Chapter Five
“They’ve got to be around here somewhere,” Etta said, tracing her fingers over a stack of envelopes stacked inside Sheriff Landry’s desk drawer.
The girls were smack dab in the middle of the sheriff’s office, and June was trying her best not to think about whether this con was going to get them killed—or worse, imprisoned.
Fortunately, they had a cover story. Etta had brought Sheriff Henry Landry a big basket for herself and him to enjoy a picnic lunch together. They had at least been smart enough to cover their bases if he came in while three women were going through his drawers.
Etta shuffled through papers with frantic fingers as she continued to muse anxiously to herself. “If we can figure out who the real brides are, we can write them, and then we won’t have to worry about Trey!”
Ada was wearing a confident smirk as she searched. She and Etta had baked up the scheme together. The two of them really thought they could pull it off.
“And what happens next?” June snapped. “While we’re pilfering through your fake fiancé’s things, these women could show up and see we’ve stolen their places. What then? You think he’ll still love you and save you out of the kindness of his heart?”
“He might!” Etta retorted, her voice high-pitched and frustrated. “But if we find the original letters then we can find their addresses and write them, and we won’t have to worry about any of it!”
It was clear to June that her two friends both seemed to have some sort of fairytale ending in mind.
June slammed her hand on the sheriff’s desk.
“What about the fact that we don’t know where they are?
If they’re supposed to be here in a matter of weeks, don’t you think they’d already be on their way?
Your letters are never going to reach them in time!
” She sat in the sheriff’s chair, her nerves on fire.
This detour seemed awfully pointless. They were wasting time.
She endured a few more minutes of watching Ada and Etta rifle through the sheriff’s paperwork. Finally, she exclaimed, “He’s going to be back soon, and you two have made a complete mess out of his desk!
“I want to marry this man, June!” Etta said quietly, almost dreamily, which caused June’s stomach to lurch. She rolled her eyes. She hated how attached the girls were getting to these two men they barely knew.
On one hand, she was glad that her “husband to be” wanted next to nothing to do with her—but it did present a problem.
She was the only one with her head on straight.
not to mention the only one that seemed to remember that they were only doing this stunt to get ahead, gather loot, and get out of town as soon as possible.
If Seth Whitman had wanted anything to do with her, she herself might have already taken off with some of his valuables. The three of them could have already been on their way to pay Trey and prevent the chaos that was sure to unfold if he came looking for them now.
“Oh, lighten up, June!” Ada tossed at her. “Can’t you be a little less stiff-necked about this?”
“I told you two that I wrote to Trey to buy us time, and I told you two not to get attached,” June reminded her with a growl.
“I told you that these men were a means to an end. You two are already counting down the days for your weddings when these other brides could be here any day and ruin any chance we have to get what we need to survive!”
“I’m not counting down for anything,” Ada announced, as she began stuffing the letters back in Henry’s desk. “I’m aware of the plan. It would be nice if we could lose Trey and not pay him back. These men aren’t so bad here.”
June sighed heavily, trying to soothe her temper.
Etta spoke up hesitantly. “I think if we’re honest, they’ll protect us anyway. Even though we lied…”
June scoffed. “It’s definitely not the time or place to gamble on the kindness of strangers, especially when you’re not married to them.”
“Me and Henry aren’t strangers!” Etta huffed. “And we will be married!”
“Then by all means, tell him the truth about us—just as long as I’ve already got what I need to get out of town, .” June agreed. “But know that I’ll be the one saving your hide again, because I am going to be the one paying Trey to make sure he doesn’t see us as loose ends!”
She was growing furious, and she wasn’t even sure why. She was always controlled, always calm—but there was something about the other girls’ attitudes that was completely infuriating.
Ada raised an eyebrow. “You would leave?” she asked.
“In a heartbeat.”
Etta’s lip quivered. Truth be told, June felt guilty as soon as she said it. She knew very well that Etta’s father had abandoned her on the orphanage steps after her mother had died in childbirth. She’d always been terrified of being left behind.
But June wasn’t going to apologize. Not when she was trying to make a point.
