Chapter Seven
Three Days Later — Late Evening
“Dear God,” Ruby repeated with her eyes tightly shut and her hands firmly folded in prayer while Sadie slowly told her the words.
“Now I lay me down to sleep… I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Please watch over me tonight… and wake me with the morning light. Bless my family and friends… and keep me safe until the day begins. Amen.”
“Well done,” Sadie praised. Ruby’s eyes flew open with a beaming smile.
“I did good?” she asked with a hopeful expression.
“Very good,” Sadie said with a nod and motioned for her to lie down so she could pull the soft blanket all the way up to her chin.
Sadie wanted to tell Ruby about her mother and how they had always prayed together before bedtime, but she didn’t want to make the little girl sad.
After all, Ruby had never known her own mother.
Sadie didn’t really know the whole story.
Sam had only told her that Ruby had been three months old when her mother died.
Ruby snuggled into the soft cushions and sighed happily.
“I like my new bed a lot!” she said excitedly. “It’s so soft!” Sadie gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
“I’m very happy to hear it,” she replied. “Sweet dreams, my darlin’. I’ll see you in the morning.” Ruby nodded and released a surprisingly loud yawn. Then she closed her eyes and was quiet.
Sadie watched her for a while longer, completely in awe of how quickly the little girl could fall asleep.
She blew out the candle on her nightstand, picked up her oil lamp, and quietly left the room, pulling the door only slightly ajar.
This house was still new to Ruby, so Sadie wanted to make sure that she could hear her in case she woke up.
Since the two of them had moved into her house, not much had changed for her, personally. It was a large two-story home with plenty of bedrooms upstairs, so Sadie had offered both of them to choose whichever one they wanted.
Not surprisingly, Ruby had immediately chosen Sadie’s former bedroom with its pink walls and frilly curtains. Sam wanted to be close to his daughter, so his room was right next to hers, while Sadie stayed in her parents’ old room. She’d started sleeping in there after the fatal accident.
Other than that, it was still a huge house with too much room for one person. Sadie was glad that she was no longer on her own.
Padding down the stairs, Sadie wondered where Sam was. It was quite late and most of her staff had already left, so she suddenly found herself standing on the bottom step staring into the empty foyer, trying to listen for any noises.
She heard the faint sound of rustling papers in the dining room.
Padding toward it, the door was half open. Flickering golden light from the fireplace fell into the hallway and as soon as Sadie reached the doorway, she saw Sam’s shadow move across it. He seemed completely engrossed in whatever he was doing, so she didn’t announce herself immediately.
Looking inside the room, she was taken aback by the mess on the large table.
From what she could see, there were stacks of loose papers, ledgers and leather binders, maps and documents strewn all across it.
Sam was frantically writing something into a notebook, apparently cross-referencing it with the map and another document.
Sadie had no idea what all this was about.
He’d told her that he’d stopped working as a sheriff four years ago to take care of Ruby, so that couldn’t be it.
She was curious. She wanted to ask him about his late wife and what had happened there, but she didn’t think it was wise to interrupt him in that moment.
Sadie didn’t think it was her place to ask.
An odd sensation rushed through her. How could it not be her place to ask something in her own home? That didn’t seem right to her.
However, she also didn’t want to be disrespectful toward Sam. After all, this was also his home now. Sadie bit her bottom lip. What was she supposed to do? Maybe he would like the company? Some conversation?
Sam walked over to the other side of the table with brisk strides.
He seemed agitated. Sadie watched how he picked up a small glass and a bottle of whiskey.
It was half empty. Sam filled the glass to the brim with the amber-colored liquid, then threw his head back and drank the whole thing in one go.
He didn’t even pull a face. Knowing how harsh strong alcohol like that burned in the throat, Sadie was puzzled that he could just drink it like that.
Did that mean that he was a drinker? She could only hope that he wasn’t.
Why had she not asked him such important questions before they’d gotten married?
Sadie couldn’t help the nervousness and worry creeping up her spine.
“Dear Lord, did I make a mistake?” she asked silently, shooting a quick glance to the hallway ceiling.
Standing on her tiptoes to get a better look at the table, she peeked through the door, still completely unnoticed. Sam had his broad back turned to her. His long, dark hair fell down to his shoulders and he had folded up his sleeves all the way to his elbows, exposing his strong, sinewy forearms.
When he walked back around the table to the other side, Sadie noticed the intense concentration on his handsome face.
Looking down at the map, his dark lashes rested on his cheeks and his jaw muscles worked hard as he seemed to grind his teeth.
Several strands of hair fell into his face and he pushed them back with his strong hand without looking up.
Sam’s sharp features were mesmerizing. He wasn’t just handsome, he was beautiful.
The clock on the mantle chimed eleven o’clock. Sam straightened his back and Sadie thought she heard a quiet groan from him. He massaged his lower back and then his neck.
Sadie decided that she would go and make him a cup of chamomile tea to relax. She made sure to retreat as quietly as she could before she turned to walk through the hallway toward the kitchen.
Putting the kettle on the stove, her thoughts wandered back to Sam’s first wife. Did he still miss her? What had he loved about her? Did he still love her?
Sadie shook her head. It wasn’t any of her business. She shouldn’t be thinking such things. He might be her husband on paper, but that was it.
As she waited for the water to boil, she grabbed two cups from the cabinet and put a drizzle of honey into them.
Then, she prepared the dried flowers the way she always did inside a small sieve in the tea pot.
After a few minutes, she poured the hot water into it, placed everything onto a small tray, and made her way back to the dining room.
The door was still half open, but the light falling through was dimmed. Sam must have put out the oil lamp that had been on the table. Had Sam left and gone to bed?
Sadie heard the rustling of paper again. Carefully moving around the corner, she stepped into the doorway and pushed the door open further.
Sam was packing all the documents and papers away, stacking everything neatly on top of each other inside a small box. He still had his back turned toward her.
She moved to put the tray onto a small side table. “Sam, I…”
He yelled in surprise and nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning around to her with a wild look in his eyes.
His hand was instantly on the butt of his revolver resting on his hip, which he always carried around with him, and he’d pulled it half out of its holster before he realized that it was her.
Sadie was so surprised at his explosive reaction she didn’t have time to put the tray down all the way.
She startled, the tray tipped and all the items on it slid sideways, tumbling down onto the floor.
Her scream mixed with the shattering sound of the cups and the full teapot breaking into a thousand pieces echoed through the whole house like thunder.
“Why would you scare me like that?” Sam called out, staring at the mess between them. Sadie stared at the porcelain shards and then at him.
“Why would you get scared like that?” she exclaimed, bewildered. “I was only bringing you some tea!”
“Because!” he yelled without actually supplying an answer.
They stared at each other, both slightly breathless.
Sadie crouched down and started to collect the broken pieces of porcelain.
She would have to get some rags to clean the floor, too.
At the same time, Sam turned back to the dining table and hurriedly stuffed all of the papers and ledgers into the box. Neither of them said a word.
Soft crying sounded from upstairs. Ruby had woken up.
Sadie was about to stand back up and turn around to go to her, but Sam was faster.
“I’ll go!” he shouted with a scowl on his face. He grabbed his box and marched straight past Sadie without another word.