Good Guy Heroes Boxed Set

by Julie Ortolon

  “Cross my heart,” she said. The soft look in her eyes warmed him. He’d never had a friend like Rebecca. He could trust her.

  “My aunts used to be prostitutes.”

  She squinted at him. “I don’t know what that is.”

  “They did what Iris was doing with Patrick.”

  “Is that bad? I’m pretty sure my mother does it with my dad.”

  “My aunts did it with lots of men who paid them money.”

  “Oh…”

  “So did my mother.”

  Rebecca was so quiet, Adam figured she would walk away and never talk to him again.

  “She wasn’t much of a mother,” he said. It hurt to admit it, but it was the truth, and Adam wasn’t going to lie about anything ever again. “That’s why Faith has always been more like a mother to me.”

  “Does my Uncle Duke know about your aunts?”

  Adam shook his head. “Faith never did that stuff with men. We moved here so my aunts could stop being prostitutes, but I guess Iris missed it or something.”

  “Maybe that’s what my mother was like. I never met her, but maybe she was like your aunts.” Rebecca hooked her arms around her knees and stared at the rippling water. “Maybe that’s why she didn’t want me.”

  “Did your dad say she was a prostitute?”

  “No, he said she was a ballerina.”

  “Gosh, that’s a lot better than being a prostitute.” Adam wished his own mother had been a dancer.

  “I wonder what my mother looks like.” Rebecca’s eyes sparked. “Maybe I look like her. Maybe if she saw me now, she’d wish she hadn’t abandoned me. That’s what my dad says she did.”

  “You’re real pretty. I’ll bet she’d be sorry she gave you away”

  A small smile touched Rebecca’s lips and she ducked her head.

  “Do you miss her?” he asked.

  “No.” She lifted a flat rock with the toe of her shoe and flipped it over so the wet, loamy side faced the gray sky. “I would never want a different mother than Evelyn. But sometimes I wonder about my first mother. You know, what she’s like, what her voice sounds like.”

  “Yeah, I wonder about my dad too. Faith thinks he’s in prison or something, but he could be dead for all we know.”

  “Do you think he is?”

  He shrugged. He had no idea.

  They tossed rocks in the creek for a few minutes then started skipping the flat stones across the surface. For a girl, she was good at it, and he liked being her friend. He wanted to be more, but he couldn’t ask.

  “I noticed that Nicholas Archer hasn’t been bothering you in school.”

  It was because Adam stayed away from him, and told everybody that Rebecca was his cousin now.

  “I hope you’re going to stay in school this year.” She gave a flat rock a good ride across the creek then faced him. “I like walking to school with you.”

  She was so close he could see the gold flecks in her eyes. Heat burned through his body and he felt his stomach tighten. “I like it too,” he said, his voice rough and shaky, but it didn’t squawk.

  “Do you think we’ll ever do that… you know… what Iris and Patrick were doing?”

  Strange things were happening to his body, and he was shaking so badly he was too afraid to answer.

  “We could kiss, if you want to,” she went on. Her voice was so soft he wanted to trap it in a jar and keep it with him forever. He wanted to keep Rebecca and her friendship forever.

  “I want to,” he said, and before he lost his nerve, he did the one thing he’d been aching to do since the day he met her in the store. He leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. They were warm and soft, and her brown eyes were filled with so many gold flecks it made him dizzy. His whole body went weak then got shaky and sweaty.

  “That’s the best feeling in the world,” she said softly, her voice filled with pleasure and wonder, her mouth so near his he had to kiss her again.

  Something wild and hot flooded through his stomach, and the feeling grew heavy and moved lower. Kissing Rebecca was the best feeling in the world for him too. He put his shaky hands on her arms to bring her closer to him, but the sound of a branch snapping jolted them apart. If her father caught them…

  Rebecca stumbled backward over a small pile of rocks. Adam caught her arm and saved her a fall, but Rebecca glared at the trees along the bank. “Melissa Archer is spying on us again!”

  “Why is she so stupid?” He scanned the bank but couldn’t see the girl.

  “She likes you.”

  “Well, I don’t like her.”

