her that there was little she could do to placate her anymore other than spill the beans, and it was only fair to her after having sheltered Melanie over the past few months. “Alright, we’ll talk about it when we get home. I promise you.”

Once they’d returned home and settled down in the living room, Melanie couldn’t keep it in anymore. Tears long overdue began to pour down her cheeks, her body shaking with sobs. “Oh, Iris, what am I supposed to do? I can’t get married to Edward because I don’t love him.”

Iris gently embraced Melanie, letting her rest her head on her shoulder as she cried. Melanie did her best to keep herself coherent as she tried to recount everything from the beginning. She shared her fears with Iris about how Edward had found her and how dangerous he could be if given the chance, and how she hated being left alone with him for fear of what he might try to do.

“Do you think that he would raise his hand to you in one of these fits of rage?” Iris finally asked, looking at Melanie sternly. Melanie had managed to wipe away her tears and regain a bit of her poise, but she was still visibly shaken.

“Iris, I fear so much worse from him than mere harsh words. This man could very feasibly put his hands on me to hurt me or worse. He’s a monster in the form of a man who could lash out at any moment, and I don’t want to be in his path when he does. I just don’t know how to make him leave me alone,” Melanie said, her breath quickening as she felt herself start to panic.

“I know you might not want to hear this and won’t think it’ll be helpful, but I think that you need to go talk to Peter about this,” Iris said gently, patting Melanie’s back. “In more ways than one, I think he might be the answer to your problem. You just need to be willing to let him help you, and to decide once and for all what you want to do in your life. Then let it be known to everyone, especially Peter and Edward.”

Iris grabbed a handkerchief, gently running it across Melanie’s cheeks. “I promise you that Peter will help solve all of your problems if you let him. That’s the kind of hero he is.”

A loud knock on the door caused Melanie to hastily finish wiping away her tears. She briefly feared that Edward had come for her once more, but relief washed through her when she heard the sound of Darwin’s voice on the other side of the door. “Miss Thompson! Are you home? I needed your help with some of the homework you assigned today and hoped you could take the time to go over it with me.”

“Darwin, it’s just you,” Melanie breathed in relief, doing her best to wipe the tears away with the handkerchief before pulling open the door for him. “I would be happy to help you with it.”

“I tried to do as much of it by myself as I could, but there are still a couple of things that I know I’m not getting,” Darwin replied, sounding obviously annoyed. She could easily believe that he’d put quite a bit of time and patience into it, which made her feel a surge of pride. Darwin had progressed so much in the time that she had been working with him, and it showed. Peter had even complimented her for as much before.

“It is perfectly fine, Darwin. Why don’t you come sit at the table in the living room, and we can go over it together? I can make you some tea and a snack if you want. We haven’t had dinner, and I don’t think we’ll be preparing it for a while yet,” Melanie replied, watching Iris slowly push herself onto her feet and shuffle toward the kitchen. “Iris, I was going to do it.”

“I can do it,” Iris called back, the gentle creaking of the stairs the only sign of where the pregnant woman was walking. When her footsteps faded, Melanie turned back to Darwin. “I have to thank you for showing up when you did, Darwin. I’ve been very preoccupied lately, and I am grateful for the chance to have something else to focus on.”

“Um, you’re welcome, I suppose,” Darwin replied with uncertainty, clearly not understanding exactly what was going on. “What’s troubling you?”

“I don’t want to burden you with it,” Melanie said dismissively, taking the small book that served as their current textbook and flipping through the pages idly. “You seem to have plenty of problems on your mind as it is.”

“But you tell us all the time that everyone needs someone to talk to now and then. What good is your advice if you can’t take it for yourself?” Darwin asked.

Melanie didn’t have an answer for him.

Chapter 30

Peter went to the orphanage to try and see Darwin, but he was told by one of the other children that Darwin had mentioned going to the Brough’s homestead to get help with something. This was the best news he had heard all day. He’d wanted an excuse to see Melanie, and now he had found it. He wanted to ask a few more questions about her, and more than that, he wanted to confess to her how he felt. Maybe that would give her a reason to stand up to Edward.

When he arrived at the house, John was the one to answer the door. He could hear Iris singing softly in the kitchen, the smell of bubbling stew hitting his nose and coaxing out a growl from his stomach. “Peter, good to see you. I imagine you are here for Darwin? He showed up a little while ago and asked Melanie to help him build something. They are out by the back steps if you want to make your way around.”

“Actually, I’m here to see Melanie,” Peter replied simply, steeling his nerves as he made his way off the front steps and around the house. The sound of a hammer on wood echoed faintly, growing louder the closer he got to the backyard. The first thing he saw was Melanie sitting patiently on the back step, glancing over a few pieces of paper that were held in her hands. Occasionally, she would glance in Darwin’s direction and offer him instructions and warnings. “Melanie, can I have a word with you?”

“I suppose so,” Melanie replied gently, scooting aside so that he could sit on the step beside her. He took a seat as gracefully as he could next to her, glancing over her shoulder at the pages. It looked like a crude drawing of a small house of some sort. “He’s been really excited ever since he came over.”

“A tree fort?” he said in wonder. “Where did he say these pages came from?”

“He didn’t mention anything about that. All he said was he wanted my help in making it, and that he was going to keep it secret from as many people as possible. He looked so proud that I didn’t have it in me to turn him down, but I only know basic woodworking from what my father taught me,” Melanie admitted.

“A treehouse, eh? Maybe a fort on the ground might be better. But you mentioned your father just now. What was he like?” Peter gazed into her eyes sincerely.

“I wouldn’t know where to begin,” she replied gently, her voice immediately filling with sadness. “It’s still kind of hard for me to talk about him.”

“I get it,” Peter held his hand out to briefly rest on her shoulder. “It’s hard to talk about the people you cared about once they pass on. Everything suddenly reminds you of them, and the pain of the separation is what hurts the most. Because suddenly you can’t go visit them when you want to hear their voice or spend long nights by the campfire letting them tell you stories and wishing they would never end.”

Melanie gazed up at him in surprise. “That’s almost word for word how I’m feeling.”

“What can I say? I’ve got pretty good intuition. Besides, it helps to empathize when you know what the other person is going through and where they are coming from,” he said kindly. “I didn’t know my father personally, so that’s why I want to hear about yours.”

“My father was a terrific man. He worked hard every day to provide for his family and instill good values in me, his only child. He taught me everything from hunting to woodwork, ensuring I had enough skills to allow me to survive on my own should I ever find myself in trouble.” Melanie sounded wistful as she spoke. “What I wouldn’t do to have him around again. He wouldn’t have tried to marry me off for money.”

Her voice broke then, her lips quivering as fresh tears pooled in her eyes. It broke Peter’s heart to see her in such a state, and yet he still thought she looked beautiful. The tears only made the green in her eyes shine more, a tilt of her head causing the sun to reflect the color on her tears for the briefest instant before they slowly made their way down her cheeks.

He just wanted to hug her and to tell her that everything would be okay. To let her cry against his chest and present himself as her knight in shining armor. And yet, as he gazed at her face silently, no words would come out. He simply gave her arm a light squeeze, not caring about how close he was to her right now. He wanted to be close to her in that instant, wrestling with his insecurities as she took a moment to gather herself before continuing. “I remember when I was a little girl, and my father took me on a hunting trip out of state. That was back when my family had still been together, and my mom was healthy. We trekked out into this forest that was lusher than any I’d ever seen. After spending most of my life in Kansas, I wasn’t used to seeing a whole lot of foliage. So to be surrounded by trees with every step was breathtaking.”

“What sort of things do you remember from that trip?” Peter asked, holding out his hand for the pages she held.

He took a brief moment instead to call out for John and ask if he could help Darwin with his fort. John’s eyes lit up, asking why they hadn’t asked him to assist sooner before he bounded down the steps past them, using the railing above them to vault over the step they occupied. He might have been in his mid-thirties, but the man could move like he was in his teens.

“While we were up in the woods, my father showed me how he would set traps for some of the animals. He said that he liked to set food lures and then wait for them to come, specifically since he didn’t like the thought of an animal crying out in pain from being caught in something like a spike pit or something like that. He believed all animals that you hunted should be given the dignity and mercy of a quick and painless death,” Melanie said, exhaling softly. “It is little memories like those that I miss the most about him.”

“Your father sounds great, and I can see why you’d miss him,” Peter confided gently, bringing the conversation back to their original topic. “Some of what you said reminds me of the old sheriff. I told you about me being an outlaw, but did I tell you about what he did in the aftermath?”

Melanie shook her head. “I don’t believe so.”

“He took me into his home,” Peter said, the scene playing out for him in his mind as he recounted it. “He shared his guest room with me that was supposed to be his kid’s nursery one day, but the Fates had never been kind enough to deliver to his wife and him that particular blessing. I find myself wondering every day if I wasn’t brought in to try and fill the role. What did you end up doing after your father passed away?”

“My aunt was the closest living relative I had, so everyone thought it would just be easier to leave me there while I waited to reach my adult years. It wasn’t so bad when I was still underage, but the instant I reached womanhood, my aunt started trying to find me suitors. Many of them were the kind of men who simply wanted a good-looking girl to hang on their arms, and I wasn’t going to live like that. I wanted to be more in the world than just a submissive bride who watched the kids and tended the home.” Melanie shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with talking about it. “Then they found Edward, and I haven’t been able to escape him since.”

She didn’t offer anything else after that, gripping the hem of her dress tightly with both fists. Peter could tell that there was more to the story, but Melanie didn’t seem like she was going to offer him anything else. “Say, Melanie, there was one more thing I wanted to tell you.”

Iris destroyed any chance of him getting to finish, the sizable woman bursting out of the back door with a triangle held in her fist, ringing it merrily to signal that it was time to eat. “Peter, John told me that you were here. I figured you and Darwin wouldn’t mind joining us for dinner. I made something truly special today to celebrate the fact that Melanie will be getting her new house soon. I hear that it is only going to take a few more days for them to finish building it,” Iris said cheerfully.

“That’s right,” John piped up. “Me and a bunch of other townsmen have been hard at work on it, and it is finally reaching completion. I really hope that you find it is to your liking, Melanie. We’re hoping that you’ll stay there for quite a long time.”

“I hope you stay here for quite a long time, too,” Peter said softly, blushing when Melanie turned her head in his direction like she’d heard him. She smiled widely at him but said nothing else, rising slowly from her seat. “Shall we go get something to eat, Peter?” she asked, holding out her hand to him.

“That sounds like a wonderful plan to me,” he breathed out in reply, slowly pushing himself to his feet while reaching out to try and take her hand, only for her to pull it away at the last moment. Then the two of them laughed, temporarily allowing themselves to forget about their various troubles. Or at the very least try to.

