At ten minutes until seven, Sum took a final look in the mirror, adjusted his bow tie and smoothed down the points of his collar. He’d put on a black frock coat over a snowy white shirt and tie, and spiced it up with a blue brocade vest. His father, who’d cursed him with tart-red hair, had also possessed a keen eye for complimentary clothing. That one helpful trait, however, didn’t make up for the other inferior ones.
He’d also inherited his father’s spontaneous nature, which had gotten him into trouble from a young age. That, coupled with a tendency to trust the wrong people, had left him in a financial bind. But if the last few days’ receipts were any indication, he would soon climb out of the hole. Once he paid off his creditors, he would start saving for a proper home for his new wife.
Maggie would be his. He’d gain her promise tonight, even if he had to seduce her. Something he looked forward to. He had never set his mind on something that he’d failed, in the end, to acquire. He’d also lost most of what he’d made, but he wouldn’t lose Maggie. Her love was too valuable, worth more than all his dreams put together. If she could love him, then he could believe in himself, and he would never be a failure again.
Knocking echoed from below. Had Maggie grown impatient? He could wish.
Sum trotted down the stairs and turned up the gas lever, spilling light into the store. Not seeing anyone at the door, he unlocked it and looked outside, now thinking perhaps it was a childish prank.
A man hiding into the shadows grabbed him by the throat. Putting the cold barrel of a gun to his forehead, the intruder shoved him back into the store. His attacker loomed over him, looking to be roughly the size of a bull; taller, stronger, and based on the stench rolling off him in waves, fermented in a barrel of cheap whiskey.
“Don’ make a sound, or I’ll hafta kill ya.” The bull’s foul breath wafted into Sum’s face.
Sound? He couldn’t speak, or swallow, caught in the man’s beefy grip.
Was he a debt collector? They were generally unpleasant characters, but this one looked larger and meaner than the ones he’d encountered before. Sum tried to think over the loud hammering of his heart. Panic rarely helped. “What…” he rasped. “Do you want?”
“Your money. All of it.”
So, he was a robber as well as a debt collector. Sum cursed himself for not being more vigilant. Overpowering the massive fellow wasn’t a viable option. He’d fought big men, but not a behemoth that had a gun held to his head. Somehow, he had to convince the inebriated attacker to relax his guard.
“Can’t…breathe,” Sum choked out.
The sausage-like fingers relaxed their grip, slightly.
Sum swallowed, but was careful not to move quickly and cause alarm. The trigger-happy fool might put a bullet through his brain. “Remove the gun from my head and I’ll get the money. It’s in the register drawer.”
He’d already put the day’s earnings in the safe and there was no way in hell he would hand it over. But he kept a loaded revolver underneath the counter, and if he could get to it…
“Ain’t puttin’ this gun down ’til I see that money. Let’s go over there so you can get it…”
Sum moved backwards, with the man advancing along with him. They inched toward the counter. “When we reach the register, you’ll have to release me so I can open the drawer.”
That would give him time to knock the man’s gun away and retrieve his weapon—he hoped.
Dread tightened a fist around his heart. If he died tonight, he would never see Maggie again, considering they’d end up in different places. Even if she lit a thousand candles, he doubted she could pray him into heaven. Unlike her, he had never been good. Yet, he yearned to spend his life with a woman who gave him the desire to be better. He would show Maggie how much he loved her every day he was granted life.
Sum focused his attention on the flat-nosed assailant and the gun. He’d watch for his chance and get out of this, just as he’d gotten out of other tight spots.
Maggie checked the watch pinned to her jacket. Ten minutes past. Not once had Sum been late. Now, after browbeating her into going to dinner with him, he made her wait.
She paced the length of her brother’s store, stopping long enough to pluck a peppermint from a candy jar and pop it into her mouth. The candy would settle her stomach. It hadn’t unknotted since she’d left Sum standing on the sidewalk, relishing his victory.
Arrogant Easterner. Showy as a jaybird in his fashionable suits and ties, with every strand of his gingery hair combed into place. Never mind that his smile was downright sinful, and his eyes were as blue as the Kansas sky.
Would serve him right if she went back upstairs. She could spend a pleasant evening with her niece and nephew. They would run her ragged, but that would be more relaxing than staring at Sum over a steak and a glass of wine.
The handsome charmer continued to blast away at her resistance. The terrible truth was, she actually looked forward to surrender. She’d gone mad since she’d started spending time with him, listening to his blarney. Trying to match him up with her friend, and feeling miserable about it, and then insulting Phoebe O’Connor, who was a very nice young lady, had made one thing clear—she couldn’t be Sum’s matchmaker. Just the thought of him being with another woman was enough to send her into a frenzy.
Crossing to the front window, Maggie squinted to peer across the street at his store. Through an open door, soft light from inside spilled across the snow. She watched for another moment, but Sum didn’t come outside. Had he forgotten something and gone back for it? Or had he gotten distracted filling Miss O’Connor’s order?
Devil take him. No, she didn’t really mean that. She didn’t want anyone else to have him, not old Scratch, not Miss O’Connor, not even Michael the Archangel.
David was wrong about what her parents would’ve advised. If she listened to her selfish heart, she would accept Sum’s proposal. Then where would that leave her? Pitted against her brother. Sum didn’t understand how this would tear her apart because he hadn’t been blessed with a close family. She longed to give him that, and more. If ever there was a man who needed her love, it was Gordon Sumner. But there could be no happiness for them if she had divided loyalties.
She squinted to read his name in shadowed letters on the large glass pane. Why couldn’t he have opened a livery or a hotel, anything except a mercantile? If he’d located his store across town, at least he wouldn’t be stealing her brother’s customers. In spite of everything, she still longed to be Mrs. Sumner…Mrs. Maggie O’Brien Sumner.
Her stomach did a slow flip. O’Brien. Sumner. Together. Why hadn’t she thought of it before? That made perfect sense. Apart, both men struggled, but together, as business partners, they would be unbeatable. Of course, her hardheaded brother would resist partnering with a man he distrusted. Victoria had a more open mind and might be convinced, and then she could bring David around.
The idea gathered steam. Maggie got so excited thinking about the possibilities, she couldn’t wait to talk to Sum. If he agreed, they could plan for how best to approach Victoria and David. Although she’d have to give up her teaching job in Kansas City, a worthy project awaited her here, founding a children’s home where orphans could be cared for and schooled.
She unlocked the front door. Hugging her cloak, she tore across the street. Gas lamps along the sidewalk illuminated snowflakes twirling in the darkness above the bricked pavement. Her heart danced with them. If she could make a way for her and Sum to be together, it would be the best Christmas ever.
Maggie thundered across the opposite sidewalk and raced through the open door. She halted, startled by a strange sight near the register. A massive, stoop-shouldered man held Sum by the throat and had a gun pointed at his head.
Terror such as she’d never felt surged through her. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t shoot!”
The huge man whirled around.
She didn’t think past her urgency to reach Sum. She didn’t think about anything, except saving him, when she started forward.
The gun flashed fire and smoke. A loud retort reverberated. Something punched her chest.
Maggie staggered back, shocked and disbelieving, as the blood in her veins turned to ice.
I’m shot. The terrifying thought flickered through her mind, drowned out by a loud roaring in her ears, which grew louder…deafening…even over a furious shout, which she assumed came from Sum. But she couldn’t see him. Darkness encroached on her vision.
Her knees buckled, and the last thing she heard was another gunshot.