Karen Kirst - Bride By Arrangement

He should be tending his ranch and livestock. He’d never aspired to be a lawman. He’d experienced enough violence to last a lifetime. The war had altered him, not only his appearance, but his way of thinking. Mentally, he’d aged decades, his soul irreversibly tarnished by the atrocities he’d witnessed. He’d come to Kansas in search of a fresh start, away from the constant reminders of the state of their nation.

Abandoning his meal, he moved to the nearest window. The jail sat at the intersection of Eden and Second Street. At this early hour, the streets were mostly deserted. All was quiet in front of Will’s hotel, as well, the curtains at the windows drawn. A clerk swept the boardwalk in front of Booker & Son general store. Across the street, an elderly man was knocking on the doctor’s door.

Noah released a ragged breath. He was responsible for the residents of Cowboy Creek. The weight of that duty fully registered for the first time, and he almost lost his breakfast. His mind rebelled.

What had possessed him to accept the town leaders’ request? Had to have been a moment of insanity, that’s what.

An ungainly figure trundled around the corner, and Noah recognized the boot-maker’s wife, Opal Godwin. Her determined air gave him pause.

He met her at the door. “Mrs. Godwin. What can I do for you?”

She stood in the doorway, one hand supporting the huge mound of her belly, her squinty brown eyes darting between him, Wolf and the prisoners. “I have an issue to discuss with you, Sheriff Burgess. Do you have time now?”

Noah motioned to the bench pushed beneath the window he’d been stationed at a moment ago. “Let’s talk out here on the boardwalk.”

The sun’s rays slanted across their feet. The thick air indicated the day would be a muggy one. Opal carefully lowered herself onto the hard seat, trying unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position. The woman was due to have that baby any day. He prayed today was not that day.

“My husband and I, along with the other affected shop owners, want to know what you plan to do about our falsified deeds. Our livelihood is in jeopardy, Sheriff.” Her severe hairstyle highlighted the shadows beneath her eyes. According to Daniel’s wife, Leah, a midwife who had been consulting with Opal, the young woman had endured a challenging pregnancy. “If you don’t fix this, we might lose our business. And then how would we provide for this baby?” Her voice wobbled, and through the unshed tears, he glimpsed expectation.

She and Amos, her husband, were counting on him to save their business. They all were.

His gut twisted.

Noah paced from the corner post to just past the jail entrance and back. The guns resting against either hip were heavy and cumbersome. He wasn’t used to carrying firearms, especially with the no-gun policy imposed within the town limits. But as the sheriff, he was Cowboy Creek’s appointed guardian. He had to be prepared to protect the residents, especially with the Murdoch gang running amok. Those scoundrels had already proved they were without conscience, going so far as to interrupt a church service and robbing the parishioners of their money and jewelry. He well remembered Leah’s unhappiness over the loss of her wedding band.

On top of the chaos the brothers had wreaked, Noah had inherited a whole host of other sticky issues from his predecessor—the mystery of the falsified store deeds being one of them. Opal herself had discovered the forgery. Without an authentic deed, the bank wouldn’t extend loans for new purchases.

“I’m going to review Sheriff Davis’s notes on the matter, then I’m going to interview everyone involved again. See if I can dredge up new information.”

She didn’t appear impressed. “Would you be willing to meet with the shop owners to discuss your plans to rectify this situation?”

“Of course.” He adopted a confidence he didn’t feel. “Give me three days to complete the interviews. We’ll meet at the Cattleman on Friday.”

Opal was quiet a long moment. Then, with a jerky nod, she struggled to her feet, waving off his extended hand. “I’ll pass the word along. I pray you’ll have more success than Sheriff Davis did.”

Noah watched her leave. He had some serious praying to do himself.

He spent the morning examining the contents of Davis’s desk. His notes about the shop deeds were pathetically brief. Noah paid the land office a visit. While the gentleman working there was willing to assist in the investigation and gave Noah access to the office paperwork, he didn’t have any useful information. Frustrated, Noah returned to the jail to find three cranky cowboys demanding water, food and their freedom. He listened to them whine for an hour before their fellow drovers arrived to pay the fine for disrupting the peace. Once they were gone, he made a list of all the shop owners he needed to interview. He stayed busy, yet the widow remained on the edge of his thoughts. He’d prepared enough breakfast for her and her daughters. But what would they do for lunch? Images of his cabin burning to the ground taunted him. No way did he want a mollycoddled socialite tampering with his kitchen.

Ducking into the Cattleman, he sought out young Simon, Will’s hotel porter. Since Constance had already met Simon, she wouldn’t be alarmed to see him riding onto the property. He arranged for the boy to pick up lunch from the Cowboy Café and take it out to her, assuring the boy the errand wouldn’t get him in trouble with his boss. Will was responsible for Constance’s presence; he could spare his employee for a couple of hours.

By the time five o’clock came around and another deputy, Timothy Watson, showed up to relieve him, Noah was antsy to return to the ranch. As instructed, Simon had reported back to him, saying that Mrs. Miller had seemed surprised but pleased with the delivery. Simon hadn’t seen Abigail, which meant she must still be confined to bed. He’d let slip something that had Noah worried. He’d said that when he arrived, Constance had been busy cleaning the cabin. The furniture, what little he had, had been pushed against the wall and buckets of soapy water stationed about the living room.

He didn’t want her cleaning, didn’t want her touching his belongings.

What would a woman like her know about caring for a home, anyway? From the looks of things, Constance Miller and her girls had lived a life of extreme ease. No doubt she’d paid people to cook and clean for them.

Saddling up, he pushed Samson faster than usual. Halfway between town and his spread, a small herd of buffalo watched him ride past, shifting nervously at the sight of Wolf loping after him. Wild turkeys scattered when he thundered onto the worn-thin trail leading to his cabin. He slowed when he caught sight of his vegetable garden. The short rows had been weeded in his absence.

Dismounting, he mumbled a prayer for fortitude and let himself inside. Noah’s abrupt entrance startled the two occupants. The bowl in Constance’s hands tipped precariously. Jane’s initial surprise transformed into a welcoming smile. Bounding over to him, she took hold of his hand as if they were longtime friends.

“Sheriff, look what I picked for you.”

Scrambling to make sense of several things at once, he allowed himself to be tugged over to the table, where the girl was chatting and waving her hand at the mason jar filled with a combination of orange, blue and yellow wildflowers.

“Aren’t they pretty?” she finally asked, big blue eyes blinking up at him.

“Huh.”

The floors were still damp from their scrubbing. Not a speck of dust littered the mantel. The windows sparkled, the clean glass admitting more light and allowing a clear view of the cottonwoods and the stream.

He registered the smell of grease and chicken the same moment he spotted a bucket of feathers in the kitchen corner. Leaving the girl, he prowled over to where Constance stood at the stove, her skin dewy with exertion and tendrils of chocolate-hued hair skimming her cheeks. Chin lifted, she stiffened with apprehension.