Chapter 20 #2
Josiah left out a lot in the telling, like they really were lying about being engaged and the real reason they’d been looking for Amos when they arrived in town was to get the marriage annulled, but none of that mattered now.
What mattered was Edwin, and if the man in the undertaker's care was really him or not.
“This true, Amos?” The sheriff narrowed his eyes at the man. “You were pretending to be a preacher?”
The old man nodded. “Yup,” he said before hiccuping. “Ed paid me enough money to stay drunk all month.”
“Edwin was going to con this woman into marrying him?”
“Yup.”
“Why?” the sheriff asked.
Amos shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t say, but all those men he hangs around with might know.” He brought his head up. “I think he was scared of ‘em.”
It took another fifteen minutes to convince the sheriff to take Amos to the undertakers, and when they left, Violet followed along behind them.
She glanced back at him as she left, the tiny smile on her face not reaching her eyes, and he knew why. The knowledge they weren’t really married wasn’t sitting well with her.
She wanted a husband and a family. Ewan had told him as much, and the old man had also told him Violet had been sweet on him since he rode into Silver Falls and, for a brief time, she’d had it all. Now, they had nothing but lies and marriage that wasn’t legal.
The real question now was…what to do about it?
Violet stood just inside the doorway of the room the body was in. She’d seen enough death to last her a lifetime, and she had no desire to see the gruesome sight she’d seen earlier in the day.
Amos was so obviously drunk she wasn’t sure how much help the man was going to be, if any, and that fact alone left her feeling more melancholy than she already was.
Finding Amos had been on her and Josiah’s mind since arriving in town. Getting their marriage annulled had always been the objective, so why did knowing they weren’t even really married hurt so much?
Because you’re in love with him.
She sighed as the words whispered through her head. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, she was sure. Half the town knew it. Did Josiah? He knew she wanted to stay married, but had she ever said the words?
No. She hadn’t. Fear of rejection had made her keep the words to herself and now she may never be able to say them. Telling him now only to have him reject her outright would destroy her.
He’d never wanted to marry. Had told her many times he didn’t want a wife and now, thanks to finding out Amos wasn’t a real preacher, he didn’t have one. She couldn’t risk her heart like that by confessing something so monumental, only to be rejected. She wouldn’t.
“I don’t know,” she heard Amos say. “There’s not much left of his face.”
“Well, what about anything else? Did he have any distinct features or birthmarks you can recall?”
Amos looked over the body, his lip curling up when he got to the face. He looked away and shrugged. “I don’t know. The ears look different. Ed has big ears. This fellow has small ones.”
The sheriff looked toward the ceiling as if at his wit's end. “We can’t let a suspected murderer go because you think this mans ears aren’t big enough.”
She sighed when the sheriff looked over at her, tears burning the back of her eyelids. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what it would mean for Josiah if they couldn’t prove the man the undertaker had wasn’t Edwin. He’d hang for killing him.
She left the sheriff and Amos alone with the undertaker and headed back to the jail. Josiah smiled when she entered the building, but one look at her face was enough to erase it.
“No luck, huh?”
She shook her head. “No. He said he can’t remember anything specific about Edwin that would lead anyone to believe that man isn’t him.”
Clasping the cell bars in her hands, she leaned her forehead against the cold railing. “I don’t know what else to do, Josiah.”
He reached through the bars and ran his hand over the back of her head. “I sent a telegram home to tell everyone what was going on and requested Tanner come get you.”
She looked up. “I’m not leaving.”
He lowered his head to be eye level with her. “If this goes badly, I don’t want you here when it does.”
“But—”
“—No buts,” he said, cutting her off. “Tanner will see you home and take care of Bonnie and Archie while he’s here.”
He was dismissing her. Just like that. Ushering her out of town, and his life, at the first opportunity, without any input from her at all. It was such a man thing to do. Why did they all think women were incapable of handling anything difficult?
“I’m not leaving, Josiah.” She met his gaze and lifted her chin.
“No one is going to make me leave you here.” The words, “I love you,” were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit them back.
“As long as I have breath, I’m going to try to get you out of here.
That man in the undertakers shop is not Edwin and I’m going to prove it if I have to shave every hair off his body and circle every freckle I find. ”
The corner of his mouth tilted up. “I’d really rather you didn’t.”
She blushed and lowered her eyes. “I don’t want to do it either, but if that’s the only way to prove that man isn’t Edwin, then I will.”
“Even if you did find that stray freckle some random saloon girl said he had, I’m not sure it’ll be enough to clear my name. I’m not sure the citizens of Elkin will accept a tiny thing like that as evidence.”
She blew out a breath. “I know. It's absurd to even think it would be enough, I just…”
“Hey.” He lifted her chin when she frowned. “Everything will work out fine.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He shrugged and gave her a tiny smile. “The alternative is too depressive to think about, so I have no choice but to think positive.”
The sheriff returned with Amos in tow. The old man was nearly asleep on his feet and started snoring the moment he was locked into the cell next to Josiah’s.
It took a lot of convincing for him to get her to leave and as she walked back to the hotel, all she could think was, what now?
What was she supposed to do now?
How did she get Josiah out of a murder charge for killing a man she knew in her heart wasn’t really dead?
Are you really sure it's not Edwin?
She paused on the sidewalk. It isn’t him. She was sure of it.
Could it just be wishful thinking?
Her stomach ached to the point of pain. Was the man at the undertaker's really Edwin?
Tears burned her eyes. What if it really was him? What would they do?
And how would she survive if they hanged Josiah for a murder she knew he didn’t commit?