  “Good.” Rebecca brushed sand and bits of leaves off her skirt then gave him a warm smile. “I don’t blame her for liking you. I sure do.” She surprised him with a quick kiss then backed away. “I won’t tell anyone about Iris and Patrick. Or about us.”

  “We’d get in big trouble if you did.”

  “You can trust me.” She grabbed her skirt and lifted it to her shins. “I have to get home before I’m missed.” Then she darted into the trees, tall and beautiful and as graceful as a deer, and Adam knew he would never love any girl but Rebecca Grayson.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  *

  FRIDAY AFTERNOON WAS the first it hadn’t rained in days, and Duke was stuck inside at the town meeting. The good news in an otherwise dismal week was that Arthur Covey had been convicted of horse theft and sent to prison.

  Wayne Archer stood up and addressed the Board of Trustees. “I want to register a complaint against the sheriff of our county,” he said. “It’s becoming painfully obvious that Sheriff Grayson is biased in how he upholds the law in our village.”

  “In what way?” Duke asked, growing weary of Archer’s constant attacks. He had returned the fancy parasol to Archer weeks ago, but hadn’t told Archer where he’d found it, because it would have only confirmed the man’s suspicion that Adam was the thief.

  Duke didn’t know who’d taken the parasol, but since it was returned, and both Adam and Rebecca claimed no knowledge of how the item got to her house, Duke had let the incident rest.

  “Not only have two swindles taken place under your nose,” Archer accused, “but there is a thief in town who is living in your home.”

  Duke shot to his feet, but he kept himself from planting his fist in Archer’s face. “Until you can provide a witness who saw Adam take your parasol then you’d best not cast accusations, Wayne.”

  “I’m not referring to the parasol. My best fishing rod was stolen out of my barn last Sunday afternoon. My daughter saw Adam take it.”

  Duke’s gut twisted. Archer was playing dirty to bring this up at the town meeting days after the alleged theft, but the man had never before been a liar. “I’ll talk to your daughter,” he suggested. “Let’s get this business taken care of right now.”

  “That’s just the beginning of my concerns.” Archer turned back to the board members, his chest puffed up, his fingers tugging on his vest. “I have reason to believe Sheriff Grayson’s wife is running a house of ill repute right here in our village.”

  “What?” Duke grabbed Archer’s arm and spun the man to face him. “On what grounds are you making this ridiculous accusation?”

  “Dr. Milton claims he’s been getting private massages from Aster Wilde on the second floor of the greenhouse.”

  Maybe he was. Aster and the doctor had grown quite friendly, and Duke suspected they were past courting, but it wasn’t his business to chaperone a grown man and woman.

  The board members stared, mouths open, eyebrows raised.

  Duke released Archer’s elbow and faced them. “As you probably know, Dr. Milton suffered a carriage accident in early July. He was skeptical of my wife’s business, so he limped into her greenhouse after his accident and tried the herbal bath and massage to test her claim that it would help him. Since the doctor is still taking treatments, I assume it’s because he’s finding them beneficial to his health.”

  “But the doctor isn’t the
only man who’s enjoying those private treatments,” Archer said. “My wife stopped there to buy cooking herbs and saw Cyrus Darling at the top of the stairs kissing a blond woman quite passionately.”

  President A. C. Cushing scowled at Duke. “Is this true?”

  Who knew? Duke didn’t. No doubt Archer had sent his wife to snoop, but if she had seen Cyrus kissing Tansy then anything was possible. He should have stopped those baths and massages when he married Faith. But he admired her skills and knew her treatments improved painful conditions like his shoulder injury.

  “I’m unaware of any sordid activity,” Duke said truthfully, but he was going to put a halt to the rumors immediately. Feigning calm, he nodded to Archer. “I’ll look into it along with your claim that your fishing rod was stolen.”

  Archer spoke to the board president. “I would caution all of you that we are discussing the sheriff’s family, and that it’s very possible he will act with bias.”

  Duke grabbed two fistfuls of Archer’s shirt and slammed him against the wall. “If you insult my integrity or my family again, Wayne, I’m going to take off this badge and answer your insults with my fists.”

