by Jenna Brandt
“Think about what you’re doing, Mayor Bradley. How are you going to explain away both of our deaths?”
“Easy, he came in here and attacked me. You tried to stop him, but he shot you before I shot him trying to protect you.”
Lucas had to hand it to the mayor, he was rather good at coming up with cover stories. Lucas needed to think fast and figure out a way to disarm the mayor before he had a chance to use his gun on him.
“I think you’re mistaken. I’m here to help you,” Lucas said, still inching towards the mayor.
“Don’t move, or I swear, I’ll shoot,” the mayor threatened, but his hand was shaking and Lucas could tell his resolve was wavering.
Lucas decided he needed to make a move right away before the mayor worked up the nerve to kill another man. He charged the man, taking him by surprise. The gun went tumbling to the ground, as Lucas knocked the mayor to the ground.
Lucas grabbed him by the shirt collar, and yanked him to his feet saying, “You shouldn’t have killed your muscle. It leaves you vulnerable.”
“If you look the other way, I can pay you handsomely. I know that redhead has got you all turned around, but don’t be a fool over her.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Lucas growled out. “She doesn’t make me a fool. She makes me better. I promised her I would avenge her husband’s death. Making you pay for what you did will make good on that promise, and that’s all that matters to me.”
Lucas hauled the mayor down to the jail, explained the situation, the confession he overheard, and threw the mayor in a cell. He was grateful to find out the sheriff had been suspicious of the mayor and had been compiling evidence to charge him with corruption. Lucas could rest easy, knowing the mayor wouldn’t be getting out of jail any time soon.
After everything was settled at the sheriff’s office, Lucas returned home to Sadie. Over supper, he explained what happened, putting her mind at ease.
For the second night, Sadie climbed the ladder to the loft leaving Lucas alone. He glanced over at the sofa but shook his head. No way was he sleeping on that again. He picked up the blanket from the edge of the furniture and took it to the floor. It couldn’t be any worse than the back-breaking monster he slept on the night before.
Lucas tossed and turned several times, finally deciding to settle in on his side. Just as he was dozing off, he felt a small kick to his back. He rolled over to find Sadie staring at him with her hands on her hips.
“What on earth are you doing on the ground like that?”
“Oh, I must have…rolled off the sofa,” Lucas said, scrambling for an answer, figuring he didn’t want to admit the real reason for the sake of his pride.
“Do you really think me daft enough to believe that?” she countered. “I saw how stiff you were this morning. I told you that rotten couch wasn’t worth a darn when it came to sleeping.” Glancing up at the loft, she gestured with her head, “Why don’t you sleep in the bed with me.”
“Are you sure?”
“After you saved my life today, I think it’s the least I can do,” she said with a smile. “Come on, I can’t stand the thought of you on that floor for one more moment.”
Lucas scrambled to his feet and made his way over to the ladder. He didn’t expect anything but a good night’s sleep, but for now, that was all he needed. There would be plenty of time to convince Sadie that more than sleep could happen in the loft. Until then, he would be content in the fact she trusted him enough to sleep next to her.
Seven
Sadie wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at the finished muffins in front of her. She was excited to share the treat with the prospectors, and Lucas when he returned home.
To her happy surprise, his boss from the San Francisco office sent word that he was to stay on in the town and oversee regional federal issues, even though the case that brought him to Havilah was finished.
The mayor had been transferred to the nearby fort when rumors arose that some townsfolk may break him out of jail. After a thorough search of the mayor’s office and home, enough evidence was accumulated to secure a firm conviction when he went to trial by the year's end.
Sadie and Lucas had been growing close, spending time together as they fixed up the cabin, and oversaw the mining of the claim.
A knock at the door jolted Sadie from her thoughts. She made her way over to the front of the cabin and opened the door. On the other side, were two men holding a sofa.
“We have a delivery for Mrs. Graham,” the taller of the two men stated.
“This must be a mistake.” Sadie objected. “I didn’t purchase a new sofa.”
The other man shook his head. “No mistake about it. We were told to bring this here, along with all the rest,” the man stated with a gesture behind him to the wagon filled with furniture.
Sadie stepped back and let the men enter with the new sofa. She followed the men to the living room and watched as they moved the old sofa out of the way to make room for the new one. They picked up the old one and started to head towards the door.