Chapter 31

If Melanie had felt reservations about Edward’s presence in town before, the knowledge that she would soon be living all alone and relatively defenseless did not do much to improve her mood. As she’d gone about packing up her belongings, she felt constant twinges of sadness deep inside of her. There was no way that Edward was going to allow her to stay there. But she hadn’t had the heart to disappoint John and the others after the hard work they had put into building it.

In any other circumstance, she would have been overjoyed about moving into her own place. It was the proof she’d long been craving that she was capable of taking care of herself. More importantly, that she was free to make her own decisions, and that she would follow through on her plan despite what others might say.

Edward would no doubt know that the new house was meant for her, and that meant she’d have to deal with him attempting to call on her at all hours of the day. It was exactly what he’d done when she’d been living with her aunt, and she only imagined it would be worse when she lived alone. He could come to her house at any time of night, and no one would know. He could watch her when she was sleeping just by climbing up onto her balcony, which was easily accessible thanks to a sizable tree that grew directly beside her home. John said they had left it there to offer shade for her room, but she knew that anything could be used for evil if a person wanted to.

Now that she would have her own home, it was also more likely that Edward would start trying to rush these marriage plans that he kept telling everyone about. She could already see him looming above her in her mind, his evil laughter echoing until she snapped herself out of her daze and brought her mind back to her present predicament. “I need to make sure that I find some measure of defense against him,” she mumbled.

“Defense against who?” came the icy reply from behind her, causing her blood to chill in an instant. She slowly glanced over her shoulder, swallowing nervously when she caught sight of him looming in the doorway. She felt like she was facing a ravenous beast, her heartbeat quickening. “You wouldn’t be talking about innocent ol’ me, would you?”

“Edward, you surprised me,” Melanie said, doing her best not to let her fear slip into her voice. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“I saw the rest of your beloved Brough family eating in town and found it strange that you hadn’t chosen to accompany them. Fearing that you might not be feeling well or that some unfortunate tragedy had befallen you, I made my way here to check on you. You can thank me for my selflessness at any time,” he said smugly, taking a menacing step forward.

“You really shouldn’t be here while the rest of the family is gone,” Melanie said timidly, her voice barely more than a squeak. “John and Iris don’t like it when people come over when they are gone to town.”

“Is that right? Well, it is a good thing that I don’t plan to still be here when they return,” Edward said softly, his voice just loud enough for her to hear as he took another step forward, the clap of his shoe on the wooden floor resounding in her head. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.”

“Tell me why you are really here, Edward,” Melanie demanded, her heart hammering so powerfully in her chest that she could practically hear the blood rushing through her ears, the dull roar impeding her vision. She felt like she could faint at any moment but willed herself not to. There was no telling what he’d try to do to her if he ever got the upper hand like that.

“I simply came by to give you a couple of warnings,” he added, his hands now resting on her shoulders. The oppressive weight felt like it would push her down into the floor, every fiber of her being telling her to yank away and run as far as she could. “Just to make sure you won’t consider trying to pull a fast one on me.”

“What are you talking about?” Melanie asked cautiously, doing her best not to shudder.

“I told you that you were going to be my wife, and I have every intention of ensuring that happens. Now the way I see it, you have two options. You can either come with me peacefully and stop making such a big fuss out of things, or I’ll destroy everything that you love right in front of your eyes and then take you back home,” he said with a savage snarl, the tightening of his fingers on her shoulder causing her to cry out in pain.

“If you think that I will give into you blackmailing me, Edward Brighton, you have another thing coming,” she spat, trying to wrench herself free from his grasp only to feel his hand tighten on her shoulder. “If you think I am just going to meekly go along with whatever you want from me, think again!”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve thinking you can sass me.” His voice was low and even more menacing now, his hand moving to wrap around her throat. “What I said wasn’t a request. Your stubbornness in this situation is only going to get those people that you supposedly care about killed.”

The threat was there, plain as day. He knew where the Brough family lived, and there was nothing but his word that would prevent him from coming back and doing something drastic like burning down the house. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if anything happened to Iris and her children because of something that Melanie did.

“You can’t hurt them,” Melanie said finally, mustering up all of her courage to look him in the eye. “You have to promise me that you won’t touch a single hair on any of their heads.”

“You are in no position to make demands of me,” he hissed through clenched teeth. Then he stopped, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “Though, if you gave me your word that you would give me a date for our wedding by this time next week, perhaps I will spare them.”

“That’s far too soon!” Melanie protested. “What happens? I give you a day, and then you hurry me out of town as quickly as possible?”

“Don’t be such a fool. It would take time to arrange for our trip back to Kansas, and I would be loath to allow the few friends you’ve made around here to put up a fuss. So, I think I will allow you to remain here for just a little while longer,” Edward said, chuckling gently. “Though I have to say, being as rich as you are and living as a schoolteacher? What a laugh.”

“What’s so wrong with wanting to be able to claim something as your own? I didn’t want to spend my days in the house while you were off gallivanting all over the neighborhood with whatever woman you set your eyes on,” Melanie snapped, flinching as she watched his expression darken.

“Run your mouth to me one more time, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to silence you,” he growled, his hand suddenly gripping her face. “You have been insufferable from the moment I met you. If you weren’t who you were, I would have already gotten rid of you.”

She wanted to try and struggle away from him, but it would be hard to explain to the others if she managed to get her face scratched up in an altercation with him. She chose instead to simply hold still, waiting until his temper faded enough that he let go of her with a dismissive grunt.

“Let that serve as your warning,” Edward hissed, watching as Melanie gently massaged the sides of her jaw. “I won’t be nearly as forgiving the next time around.”

She watched him slowly step back from her, straightening his suit jacket. “You have exactly one week. I would suggest that you think long and hard about what your reply will be. I’d hate to see something bad befall that lovely Iris woman. The two of you seem so close.”

Melanie was almost sick as the thought of Edward going after Iris filled her mind. There was no way the pregnant woman would be able to defend herself against him, and if John tried to interfere, he would likely earn a couple of bullets to the chest for his trouble.

“Please, Edward. Just leave them out of it. I’ll do as you say,” she relented, her shoulders sagging in defeat. “You don’t need to hurt them.”

“I know that you will,” Edward replied smugly, vanishing a moment later. He left Melanie to sink onto the floor, fresh sobs escaping her as tears once again streamed down her face.

She cursed Edward silently, every fiber of her being hating him. She hated that he’d managed to track her down. She hated the feeling of powerlessness he always filled her with when he was around. And most of all, she hated herself for how weak she acted in the face of his aggression.

Her thoughts drifted to Peter and what he would think when he heard the news. Would he be crushed to know that she was being forced to marry someone else? Or would he just say that was the way things were and give her up without so much as a complaint?

Somehow, the thought of him just letting her be taken away hurt far more than anything else. She clutched a hand to her heart, her nails digging into her skin so hard that she could feel small scratches forming on her chest. She winced from the pain and pulled her nails away, but the damage was done.

Melanie would have never believed that it was possible for a person who had never given thought to their own death to feel it encroaching on them. As she gazed at herself in the mirror, she thought she looked the way that she assumed someone who’d just been told of their impending death would feel. The faint and hopeless face that gazed back at her was unrecognizable compared to the cheerful woman who had gazed into it only twenty minutes prior.

Chapter 32

This was why Peter hated gossip. The instant that people found a topic, they would chatter away like birds about it to the point of obnoxiousness. The attractive and charming Edward Brighton was the talk of the town, and his sudden appearance to woo Melanie had the women of the town abuzz with all sorts of scandals.

He’d been grateful when Chris had brought out the pile of mail that had accumulated at the post office for them. He hadn’t realized just how behind they’d gotten on everything. He cast his young deputy a suspicious look as he snipped open the packet of new bounty posters that had been dropped on his desk, taking a slow look through them. He was only partly paying attention, and he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to regroup his thoughts.

He’d known he was distracted when he’d accidentally thrown eggshells into his pan this morning instead of the yolks. It was supposed to be a fast breakfast using the last of the eggs he had left from his most recent visit to one of the neighborhood farmers.

Instead, his morning had started with a stale piece of bread covered in the apricot jam Iris had made him. It wasn’t much, but it would silence the rumbling in his stomach temporarily. At least enough for him to be able to go about his day. Daisy Mae gave him a concerned look from where she sat beside her food bowl, meticulously scraping the last remnants of the raw hunk of meat he’d tossed in there for her. He’d almost felt envious of her for a moment, heading back to the rain barrel behind his house and washing his hands and face shortly after.

What right did Edward Brighton have in thinking he could just stroll in and try to take Melanie after all the hard work Peter had put in to get on her good side? And why wouldn’t she just tell him to hit the road and be done with him? Was Edward secretly threatening her, and that was why she seemed so afraid to talk to him about her supposed fiancé?

She’d mentioned that he was the kind of man who never took no for an answer, and that would be reason enough to keep an eye on him. Men who thought the world was theirs to do with as they wished were the most dangerous kind of people. Besides, Melanie was noticeably fearful of Edward, and it drove Peter mad not to know exactly what their history was.

“Peter, did you hear me?” Chris’s voice managed to break through his musings. Peter gazed up at his concerned deputy’s face, shaking his head slowly. “I asked if you were feeling okay.”

“It’s been so long since I felt okay, I don’t even know what it feels like anymore. I always have something on my mind, and I can’t seem to concentrate on anything,” Peter admitted, reclining in his chair. “I wish I could just make those feelings go away.”

“Is this about Miss Thompson?” Chris asked, a small smirk tugging at his lips briefly. “The news about her getting married really has you torn up. You’d think you wanted to marry her.”

Peter didn’t reply to that, simply looking down at the pile of paperwork before him with his fists clenched. Had that been his plan? He had never given any real thought to what he would do if he’d ever gotten Melanie to fall for him. He’d had dreams about the two of them living as a couple, but he’d never admit that to her. She’d never stop teasing him about it if she knew.

Chris must have realized he’d touched a nerve, excusing himself from the room while muttering about errands that needed to be done. Peter placed his head in his hands, closing his eyes and praying for the dull throb in his head to go away. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long day. Opening his eyes and reaching toward the pile of bounty posters, he set about sorting them according to their reward.

The pages seemed to have been bundled together sloppily, the ink on each page causing some of the posters to stick together. He quickly grew frustrated with peeling posters apart and busied himself instead with the sealed letter that sat to his left side. Chris had left it on his desk before leaving, and his curiosity about what the letter could contain quickly got the better of him.

Dear Mr. Matherson,

I hope that this letter finds you well. I am writing to warn you that I have recently received a piece of news from one of the outlets out of Kansas that I thought would be of interest to you. It seems that a couple of months ago there was an incident in Kansas City. A couple of young women turned up dead.