  Board member Gideon Webster gripped Duke’s shoulder. “Wayne not only underestimates your patience but our intelligence. We’ve depended on your integrity and judgment for eight years, and won’t be swayed by anyone’s petty rumors.”

  His confidence rubbed salt in Duke’s festering conscience. He had been biased when he didn’t charge Dahlia with murder. And knowing Faith’s aunts, there probably was something tawdry going on in the greenhouse. For all he knew, Adam could be the thief Archer accused him of being.

  He shoved Archer away from him. “Let’s go talk to your daughter about that missing fishing rod of yours.”

  Duke excused himself from the meeting and strode alongside Archer to his house, feeling more like a criminal than a law enforcer for the first time in his term as sheriff. Archer was a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t all wrong.

  Melissa Archer swore shed seen Adam sneaking out of their barn with her father’s fishing rod last Sunday afternoon. She claimed it was half past two when she finished her piano practice and headed outside to play. And she described Adam perfectly, even mentioning the shirt he had been wearing that afternoon.

  Duke expected Archer to act smug, but the man gave him a look of pity. “I don’t envy you your position, Sheriff.”

  Who would? What man wanted to discover that his son was a thief? Melissa’s detailed account made her a convincing witness.

  Duke left and walked out Liberty Street then cut through the field behind his mother’s house and followed the path down into the gorge where he kept his boat. He needed time to think before going home. His dad had always worked out his problems while fishing in the gorge or running the saw at the mill; Duke needed to do the same. But when he reached into his boat to get his fishing pole, his problems grew by one expensive fishing rod.

  “Son of a bitch,” he said, lifting out the rod Archer claimed was stolen. Only Adam and Duke’s brothers knew where Duke kept his boat. Did Adam think he could stash the rod here and make Duke believe it was one of his own? Did the boy think Duke would be that gullible? Why not? Duke huffed in self-disgust. He’d never suspected Faith’s lies. Why shouldn’t Adam try to hoodwink the blind sheriff too? Faith would try to protect the boy, but it was time for Adam to face the consequences of his actions.

  And for Duke to face reality.

  He gripped Archer’s fishing rod and walked home with it. He found Adam helping Faith and Cora rake leaves. A smile covered Cora’s face as she ran to greet him with a hug. He tweaked her side, and set her back on her feet. “I need to talk to your mother and Adam alone,” he said. “Go play on the swing for a few minutes.”

  “Will you push me?” she asked.

  “I can’t, princess. I’m working.” He gave her a pat on the head, and she scampered off.

  “What’s the matter?” Faith asked, tugging a pair of worn gloves off her hands. She approached him warily, like a snarling dog she was unsure of.

  He couldn’t blame her. He’d snapped at her a dozen times since learning about the brothel. Her attempts to stroke his hackles back into place only antagonized him. He needed to work out his anger alone, and figure out how to get them out of this mess without losing everything he and his family had worked for.

  A worried look creased Adam’s forehead as he dropped the rake, but when he saw the fishing rod, his eyes lit up. “Did you get a new rod?” he asked, stopping in front of Duke.

  The genuine excitement in his face unbalanced Duke. He’d expected to see fear or feigned innocence, not boyish enthusiasm.

  “Where were you last Sunday afternoon, Adam?”

  The boy’s gaze shifted slightly and became guarded. “In the gorge.”

  “Did you at any time go into Wayne Archer’s barn and remove this fishing rod?” he asked, finding that a direct question could sometimes shake loose an honest answer.

  “No, sir,” Adam said, his scowl deepening. “I don’t even know where Mr. Archer lives.”

  “Melissa Archer said she saw you leaving her father’s barn with this fishing rod Sunday afternoon at two-thirty.”

  Anger flashed in his eyes. “She’s lying.”

  “Then you’re saying you were in the gorge?”

  Adam’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”

  “What were you doing in the gorge?”

  “Skipping stones.”

  “You told me you were going fishing.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Did you put my rod back in my boat?”

  “I didn’t take it out. I just stayed in the gorge and skipped stones.”

  “Then you never went to my boat?”

  “No, sir. I haven’t been there since the day you took me fishing.”