“What are you going to do with that?” Sadie called out after them.
“We have strict orders to burn this thing,” the taller man answered.
Sadie trailed behind them. As she exited the cabin, she saw Lucas emerge from behind the wagon.
“I can’t believe you did all this.” Sadie marveled in awe. “We can’t afford all of this.”
“You’d be surprised what I have squirreled away. The one benefit of being a single man for so many years was that I was able to save up a ton of money to spoil my future wife.”
“When did you do all this?”
“I placed the order for the new furniture after you let me move upstairs. I figured if I was going to get into trouble someday and end up on the sofa again, I wanted to make sure it was comfortable. It took the general store a couple of weeks to get all the items in.”
Sadie moved to the back of the wagon and looked inside. There was an oak wooden table and chairs for the kitchen, a mahogany bed frame and new mattress, two new plush chairs to go with the sofa, along with two lamps, and a full set of china.
Her eyes teared up at the sweet and loving gesture. She couldn’t believe how much work he had put into this. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him as she said, “Thank you. I adore it all, what a lovely surprise.”
Sadie had never felt so loved as she did in that moment. She looked up into Lucas’s eyes, seeing the devotion there. Though he had never said the words, she knew he loved her.
His mouth came down to claim her lips with his own. The kiss was tender but filled with passion. It made Sadie’s entire body quiver and she wondered why she had waited so long to let him do it. Now that she had kissed Lucas, she wasn’t sure how she’d ever stop.
“You need to take a look at this.” Sheriff Hall said, coming up and handing a piece of paper to Lucas.
“What’s this?” Lucas asked, his eyes falling to the piece of paper.
“Trouble.” The sheriff said, “The kind that no man wants. I’ll leave you to figure out what to do about it.”
A wanted poster taunted Lucas with words he didn’t want to believe. Scrolled across the top were the words:
Sadie Steele Wanted for robbery in Little Rock, Arkansas. Reward $100
Was this the reason Sadie had fled to the West? Was she hiding from the law? If that was the case, why on earth would she agree to marry him, knowing he was a marshal? Then it dawned on him, perhaps she figured if she married him he’d keep the law from catching up to her. Did that mean she was using him? All this time that they had been growing closer, was it all part of her plan to keep two steps ahead of the law? She was a bright woman, but was she really that manipulative? He hoped not.
He folded the piece of paper up and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” Lucas informed the sheriff. “And I’ll take care of this myself.”
The sheriff nodded as Lucas exited the building.
Lucas arrived back at the cabin, unsure of what to expect when he confronted Sadie. He took in a deep breath, pushed back his shoulders, and marched inside.
Sadie was sitting at the table sewing a garment. Her eyes rounded with surprise. “What are you doing back so early today?”
“I have something I need to discuss with you.”
As he came over to the table, he pulled out the piece of paper and slid it across to her. “Explain this,” he demanded.
Sadie pulled the piece of paper towards her, scanning the condemning wanted poster. Her lips quivered as she stammered out, “It’s not what you think. I didn’t do this.”
“I always knew you were hiding something, just not something like this. An abusive boyfriend, maybe? An overbearing parent, perhaps? But I never thought you broke a law.”
“I didn’t do it. I did work at the shop, but I didn’t steal from the place. Someone else did it, and I was just the easiest person to blame. No one would believe that an orphaned girl would be able to save up money the way I did. They would’ve assumed the money I had in my room was taken from the shop. So, I ran. When I couldn’t find work in surrounding towns, I contacted Sam, and he offered to marry me. I thought I could start over, and never thought my past would catch up with me. I didn’t know about the warrant.”
“If you were innocent, why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“I was afraid. I didn’t know if you would believe me, and I figured that so much time had passed, it didn’t matter anyway.” Reaching out she placed her hand on his arm and looked into his eyes with fear. “What are you going to do?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Part of me wants to believe you, but the lawman in me knows what you’re saying is exactly what a thief would say. I need time to think.”
Without waiting for her to respond, Lucas decided to head back to the sheriff’s office. He needed to contact his friends back east and look into what really happened. Maybe then he could decide what to really do.
Eight
Sadie watched Lucas walk out the door. She should’ve jumped up and chased after him. She should’ve said she loved him. She should’ve made him believe her innocence. She should’ve done anything other than watch him walk away without doing anything about it. By the time he was gone, she had realized too late that she should’ve stopped him.
