Chapter 2 #2
Josiah Lincoln had them all beat. He was tall with wide shoulders and his forearms were corded with muscles.
She knew because she’d held on to his arm earlier and could feel them bunching underneath his skin.
He smelled nice, too. Like sun-dried linens and sandalwood with the slightest hint of gun oil.
In a word—he was perfect.
She sighed and grabbed the towel she used to dust with and wiped the counter down, paying particular attention to the pastry rack she’d seen dust under earlier.
“You could just marry him.”
Rose’s voice was soft, but the words seemed to scream through her head. She threw her a look as if to ask if she was crazy, then did just that. “Are you crazy?”
Rose shrugged. “You’re twenty-three, Violet. Twenty-four in less than five months.”
“So?”
“So, do you want to live at home taking care of gramps until you’re old and gray?
” She leaned her hip against the counter before crossing her arms under her breasts.
“There aren’t many men in this town, Violet, and of the ones that are here—now don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, holding up a hand, “but none are interested in marrying you, or they would have already asked for your hand.”
Violet clenched her jaw. Rose was right, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. There were several single men in Silver Falls. Grayson Ford lived right outside of town and he came to the mercantile enough to know she was there.
She saw Levi Harper every day as he stood at his forge and hammered away on something in his blacksmith shop.
Bill Collins, Jasper Shook, and Carl Jenkins were also single and not a single one had asked for her hand. Heck, Tanner hadn’t either, and she talked to him almost every day and had for years.
But did that mean she had to jump at the first proposal someone gave her?
No. And she wouldn’t. Especially since the first proposal she had came from Edwin Wright.
Gertie and Hazel walked into the store, and all conversation about Edwin died, thankfully.
He was a problem for another day and she never lingered on problems. They only made her feel miserable and all that worrying never solved anything so, she put it out of her mind.
Hopefully, this whole thing would resolve itself and Edwin would go home.
And maybe pigs would ride cows into town.
It took physical effort to push thoughts of Violet Campbell from his mind and it wasn’t easy to do, especially now that his dirty mind had imagined her naked and rolling around on his sheets with her skin glowing in the sunlight.
He turned from the window to stare around the empty jail.
He’d not bothered lighting a lamp, so the building was filled with dark shadows.
It was quiet. The only noise he could hear was the bang of Levi’s hammer as he pounded on something over at his blacksmith shop and occasionally, a loud voice coming from down the street.
It was a typical day in Silver Falls. Quiet. Boring…or it had been until Violet Campbell dragged him into her personal drama.
The word lonely whispered through his head and he ignored it like he always did when he found himself alone at night, sitting at the small table in his room behind the jail, wishing someone was sitting across from him.
After several failed relationships, he’d left Durango determined to start over. His life had been anything but boring there, but the drama had been too much so, he got out while he could.
Some days, he’d give a month’s salary for one ounce of that turmoil just to have something happen around here. Thankfully, the feeling never lasted long.
He sighed and stood, grabbing his hat and putting it back on his head.
His gaze darted toward the mercantile when he stepped outside.
He could see movement through the windows and spotted Violet.
She was talking, her hands flying in the air animatedly, and he knew she was still going on about Edwin.
He wondered what Rose thought about it all, especially his getting drawn into her younger sister’s mess.
He stepped off the small porch and headed down the street.
As he did most days, he walked the single road through town, but it was a pointless activity. Nothing ever happened here.
Unlike Durango, Silver Falls was quiet. His life in Colorado had been filled with action on a daily basis.
He couldn’t walk down the street and not see a number of crimes taking place when he lived there.
It didn’t happen here, though, so walking through town turned into nothing more than a leisurely stroll to pass the time.
The new saloon at the end of the street filled the air with the scent of fresh-cut lumber and the voices he heard coming from inside the building were loud and boisterous.
He headed inside and nodded to Archie Cline, the owner, before stepping up to the bar. “Hey, Archie.”
The man nodded his head in greeting. “Marshall. It’s a little early for you to be drinking, ain’t it?”
