Jackson nodded. “Word of the scandal spread through town, and everyone accepted the family’s departure—and Jacob Squires as their newest resident.”
“Unbelievable,” the sheriff muttered.
“When Ray Wendell questioned Paddy about Marty Shaw’s watch, Paddy killed him too,” Jackson added. “Then he stashed some items he’d stolen from the Wendell house in Randal Morgan’s wagon.”
“And Morgan never suspected a thing,” the sheriff said with a shake of his head.
“But Paddy’s confidence that his crimes had died with Morgan must have faltered when he learned Andy had witnessed his father’s murder. Paddy visited Morgan at the jailhouse to gather information on the status of his case and the evidence against him,” Jackson said. “But on the last visit, he slipped up. He used his new identity when he signed the jailhouse visitor log, which is how I tied it all together.”
Sheriff Coons heaved himself from the chair. Shoving his hat on his head, he gazed down at Jackson and said, “Congratulations, young man. You’ve managed to find a killer we didn’t believe existed. And you cleared an innocent man’s name in the process.”
Jackson swallowed hard at the man’s newfound admiration. “The real credit goes to my wife.” Jackson glanced to Daisy. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”
The sheriff nodded. “The authorities from Troy are on their way to Misty Lake to take statements from you all. Reporters from the papers are waiting for me outside as we speak. I suspect you’re about to become a public hero,” he said. “Let me be the first to say that the publicity is well deserved.” The deputies followed as he trudged toward the door. He tossed a wave behind him. “I’ll be in touch.”
Jackson exhaled, turning to Daisy. “Are you all right?”
Her silent nod was no comfort. The aftermath of her trauma shone in her somber eyes, leaving him helpless. “Andy is fine,” he assured her. “None of this was your fault.”
“I know,” she said.
He smiled, relieved by her certainty, and then she smiled too.
“You did it, Jackson.”
Her face beamed with pride, and he basked in the thrill of it.
“You really did it.”
While her words should have played like music to his ears, all he heard was the underlying chorus. His heart sank.
And now you may go.
* * * *
Daisy sipped another cup of hot tea, as Doctor Gregory had prescribed. The warm brew soothed her raw throat. The sweet scent of chamomile offered a calm in the lull of activity in the parlor. People had been dropping by all morning, gathering on the porch outside to offer congratulations to Jackson for revealing the killer who’d been living among them.
Overnight, Jackson’s status had risen from that of disreputable rake to revered hero. Despite her inner misery that he’d be leaving soon, she couldn’t be prouder.
The telegram Jackson had received earlier from Randal Morgan’s children, expressing their undying gratitude for proving their father’s innocence, had brought them both to tears.
For the rest of her days, she would cling to the reminder that this one simple telegram had made everything worth it.
A man and a promise redeemed. Two names restored.
She glanced up as Jackson entered the room.
Despite his palpable nervous energy, he looked exhausted. “How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat beside her on the settee.
“My shoulder still hurts, but I’m feeling much better.”
“That’s good.” He inhaled a quick breath. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow,” he said.
The words hurt more than the bullet she’d taken, and she pursed her lips to stave off her pain. This might be the last time she saw him. She studied him closely, preserving his image in her heart and her mind. His broad frame and shoulders. His strong arms and kind eyes.
“But I can’t go without telling you something first.” He inched closer, grasping her hand between his. He stared into her eyes, and she hung on each word.
“I know you have your own plans,” he said. “But I have a plan too.”
She blinked in surprise.
“I don’t want to leave.”
Her breath hitched. “But what about St. Louis?”
“I don’t want St. Louis,” he said. “Solving this case has almost cost me everything I never knew I wanted.”
Daisy furrowed her brow in confusion.
“It’s cost me you, Daisy. I want you as my wife. I love you.”
The candid words rushed through her like a warm stream of light. Shadows lifted from her heart.
“I no longer care about that position in St. Louis,” he said. “I want to settle here—with you.” He smiled. “And the geese.”
She smiled, emotions bursting inside.
“I can start my own investigation agency in Misty Lake. I believe I’m a good investigator, and with my background in law, who knows. I suspect there are a lot of people out there like Randal Morgan. People who’ve been wrongly accused of crimes they didn’t commit. People whose names and reputations have been destroyed. I want to help them get the justice they deserve and reclaim their lives.”
She took in his words, her pulse racing.
“I may have to do some traveling from time to time,” he said. “But I’ve always enjoyed traveling.” He smiled. “Of course, I will need a partner. Someone smart, someone who’s good with people. Someone with a talent for sketching, perhaps.”
“You really mean it, don’t you?”
He gazed into her face, nodding slowly. “Yes.”
She saw in his glistening eyes it was true. Felt it in the depth of her soul. “Oh, Jackson.” She flung herself into his arms. “I love you.”
He stiffened against her. “You do?”
She drew back from him, nodding at his honest surprise. “Yes, I do. I was afraid you couldn’t be happy here. That you would leave me eventually. I was so determined to safeguard my heart. I was breaking it by letting you go.”
