by Jenna Brandt
“Have you eaten?” Lucas asked, realizing as he said the words what he was about to do. “Would you care to join me for a late breakfast?”
“I wish I had the time, but I don’t. Besides, I already ate at home. Thank you for the offer though,” she said with a smile. “Good luck with your investigation.”
As he watched Sadie walk away, he realized he had lost his appetite. He turned around and headed back to the sheriff’s office. He was determined to figure out what was going on, pressured by a need to please Sadie by avenging her husband’s death now as big as the need to do his job well.
Back at his desk, Lucas pulled out his files and started looking at the information about each miner that had been robbed and killed. As he made his way through the pile, he quickly saw a connection he hadn’t noticed before. They were all neighbors right around the same area of Clear Creek. He hadn’t noticed before because not all of the attacks had occurred on the miners’ properties.
He pulled the claim deposits for each victim and realized that they were substantial, perhaps not each time, but altogether, the richest in the area. He quickly pulled the land deeds since the murders and noticed that all of them had been bought up by the same man after the murders took place; Mayor Bradley.
Was that the connection? Were the robberies to cover up the true motive? The mayor was clearing out the competition so he could grab their claims for himself. He doubted he did the murders himself, but he was profiting from them. Did that mean he hired someone to do the deed for him?
Even though all of this information was compelling, it wasn’t evidence. He needed to have enough to make a solid case in order to make an arrest, especially when it came to someone as powerful as the Mayor of Havilah.
Immediately, worry took hold of his heart as he thought about Sadie. She had just told him she was going to run her husband’s claim, which meant she wasn’t safe. Whoever was removing the mayor’s obstacles wouldn’t think twice about doing the same to Sadie.
Lucas jumped from his seat and rushed from the office. He mounted his horse and took off in the direction of Sadie’s claim. As he approached the area, he scanned the horizon for her or any of the other prospectors. In the distance, he saw them standing down on the bank of Clear Creek.
He pulled his horse to a stop, then tied off his reins on a nearby tree. He made his way over to Sadie, then glancing over at the prospectors, he asked, “Can I speak with you privately, Sadie?”
She nodded, following him far enough away they couldn’t be overheard.
“I think I know who is behind the murders,” Lucas started. “But before you ask, I haven’t made an arrest because I don’t have evidence—yet.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because your husband was a victim, and I’m worried that they will come after you in order to get your land.”
Sadie’s brows furrowed together as she asked, “Who’s after my husband’s land?”
“I’m certain the mayor is behind all of this.”
Sadie let out a gasp as her eyes grew round with shock. “He was just out here the other day, asking me to sell him my land. I told him I wasn’t interested. He didn’t seem too happy, even said it wasn’t safe for me out here alone.”
“That proves my point, Sadie. He wants your land, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”
“What am I going to do? I put everything Sam left me into this venture with the prospectors, and I refuse to sell my land to that monster. He killed my husband to take what was rightfully his.”
“I know, and I was thinking about all of this while I was riding over here. You need protection, especially now that you confirmed the mayor has been coming around here trying to get your land. I need you to agree to marry me.”
“What?” Sadie asked with dismay. “You can’t be serious.”
“Serious as a rattlesnake bite. I want to keep you safe, Sadie, and the best way for that to happen is for me to be with you all the time. The only way that can happen in a proper manner is for us to be husband and wife.”
Even as he proposed the solution, he knew it was more than just a necessity that made him offer. He wanted to be with Sadie, and he could tell between her pride and determination to make it on her own, she would never accept an outright marriage proposal. There was also the fact he could tell she was hiding something from her past, but she was too afraid to share it.
Lucas was a patient man and could wait to know her story. Hopefully, once she felt comfortable with him, she would reveal why she ended up coming out West. Until then, he would trust that her motives were pure, and do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Reluctantly, she nodded. “I suppose what you’re saying makes sense. All right, Lucas, I’ll marry you.”
Five
Just a few hours later, Sadie’s whole life was being turned upside down once again. Dressed in her finest blue day dress, Sadie was walking down the aisle of Havilah’s church to join Lucas in saying their wedding vows.
The whole situation seemed like a surreal daydream. She never imagined getting married to a man she’d only known for a couple of weeks, but here she was, standing across from a handsome man in his only black suit.
Sadie reminded herself it was a marriage of convenience, but her heart wondered if it could be more. She knew there was an attraction between them, but she was scared to let herself care for anyone with so many losses stacked up in her past.
As she looked up into Lucas’s eyes and listened to the pastor speak about the bonds of marriage, the heaviness of the commitment she was making took root. Though there were only a handful of people present, the devoted look Lucas had in his eyes comforted Sadie. She knew he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
“Do you, Lucas Graham, take Sadie Clayton to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Pastor Wilkins asked.
“I do,” Lucas answered, squeezing Sadie’s hands.
“And do you, Sadie Clayton, take Lucas Graham to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.” Sadie replied, hope filling her heart, urging her to believe she was making the right choice.
