A Bride to Melt the Sheriff’s Iron Heart

by Melynda Carlyle

  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. Mat
herson,” 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 pe
rson. 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.