I mention this because the article also stated that the women in question were good friends of Victoria Thompson. Her niece mysteriously disappeared around that same time with a bunch of her belongings, and she fears the worst for her.

Peter stopped reading the letter, biting the inside of his cheek. Could Melanie be the missing niece that his correspondent was referring to? The last names were the same, and the timeframe matched Melanie’s arrival as well. He didn’t believe for an instant that she was capable of murder, but Edward was another story. The man’s eyes were those of a killer, plain and simple.

“Peter, are you busy?” Melanie’s voice was soft, and he might not have paid any attention at first were it not for the gentle tap that he soon felt on his shoulder. She’d come in through the back entrance, her hands clenching the front of her dress nervously. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Not sure what there is to say,” Peter said gruffly, unable to keep his bitterness from his voice. “Seems like the whole town is obsessed with your marriage to Edward, and I can’t say I’m not a little miffed about the whole situation.”

“I’m sure that things have gone differently than what we might have wanted, but I assure you that I am not leaping away into his arms. I just can’t stop him. He seems to already have everyone in town on his side,” Melanie sounded worried about it, her melancholic tone causing Peter’s heart to sink.

Peter was at a loss. He didn’t want to keep repeating his advice about cutting ties with Edward. Especially not when she seemed genuinely terrified about what would happen if she tried. His hands twitched where they sat on the desk, he was doing his best not to show his agitation. He had no right to be angry with her. It wasn’t like she’d asked for any of this.

“Do you know Victoria Thompson?” Peter blurted out the question before he could stop himself, watching Melanie’s expression transition through shock, fear, and curiosity in the span of a few seconds. “She lives in Kansas City.”

“That is the name of my father’s sister, and she was the one I was staying with before I came to move here. Why do you ask? Has Edward said something about her?” Melanie bombarded him with her questions, a faint laugh escaping his throat despite himself. He had missed just being able to sit and talk with her.

“No, nothing like that. I received correspondence from a friend of mine in Kansas City, and he mentioned her briefly in his letter. Apparently, some nasty business happened there a couple of months back. Couple of society women found dead,” he said, sipping the lukewarm coffee that sat on his desk.

He watched the color drain from Melanie’s face at the mention, her hand moving up in front of her face as she chewed nervously on her thumbnail. She looked distinctly troubled, her eyes constantly darting toward the front door of the jailhouse. “That’s truly terrible,” she finally managed to blurt out, realizing that they’d been silent for a few moments. “Do they have any leads?”

“I haven’t had a chance to finish the rest of the letter,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders gently. “I’m sure that there’s nothing to worry about here. Kansas City is a fair distance away from us, after all.”

“That doesn’t mean that trouble couldn’t follow me from there,” Melanie countered. “Edward is a perfect example of that. I just wish I knew how he found out where I went when I made absolutely certain not to tell anyone what I was planning on doing.”

“You didn’t happen to leave the ad for the schoolteacher position behind, did you?” Peter asked aloud.

“No, I made sure to bring it with me. I cut it out of the newspaper, but there should have been no way for him to be able to discover what ad I took unless he had another paper to compare it to,” she began, her voice trailing off as she realized the implication of her words. “Oh, curse him to the ends of the Earth!”

Peter slowly stood from his desk and walked over to the coffee pot, pouring another cup of the strong black coffee that he’d brewed earlier that morning and handing it to her. She accepted it gratefully, making a face after taking the first sip. “It got away from me this morning; my apologies.”

“It’s okay,” she replied meekly, setting the cup down on his desk. She took a deep breath, running her hands through her hair in clear agitation. “I came here because I decided that it was time for you and me to have a chat. It’s time I came clean and told you everything. Everything about why I came here, my history with Edward, all of it. I don’t want you to get angry, and I don’t want you to interrupt me until I’m finished. It’s already hard for me to admit all of this to you.”

“Why would it be hard? Don’t you trust me enough to confide in me?” Peter asked, unable to keep the hurt from his tone.

She swallowed as she gazed up at him, the confident and opinionated woman he’d come to know now standing before him looking frightened. He found himself hating the forces at play that would ever dampen such a beautiful face. “I promise that once I’ve told you everything, we’ll have a chance to talk about us.”

He nodded silently but didn’t trust himself to speak. Did this mean that it was finally time for the cat to come out of the bag? He was certain that they both knew where things stood between them, that kiss that they’d shared over a week ago still fresh in his mind.

Still, it would be nice to no longer be in the dark about the woman that he’d unwittingly fallen for. But if he heard straight from her lips that she shared his feelings, wouldn’t it make it harder to let her go? Either way, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering about what could have been between them. And he certainly wasn’t ready to just let her go without putting up a fight.

“Alright, you have my full attention,” Peter said.

Chapter 33

“It should have been a happy occasion. I just moved into my new house yesterday. I was particularly impressed with the skill that had gone into its construction, like the various symbols I saw carved on some of the walls. I think it was John’s work since I know he has a particular fondness for woodwork,” Melanie said, tapping the side of her glass. “It had felt so strange being by myself after getting used to being at Iris’ house. Even if sometimes it could be overwhelming, the promise of always having someone else around that I could confide in had been something I took for granted.”

“After cooking a simple dinner of salt pork and potatoes with butter-fried onions, I got ready to crawl into bed. I made sure to slide the locks on each of my doors into place, the sound of them latching helping me feel slightly better. Still, it wasn’t enough for me. If Edward wanted to get in, there wasn’t a door or window in existence that would stop him from doing it. And with no one else around, there was no one there to keep me safe from my thoughts.” She shivered as she recalled it.

“In the shadows of the dark night, the moonlight streaming through my window, I was terrified. I slept fitfully all night. It had been bad enough that as I’d been falling asleep, I felt myself being grabbed and dragged down into my bed. That made me panic just before I went unconscious, paving the way for a long series of nightmarish dreams. Every one of them seemed to involve Edward, his sneering face and echoing laugh following me no matter how much I tried to escape.” She didn’t want to tell him that one of her dreams had briefly involved him.

“That sounds awful,” Peter admitted.

“Yes, but that wasn’t what I came here to tell you,” Melanie said, taking a deep breath. “You just have to understand that this is hard for me to talk about.”

“Go at your own pace. I’m in no hurry,” Peter replied kindly, smiling gently.

“I guess it all started with my father’s death. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have time to prepare for it. I’m still not certain what caused it. He was perfectly healthy when we said goodnight to one another, but the next morning when I went to wake him, he was cold and unmoving,” Melanie said, her hand covering her mouth as tears began to flow down her cheeks. “I shook him and called out his name, but he just wouldn’t respond.”

Peter was gazing at her with a look of pity, a single tear rolling down his cheek. Whether he was crying for her or not, she couldn’t be certain, but it felt nice to have someone to commiserate with her.

“Things moved pretty quickly after that. With none of my mother’s family living in the area, the only person who was willing to take me in was my aunt Victoria. She is such a wonderful woman; I hope you get a chance to meet her one day. She was the only one who helped me work through my feelings of grief or cut me slack when I didn’t feel up to accompanying my uncle to various social gatherings. It was too painful to be around people back then,” Melanie said sadly. “The wound was just too fresh.”

“I understand exactly what you mean,” Peter offered, grimacing as he realized he’d interrupted her again. “Sorry.”

“To help me feel better, my aunt began inviting local scholars over to come talk with me. I had told her that I had interest in various subjects like shipbuilding and botany, so she would find people well-versed in those subjects and bring them to me. It wasn’t all terribly interesting, but it offered me the escape that I needed. So long as my mind was distracted with these conversations, I didn’t have to focus on the empty feeling that stayed with me. Since I only had to deal with these guests one or two at a time, it was manageable.” Melanie paused to sip her coffee, clearing her throat.

“Then, shortly around the time that I turned twenty-two, things changed. I’d known that my aunt wasn’t going to allow me to continue my reclusive ways for much longer. I’d occasionally attended parties to keep up appearances, but I guess I became known as a moody woman who never left the house, so that was a wasted effort.” Peter snorted with laughter, slapping the top of the table. She shot him a look, trying hard not to smile before continuing. “That was around the time that Edward and his father came into the picture.

“Their arrival was quite the event. Cannons were fired off, trumpets sounded, and I think they even had a dance troupe that led a procession for them through the town. It was all rather garish if you ask me, but I guess that is what some people choose to waste their money on. My aunt immediately began doing everything in her power to ingratiate herself to him. They must have mentioned me at some point because the next thing I knew, I was being forced to meet both Edward and his father. I guess I didn’t mind them at first. They were a bit standoffish, but I just chalked that up to my emotional state.”

“How did that result in you leaving?” Peter asked, clearly confused.

“When I finally started to allow Edward to take me on dates, he impressed me during our first couple of outings. He seemed genuinely polite and knowledgeable, and we had bonded over our love of learning. He regaled me with stories of the Far East and their strange customs, and I started viewing him as a possible friend,” Melanie said wistfully, recalling it all with a look of sadness. “I even considered accepting his marriage proposal at one point.”

“I take it something changed then,” Peter chimed in.

“I was attending a party at one of my aunt Victoria’s friends’ home and had brought him along as a partner. He had practically begged me to go for two weeks leading up to the event, and even though I didn’t want to, I went. I suffered through small talk for hours only to find out that he had snuck away with one of his mistresses. I left the party that night, and I decided that I didn’t want to be near him anymore. That’s why I came here for the teaching job,” Melanie finished, sighing.

“You have to tell him that you are done. He needs to hear it from you,” Peter said finally, leaning back in his chair.

“He won’t listen to me. If I tell him that, there’s no limit to what he’ll try to do to me,” she snapped. “I couldn’t even sleep last night because I am fearful of even seeing his shadow. Do you know what that feels like?”

“I sure do,” Peter replied, catching her off guard. “In the old days, I would have helped you deal with this kind of situation the old-fashioned way. However, I’m the sheriff of this town. I can’t just break the law and lock up a man on fear alone. I need him to do something, or I can’t do anything against him. But rest assured, the moment he tries anything, we’ll nail him.”

Melanie bit her bottom lip gently, nodding. She didn’t voice her concern that it might be too late to come to him for help when Edward decided to strike, simply thanking him for the warm coffee and allowing him to walk her to the back door of the jail. He followed her around the side of the building, peeking out around the corner and nodding to her once he saw the coast was clear. “Be safe on your way back home, Melanie. Lock your door as soon as you get there.”

As if she needed to be told twice. She offered him one last longing look before she began to walk away briskly. She gathered her scarf around her face as a sudden gust of wind sped past, causing her dress to flap about her ankles wildly. Her hand immediately flew down out of reflex, not wanting to treat any passersby with the sight of her underclothes. She felt like eyes were on her the whole way home, despite no one being in view each time she’d turn around. She was certain she wasn’t being followed, yet she felt like she was in immediate danger.