  “If you’re telling me you didn’t take this rod from his barn then I want to know how it got on my boat.”

  Adam clenched his jaw and said nothing, his stubborn silence increasing Duke’s ire.

  “Adam…” Faith rubbed his shoulder, coddling him, which made Duke madder. “Do you know anything about this?”

  The boy shook his head.

  “All right then.” She glanced at Duke. “I believe him.”

  She would. It irritated Duke that she accepted Adam’s word without considering the facts. “How did this rod end up on my boat if Adam didn’t put it there?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, “but I know when Adam isn’t telling the truth.”

  “Do you? Then why couldn’t you tell he was lying when he was skipping out of school?”

  “Because I didn’t ask him where he was going.”

  Furious, Duke planted the pole on the ground. “How do you suppose this rod got on my boat, Adam?”

  The boy glared at him. “You’re the sheriff, you figure it out.”

  Duke’s chest felt close to exploding. Tangling with Archer at the meeting had gotten his blood warm, but finding the fishing rod on his own boat then getting wise-mouthed from Adam pushed his temperature to boiling.

  “All right, Adam, I will. I’ll do my job without your help. But you stay in the yard. No wandering in the gorge. No going anywhere but to school. I want Faith to know where you are every minute of the day.”

  “Why? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I’m your guardian, and your actions reflect on me. Don’t challenge me on this, Adam, or I’ll put you in jail and keep an eye on you myself.”

  Faith gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief and disappointment.

  “How come nobody ever believes me?” Adam demanded.

  “Because you’ve lied to both of us,” Duke said. “This is what happens when you break a person’s trust.”

  “I didn’t take that stupid fishing rod!”

  Before Adam could bolt, Duke clamped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I told you to stay in the yard.”

  “You aren’t my father.”
<
br />   The boy’s words hit Duke like a bucket of ice water, hurting and startling then infuriating him.

  “Maybe not, Adam, but I’m the sheriff in this town and I can confine you to the yard if I see fit. Since you don’t like that idea, I’ll see if a jail cell suits you better.”

  He marched Adam across the yard.

  “Duke!” Faith hurried after them. “You can’t take him to jail. He’s only a boy!”

  “Age has nothing to do with it, Faith. Adam has been caught stealing and lying, and he’s being charged with another theft. I can’t turn a blind eye to the boy’s shenanigans and expect to keep my job. It’s time Adam faced the consequences of his actions. You lie, nobody trusts you. You steal, you go to jail. You mislead people, you risk losing everything.”

  “You’re trying to punish me, Duke. I’m the one you’re angry with. I’m the one who lied. I’m the one who misled you. And you’ll never forgive me for burdening your lily white conscience, will you?”

  She was crying now, tearing him apart with her tears and words. He turned away, unable to look at her, not wanting to believe she was right, or that he was allowing his anger make him cruel.

  Adam tried and failed to jerk his elbow free. “Faith hasn’t hurt anybody!”

  Duke kept his grip firm and propelled Adam down the street. “You’d better get all the facts before you pass judgment, Adam.”

  “Maybe you should take your own advice. I didn’t steal anything but that brush. And Faith wouldn’t hurt anybody for any reason.”

  Duke blocked out Adam’s angry denial, and Faith’s tears, and marched the boy straight to his empty jail cell. He left his deputy to watch the boy then took a walk to cool off.

  He strode up West Hill and turned left on Chestnut Street, trying to burn off his anger. All he’d wanted was a truthful and loving wife. Supporting Faith and her large family was a job he’d accepted without complaint or resentment. Being a father to Cora and Adam was as rewarding as it was challenging. And he could understand why Faith hid the truth from him.

  But he’d earned her trust. All those nights in the bathhouse, when he’d ached to make love to her, he’d protected her from his lust and waited until they were married to consummate their attraction. He’d bought her the house she loved. On their wedding night, he nearly crippled himself trying to take things slow, to give her as much pleasure as possible in their marriage bed. Like an open book, he shared his life and his memories with her, but never pressed her to talk about her own life because he sensed it brought her pain. He gave her his heart and his passion.