Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The last time he’d been in such a domestic situation, he’d been days away from marrying a woman he’d thought to spend the rest of his life with.
He tried not to think about Ruth much at all these days, but with all this marriage nonsense with Violet, it was hard not to.
Ruth’s family had been big like Violet’s was, but they hadn’t been anything like the Campbell clan.
Ruth’s family was rich and reserved and once upon a time he’d thought they were exactly the type of respectable family he wanted to be a part of but being here now, listening to the laughter of Violet and her family, he knew he would have been miserable with Ruth.
Hell, he’d known it weeks before she died.
“Are you all right?”
Violet’s soft voice drew him from his musings. He gave her a smile and a nod. “Yes. I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
He looked around the table and lied. “Nothing in particular.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him, but didn’t question him further.
The conversation at the table was an eclectic range of topics, but luckily, no one mentioned the wedding and by the time everyone was through eating, he was glad it was over.
“Well, the town won’t see to itself,” he said before standing.
He looked at Daisy and waited until he’d caught her eye.
“Thank you for breakfast, Daisy. It was delicious.” He wasn’t sure if she heard him or not, but assumed she understood what he’d said when she blushed.
Graham stood after he did and thanked Daisy as well before motioning to the door with his head.
Once outside, he followed Graham down the steps and around the house to the sidewalk, his steps faltering when the man said, “Is my sister-in-law still a virgin?”
The grin on Graham’s face wasn’t what he’d been expecting when he looked over at him.
Graham shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “Rose told me what was going on. I’m just curious as to if you were able to stick to the plan or not.”
“The plan?”
“To not consummate the marriage and get it annulled.” Before he could answer, Graham laughed.
“Not that you’ve asked for my advice, but I’m going to give it to you, anyway.
Just go ahead and do it. What’s the worst that’ll happen?
You get a wife who has been pining over you since the day you rode into town? ”
That last statement made him pause. So maybe he’d been right after all when he thought Violet was interested. Not that it mattered. It didn’t change the fact that he didn’t need a wife.
Want and need are two different things.
Okay. He didn’t want one either.
Did he?
Graham was still talking, but he’d not heard a word the man said. When Graham told him he had things to do and clapped him on the back before walking off, he watched him for a few minutes before heading toward the jail with Graham’s words whispering through his head the entire way.
Consummating his marriage to Violet would be easy.
Too easy. There was no denying she was a beauty, and they seemed to get along fine, but he’d sworn off marriage long before he moved to Silver Falls.
Changing his mind now wouldn’t benefit anyone, especially him.
He’d end up right back where he’d been in Durango, and he knew he couldn’t take that sort of heartache again.
Before stepping into the jail, he looked back up the street, stilling when he saw Violet, Ewan, and Rose standing on the front porch of the Campbell house. He watched her laugh with Rose and when she turned her head his way and smiled at him, something in his chest pinched tight.
That’s your wife.
The words were a soft echo in his mind and for once, they didn’t cause dread to follow them. Didn’t mean he’d accept them, though. Before week’s end, he’d have their marriage annulled and life would go back to what it had been.
Safe.
Orderly.
And completely boring.
With it being Rose and Graham’s day to open the store, Violet had watched Graham and Josiah leave without a word, and followed Rose and her grandfather out onto the porch.
Their grandfather didn’t waste any time hurrying down the steps. According to him, he needed to walk the town to see if anything had happened during the night and she and Rose laughed at his self proclaimed watchmen duties.
Seeing Josiah at the jail looking at her made her heart skip a beat, and she’d smiled, watching him until he finally went inside the building before heading back in to help Daisy clear the table but stilled when she saw her sister was staring at her. “What?”
Daisy shrugged a shoulder. “You look like you’re in another world.”
She smiled and carried the dirty dishes to the sink. Turning her head to make sure Daisy was looking at her, she said, “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Like what?”
She opened her mouth to blurt out her problem, but stopped. Daisy didn’t know the whole wedding the day before had a farce.
“What is it?”
The expectant look on Daisy’s face soon gave way to indifference. That look told Violet more than words did. It told her Daisy knew no matter what the problem was, she wouldn’t be told.
She and Daisy were the closest in age. Her little sister was barely nineteen, but if Violet had to choose between her sisters, she’d say she was closer to Daisy than she was to Rose.
Her older sister worked herself ragged and didn’t have time to sit around and gossip about everyday things.
Daisy did, but Violet had always kept things to herself.
She didn’t over share anything and as she looked at the expression on Daisy’s face, she wondered if maybe that was a mistake.
It was no secret Daisy kept to herself. Her disability made her life difficult, and she had to admit, they treated her differently because of it, even though they tried not to. The fact their baby sister was in the dark about so many things was proof of that.
Maybe that was why Daisy was so quiet and kept to herself. Because she knew they excluded her more often than not and by doing so, they were alienating her and turning her into the recluse they claimed she was. Were they the reason Daisy was so standoffish?
Probably.
She smiled and leaned back against the counter.
“If I tell you something, you have to promise to keep it our little secret.” Even though Daisy had a hard time hearing, she’d learned to read lips over the years.
She met her gaze and spoke slowly to make sure Daisy could understand what she was saying. “No telling gramps.”
Daisy grinned. “Your secret is safe with me.”
She inhaled a deep breath, then let it out. “Josiah and I aren’t really married.” When Daisy’s eyes widened, she said, “Well, I mean we are. The wedding was real, but…well, we didn’t consummate it last night.”