The sound of the door being latched behind her brought relief. Melanie slumped down on the other side of the door and hugged her knees to her chest. For now, she was safe, but how long would that last? Edward had told her she had a week to come up with a date for him, or else he would hurt everyone. What am I going to do?

Chapter 34

Unbeknownst to Melanie, her departure had left Peter in quite a perplexed mood. Now that he had been filled in on the situation with Edward, he felt somewhat better. She wasn’t secretly trying to get back with him or anything that the foolish women in town had been saying, but instead was fearful of Edward acting out of hand against her. Still, he couldn’t say he was completely relieved either.

If Melanie was truly worried about Edward trying something against her, it meant Peter was going to need to be much more careful from now on. He didn’t worry about what the spoiled rich boy could do to him, but Melanie had every reason to be scared of him and he feared for Melanie’s safety more than anything else.

He forced himself to laugh aloud, slapping his cheeks gently. He needed to get his head back in the game. He’d been allowing this Melanie business to derail his work, and he was sure his other men had noticed it. Chris certainly had. He grinned as his deputy walked through the door less than a few minutes later. He was carrying a plate of food.

“Was someone here?” the deputy asked, slowly sinking into his chair and pulling his plate closer.

“Melanie stopped by. Cleared up some confusion about her relationship with Edward,” he said, unable to keep the tone of smug glee out of his voice. “It turns out that I have nothing to worry about him in terms of vying for her affection. Though she has come to me twice now to complain about him. I’m thinking the two of us are going to need to go visit him at his lodgings and inform him that he needs to keep his distance from her.”

Chris nodded and simply continued scarfing down his meal, acting like he hadn’t eaten in days. Peter gave him an incredulous look and rolled his eyes, watching as Chris reached over and plucked the correspondent’s letter from where it sat on the edge of his desk. Peter had almost forgotten about it thanks to Melanie’s unexpected appearance, and he had to fight the urge to take the letter back from him. “It’s just a letter from one of my friends in Kansas. I don’t think you need to bother yourself with reading it.”

Even as the words came out of his mouth, he watched as Chris’s expression had transitioned from one of passive disinterest to horror within a few heartbeats. “Sheriff, what did you say the name of the new guy in town was? The one that Melanie says she is having a hard time with?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t had it ingrained in your head seeing how often the townspeople keep mentioning it. His name is Edward Brighton. Apparently, he is the son of some rich man in Kansas who made his fortune during a shipping venture. Melanie said he’s proven himself to be a terrifying man she doesn’t want to be alone with, but I hardly see how he could be worse than someone like Johnny Carrington. They seem quite alike if you ask me,” Peter replied haughtily.

Chris pushed back from his desk hard enough to cause his chair to go crashing to the floor. “No! Sheriff, we need to get going now!”

“What has got you all up in arms? Did you realize the butcher was having a special today?” Peter asked, wondering what had gotten his deputy so worked up.

“Did you not finish reading this?” Chris asked, comprehension dawning on him as Peter shook his head.

“I didn’t get the chance to. I was halfway through it when Melanie came in. I only just settled back down to try and finish it. Why, what does it say?” Peter’s smile was entirely gone now, his heart beating faster in his chest as he felt a sudden bad feeling tingling along the back of his neck. “Spit it out already.”

Chris cleared his throat loudly. “By the way, you should keep your eye out for a man by the name of Edward Brighton. He is a blond-haired, blue-eyed man who typically dresses in suits that have a raven on the back of them. He should be treated with great caution and apprehended as soon as possible. He is wanted in Kansas for committing a series of murders that include the two high-society women I mentioned. I have included in the envelope a bulletin that has an artist’s depiction of what he looks like.”

Chris reached over to the envelope and pulled out the second page, his mouth already set in a firm line before he unfolded it. Peter watched his deputy’s eyes widen temporarily before he spun the bulletin around. There, staring Peter in the face, was the image of the man who he had come to despise in the last few weeks. Peter swore loudly, a howl of frustration leaving his lips soon afterward.

Peter slapped himself on the forehead and scrambled out of his chair, making his way toward the door before he realized it himself. “Chris, sound the horn! We need every able-bodied deputy mounted and armed immediately. Edward probably knew they were looking for him and that’s why he came here. He’ll be trying to leave town, and he’ll probably take Melanie with him! We need to give chase and not let them get more of a head start than they already have.”

“How will we know which way they went?” Chris called out, but Peter was now too far away from him to care to offer a reply. He felt like he had become one with the wind, every breath that filled his lungs only fueling the fire that suddenly burned within him. If that bastard Edward hurt so much as a hair on Melanie’s head, he was going to rue the day that he’d ever set foot in Santa Fe. Peter might even have to break his vow to Michael about never taking another man’s life in anger again.

Peter’s fears were proved true the instant he came within sight of Melanie’s house. Her front door was missing, and when he stepped into the foyer, he realized why. Melanie’s front door hung open, half broken off of its hinges. He ran through the small house, calling out Melanie’s name the whole while. He stumbled as he tried to race up the stairs, growling in pain as his knee slammed down onto one of the stairs.

He ignored the pain, pushing himself back up onto his feet and rounding the corner of the hallway, pushing open the door to her bedroom. It was surprisingly empty, but he realized that was because everything that Melanie owned was gone. None of the items that he’d retrieved for her back when she’d first arrived were there. Not even the large suitcase that she’d thrown her big fit over. He probably came in and packed everything in a hurry. But why isn’t there much a sign of a struggle?

That wasn’t a good sign. If there was no struggle, it meant he either took her by surprise or threatened her into going with him. Either way, the seriousness of the situation had escalated now. Edward Brighton had not just proven to Peter that he was capable of the murders he was accused of committing, but he had kidnapped Peter’s woman as well.

In the distance, he heard the trumpet that they used for emergencies, its sound buzzing out across the town. The faint galloping of many hooves could also be heard ringing across the way, and it took only a couple of minutes for the group of horse-riding posse members to appear before him. Chris rode at the front, holding the reins of his horse in one hand leading another horse by its reins with the other.

“She’s not here!” Peter shouted, trotting over to the spare horse and leaping into the saddle. Chris tossed him the reins, and he turned it to face the outside of town, looking in the direction of the Santa Fe sign. He had a feeling that Edward had gone that way. Looking back at the men that Chris had brought, he counted sixteen all together when he included Chris and himself. Darwin was there too, the young boy looking determined as he looked at Peter.

“We have to save Miss Thompson,” Darwin said firmly. “There’s no way that this is how we say goodbye.”

“You are right about that, Darwin. She’s become a part of the town now, and I am going to be damned if some human piece of garbage is going to take her away from us. We are going to ride out. Half of the men will ride with me. The other half will ride with Chris in the opposite direction just in case Edward went that way. Make haste ten miles out, and if you don’t see the wagon by then, turn back. They shouldn’t have gotten further than a few miles out by now, so you should run into them by the time you reach ten miles,” Peter said hurriedly.

“I feel so bad,” John said, scratching the back of his head. “Iris and I only dropped her off at her house last night. I didn’t realize that she was in danger, else I would have insisted on her staying at my place.”

“This isn’t your fault, John. If anything, the blame rests on me. I should have listened to Melanie the first time she told me she was afraid of him. I’ll never make that mistake again,” Peter said, sliding the rifle that hung in a holster on the side of his horse and loading a couple of bullets into it. “Let’s ride, men!”

He kicked his feet into his horse's ribs, the large beast letting out a whinny of protest before it launched forward. Peter kept his best grip on the reins by wrapping them around his hand, feeling the mighty stallion beneath him jerking on his arm with every passing moment. He could feel his arm muscles straining from the effort of keeping the horse under control, the sound of hooves striking against the dirt echoing around him. He barely paid it any mind.

He promised himself that if he managed to get through the night, he was going to make an honest woman out of Melanie. He’d make it so that she’d never have to worry about someone coming along to try and take her from him ever again. He’d stop lying to himself and finally accept what he’d tried very hard to fight ever since she’d first stepped foot in his town. Peter Matherson, the gruff old sheriff of Santa Fe, was in love with the schoolteacher Melanie Thompson. And he was going to get his woman back.

Chapter 35

Melanie had taken a moment to rise from where she sat beside her door, pulling her white gloves off one by one and setting them on the kitchen counter. Now that she was home, perhaps she would brew a cup of tea to calm her nerves. Maybe that would help take her mind off Edward for a little while.

She froze. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she caught sight of her teakettle sitting in the center of her hearth, steam only just beginning to cause the pot to let out a high-pitched whistle. That meant that it had only been there for a couple of minutes. Roughly the same amount of time that she’d been home. “Is somebody here?” she called out, wishing that she had some kind of weapon handy. There was her hat stand, but she couldn’t exactly lift it and carry it through her doorway. Besides, if her assailant were armed with a knife or a gun, she wouldn’t stand a chance against them even if she had it with her.

“I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in. Figured it was one of the many privileges I could afford myself as your future husband,” came Edward’s voice from the other side of the wall, causing Melanie to let out a startled gasp as the blond-haired man of her nightmares rounded the corner, a number of her possessions having been stuffed in her large suitcase. “I even took the liberty of helping you start to pack your things.”

“Pack my things? What are you talking about?” Melanie shook her head, taking a step back from him. “You told me that I had a week before I had to give you a response about the marriage. You even said that you didn’t mind it here and that we could stay a while longer.”

“Unfortunately for you, I’ve decided to change our plans,” Edward snarled. “We are going to take a carriage out of town and make our way to the nearest train station. Then you and I are going back to Kansas City, and I’ll make sure that you never escape from me again.”

There it was, that rage of his that had caused her to grow fearful of him to begin with. He transformed into a completely different person when he was angry, his vein bulging out on his forehead and his eyes darkening into seething pits of fury. It was like being faced with the ocean right as it was about to swallow you up.

“But I don’t want to leave, Edward. If you want to leave, I certainly won’t stop you from going. But you are going to be leaving without me. I’m tired of living in fear of you. I’m going to get Peter and tell him you broke into my house, and then you are going to go to jail for a very long time. If I can, I’ll request that he have you transferred somewhere far away from here, so I never have to see your face again.”

“Is that what you think?” Edward’s voice was so quiet now that Melanie had to strain to hear him. “You think that stupid sheriff is going to get here in time to save you from me? I hate to break it to you, but by the time that he arrives, you and I will be long gone. I already have the marriage license, even with how hard it was to make that idiot clerk give it to me. We’ll head a few towns over and get married by a minister I arranged while passing through, and once we are man and wife, it will be back to Kansas for us.”