There were no rings to exchange since the marriage was spur of the moment, but Sadie didn’t care. She wanted to enter this arrangement with her eyes wide open, with no false expectations of romance. She kept telling herself that, but part of her secretly hoped that one day she might find love with the man standing across from her.
“By the power vested in me by God, I now pronounce you man and wife.” The pastor glanced between them with skeptical eyes, and hesitantly added, “You may kiss your bride.”
Lucas paused for a moment, then quickly placed a peck on Sadie’s lips. It was the briefest of kisses, but even from that small spark, a fire ignited in her heart. She realized she was falling for the handsome lawman, and she wasn’t sure how to navigate such unfamiliar waters.
The ride back to Sadie’s cabin was filled with awkward silence. All Lucas could think about was the short kiss they had just shared. He wondered what it would be like if he had let his lips linger just a few moments longer.
Would she have gone weak in the knees, causing him to have to support her with his arms? Would the surge of heat rise up between the both of them, begging them to take it further? Sadie had only been his wife for a few minutes. She was already tempting him about things he shouldn’t be thinking about, not under the circumstances they agreed to when they decided to get married.
They arrived at her homestead and made their way into the cabin. Sadie glanced down at the sole bag he was carrying and said, “There is only the one room in the loft. Would you mind sleeping on the sofa?”
“Of course not, Sadie, I want to make this as comfortable as I can for the both of us.”
Sadie looked at the sofa and grimaced, “I don’t know about it being comfortable, but it’s probably more comfortable than the floor.”
“We’ll make it work,” Lucas said, trying to sound optimistic.
“I’ll g
o make supper while you put away your things in the trunk over there.” Sadie gestured over to an old, rickety trunk in the corner of the room. “I know it’s not much, but I can’t afford to spend any money on the house. All the money Sam had in the bank went to preparing things for the prospectors.”
Lucas shrugged. “I’ve gotten by on far less hospitable accommodations.”
The two of them ate together at the small table at the edge of the kitchen, discussing the work the prospectors were doing, sharing stories about their childhood, and setting plans to go to the church social on Saturday.
After they finished their meal, Sadie headed up the ladder, while Lucas tried to avoid staring at the humorous sight.
She turned around, “Goodnight.”
Sadie must’ve noticed his suppressed smile because her cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. “Sam must’ve not seen a need for stairs. I know how ridiculous it must look, but the ladder is all I got.”
“It’s all right, I didn’t mind the view.”
Sadie smiled, but didn’t comment further. A moment later she disappeared into the shadows of the loft, leaving Lucas alone.
He sat down on the sofa, placing his hands on both sides of him. He patted the sofa thinking to himself, this won’t be that bad.
He laid down and pulled up the blanket that Sadie had given him. His eyes drifted shut, allowing the tantalizing memory of her hips shimmying up the ladder to usher in his sleep.
The next morning, Lucas woke up when the sun streamed through the nearby window in the living room. As he sat up a sharp pain radiated up his back, causing him to yelp in pain. His hand flew immediately to his back where he tried to apply pressure to make the pain go away. Instead, all he managed to do was make it worse. He cried out a second time louder than the first. Mortified, his hand flew up to cover his mouth. He didn’t want to wake Sadie with his sissy cries.
“What’s wrong?” Sadie inquired, stepping in from the kitchen. “I was up making breakfast and heard you cry out. What’s the matter?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just… stubbed my toe,” he stammered out, grabbing his toe, which only made his back pain worse. He forced himself not to whimper, not wanting to let Sadie know what was really going on.
Sadie raised an eyebrow with skepticism, then shrugged. “You ought to be more careful. Come on, breakfast is ready.”
As Lucas left the living room, he gave the sofa a hateful glare. He wasn’t sure how he was going to survive another night on it.
Six
While Lucas went into town to gather his investigative files to bring them back to the cabin, Sadie cleaned up from breakfast. She straightened up the living room, grabbed the few items she needed to wash down at the creek, and made her way to the bank. She figured she could do the laundry while checking on the prospectors.
She exited the cabin and walked down the trail that lead to Clear Creek. Suddenly rough hands reached out and grabbed her, pulling her hard against a firm object.
“Don’t make a sound or you’ll regret it,” a gruff deep voice threatened in her ear.
Sadie tried to free herself from the grip, but the more she squirmed, the tighter his arms wrapped around her.
“Stop moving, girl. You’ll only make this worse.”
Worried about his intentions, Sadie froze in place. She whispered, “What do you want?”
“A pretty little girl like you should know not to be out here on your own. There’s all sorts of bad things that can happen to you.”
“I’m not alone, I have three prospectors just around the corner who would have no problem seeing that you never lay your hands on another woman again.”
“And I could snap your neck before a sound left your lips.” The stranger threatened in return.
“And I could snap yours, just as quickly.” Lucas promised, stepping from the side of the trees. “Take your hands off of my wife.”
The other man did just what he was ordered, stepping back to try to get away, but before he could, Lucas lunged towards him.
