“Boss? Boss?”
“Yes, Clark?” Owen replied absentmindedly.
“Could you please settle a bet for us?”
A bet? Owen could not be more surprised if they told him Easter bunnies were hopping down the Main Street leaving eggs in their wake.
“Sure,” he replied simply.
“What is it?” Kit wanted to know as well.
“Last year,” Deputy Clark started to explain. “When we were called to settle that brawl in the Hoper’s Saloon, how many men did Deputy Gibson knock out? I say two.”
Owen remembered that day perfectly, they had plenty of drunken idiots to deal with. It was payday. Men always got rowdier when they got some extra coins inside their pockets. He had nothing against eyeing a drink or two after work. These idiots drank non-stop until they ran out of money or their senses, whichever happens first. That was the part Owen never quite understood.
The deputy in question shouted back, “There were four.”
“There were not enough men inside the saloon for that count, we were there as well, dealing with them alongside you,” the other argued back.
“There were four of them,” Deputy Gibson replied stubbornly.
“If you were drunk, that could explain seeing double,” Kit jumped at the opportunity to jibe Deputy Gibson.
That earned a few laughs from the fellas inside the office. Naturally, they were all listening, because gossip was better than doing actual police work, any day.
Owen immediately regretted that thought. His men were very dedicated and good at what they did. He should know, since he handpicked them.
With that being said, Owen simply listened to this exchange while looking at his men with disbelief. They were all fine men, brave men, and yet, sometimes he wanted to beat them like they were children.
“Well?” Deputy Clark prompted.
Owen simply shook with his head. “Don’t you have anything better to do than retelling old stories to one another?” Owen snapped. That wasn’t even one of the good ones.
There was an apparent disappointment on his men’s faces while Owen was saying that. They will get over it.
He knew that his irritation wasn’t completely their fault, still, he couldn’t help himself.
Suddenly, a boy came rushing inside the station. “Please help,” he said with urgency and instantly everything else was forgotten.
All his men stood up. “What’s the matter?” Owen urged, getting up.
“John Black and Douglas Smith are shooting at one another in the middle of the street, down Hickory Lane,” he explained in a rush.
“Again?" Kit growled. “It’s not even noon yet.”
Owen cursed. “I will kill them both,” Owen shouted, banging his fist against the deck. That force propelled him to start running toward the door.
“Not if they kill one another first,” Kit observed and followed suit.
“That would spare us a lot of trouble,” Owen grumbled back. He did not actually mean that, it was just that these two irked him to no end with their maddening behavior.
Every month, it was the same story between those two. Owen tried everything. He tried reasoning with them, he talked until he turned blue in the face, he threatened, threw them in jail numerous times. Apparently, nothing worked. Some people were simply too pigheaded to appreciate when someone was trying to help them. Well, Owen was done trying.
Owen and his deputies could hear gunshots being fired while people ran out of their range.
“They’re probably just around the corner,” Kit observed and he and Owen slowed down, hiding behind a building. Owen gestured for his other deputies to come at the two idiots firing from different angles. They inched closer to see what was happening. The two ranchers were standing in the middle of the street.
“Die, you piece of human waste,” John Black shouted while firing from his revolver. His aim was way off.
Lucky, crazy fool.
“After you,” Douglas Smith countered, returning fire.
“What’s the plan?” Kit asked. Owen took his own revolver out from the holster.
“I will deal with them once and for all,” Owen said and charged forward, firing a couple off warning shorts to their feet. In any other circumstance, Owen would be amused seeing those two grown men dance to his music. That got their attention and they stopped firing at one another. If they would choose to shoot at him was an entirely different story.
Hope not, he prayed.
Owen could hear Kit shouting at him, calling him a lunatic with a death wish. He ignored that. He was too focused on the couple dueling to care about anything else, his safety included. Owen stopped running when he came between them, making himself a rather easy target.
“Sheriff?” They both slurred at the same time, as though they couldn’t believe he appeared in such fashion.
“What on earth are you two idiots doing?” Owen yelled. They started replying him at the same time, accusing one another of starting the fight. Truth be told, Owen did not care about their reasons, or who started it, because he was going to be the one that ended it. It was their choice if they wanted to make it a permanent one.
“Shut up!” Owen shouted. Luckily for them, they obliged.
They were both overly drunk, barely able to stand on their two feet, let alone hold their guns. That was probably the reason they did not manage to kill one another. It was probably the reason they were standing in the middle of the main road as well, treating it as their own personal dueling field and not the heart of the city that was always brimming with people, with running children. That was what made Owen see red. He could not let this madness happen again.