Melanie shook her head violently, moving over to the teapot and moving it off the fire. “Absolutely not. There is no we anymore, Edward. You lost that right the day you decided you were going to go off and cavort with other women behind my back and plot to use me for my inheritance. You are a demon of the worst kind, Edward Brighton, and I thank the stars above that I managed to catch sight of what you truly were before I did something stupid like fall for your con.”

Edward began to chuckle darkly, the sound causing a fresh surge of fear to course through her body. “You think it’s that easy? That you’ll tell me to go away, and I’ll just drop out of your life so you can marry that sheriff and live happily ever after as a nobody? Fat chance of that. So long as I draw breath and retain my liberty, you can bet that I will always be around, Melanie. You belong to me, and you have no say in the matter. If you try to fight me on it, then I shall simply knock you unconscious and drag you out of this place.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Melanie snarled, gripping the teapot and holding it between the two of them. “Don’t think that I won’t throw this at you if you think about taking one more step toward me.”

“You had better hope that you have the strength to hit me hard enough to knock me out,” he said softly, stepping forward intently.

“You lay your hands on me, and you are a dead man. Peter isn’t going to let you get away with what you are trying to do. He’ll round up a posse to come after us, and you’ll be the one getting knocked around then,” Melanie said hesitantly. “At least my bruises will heal. I don’t think the same can apply for a dead man.”

He lunged forward, Melanie using all her strength to try and hurl the heavy kettle at him, but they were too far apart. The heavy kettle simply fell uselessly to the floor a couple of inches in front of her, Edward stepping over it before his hand grabbed Melanie by the collar of her dress. “I told you that you wouldn’t be able to manage that.”

“Get away from me. Keep your hands off me!” she cried out indignantly, her breath suddenly escaping as she felt Edward’s gloved hand smack across her face. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as if he had hit her with his bare hand, but it was a powerful enough strike to cause her to stumble against the kitchen sink. She shot an angry glare at Edward, her hand stroking gently across her stinging skin.

“You are going to pay for that,” Melanie snarled, reaching behind her to grab at one of the chef’s knives sitting in her wooden knife block. “I’ll be sure to give you a smack that hurts way more than that tap you gave me just now.”

“I’ll show you a tap,” Edward spat, his arm drawing back before his hand cracked across her face hard enough to send her crashing to the floor. The stinging in her jaw was causing her to see stars, and she could already feel her cheek beginning to swell. Tears streamed as she forced herself to return to her feet.

“You can strike me all you want, but it won’t do you any good,” she said defiantly. “You aren’t going to be able to intimidate me.”

“That’s a shame for you,” Edward said, smirking as his grip closed around her wrist hard enough to cause her to cry out in pain. “Because this opinionated Melanie is going to find herself without any teeth in her mouth.”

That made Melanie pause for a moment, the stinging serving as a fresh reminder of the price of disobedience. “You keep striking me, and I swear you’ll regret it.”

“That’s a good laugh. You think that you can threaten me? You can’t even hurt a fly, Melanie Thompson. I’ve eaten bits of uncooked meat that were tougher than you, and if you think you’ll stand between me and your father’s wealth, think again. It would not be hard for me to forge some documents with your signature and claim your inheritance after you experience a tragic accident, you know,” he whispered in her ear, sending a fresh shudder of revulsion up her spine.

“I hope they have a special place reserved for you in the fiery pits when all of this is over, and I hope it is the most unpleasant torture they could have ever come up with,” Melanie cursed.

“Oh, I have done plenty to earn it,” he said, his expression cruel. “Consider it my fee for having spent all those long afternoons listening to you whine about how much you missed your father and how much you hated having to be stuck under the thumb of your aunt. Now you will be able to live away from her, just like you always wanted. And with me as your husband and the one in charge of your finances, you won’t have to work. We can just live off your parents’ riches for the rest of our days if we spend it wisely.”

“Let you spend my parents’ money on lush houses and force me to waste away while you entertain yourself with your so-called pastimes? Not on your life, Edward Brighton. You can waste your own father’s money on that. I’d sooner be blue and in the ground than let you waste even a cent of my family’s money on them.” Melanie crossed her arms as she spoke, glaring at him.

“You won’t have a say in the matter. As your husband, I gain all say when it comes to matters of your finances. You’ll be my pretty little songbird. That’s only if you behave. Otherwise, you can go missing just like those other stupid broads who thought they would mouth off to me and threaten to drag my name through the mud,” Edward cackled, pushing Melanie toward where her suitcase sat on the floor. “Now go grab the rest of your things and let’s get going. We are burning daylight, and I’m not going to give your goody-two-shoes sheriff the time to get here with a posse.”

Melanie tried to argue with him, to tell him that she wasn’t going anywhere. She looked around for something that she could throw at him to give herself a distraction she could use to escape, but it seemed hopeless from the start. She’d already thrown her only weapon, and she didn’t have the strength to wrench her wrist out of Edward’s grasp. She did her best to give it one last-ditch effort, kicking her leg out and feeling it connect with his shin.

Edward let out an angry snarl of pain, his hand cracking against Melanie’s cheek yet again. She felt a searing hot pain this time, her head smacking against the top of one of her wooden stools on the way down. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Chapter 36

“What are we just waiting around for?” Darwin asked, gazing up at Peter with obvious defiance. “I’m not going to just sit here while Miss Thompson runs the risk of getting carted off somewhere and we never see her again.”

“Darwin, this isn’t like the other times. Johnny Carrington was a scoundrel who liked to rely on his men to do his dirty work. Edward has no crew here, only himself, and that makes him far more dangerous. Because he has no one else to depend on, it will make him desperate should he find himself backed into a corner,” Peter snapped, his patience waning.

“I was a big help to you the last time you got into a situation like this, or have you already forgotten about me saving your life? You promised me back then that this was going to be my time to shine, and that you were finally going to take me seriously. Well, now is the time. I want the respect that you told me I’d have to earn, so I’m coming with you all. You may as well unofficially deputize me just like you did Melanie, because you aren’t going to get rid of me,” Darwin shot back, his eyes glittering with determination.

Peter and Darwin stared one another down, neither one blinking. Tapping his foot with impatience against one of the stirrups on his saddle, the sheriff finally threw his hands up in frustration. “Fine! You can come along with us. Just know that we are doing this my way this time. No rushing in like a hero; no brash moves that could get someone killed. We play it by ear, but I don’t want anyone to shoot at anyone unless I give the order. And make sure Melanie is nowhere near him when you take that shot!”

The rest of the men nodded, pressing their feet into their horses’ flanks and spurring them forward. Peter turned his face toward the direction of the setting sun, taking a moment to appreciate the vivid orange and pink that dyed half the sky in its light colors. Would tonight be the last night that he would see the sun go down?

“Onward, men! Every moment that we dilly-dally is another moment that bastard Edward has to put more distance between them and us!” Peter bellowed, casting a glance behind him as he rode. Chris, John, and Darwin were all riding right on his heels, their faces set in the same grim mask that Peter was certain adorned his own features.

Peter was annoyed, but how could anyone blame him in this situation? He had been happy to see the group of men that Chris had assembled, but his smile had instantly faded when he caught sight of Darwin.

He’d been ready to argue with Darwin more, to tell the young man that this was too dangerous of a situation for him to be in. Deep down, however, he knew that nothing he said would work on Darwin. The boy would still have the idea in his head that he wanted to race off to go save Melanie, and that would just cause him bigger trouble. At least this way he could keep an eye on the boy.

“I can’t believe that you didn’t argue with Darwin about coming along this time,” Chris said half-jokingly, his smile fading when he realized no one else was laughing with him.

“It was a matter of not wasting any more time, Chris. If I spent a bunch of time arguing with Darwin, it would only help Edward escape. Besides, knowing Darwin, he would have found some way to follow after us. Then I’d have to worry about him going off half-cocked and finding himself in real trouble. Brighton is nothing like Johnny Carrington was. The man is a cold-hearted killer through and through, and I’m certain that he won’t hesitate to kill us, or even Melanie, if it means getting his way. Desperation will drive men to do unspeakable things,” Peter replied hurriedly, shouting to be heard over the rattling of their spurs and the galloping of the horses.

“I guess that makes sense,” John replied, clapping Darwin gently on the shoulder. The two of them were sharing a horse, with Darwin riding in front of John. “You see, Darwin? You wanted to be treated like one of the men, and now you have the chance.”

Darwin did his best to smile. It certainly didn’t match his eyes, worry shining in them. “I just wish that the moments where I could prove myself to be a man didn’t all involve Melanie finding herself in some kind of trouble.”

Peter was not expecting such a response, letting out a loud guffaw of laughter that caught the others off guard. “Yeah, it would be nice to not have to keep racing off to her rescue, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately for us, that’s just how it goes sometimes when you are dealing with beautiful women. They tend to attract trouble to them like flies.”

“I’m never going to become that kind of man,” Darwin promised. “I will spend my entire life opposing men that allow themselves to sink to such a low.”

“I can only hope that years down the line you still feel the same way,” John piped up. “You will come across times that the sea of life will capture you in its tide and try to force you to follow it even if you’d been set on following a different path. You just have to do your best not to get swept away by it.”

Peter barely paid their chatter any mind, his eyes focused on using the light of the lantern he was carrying to follow the deep tracks that had started from Melanie’s home and had quickly headed out of town. He’d thought he was following the wrong trail until he caught a glimpse of one of Melanie’s dresses lying in a dusty heap on the ground. His feet dug further into his stallion’s sides, the horse’s indignant whinny accompanied by a further increase in speed. Soon he was riding well ahead of his men, their shouts fading to a dull roar behind him.

His mind kept replaying the scene of Melanie’s empty home over and over again, his jaw clenching with rage. He was angry with himself, and most importantly, infuriated with Edward that he would have the gall to pull something like this. He would have never taken a kidnapping in his jurisdiction lying down on a good day, and Edward decided he would kidnap the one woman that Peter was willing to go to the ends of the earth for. That is going to be a decision that he’ll come to regret.

“Peter, what are you going to do once you get there? You keep talking about following your plan, but you haven’t told us what you are thinking,” Chris shouted above the sound of the rushing wind. Despite how quickly he’d been riding, his companions had managed to catch up with him.

“We are going to do our best to surround him. I need four of you to ride in front of the carriage and get him to come to a halt while the rest of us come around the back and liberate Melanie from the carriage. Do not do anything that might cause him to lose control of the horses, as that could end catastrophically for everyone involved,” Peter called back, half-turned in his saddle so that he could be heard.

“So, I shouldn’t be trying to jump onto one of his horses and bring it to a stop that way?” John asked with amusement. “And here I was hoping that I could show off my skills.”