A fight ensued, with both attempting to get control of the situation. The stranger struck out twice, but both punches missed Lucas, who returned the attack with a punch of his own. It landed on the man’s cheek, and Lucas quickly followed it up with another punch to the stomach. The man doubled over in pain, grunting.
Lucas went to grab him, but the man came up with a handful of dirt which he threw in Lucas’ face, causing him to stumble backwards. The man took off while Lucas was blinded.
Sadie rushed to Lucas’s side, asking, “Are you hurt? Can you see?”
He tried to rub the dirt from his eyes and nodded. “I’m fine, but I can’t believe I let him get away.”
“It isn’t your fault. You can hardly take a man into custody who throws dirt in your eyes.”
“Do you know which way he went? Perhaps I can catch up to him,” Lucas said, stumbling towards the way he thought the man ran off.
“Stop that. You’re in no condition to chase after anyone,” Sadie softly chastised. “Let me get you back to the house where I can wash the dirt from your eyes.”
They made their way back to the cabin where Sadie guided Lucas inside. She helped him into a chair at the table near the kitchen, then wet a towel and brought it over to him. She sat down and gently began dabbing his eyes with the end of the cloth.
“I can’t believe the mayor had the audacity to send that cretin over here to try to scare me into selling. I have a good mind to take Sam’s rifle and march over to the mayor’s house and end this myself,” Sadie said with a huff.
“I understand you feeling that way. The funny thing about revenge, once you’ve taken it, it leaves a hollowness where the anger used to be. I don’t want that for you, Sadie.”
Her hand faltered as she thought about what Lucas had just said. All this time, she had been focused on two things: to find a way to avenge Sam’s murder, and to fulfill his dream for his claim. What she never thought about was what would make her happy. She had been so determined to do what she thought was right, she never stopped to think about what she wanted.
“I’m not sure what makes sense anymore,” Sadie confessed. “Everything seems so turned around now, I’m not sure of anything.”
“You don’t have to be,” he said, his hand coming to rest on top of hers. “We can figure all of this out together.”
Their eyes locked for a moment, and Sadie could have sworn he was about to kiss her. Just as quickly as it seemed to happen, he stood to his feet and said, “In the meantime, I need to go into town and tell the sheriff about what happened. I think it’s time I finally tell him what is going on and see if he’s willing to take a stand on the right side of this situation.”
“Be careful,” Sadie stated with concern. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, and the mayor is a powerful enemy. If he finds out you’re coming after him, who knows what he’ll do.”
As Sadie watched Lucas leave their cabin, she sent up a silent prayer for protection, knowing he was headed towards a potentially dangerous situation.
Halfway into town, Lucas decided that, even though he didn’t have evidence, he needed to confront the mayor. There was no way the sheriff would back him up without any, but Lucas couldn’t sit around leaving Sadie in jeopardy. It was his job to keep her safe.
He arrived at the mayor’s office and found the man wasn’t there. He decided to try his house next. He made his way to the edge of town where the mayor’s two-story home was located.
Lucas climbed the steps outside the house and raised his hand to knock on the door. Before his handed landed on the wood though, he heard voices on the other side. The first he recognized as the mayor, but it was the second voice that made his blood boil with anger. It was the voice of the man who attacked Sadie just a couple of hours ago.
“You were a fool to go out there and bother that girl without making sure her new husband wasn’t going to be there. All you were supposed to do was scare her into selling her la
nd to me, so we had the last piece of land that secured the water supply to the rest of claims further down the creek. You weren’t supposed to let that marshal get a good look at you. He’s charged with looking into the robberies and deaths you’re responsible for.”
“We’re responsible for,” the other man corrected. “Don’t get any bright ideas about putting all of this on me. If that marshal figures out what we did, I’m not going down alone for any of it.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” the mayor said with a sigh. “I guess that makes this easier than I thought.”
A gun shot rang out, causing Lucas to pull out his own revolver and burst through the door. On the other side, he found the mayor holding a gun with Sadie’s attacker dead on the ground.
For a moment, he looked surprised, but quickly he masked it and said, “Oh, thank goodness, you’re here, Marshal Graham. This man came in here and attacked me, demanding money from me. He said he needed to get out of town after spending all the money from the other robberies he committed so he attacked some woman. He was hoping to scare her into giving him enough money or gold to escape.
Lucas wanted to call the mayor out on his lies, but knew he needed to play it calm until he got the gun from the other man. He walked towards him saying, “The woman he attacked was my wife, Sadie. I recognize him from when we fought.” Lucas put out his hand towards the mayor and added, “Why don’t you give me the gun, Mayor Bradley.”
The mayor started to hand the gun over, but paused as he asked with a confused look, “Why are you here, Marshal Graham?”
“I came here to warn you,” Lucas began, hoping the mayor wasn’t quick enough to figure out he had come here to confront him.
No such luck because the mayor quickly raised his gun and leveled it at Lucas. “I don’t think so, Marshal. I’m not stupid enough to believe that.”