“You want to kill one another?” Owen asked rhetorically. “Fine. I’ll let you kill one another, but not here. Not here, in the middle of the street where we have children milling about,” Owen fumed while the feuding men looked a bit confused.
“What were you thinking?” That was the main problem, they weren’t. They simply acted on impulse and consequences be damned.
Not while I’m still here.
There was something Owen overlooked. They did not like being chastised like small children, especially when a small crowd gathered, clearly enjoying the show.
Owen could actually see the precise moment they both decided to resume with their firing, not caring if the town’s Sheriff was standing in their way. Luckily, his deputies that were in hiding charged at that same time, grabbing the two men from behind and disarming them instantly.
They dragged the men who were spitting, kicking and screaming, in front of Owen. Owen looked at the two poor excuses for human beings with disdain. He was utterly disgusted by their selfish behavior and poor impulse control. After all, they were all men, not rabid animals.
“Stop fighting, it’s over,” Owen ordered, as there was no reasoning with them.
“This time I am taking you in front of the judge,” he added. It was no idle threat, he meant it. Let Judge Boons deal with these two idiots. Maybe a real sentence will put some sense into their empty skulls. Or so Owen hoped.
As predicted, Smith and Black started to protest, plead, and then threaten yet Owen could not care less. He knew just how to silence them.
“It’s your choice, gentlemen,” Owen spat. “You can either go in front of a judge and accept your sentences like proper men or I can kill you myself, here and now.” He emphasized his words by raising his revolver. He aimed at Smith’s head before doing the same to Black.
The noise they were making finally stopped. Ah, the blessed silence. Sadly, it did not last. They grumbled something that sounded like they would prefer jail.
“Just what I thought,” Owen said, returning his gun to the holster.
“Take them away,” he told his men and they happily obliged. Kit was the only one that decided to linger as Owen reassured the citizens of Rippingate that the danger was over.
“What was that about?” Kit asked, getting in his way.
“I
know,” Owen replied, fuming. “I am fed up with those two. We are lucky nobody got hurt.” Really lucky. “The next time, I will shoot them,” Owen wasn’t even joking. And the sad part was he was certain there would be a next time.
Kit looked at him with a frown. “I wasn’t talking about that,” he snapped.
Owen looked at him questioningly.
“I meant, what is wrong with you?” his deputy clarified. “How could you be that careless and run in the middle of the street like that while they were shooting at one another?”
“Oh, that,” Owen mumbled. Maybe he did overreact a bit. It was just that he completely lost his temper, seeing how those two were endangering his town.
“Do you have a death wish?” Kit accused.
Owen frowned. Kit was right. In those moments he was so mad he wasn’t thinking straight, which made him no better than those two drunken fools he was trying to subdue.
“I don’t think so,” Owen replied meekly.
“You don’t think so?” Kit practically shouted back. People started sending glances their way, clearly wondering why the Sheriff and his deputy were having an argument. Kit dragged him away from the prying eyes to one of the back alleys.
“Well?” Kit prompted. “What do you have to say in your defense?”
Owen started rubbing his brow. “I don’t know what came over me,” he confessed.
“I know what came over you. You were in a foul mood coming back after escorting Miss Hope for some reason, and things went south from there.”
Unfortunately, his right-hand man read him like a book. Still, he remained silent.
“Will you now tell me what put you in such a foul mood? I know we did not catch the Michaelson’s gang but I know you are not like this because of them.”
“Let’s go,” Owen tried to change the subject yet Kit did not budge.
“Something else is eating you up. That girl is the reason, I just don’t know why.”
Kit was right on every account. The problem was Owen did not know why this was happening either.
“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Owen replied eventually, not too happy about the prospect of pouring his heart like this.
“Finally, reason,” Kit cheered in an overly dramatically way.
“You cannot joke around about it,” Owen warned.
Kit snorted, which was his way of saying there was no chance he was agreeing to that.
Owen narrowed his eyes at his friend. “We will talk but if you utter one word to anyone, or make innuendos in front of others, I will tell June you said she put on some weight,” he threatened without an ounce of remorse.
Kit was aghast. “You wouldn’t dare,” he breathed.
“I would,” Owen replied calmly.
They eyed one another for a couple of moments trying to see if the other one was bluffing. Kit broke down first. “Fine,” he grumbled. “You have my word that everything will stay between us,” Kit promised.
“Good. Thank you,” Owen said honestly.
“This better be good then,” Kit said after a short pause as they returned to the station. Owen could not promise that so he stayed silent. On the other hand, Kit probably would find this whole situation hilarious.
Now that the immediate danger passed, Owen could continue to stress about Miss Hope and Wyatt Dalbow. Sadly, he couldn’t always count on dangerous distractions to help with his troubled mind. Maybe talking with Kit will help.