“I would rather not have to tell Iris that you died being trampled while trying to jump onto a moving horse,” Peter replied dryly. “I don’t think she’d forgive your ghost if you left her and the kids behind while trying to play the hero.”

“You are right about that. I’m sure she would pray every night for me and ask why I had to die like such a fool,” John said, his face suddenly melancholic. “I would never be able to forgive myself if I left her alone with seven kids to raise.”

“I won’t forgive myself if Edward manages to take Melanie away,” Peter said, ignoring the strange looks he got from the rest of his men as they rode side by side. “I’ve finally realized that she is one part of my life that I don’t want to live without.”

“All the more reason why we need to ride faster,” John replied, cutting off Chris before he could joke again. “Lead the way.”

Chapter 37

The first thing Melanie felt when she came to was the throbbing in the side of her face and head from where Edward had slapped her. She still felt rather dizzy, and the constant rattling and shaking was not doing much to help. Wait, rattling and shaking?

She opened her eyes slowly and found herself crammed in the back of a carriage, her items thrown haphazardly in a pile on the seat across from her.

It seemed Edward had made good on his promise, taking advantage of her unconsciousness to stow her unceremoniously in the back of the carriage and fleeing Santa Fe before they had time to raise the alarm. She had many questions, such as how long she had been knocked out. The faint traces of dusk had the sky shining a light shade of pink.

What if he manages to shake off any pursuers before the sun finishes going down? Most search parties won’t risk being out at night and waiting until the next day guarantees that he will escape before they can get to him. Was there something that she could do to help guide them in the right direction should they lose the carriage’s tracks amidst the many others that marred the road? That was when she tossed one of her old dresses out of the back of the carriage, watching the garment settle onto the dusty ground.

She could try to jump out of the carriage using her suitcase to cushion some of the impact of her fall. To do that, she would need to be able to get out first. Doing her best to ignore the feeling of her temple throbbing, she tried to gaze around the carriage’s interior. She hadn’t been restrained, and as she moved her arms and legs to test them, she was relieved to find that they immediately responded to her orders. That gave her reason to hope, at least.

From outside of the carriage, she could hear Edward swearing at the horses, urging them on faster despite the whinnies of protest. “Keep it moving, you stupid beasts! Can’t you hear the sound of the sheriff in the distance?”

Melanie’s heart began to beat faster in her chest as she suddenly heard a loud howl in the distance that sounded an awful lot like Daisy Mae. She’d heard that sound enough times to know it, and that caused relief to flood her body. She tried to stand up to make her way to the carriage door, but her first attempt saw her thrown back onto her seat hard enough to make her grunt in pain. Her hand flew to her back, rubbing gingerly at the now throbbing portion.

This time when she went to stand up, she held a heavy candlestick in her hand. Swinging with all of her might, she was relieved to hear the sound of wood splintering. Kicking at the door of the carriage until it broke off with a crunch of wood, Melanie braced herself against the sudden rush of wind that forced its way inside, tugging at the hem of her dress. Her mind flashed back to when she had first lost control of a horse.

Her father was forced to ride at full speed beside her while she attempted to leap to the horse. She’d been frozen in fear, shaking her head adamantly every time he told her to jump. “I can’t do it, Daddy! I am too scared!”

“Melanie, I know that you are afraid, but you have to do this for me. We are running out of time. You are going to ride off that cliff otherwise!” her father exclaimed, his voice sounding increasingly frantic. “If you don’t overcome your fear now, you will not get the chance again.”

Blinking through the tears that were obscuring her vision, Melanie slowly pushed her way up out of the stirrups, so she was balancing on the saddle, keeping her head low as she looked at her father’s outstretched arms. He was riding with the reins wrapped around his right arm, his eyes blazing with fanatic necessity. Taking a deep breath, she released her reins and made the jump, her body suspended in mid-air for only a moment before she felt herself being pulled back to Earth.

The sound of her father grunting as he’d caught her with one arm and hauled her onto the saddle caused her to break down and sob, her father slowing their horse and bringing him to a gentle stop before he wrapped both of his arms around her in a tight embrace. “There, there, Mel. You are safe now. I’ve got you,” he said gently, urging their horse in the direction of their home.

Melanie returned her attention to the present, peeking out the smashed-out doorway to peer up at the driver’s seat. Edward was alone, driving a carriage that seemed to be stolen, given she didn’t see his usual raven crest on it.

Ducking back inside briefly, Melanie rummaged through her bag quickly for something she could use as a weapon. She felt a surge of relief as her fingers closed around the familiar sculpted lion head bookend. He must have grabbed it in his haste to collect her things thinking she would be knocked out for far longer. His underestimating her would be his downfall.

If she were younger, she would have hesitated out of fear. This time, there was no hesitation. She didn’t want to be taken away like this, least of all by Edward. She wasn’t going to just be a damsel in distress, either. She was willing to take the jump. Holding the bookend tighter, Melanie stepped to the side of the carriage. Her hand rested on the side where the door had once been for a brief instant, and then Melanie was throwing herself from the moving carriage.

The ground rushed up quickly to meet her, though between her bag and a patch of softened mud she fell into, her fall was cushioned. Melanie still felt a dull pain shoot up her arm when she hit the ground. However, she could still miraculously wiggle her fingers when she finally came to a rolling stop. Sitting up and doing her best to overcome her dizziness, she heard Edward screaming in rage and the sounds of reins snapping. Judging by the glow of lanterns, Edward was doing his best to turn the carriage around.

Melanie pushed herself up onto her feet and tried to start running away from him. She could see multiple lanterns in the distance, her mood lifting immensely at the thought of Peter coming to her rescue.

She could hear Daisy Mae’s howl once more, the sound much closer. Edward’s horses whinnied and abruptly tried to stop; Melanie heard the distinct sound of the man crying out right before the carriage began to barrel back toward her. Melanie could only barely see the outline of the carriage thanks to the single lantern that remained, but she could clearly see the eyes of the horses and hear their thundering hoofbeats echoing in her ears.

“Melanie, get out of the way!” Peter’s voice rang out loud and clear through the air, causing Melanie to turn in his direction. She couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across her face. He came. “He’s going to run you over if you don’t move!”

“Don’t be stupid, lawman. She is no good to me dead,” Edward snarled, pulling on his reins.

Melanie tried to take a step to the left, but her leg gave out beneath her. She must have twisted her ankle when she landed, the intense pain that shot up her leg driving all the breath out of her lungs. Her scream of pain echoed across the field, followed by Peter’s bellow of rage. Unable to move, she closed her eyes and covered her head with her arms. The sound of hoofbeats was all that she could hear. This is how I’m going to die, isn’t it?

Chapter 38

The light of his posse’s lanterns provided the perfect amount of visibility for Peter to see Melanie throw herself from the carriage ahead of them. Darwin was the first one who had noticed something amiss when they’d nearly been struck by pieces of wood that suddenly flew from the side of the carriage. If Peter were a betting man, he’d say Melanie had broken it off.

The scream of pain that came from her lips stopped his blood cold. He could see Edward bearing down on Melanie from the front of his carriage, a pistol gleaming in his hand. Boiling white-hot rage, the likes of which he’d never felt before, ignited in his soul. Before Peter could hesitate, he was lifting his rifle and firing a shot toward the reins, watching as the horses separated from the carriage.

Peter urged his horse onward even as he watched the carriage list up onto two wheels, Edward cursing and doing his best to scramble to the higher side as the wagon toppled over. The crunch of wood was loud, Edward screaming as he was launched from the carriage. He came to a rough landing a short way away from Melanie, wasting no time in scrambling to his feet and giving Peter a hate-filled glare.

Knowing that this was likely going to end in another hostage situation, Peter loaded another couple of rounds into his rifle and cocked it. If Edward made so much as one foolish move, he was going to kill him outright, consequences be damned. Even if he had to give up his badge and leave town, he would consider himself just. “Melanie, don’t worry. I’m coming for you!”

“Come closer if you dare! I swear to goodness that if you do, I’ll start shooting her limbs one by one,” Edward snarled, his arm wrapping roughly around Melanie and yanking her to her feet despite her yelp of pain. Peter watched her do her best to put all her weight on one leg. She’s been injured.

“Men, don’t shoot! I repeat, do not shoot! We can’t afford for Melanie to get caught up in the crossfire!” he shouted, watching as John and Darwin both immediately backed off. It looked like the two of them were attempting to circle around Edward, but they couldn’t afford to take that risk either. The chance that Melanie could be injured severely was just too high.

“That’s the first smart thing you’ve done all night, Sheriff,” Edward sneered. “Now, let’s see if you can do another smart thing. You give me a horse, and maybe I let her go. At the very least, you can be certain I will kill her if you refuse me.”

“I have a better idea, Edward. Hand over the girl and come quietly. You’ve committed crimes, and you will answer for them,” Peter growled.

“I’m not staying trapped in this backwater town for the rest of my life. But the instant I get past state lines, I will find myself being hunted by the rest of those glorified bloodhounds. I won’t have a single moment of rest. Unless you have money equal to her fortune, we have nothing to negotiate,” he called out.

Peter saw Melanie standing with her hands crossed in front of her, holding her dress in a curious fashion. Like she was trying to hide something and not let Edward know about it. Still, he wasn’t sure what she could have that would help her against a pistol to her head. Peter hefted his rifle higher. “Don’t do anything stupid, Edward. If you kill her, then your life becomes forfeit too.”

“Then at least I will have the joy of knowing that I forever denied you the chance to have what is rightfully mine. I told you fools already that we are destined for one another. I am the only man worthy of her beauty and her fortune; I was always the only one!” Edward’s eyes were blazing manically now, his thumb moving to cock the hammer of his pistol, pressing the muzzle of his gun more roughly into the side of Melanie’s head. “Time for you to make your choice.”

“The only choice here is whether or not I shoot you between the eyes or in your hand,” Peter spat. “If I so much as see you twitch that finger, I will shoot that smug grin right off your face.”

“Don’t try to bluff me. You won’t take the risk of shooting so close to your beloved Melanie’s face,” Edward sneered, his hand moving to cup Melanie’s cheeks. “Did you kiss these lips before? It enrages me even to think that a commoner like you would dare sully the lips of the future bride of the Brighton heir. I should kill you outright, but you outnumber me like cowards. Still, I’ve outsmarted all of you!”

“Edward, you are being a fool!” Peter shouted out, but Edward merely laughed.

“All you have to do is give me a horse! It is you all who are being the fools. You have more than enough horses to spare one, and yet you hesitate? Does her life mean so little to you?” Edward asked mockingly. “Is that the extent of your love?”

“It is because I love her that I am not going to allow you to take her life. But letting her leave with you when I know that goes against what she wants is a fate far worse than death for her, and I know that. I would sooner sacrifice myself than condemn her to a life with you. That is the greatest love that I can offer her. I might not be able to do all the typical romantic things, but I’ll be there for her when the chips are down. Could a man as pathetic as you ever understand that desire?” Peter shot back, watching as tears streamed down Melanie’s face.