She smiled through her tears, and then he smiled too.
He blinked, and his eyes filled with sorrow. “I’m sorry for the hurtful things I said to you. I was afraid too. You were right about me. I thought I wasn’t good enough.”
“You were right about me too. I was wallowing in my past. It just took someone else to point it out. To help me pull myself through it.”
He kissed her temple, smoothing her hair. “You told me once that every sinner has a future,” he said. “Mine is with you.”
“Yes it is.”
“I love you.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “And I will not—I cannot—live my life without you.”
Her heart swelled with joy. She kissed his smiling lips. “If that is the case, I will promise you’ll never have to.”
Epilogue
With the hectic activity of the past week behind them, Daisy and Jackson were falling into an easy routine that included little more than spending every possible moment together. Aside from a few errands, Jackson hadn’t left her side, and the arrangement suited Daisy fine.
A lifetime of mornings like this, with Jackson reading the papers over breakfast, the view of the lake sparkling in the distance, filled her with such happiness she feared it a dream.
She turned toward the sound of the door creaking open. Kotterman stepped out to the patio with another seemingly endless delivery of cards and notes. The town would be buzzing for weeks, and the pile of cards on the tray Kotterman placed on the table proved it.
Jackson doled out the cards addressed to Daisy, then began scanning through those meant for him.
Daisy opened the first card, smiling as she read. “I’ve been invited to tea,” she said. “Gianna Elmsworth writes that her dearest friend will be visiting from Saratoga next week, and she’d like for us to meet.”
Jackson nodded. “Landen mentioned she’d be writing you when he stopped by to see me last week.”<
br />
“I’m sure they’re as curious for the details about what happened as everyone else so obviously is,” Daisy said.
“That’s what I thought at first. But from Landen’s pointed questions about you, I got the impression they’re more curious about your entranced drawing than anything else.”
“Really?”
“He seemed quite intrigued.”
Daisy shrugged. “Well, I’m not ashamed of my ability anymore. I’ll not hide it. Besides, I like Gianna. I’m sure I’ll like her friend, Madeline Merrick too.”
“You can never have too many friends.”
She smiled. “I love Tessa dearly, but it would be nice to have more than one.”
He reached for her hand, then gave it a squeeze. “Are you up for taking a ride today?”
“To visit Andy?” She set down the card.
Jackson shook his head. “Not to visit him, no. To bring him back here to stay with us.”
Her heart leaped. “Curtis agreed?”
Jackson gave a nod toward the note on the table. “He’s answered my appeal. Curtis wants Andy to have a real home. A real family—with a mother and father. We’ll see how Andy likes it here with us before making the arrangement permanent.” He smiled. “You know what this means, of course.” He leaned back in his chair. “I promised you a child, and now you have one.”
She rushed to his side, then hugged him tight.
He stood to accommodate, returning her embrace. “Since I’ve now fulfilled my end of our deal, I believe, we are unobjectionably even.”
She swallowed back her tears, hugging him tighter. “I suppose we are.” She stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “But just because we have one child, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy trying for more.”
“Every night.” Grinning, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Let’s make it our plan.”
THE END
In case you missed it, keep reading for an excerpt from the first book in the Sole Survivor series,
The Lady Who Lived Again
Madeline Sutter was once the belle of the ball at the popular resort town of Misty Lake, New York. But as the sole survivor of the community’s worst tragedy, she’s come under suspicion. Longing for the life she once enjoyed, she accepts a rare social invitation to the event of the season. Now she will be able to show everyone she’s the same woman they’d always admired—with just one hidden exception: she awoke from the accident with the ability to heal.
Doctor Jace Merrick has fled the failures and futility of city life to start anew in rural Misty Lake. A man of science, he rejects the superstitious chatter surrounding Maddie and finds himself drawn to her confidence and beauty. And when she seduces him into a sham engagement, he agrees to be her ticket back into society, if she supports his new practice—and reveals the details of her remarkable recovery. But when his patients begin to heal miraculously, Jace may have to abandon logic, accept the inexplicable—and surrender to a love beyond reason…
A Lyrical e-book on sale now.
Learn more about Thomasine at
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31713
Chapter 1
Misty Lake, New York, 1882
Everyone wished she had died with the others. Maddie Sutter had accepted this truth long ago. But much to the small town’s dismay, she insisted on living and breathing despite it.
Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin against the barrage of eyes watching her every move as she forged down Main Street. After three years of suffering this unwelcome attention each time she ventured to town, one would think she’d have grown used to the assault.
Maddie had resigned herself to many things since the accident, but she’d never adapt to the dread her presence induced in those she had known all her life—those who had once loved and cared for her.
With a fortifying breath, she approached a cluster of young boys on the corner. The same wretched imps had greeted her earlier when they’d spied her arrival in downtown Misty Lake. She braced herself for a repeat performance of the cruel rhyme they’d composed in her honor.
“Four dead girls on the slab, on the twelfth day of May. On Friday the thirteenth, one girl walked away.”