“Why?”
“Because we only got married, so Edwin would leave. Josiah is going to have the wedding annulled.”
Daisy’s brow scrunched. “But you’re in love with him.”
It was Violet’s eyes that widened then. “Who told you that?”
Daisy laughed and waved a hand, trying to get her giggles under control. “Everyone knows you’re sweet on Josiah, Violet. The whole town knows it.”
Her brows scrunched. “They do?”
Daisy nodded. “Yes. I think the only person who doesn’t is Josiah.” Her sister scraped the rest of the plates and pots and poured hot water into the sink before dunking the dishes inside.
“Why not just stay married?”
Daisy’s question was so simple and if she had her way, that’s exactly what she’d do. “Because Josiah doesn’t want to be married.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Did he say he didn’t want to be married?”
“Well…” Had he? She couldn’t remember. “It doesn’t matter. He has plans to head to Elkin first chance he gets to have it annulled.”
“Unless you convince him not to.” Daisy smiled and wiggled her eyebrows.
“Are you suggesting I seduce Josiah Lincoln?”
“No. I’m suggesting you seduce your husband.”
“And how do you suppose I do that? I can’t just throw myself at him. I mean, he wasn’t even going to sleep in the same room with me last night. If Edwin hadn’t seen him going to the jail, he would have slept there all night.”
Her thoughts flashed back to the night before when Josiah had walked in on her while getting ready for bed. She’d been practically naked and all he’d done was look away and pretend it hadn’t even happened. If the sight of her nearly naked didn’t entice him, what was she supposed to do?
She asked Daisy the same thing after telling her what had happened the night before and her sister grew quiet, thinking as they washed the dishes together. Once the kitchen was clean and everything put back where it belonged, Violet sat down at the table across from Daisy.
The ticking of the clock in the living room was loud in the stillness, and she idly played with the tablecloth while lost in thought. Long minutes passed before Daisy sat up and made a small sound.
She grabbed the plate the bread she’d made was sitting on and pulled a piece of the top crust off. “I have an idea.” Daisy grinned. “And you won’t have to get naked to do it.”
For once, the day hadn’t been boring. Cecil Jenkins had ridden into town demanding he follow him out to his place and settle a dispute he had with his neighbor, Randal Hyde. Seemed the two men both claimed ownership of a cow and neither seemed inclined to let the other have her.
It had taken all day to get the two men settled down, and he was half starved by the time he got back to town. If it hadn’t been for the big breakfast he’d eaten with Violet and her family, he was sure his stomach would have eaten a hole in his back by now.
He’d thought of Violet off and on all day, wondering what she was up to, and he wasn’t even sure why. Nothing had changed between them other than the fact they’d both exchanged some vows neither had intentions of keeping, but she popped into his head more often than not.
She was at the store most days and he assumed she had been today as well, but he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t asked before leaving her house that morning and doing so might have given her the wrong impression. That he was asking about her day because he cared like a good husband should.
He bedded his horse down and headed toward the jail, his steps faltering when he neared the Campbell house. Was Violet in there, or was she still at the store?
It was late, the sun already sinking behind the mountain. He could see lights on in the store and as he drew close enough to see inside the windows, he paused on the sidewalk to see if she was in there. He saw Rose and Graham, but not Violet.
He headed toward the little room behind the jail and lit a lamp once inside.
The bed was made and the shirt Violet had worn the night before was folded and laying on the trunk. He stared at it for long minutes before sitting down at the small table against the wall.
He spent every evening alone in this little room and not once had the silence bothered him, but for reasons he didn’t want to think about, as he stared across the room, the silence seemed too loud.
Instead of coming back here, he should have walked the town or gone into the jail to see if anything had landed on his desk while he’d been gone. Why he came here instead, he wasn’t sure.
Liar.
The word whispered inside his head. He knew why he was here before sundown. He’d been looking for an auburn-haired beauty that was technically his wife.
She can be legally. Just bed her and be done with it.
The thought wasn’t as appalling as it would have been a week ago.
Not that being married to Violet would ever be considered appalling.
Marriage was. He’d left Durango with thoughts to never even entertain the idea again and so far, not once in the past two years, had the thought of getting himself hitched ever crossed his mind.
But here he sat, married to a woman who had been on his mind all day and he knew there wasn’t anything but trouble coming his way.
He needed to go to Elkin first thing tomorrow and find that preacher to see if he’d filed that marriage license with the clerk of court yet.
What if the old man tells Edwin you wanted the marriage annulled?
He blew out a breath. Edwin would head straight back to Silver Falls if he found out, and Violet would be right back where she started.
It's not your problem.
Technically, it wasn’t, but he’d promised to help her.
But why? What do you gain from it?
Nothing. He gained nothing from it, so…why bother?
Because it's the decent thing to do. And she asked for your help.
The questions kept coming without any clear answers. He stared at the wall until shadows started creeping into the room. The sun was going down.
Sounds from the street started to filter in.
He could hear laughter and the occasional yell from the saloon down the street.
Maybe he should walk the town, or head to the saloon and wash away his troubles in a glass of rot gut whiskey.
Maybe then thoughts of Violet would leave him in peace for a while.
Or he’d make a fool of himself and end up blabbering like a drunken fool on her doorstep.
He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Maybe going to bed early was the smartest thing to do. At least he couldn’t get into trouble while asleep and maybe then he’d stop thinking of about Violet and wondering why she wasn’t here.