“Very pretty words, Sheriff. However, I’m afraid that you have nothing to back them up with. The instant any of you take a shot, I will make sure that my last act on this earth is putting a bullet through her pretty little head. Now, I am not going to repeat myself. I am going to count to ten, and by the time I do, you better be handing over the reins of one of your horses,” Edward said, flexing his trigger finger gently. “One, two, three…”

This was it. This was going to have to be the moment that he stepped in, or else there would be no more chances. “Have it your way, Edward. I will bring you a horse,” Peter scowled, slowly sliding from his saddle.

“Sheriff, no! You can’t just give him a horse; he’s going to take Melanie away,” Darwin protested. “Have you completely lost it?”

“Be quiet, Darwin. Let me handle this,” Peter snapped. “You are only going to make him angrier.”

“What sort of man holds a woman hostage,” John shouted, surprising all of them. “You are the worst kind of filth, Edward Brighton. Even surrounded by your riches, you are still worthless.”

“Big words, but that is all they are. Worthless words carried on hot air,” Edward said boastfully. “The truth of the matter is you all are right where I want you to be. If this is a game of poker, then I hold all the cards!”

“You might hold all of the cards, but there is one thing that you failed to take into account,” Peter said, pointing his finger accusingly at Edward. “You might have thought you’ve won, but you’ve made one grave miscalculation,” he added, gazing at Melanie with a surprisingly fierce gaze as he spoke. “You are severely underestimating the woman you hold.”

“You think this weak little minx is going to be able to do anything? I’ve got her at gunpoint, and she is so terrified that she wouldn’t dare try to move. She might as well be a doe in my sights for how much of a chance she’s got,” Edward sneered. He was about to try to make another smart comment, but then Melanie finally decided to strike.

Chapter 39

Hearing Peter say all those wonderful things about her might have brought her to tears in any other situation, but now was not the time to get choked up. However, upon looking at him and seeing his beaming smile, she finally accepted it. She was head over heels in love with the sheriff. Even though he could be moody and thick-headed at times and wasn’t the most suave, he made up for it in moments like these.

What was more, he and the group were doing a fantastic job of keeping Edward’s attention. She could feel the lion-headed carving at the top of her bookend beneath her dress, knowing that the time for her to use it was coming closer. His grip on her shoulder had lessened slightly now that he was distracted; even the pistol’s muzzle pressing against her face was no longer grinding like it had been.

She’d been forced to bite her bottom lip as she heard Edward continue to demean her. Hearing just how little he thought of her was not doing any favors for him in regard to getting her to warm up to him. Though she was pretty sure that ship had not only sailed at this point but had been set on fire and lost to a typhoon.

Deciding that there was no better time to prove him wrong, Melanie ignored the pain in her foot and suddenly shifted her weight back onto her bad leg. It took everything in her willpower not to scream out, changing the sound of pain to one of rage as she used her weight to push him off balance. Capitalizing on his brief loss of footing, Melanie spun around to face him. Moving her dress aside to reveal the heavy brass bookend she’d been hiding, Melanie smiled briefly before she swung it with all of her might.

She heard the distinct crunch of Edward’s nose breaking a split second before she heard his scream of pain. His hand immediately flew to his nose, blood streaming down onto the front of his dress shirt. Her heart temporarily skipped a beat as she saw him move to raise his pistol at her, but another shot rang through the air and Edward dropped the gun like his hand had been scalded.

That was all the other men had been waiting for. Darwin was the first to reach Edward, the boy launching his full body weight into a shoulder charge. He struck Edward hard enough to cause the older man to spit up blood, the two tumbling to the dirt. John and Chris were right there next to him, the three of them launching a multitude of punches and kicks into every part of Edward that they could reach. It took a couple of the other men that were with them to pull them off, and it would ultimately be Peter who had the joy of hogtying Edward. “Looks like you lost, Edward,” Peter gloated, the men around him joining him in a triumphant laugh.

“Peter, I can’t believe you came to rescue me,” Melanie blurted out, immediately feeling confused by her own comment.

“Why is that? Because you thought I didn’t care about you? Come on, Melanie, you and I both know that is the furthest thing from the truth. I care about you deeply, and I am just frustrated with myself that I allowed things to get to this point rather than being a real man and telling you how I felt,” Peter said, scolding himself.

“Even if you had, my stupid pig-headed attitude would have kept me from accepting it. I spent the last four years of my life surrounded by people that were only ever kind to me because they wanted to use me in some way. Even when you tried to show me interest, I suspected you of only wanting to get on my good side so that you could benefit in some way. I knew you couldn’t know that I was rich, but I couldn’t trust anyone in those days. You helped me feel like I could trust people again, and I will forever be grateful to you for that,” Melanie admitted, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

“I’m glad that I could help bring down your walls,” Peter replied, his hand moving up to cup her cheek gently.

Darwin chose that moment to pop up between them, spurring the sheriff to grab the boy in a headlock and affectionately grind his fist against the top of his head. “How many times am I going to have to tell you not to pull those stupid kinds of stunts, boy? I told you that you were going to get yourself killed if you kept up with that. When are you going to get it through your thick skull that I don’t tell you this stuff for my own benefit? Do you think that I am trying to lose you too?”

“Stop treating me like you are my dad!” Darwin shouted out. “You are just mad because once again, I’m the one who has saved the day.”

“Is that so? Who was the one who shot his gun out of his hand so he couldn’t kill both Melanie and you? You better show a little gratitude,” Peter said, giving the boy another affectionate smack on his head before releasing him.

“You are just trying to take all the credit again,” Darwin pouted, the two going back and forth in front of Melanie. Now that the excitement was over, she was far more aware of the throbbing in her leg.

“I’m going to need a doctor,” she said loudly, talking over the two and forcing them to focus their attention on her. “I can’t put any weight on my left leg at all. One of you is going to need to carry me to a horse.” She didn’t sound at all pleased at the prospect, but that was mostly because there was no comfortable way for her to be carried that either wouldn’t look compromising or wouldn’t cause great pain to her injured leg.

Peter smiled sheepishly at that, doing his best to wrap his arms around her in a way that wouldn’t contribute to the pain that she was feeling right now. He carried her over to the saddle of his horse and helped her to climb onto the front of it. He leaped up behind her while the rest of his men mounted once more. They had loaded as much of Melanie’s possessions into their saddlebags as would fit, Melanie’s suitcase being handled by John.

“I think this has all been quite enough excitement for one day,” Peter said, gazing at the last few retreating glimmers of sunlight. “Chris, I want you to sling Edward over the back of your horse and take him to the jail. Make sure you put him in a cell that doesn’t look out on the town. I want him to have as miserable of a view as possible. He’ll be sitting there until I can get him in front of the judge.”

“What if he just tries to use his money to get out of jail again?” Melanie scoffed.

“You should have a little more faith in the law,” John said cheerfully, clapping Melanie gently on her shoulder from where he sat on his horse beside her. “There isn’t a single crooked judge down here in Santa Fe. Besides, once they hear that he tried to kidnap and murder you, they will throw the book at him. We are very faith-conscious people around here, and the tenets of our faith demand that we uphold the law. He’s going to the stony lonesome, and he isn’t going to be getting out for a long time. I’d bet every last bit of my land on that.”

That helped Melanie to feel a little better, and as they began the slow ride back toward town, she found herself leaning back against Peter. The feeling of his firm chest and the smell of his cologne comforted her, though every bounce of the horse caused a fresh rush of pain through her leg. She gritted her teeth but did her best not to let out any more sounds of pain than were necessary. She didn’t want Peter to treat her like she was just some helpless damsel.

Still, she didn’t think she’d ever felt the kind of pain she felt right now. Now she knew what her old horse Winifred had gone through back when she’d taken a bad fall and broken her leg. It had been one of the hardest days of Melanie’s life to watch her father take the shotgun out to the stables and to hear that single gunshot echo.

“We’ll take you to the doctor, don’t you fear. And once he’s got you all patched up, there is something I need to talk to you and Darwin about,” Peter said vaguely, refusing to say anymore despite her questions. It seemed that whatever it was, she’d have to wait.

Chapter 40

While they sat in the doctor’s office with Melanie watching her foot get bound with bandages, Peter had been mostly silent. His mind was heavy with the weight of the confession he was about to make, and after the events of that night, he found himself somewhat choked up. He’d never been good at admitting these kinds of things, and this was one of the most harrowing.

He hadn’t moved away from Melanie’s side the entire time, his hand holding hers gently. He didn’t care if his palm was sweaty or if the doctor kept giving him strange looks. Melanie hadn’t yet tried to pull her hand away, and that was good enough for him.

“Melanie, I think that you are a very lucky woman. Your leg seems to merely have been popped out of place. I’ve reset it as gently as I could, and I’ve splinted it. However, you are not going to be able to stand on it for a few months, and there is going to be a dull ache until the swelling goes down. I will be sending a small bottle of laudanum home with you. I recommend two drops every eight hours as needed to deal with your pain,” the doctor said with a smile.

“Considering how hard she hit the ground when she jumped out of the carriage, I say it could have been a lot worse,” Peter said with a faint chuckle.

“What on earth were you doing jumping out of a carriage?” the doctor asked incredulously, shaking his head in wonder.

“It’s a long story,” Melanie and Peter replied together, grinning at one another.

“That sounds like a story I should very much like to hear at some point,” the doctor chuckled, grabbing Melanie a wooden cane and handing it to her. “Use this on the side of your injured leg in the meantime. It will help you put your weight on something other than your leg while you walk,” he ordered, ushering Melanie, Darwin, and Peter out of his office. “All good to go. Come back if anything else needs to be treated.”

“What did you want to talk to me about, Peter?” Melanie asked, allowing Peter to help her back up onto his horse. He rode with her back to her home, Darwin following on foot. When they got there, he finally spoke, taking a deep breath in and exhaling slowly.

“I am tired of you and Darwin constantly causing trouble for me here in this town. It seems like every time I leave one of you to your own devices, you manage to land headfirst in a whole big pile of trouble. I’m convinced after what has happened tonight that I simply can’t leave the two of you on your own anymore,” Peter said.

“You aren’t making any sense,” Darwin said, making Peter glare at him.

“That is because I am not finished,” Peter retorted. “I have been thinking about this for a long time now, and it isn’t a decision I have made lightly. However, it has become obvious to me that I can’t allow you to remain at that orphanage anymore.”