He grinned. “That it is.” Propping his elbow on the bar, he turned to look out over the room. It was still pretty bare, with only a few tables scattered around the room. A door off to the left opened and Bonnie, the woman who lived there with Archie, stepped out.
Her face was painted, her large breasts all but falling out of her dress, and even though she claimed to be married to Archie, everyone knew it for the lie it was. Bonnie was there for one reason and one reason only.
To provide comfort to anyone willing to pay for it.
As saloon whores went, she was decent looking. Her nose was on the large side, her brown eyes set wide apart, and she looked cleaner than most.
It might have been because the town wasn’t big enough for the men here to monopolize her time like those in larger cities tended to do, and she could wash up and be presentable more often than not.
He’d not been desperate enough to see firsthand if it were true or not, but he imagined she bathed between suiters.
He stayed for a few more minutes, spoke to those inside the building, then headed back outside.
And sighed.
This town was so laid back, it was downright depressing, but he’d never complain about it. This was what he’d wanted. A place so far back from the more populated cities that no one would find him.
He just didn’t think he’d spend his days searching for things to do.
Was it too much to ask for a stray cattle rustler to come riding through? Or a horse thief? Hell, a pick-pocket would do most days. Something to break up the monotony of the same old thing day after day.
He headed back toward the jail, but movement to his right drew his attention. He inhaled a breath when Edwin hurried down the front steps of Mabel’s boarding house, his gaze locked on him. Great. This should be fun.
The man still looked mad as hell, but he wasn’t sure what about, exactly. Was it because Violet had turned him down?
Or the fact she’d told him she was already engaged?
Or maybe it was the fact she’d told him she never intended to marry him in the first place?
“Marshal, I’d like a word with you!”
Of course, he did. Josiah stopped and crossed his arms over his chest and waited by Mabel's fence gate.
“Did you know Violet was promised to me before you asked for her hand?”
Josiah chewed on the inside of his lip while trying to think of how to answer him.
He hated lying. Lies always came back to haunt you later on but Violet had dragged him into this and the only way out was to tell Edwin the truth, but doing so would put Violet in a position he couldn’t bear to put her in, not when he could help it.
“Did Violet ever say she’d marry you?” he asked instead.
“Of course she did.”
“I see.” He nodded. “So she actually said the words, ‘Yes, Edwin, I’ll marry you?’”
He stuttered a few words before his face turned red. “She didn’t use those exact words, but we talked about it for years.”
“Did you both talk about it, or just you? The way Violet tells it, you just assumed she’d agreed.”
“That’s not how it was at all!” Edwin’s face turned a deeper shade of red.
His hands were clenched and Josiah raised an eyebrow.
Surely this man didn’t want to let this turn physical.
Edwin was tall, but looked as if a strong wind would blow him over.
It wouldn’t take more than a single punch to take the man down.
“When are you marrying?”
Josiah blew out a breath. “We haven’t decided yet.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why haven’t you decided? What are you waiting for?”
Good question. He scratched his jaw. The sound it made as his fingernails brushed across his whiskers was loud while Edwin waited for an answer.
“Well,” he finally said. “There’s no preacher here in town.” It wasn’t a lie. There wasn’t. Never had been. “The circuit preacher doesn’t come through but every couple of months.”
“That’s just an excuse. You could easily travel to any surrounding town to get married.”
“True, but I can’t leave the town unprotected while I take off.” Also true.
Edwin narrowed his eyes. “So, the only reason you’re waiting is that there’s no one here to perform the ceremony?”
“More or less.”
Edwin nodded, sizing him up from head to toe before lifting his chin and turning on his heel to head back into Mabel’s.
Josiah watched him until the door shut behind him before continuing on his way.
His gaze darted to the mercantile when it came into view.
When he was close enough to see inside the windows, he looked for Violet.
He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed by the fact he didn’t see her.
At least watching her gave him something to do.
Stepping back into the jail, he hung his hat on the nail hammered into the wall by the door and sat down at his desk, tapping his fingers on the weathered wood before dragging out the letter he’d been working on. He put pen to paper and started writing, counting the minutes until the day was over.