Ada said nothing. She might have had a mouth on her and the mood of a tornado, but she had always known when June was at her breaking point.
“I’m sorry,” June said quietly. “I need you both to remember our goal.”
Her throat clenched as Etta’s shoulders slumped. She didn’t want to be harsh, but reality didn’t leave a lot of room for fantasy.
“I’m going to keep looking for ways to stay here,” Ada said proudly.
June groaned. “In the meantime, can you just do what we agreed on?”
“Fine.”
“Good afternoon, sheriff!” someone called outside, near the window, and June darted a panicked glance through the glass. He’s back!
Just out front, Sheriff Landry was dismounting his silvery-gray horse.
“Good afternoon!” he yelled cheerfully to the invisible greeter.
Then he hopped down to tie his mare’s reins to the hitching post. “Put it all back!” Ada growled, swiping envelopes from Etta’s hand and forcing them into the desk.
“That’s not how it was!” Etta squealed, helping her friend fix the mess they’d just made. “Fix it quickly!”
June leapt forward and grabbed the basket they’d brought off the desk. Then she grabbed Etta by the arm and yanked her toward the door, slamming the basket against her chest.
“Distract him. You brought this to him so you could eat lunch together!” she hissed at Etta in a whisper.
Etta nodded, running to the door just as the sheriff crossed the threshold. “Henry!”
As she began chattering, June and Ada scrambled to put everything back.
“Is this how it was when you started pulling letters out?” June asked Ada, only for Ada to shrug.
“I can’t believe I let you two talk me into coming into the sheriff’s office to pilfer through his letters! ” June muttered despairingly.
“Shh!” Ada clapped a free hand across June’s mouth. “Be quiet!”
Fearful, June glanced at the two people standing at the door: Etta, pretending to be another woman, and Sheriff Landry, the man who thought he’d struck oil with his bride-to-be.
Etta was leaning against the door frame, giggling softly as she twisted her blonde hair. “I thought we could have a picnic lunch,” she told him. June narrowed her eyes.
Etta wasn’t playing a part. She was serious. She wanted to marry this gentleman. “Well, that would be real nice!” Henry replied enthusiastically. It was obvious he was smitten by Etta.
And as unhappy as June was about that, she had to admit that he wasn’t just interested because she was a pretty girl wanting to marry him.
It was obvious from his conversation with Etta at breakfast that morning that he genuinely enjoyed talking to her.
He had been quite the gentleman, asking her all sorts of questions about her interests.
June hadn’t ever met a man like that.
The kind of men she knew didn’t care what a woman thought, only what a woman could do for them. Neither Henry nor Jack struck her as that kind of man.
…But Trey hadn’t, either.
***
That night, as the boarding house settled into quietude, June couldn’t stop thinking about the letter she had written to Trey.
She watched the candle next to her bed flicker as its wax melted in drips down the sides, wondering how she was going to pull everything off to keep him happy and make good on her deal with him.
Trey was the tangible embodiment of her fear. He was everywhere. He always seemed to know where they’d find their next chance at employment, even before anyone contacted his false cleaning business.
And June hated not being the one to know what was going on.
It gave Trey a dangerous advantage over the three of them.
That was why she hadn’t planned to stay in the same place where she had mailed the letter.
She’d hoped that by the time Trey received it, they would have been long gone from Fort Davis.
And yet here they were—still very much in Fort Davis. And to make matters worse, Ada and Etta were completely smitten with men they thought they could marry. Neither of them seemed fully aware of the threat Trey would pose.
What do I do now?
***
When morning came, June found herself immediately wishing that night would return. She’d gone downstairs to read a book that morning, after the other two had left for morning walks with their intendeds.
“We’re getting married!” Etta’s exuberant cry pulled June straight out of her book. Her mouth fell open in shock as Etta galloped cheerfully across the room, Sheriff Landry right behind her.
June sat shocked, refusing to meet Etta’s eyes.
“Me too!” Ada shouted as she barreled her way through the door, tugging Jack Landry right behind her. “We’re getting married, too!”
June couldn’t quite hide her glare. Did she threaten him to get him to propose? He looked more like a hostage than a fiancé.