“Too bad for me that I am not allowed to leave the orphanage until I turn eighteen or I get adopted,” Darwin muttered bitterly. Daisy Mae, who had been walking with him, let out a whimper as she looked up at him. She set her paw on his leg as if to comfort him, resting her big head on his leg with her tongue lolling out.

“Hmm, yes, that would be a shame. Good thing I am planning on adopting you, huh?” Peter grinned, watching Darwin’s jaw drop in disbelief. Even Melanie looked surprised.

“What brought your sudden change of mind about that?” Melanie asked. “I know you were telling me a couple weeks ago that you didn’t feel like you were father material.”

“I may not be perfect father material, but I know that my heart is in the right place. My only issue lies in the fact that I am still hesitant about doing it alone. A boy doesn’t need just a father to raise him right. That is where I was hoping you would come in, Melanie,” Peter said bashfully, finding it suddenly hard to meet her gaze.

“Where do I come in?” Melanie asked. “You are almost making it sound like you’re asking me to be Darwin’s mom.”

“That is exactly what I’m asking of you,” Peter said, sliding off the saddle and gently pulling Melanie down after. He cradled her in his arms as he carried her to the rocking chair sitting on her front porch, setting her on it before kneeling before her. “I’m not good at these kinds of things. I’m pretty bad at the whole romance thing in general, honestly. I’m bad at communicating my feelings, and I tend to hide my real emotions. That being said, I’m willing to try to do better. I’m willing to try to become a better person, and I feel like the two of you will be able to help me. It would increase my odds if I had a woman, and frankly, I can’t think of a better woman to be his mother. He already likes you and respects you, and I know you care for him.”

“I don’t know. Are you sure that you would want someone like me as a wife? I’m not going to be the kind of wife who will just nod and say, ‘yes dear’ whenever you say something I don’t like,” Melanie said, crossing her arms in front of her. She looked hesitant, but Peter could see what looked like joy in her eyes, like she’d been waiting for him to ask for a long time now.

“I need someone who is going to keep me on my toes and, more importantly, keep me honest with myself,” Peter said, taking her hands gently in his. “So, will you make me the happiest man in the world and agree to be mine forever?”

He couldn’t remember ever feeling the sense of fulfillment that he felt right then. A part of him wondered if this was just a hallucination, but as he rose to his feet and pulled Melanie into his arms, her weight reminded him that this was no hallucination. “Will you be my mom, Melanie?” Darwin piped up finally, looking up at her with big eyes. “Are the two of you really going to adopt me?”

Melanie took a deep breath, looking up at Peter before returning her gaze to Darwin and finally smiling. “Of course, I will, Darwin.”

“And you’ll be my bride?” Peter asked softly, Melanie glancing at him meaningfully. “Nothing would make me happier than spending the rest of my life with the man who saved my life. Besides, when Edward had me in that carriage and I was unconscious, I kept dreaming about you coming to rescue me. You are the only man I’ve ever believed in like that. Just try not to disappoint me in the later years,” she said playfully.

Peter’s face split into a wide grin. “I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations, Miss Thompson. Or should I start calling you Mrs. Matherson so you can get used to it?”

Melanie rested her head on his chest, nuzzling him gently. “That has a nice ring to it.”

Epilogue

She sat nervously in the small room that Pastor Hamilton had offered her, waiting for Iris to get her. The butterflies in her stomach were unlike anything she had ever felt before, and she had spent the last fifteen minutes repeatedly checking her reflection in the mirror.

She looked over the beautiful emerald green dress that she wore, awe overtaking her. Her husband-to-be had gone out of his way to arrange for the dress to be sent from a cataloguer in New York that the town tailor had lent him. She would have never believed that such a beautiful shade of clothing could exist, yet there she stood.

The lapel of the dress was adorned with golden flowers that looked like they were growing straight out of her dress, and at her shoulders and on the back of her hands twinkled little emerald gemstones. She didn’t even want to ask how much the dress had cost, and she knew Peter wouldn’t tell her truthfully if she did. She would just try to accept it gratefully as a wedding present.

A knock on the door caused her to turn, and Melanie smiled with relief as she saw Iris step through the door. Her best friend was finished with her pregnancy, having given birth to their newest daughter Lily a few months previously. “I’m surprised the two of you waited to get married until after you got the adoption paperwork finalized. It must have been torture for you. If it had been John and me, we would have had our kid long before we decided to tie the knot.”

“Peter and I talked about that, and we decided that it would be better to wait until we got the go-ahead. That way, we could plan the wedding shortly afterward and let it mark the day that we truly became a family. I thought it was the sweetest thing,” Melanie said, her bottom lip trembling as she was threatened to be overwhelmed with emotion.

“And that man says he doesn’t know how to be romantic!” Iris scoffed, walking up behind Melanie and gently straightening the small tiara that held her veil in place. “He turned you into a princess right out of a fairy tale.”

“It all feels like one. I still find myself pinching my arm occasionally just to make sure I’m not imagining everything. These last couple of months have felt like a dream. From watching Edward getting sent back to Kansas in a prison wagon to having those additions built onto my house. It’s all been so strange,” she admitted, her hand resting briefly on her face.

“It’s time,” Darwin said, slipping in behind Iris and practically bouncing with excitement. “Is everything alright in here? You know that you have all the guests waiting out there, right?”

“Everything is fine, Darwin. Melanie and I were just going over a few last-minute outfit touch-ups,” Iris said, offering Melanie a wink.

“You look beautiful,” Darwin said shyly, slowly walking up to her and giving her a tight hug. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you in a wedding gown.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Melanie asked with a laugh, playfully swatting Darwin. “You say that as if I was going to end up an old crone.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Darwin cackled, covering himself and drawing away from her. “I’m glad that it is you, though. You’ll be good for Peter.”

“That’s no way to refer to your father,” Melanie chided him playfully. “You haven’t been calling me by my first name, so you’ll have to learn to do the same for him. He won’t tell you, but it’s been bothering him that you haven’t been calling him Dad.”

“I guess it is still kind of weird to think about,” Darwin admitted, scratching the back of his head gently. “I mean, I already had parents, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did, and they will always be your first parents. However, with them having passed on, now we can step in to take their place. Do you think they would object to us making sure you can be loved and taken care of in their absence?” Melanie inquired, her hand petting the top of his head absently.

“No. I think they would be happy,” Darwin said kindly. “You are going to want to get out there pretty quickly. Dad looks like he is about to come back here to get you himself if you keep him waiting any longer.”

His face told her it was strange for him to use the word, but it was a good first step. She stepped away from the mirror and strode across the room. She gave Iris a long, lingering hug. “Thanks for not sobbing uncontrollably at my wedding. If I see you cry, it isn’t going to be long until I join you.”

“There is still plenty of wedding left,” Iris said breathlessly, tears glimmering in her eyes. “Thank me for not crying when it is over.”

Melanie giggled good-naturedly at that, stepping through the doorway as she heard the sound of the pipe organ begin to play. She gave Peter an apologetic smile where he stood at the end of the aisle with the preacher. He was dressed in a stylish black suit with an interior trim that was almost the same shade of green that she wore. Darwin walked down the aisle with her, stepping aside once she reached the stage.

“Are you feeling any last-minute regrets?” Peter asked, lifting her veil gently so that he could have an unobscured view of her face. “I will understand if you do.”

“You aren’t getting out of this that easily,” Melanie teased, wrapping her arm through his gently. They turned toward the pastor as he began his sermon, Melanie’s entire body trembling with excitement. She had never had so much trouble staying still before. How could she be calm when she finally got to experience so much happiness?

She stood with Peter on the front porch of her house the night he had proposed, gazing into one another’s eyes. “I promise you, Melanie. I will protect you for the rest of our lives. I might have dropped the ball with Johnny and Edward, but I refuse to be fooled a third time.”

“I hope not,” Melanie replied. “I don’t think I’ll survive a third incident.”

When they finally got to the good part, Melanie didn’t even hesitate. She and Peter held one another’s hands and looked right into each other’s eyes as they replied to the preacher’s final question in unison with an, “I do.”

Then she felt his hands cradling the back of her head. He was mindful to step carefully around her bad leg, his chest pressing up against hers even as his lips pressed against hers. Melanie wrapped her arms around his waist as best she could, her head tilting upward as she pressed back into his kiss eagerly. There were no hesitations this time, no fears of someone coming along and ruining what they had. It had been an interesting five months since she had moved to New Mexico, but she didn’t regret a single moment of it. Just like her father had promised her a long time ago, she had found the man who made her feel like a queen.

“I know that there is a reception planned, but I was sort of hoping that you and I could sneak away by ourselves. I have a secret spot I like to go to that I want to share with you,” he muttered softly, giving her a gentle squeeze after his arm wrapped around her waist.

“I’ll happily go anywhere as long as it is with you, my love.” Melanie turned with Peter to face the rest of the congregation, the applause that rang throughout the chapel making her blush. Iris and John whistled from where they stood, their children dressed in matching suits and dresses that Iris had made with her spinster club. “Any place will be paradise if you are there with me.”

“What did you say about not getting completely domesticated?” Peter teased, earning himself a slap to the chest by Melanie.

“I am not domesticated. I just don’t see why we need to fight at every occasion,” she countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

“I like seeing how fiery you can get.” Peter shrugged. “What can I say? I like to see you angry. You are cute when you are angry.”

“I’m not sure how I should take that. I think that my husband might be just a wee bit strange.” Melanie chortled, giving him a gentle shove. “Not that I mind your strangeness. It will at least keep things interesting for me.”

“If you think it is interesting now, wait until I make you have a child of our own.” He grinned, returning her playful shove and tapping her on the end of her nose. “You didn’t think I was going to be satisfied without you giving me at least one heir, did you?”

Melanie sighed dreamily. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Extended Epilogue

I am so happy you finished reading A Bride to Melt the Sheriff’s Iron Heart, till the end!

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A Thank You Note to Starfall Publications

Dearest Reader,

Writing a book is harder than I thought and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the valuable help of Starfall Publications.

I am eternally grateful to this Publishing House for believing in my ability of creating beautiful stories for you.

Therefore, with the most sincere sentiments, a special Thank you to Starfall Publications.

With Love & Respect,

Melynda Carlyle.

About Melynda Carlyle

Melynda Carlyle grew up in Billings and studied Sociology at Montana University.

Her studies and love of communicating with people led her straight into writing! She delights in creating heroines who found love through hardships in the Wild West.

A mother of three, Melynda spends her days managing her loving little monsters and her nights writing. Thankfully, her cowboy husband is a great support.

If she can spare a second after spending time with her family and writing, you can usually find her stitching clothing material with other women in the community center, or swimming at her favorite lake even when the weather is cold!

Melynda is a peoples person and loves to connect with her readers!

So, join her on her journey, and share her immense love for creating exciting and heart wrenching stories where Love is always the winner.