Owen hoped with all his heart that it would.
11
“And you speak Spanish as well?” Mr. Dalbow was delighted. “Please let me hear you speak it, say something,” he prompted.
“Like what?” Hope inquired. For the last half an hour or so, all she did was speak about herself, and she was getting a bit tired. She wanted to hear more about him.
“It does not matter.”
Hope said the first thing that popped inside her head. “Estoy un poco nerviosa, estar aquí sola.” And that was true, she was nervous being alone with Mr. Dalbow, she couldn’t help herself.
“That sounded marvelous,” he replied, clapping. “What does it mean?”
Hope blanched. She should have seen this coming. “I forgot,” she lied and hoped to the heavens he wasn’t about to call her out on it.
Mr. Dalbow offered a reassuring smile in return. “Well, I am sure Mr. Zanders, that owns the local store, could find you a nice dictionary so you could continue with your studies,” he said thoughtfully and Hope was touched.
“I would like that.”
They were sitting in the living room on the sofa. It was barely big enough for them to sit without touching. The room was probably quite normal in size but to Hope, everything looked small compared to her childhood home. She did not want to appear a snob, that was simply the fact. It felt nice though, as though this room was actually used for what it was made for and not simply on display for others to admire while visiting.
With its flowery decorations, it appeared rather cheerful, and Hope could only imagine it looked extra special when the morning light came through the windows. This was not at all what she expected from a man living alone, then again, he was living in his family’s home. Hope liked that Mr. Dalbow or one of his kin had good taste. Her mother would not approve, at all.
And Mother is not here, Hope reminded herself with delight.
“I do have one important question for you, Miss Hope,” Mr. Dalbow grew serious all of a sudden and all kinds of thoughts rushed through her head.
What if he doesn’t like me and asks me to leave? What if he asks about my parents? What if he wants us to marry right away? Suddenly, Hope had trouble swallowing and her hands started to get a bit clammy. Luckily, none of that was visible to Mr. Dalbow so she simply inclined her head.
“Yes?”
“What happened to our first meeting? Why didn’t you show up?” Hope could not completely decipher his expression at that moment. One thing was certain, he did not believe in her story or her vague explanation, which was understandable.
Hope only had a split second to decide what to do next. Should I try to brush everything aside as though it was all just a misunderstanding or simply tell the truth? That was the right question and while formulating it she made up her mind. Hope would tell him everything.
She looked in front of her and not at him while she started to speak. Hope couldn’t predict how he would react to her tale and needed to stay concentrated. He might even kick me out for my deceit, and Hope wouldn't feel wronged if that was the case, in the slightest.
“There is a reason why I chose to answer your ad,” Hope started at the beginning. “Yes, it was the only one that appealed to me but the fact you lived in Rippingate pushed me toward action.”
Hope spared him a glance. It was obvious he did not expect such a beginning yet he did not interrupt her so Hope pressed on. “My best friend Jessamine Reynolds lives here and I was overjoyed by the possibility to see her again.”
Then she paused since she came to the tricky part of her tale. “And, it was actually Jessamine who was supposed to come and meet you first on my behalf. I hope you will not take this the wrong way, it was just that I was feeling a bit timid to agree to all of this with only a few lines shared between us. So Jessamine was to come and meet you, gauge what kind of man you truly are.”
But she never did. And that worried Hope. She looked at Mr. Dalbow once more.
“I see,” was all he said. It was apparent he was trying to process her words.
“I apologize if my actions offended you,” Hope stressed out. At the time she was only thinking about herself and not about the man sitting next to her, or how he might feel that she doubted his morals and integrity.
He remained quiet for such a long time Hope was certain he was about to ask her to leave.
And who can really blame him?
“Miss Hope,” he started and she stopped breathing, looking at her hands that she held entwined in her lap. “I understand completely,” he reveale
d, taking her by surprise.
She looked up at him and he was offering a reassuring smile to her.
“Of course you would feel the need to test the waters, so to speak,” he continued.
Hope felt like a huge weight fell off her shoulders. She was so worried he would get truly offended and spurn her. After everything she had been through that would be her undoing. She risked everything to get here so there was no going back.
Mr. Dalbow continued speaking, unaware of her little reverie. “You are a young lady who traveled a great distance to come here, for which I am eternally grateful. However, I am no fool and am pleased you are not as well. Some men with questionable morals would try to take advantage of such a situation. I am glad you had enough presence of mind to do something like that, to arrange a meeting with a friend,” he complimented her.
The Redemption 0f A Hunted Bride (Historical Western Romance) Page 10