Her hands picked up the wanted poster and pulled it close to her face. The words from it swirled around in her head, jumbling up until she could think about nothing else.
When she had fled Arkansas, she didn’t know her troubles would follow her all the way out west. She never imagined her past would put her future husband in a position to choose between his vows to her and his oath as a lawman. How could she ask him to make that choice? What type of woman would that make her if she let him?
Sadie realized as she watched Lucas walk out the door, she loved him. She loved him so much she’d do whatever it took to protect him from making the worse decision of his life. By taking the choice out of his hands, she could keep him from having to compromise himself for her.
With firm resolve, she prepared herself to leave Havilah so that she could return to Arkansas and turn herself in. She would deal with the consequences of running away, knowing that at least by going back, she was keeping the man that she loved from having to give up everything he believed in for her.
Sadie gathered her belongings and placed them back into the single tapestry bag she brought with her out West. She wrote a note to Lucas, explaining what she was doing and why, then placed it on the table before heading out the door, leaving her new life behind forever.
The cabin was quiet when Lucas returned home. He searched the small structure for his wife. On his second pass through the house, he saw a note sitting on the table. He picked it up, recognizing Sadie’s familiar handwriting. The note was addressed to him.
Dear Lucas,
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my past. I realize now that things were never going to work out between us because of the choices I made before I met you. I know it doesn’t matter now, but I couldn’t leave without telling you at least once that I love you. I love you. That’s why I’m leaving; I love you so much, I refuse to make you compromise the lawman I fell for in order to keep me from the consequences of my past. I’m going back to Arkansas to turn myself in. Even though I didn’t do it, I would rather sacrifice myself than cause you any further pain.
I love you now and always,
Your wife, Sadie
Lucas dropped the letter on the table and rushed from the cabin. There was no way he was letting the woman he loved leave Havilah under these circumstances, not when he had the evidence that exonerated her.
Lucas mounted his horse and galloped towards the stagecoach office. He’d never pushed his horse as hard as he did that day knowing that if he didn’t get there in time, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
A flurry of activity was at the stagecoach office. Porters were moving trunks and bags off one coach and placing them onto another. Passengers were buying tickets, handing over their luggage, and loading in and out of the coaches.
With the sun midway in the sky, Lucas realized that the last stagecoach was getting ready to depart, most avoiding riding in the night. On the edge of the wooden platform, Sadie was standing there, holding her original upholstery bag.
Lucas jumped from his horse, secured his mare on the hitching post, and sprinted to Sadie’s side.
“What are you doing here?” Sadie inquired with shock.
“I should ask you the same thing. Why would you even think about running away from me?” Lucas asked with hurt obvious in his voice.
“You didn’t give me any reason to think you believed me,” Sadie defended. “And I didn’t want to make you choose between your honor as a lawman and protecting me.”
“I can’t believe you think I’d have any other choice but you. I’ll always pick you, Sadie. It’s why I left. I went to wire the marshals’ office back East to have them look into your situation. You don’t have to run anymore, Sadie. They found out the shopkeeper’s son was responsible for the theft. Apparently, he robbed several other businesses nearby in Little Rock, and admitted he took the money from your employer’s shop as well.”
“You mean, I don’t have to worry about anyone ever coming after me again?”
Lucas shook his head yes. “You’re safe Sadie, this time for good. I hope this means you won’t be leaving me.” The plea in his voice was clear. Lucas didn’t know what he would do if Sadie decided she still wanted to go. He realized now, he couldn’t live without her in his life.
“Of course I won’t. I was only going to leave to save you from giving up your career for me.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I never want you to think about leaving me again. I love you, Sadie. I’ve loved you for a long time now, but I just didn’t know how to say it.”
Lucas pulled Sadie into his arms, leaned down, and kissed her with all of the love he held inside. As she wrapped her hands around his neck, he could feel that same love radiating back. He knew that he had found the love of his life, and he was going to spend the rest of his life cherishing her.
A Note from the Author
I hope you have enjoyed Lawfully Avenged and plan to continue to reading this series as well as my other series. Your opinion and support matters, so I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Without dedicated readers, a storyteller is lost. Thank you for investing in my stories. If you would like more info, please join my newsletter and get a free novella just for signing up for my Newsletter.
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