Refusing to alter her course, Maddie strode straight toward them. Her lungs swelled with triumph as the alarmed little brats scattered like mice. With another fractional lift of her chin, she swept onward and rounded the corner.
She entered the general mercantile, the jingling bell on the door her only greeting as she stepped inside. Along with a handful of patrons, the store housed a hodgepodge of scents. Aromas of charcoal and beeswax mingled with the sweet smell of cinnamon and apples. Renewed by the boon to her senses, she enjoyed the whiff of fond memories that came with it. She shopped quickly, spurred on by the hushed whispers echoing through the aisles as she browsed the shelves.
Gathering a bag of sugar, a tin of baking powder, and the other items on her list, she headed to the front of the store, then placed them on the polished counter.
“Good morning, Mr. Piedmont,” she said with a smile.
He wiped his hands on his bibbed apron and took a step forward.
“Madeline.”
With a curt nod, he lowered his somber eyes to the items on the counter and began to tally her purchases.
Maddie’s smile faded, her mind drifting back to the days when Mr. Piedmont’s face would light up to see her and her friends bounding into the mercantile. The Fair Five, as they were known back then, had charmed everyone. The girls had hardly put away their pinafores when they first learned to use their collective wit and beauty to full advantage. The Five always left Mr. Piedmont’s store lapping at complimentary peppermint sticks, pressed upon them by the kindly merchant with a playful wink.
Maddie took a deep breath, forcing away thoughts of the past and the accident that had snatched her friends from this world. At twenty-four-years old, Maddie was a living reminder and the sole survivor of the worst tragedy in Misty Lake’s history. People could barely stand to look at her. And Maddie couldn’t blame them. She could barely stand to look at herself.
Mr. Piedmont worked swiftly, the sound of crumpling paper filling the awkward silence as he wrapped her purchases and bound the tidy parcel with string. By rote, his freckled hand reached to the nearby jar of candy. Placing a single peppermint stick on top of the bundle, he slid it toward her, then turned to face the shelves lining the wall behind him.
Tears blurred Maddie’s vision as she stared down at the red-striped treat, the simple reminder of who she once was—who she still was, if only one of her neighbors could manage to look her in the eye long enough to see it. She swallowed hard.
“Thank you,” she murmured to the shopkeeper’s back before he walked away.
Maddie left the store and proceeded to her final errand. As she’d anticipated, a letter from Amelia awaited her at the post office. Maddie would wait until later to open it. Their recent correspondence had rattled her to the bone, and she knew any public display of emotion would be ripe fruit for hungry local gossips.
Not that maintaining decorum could help her cause now. People already believed the worst about her. These rare trips to town only served to remind her that nothing had changed.
Shoving the letter into her skirt pocket, she headed south on Main Street. To her relief, the band of young hooligans that had taunted her earlier was nowhere to be seen. She hurried out of town nonetheless. Each dreaded trip was a tax on her nerves, and when added to the anxiety of what awaited in Amelia’s letter, Maddie yearned for the comfort of home.
When she reached the outskirts of town, she took the path through the woods that opened to a large field. She welcomed the sound of chirping crickets and birds. As always after she exerted herself with a lengthy walk, her leg was beginning to ache. She slowed her pace, then stopped to rest at her favorite spot on her grandfather’s sprawling property. Sitting on a felled birch log in the broad clearin
g, she stretched out her leg. The cramped muscles unfurled as she enjoyed the serenity of the surrounding forest, the gentle spring breeze through the swaying trees. The sun felt heavenly, and she lifted her face to bask in its glow.
She’d avoided town all winter, hibernating like a bear in a cave. She’d emerged from seclusion renewed by foolish hopes, but the first outing of the new season had been just like the last. A bear would be better received.
Maddie sighed in defeat, dug out the letter that was fairly vibrating in her pocket, and unfolded its pages. The bold strokes on the delicate cream sheets conveyed Amelia’s confident tone and dramatic style.
My dearest Mads,
I received your response denying my request, but I refuse to take no for an answer. I simply cannot get married without you!
You swore an oath to one day serve as my bridesmaid, and it is time for you to honor it. My deep love and concern for you force me to hold you to your promise.
The past is the past, my dear friend, and you must lay it to rest. Eventually, the town will follow suit. Consider attending my wedding as your first step toward getting on with your life.
We arrive in Misty Lake in three weeks. I look forward to seeing you then.
Forever yours,
Amelia
Maddie’s breakfast turned in her stomach. How on earth could she attend? No one, save Amelia, wanted her there. Certainly not Daniel. The mere thought of facing her former fiancé and all the others who’d blamed and abandoned her…no. Maddie hadn’t the courage. Amelia didn’t understand. How could she? She was not present when it happened. Nor was she here for the aftermath.
Something rustled in the woods across the field. Squinting against the sun, Maddie scanned the trees. A deer hobbled into the clearing, took one final step, then collapsed to the ground. Maddie gasped at the arrow protruding from its shoulder.
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