Chapter Seventeen #2
“So, do I,” Sadie responded with a confirming nod.
She was surprised at his determination, but appreciated it all the more.
Sam took her hands and kissed the back of both.
Then he smiled at her and Sadie had the feeling her insides were melting.
She wondered what it would be like to be loved by this man.
She blushed, but didn’t have time to recover.
Sam stepped forward and swung the door wide open. Walter was leaning against it from the outside and about to bang his fists against it again, but with the wood gone, he stumbled inside.
“Finally!” he yelled as he turned to get his bearings. “I was about to break in, thinking that the house has been abandoned!” he announced dramatically. Then he saw Sadie’s flushed cheeks and narrowed his eyes at her, before looking up at Sam.
“Did I interrupt something?” he asked with a disgusting grin.
Sam took a step toward him, releasing a sinister-sounding growl.
“You are going too far!” he told him through gritted teeth. Walter chuckled.
Sadie wrinkled her nose when she saw the somewhat sorry state her uncle was in.
His long coat was muddied up to his shoulders and still wet, so he dripped dirt all over the clean floor.
He was about to step onto the rug in the center of the foyer, but Sadie rushed in front of him, blocking Walter from going further.
Sam was right behind her, forcing Walter to back up. Her uncle clearly didn’t like that. He released an angry sigh.
“Either way,” Walter continued with a haughty expression. “I am here to demand proof of the legitimacy of your marriage!” Sam scoffed.
“You aren’t demanding anything in this house, Walter!
” Sam responded, while he gently pulled Sadie’s hand into the warm crook of his arm.
She relished their closeness, not just because of Walter being there.
The way Sam touched her felt good. “You obviously haven’t heard the news, have you? ” Sam said confidently.
Walter stared at him suspiciously.
“What news?” he asked. Sadie looked up at Sam and smiled, even though she had no idea what he meant.
“The whole town knows about it! How are you not informed?” Sam asked with a mock shocked expression. “The church was nearly bursting at its seams when we got married for the second time!”
For a split second, Sadie panicked. Why would he bring that up? The entire time, she’d hoped that Walter hadn’t heard about it, and although unlikely, since her uncle hadn’t mentioned it himself, Sadie thought that it had worked.
“The second time?” Walter exclaimed. He was clearly at a loss.
“Well, yes, of course!” Sam continued, smiling warmly at Sadie. That smile didn’t feel fake. The adoring glow in his mesmerizing blue eyes seemed very sincere. “We tied the knot twice! This time with all our friends and families present.”
“Twice? What are you talking about?” Walter shouted, annoyed.
“Not everybody was able to attend at our first wedding in January,” Sadie chimed in, not wanting to be a complete bystander.
“And I was still working on a difficult murder case and couldn’t stay,” Sam added with a strange glare at Walter. Her uncle paused for a second. Thankfully, he didn’t mention Sam’s sheriff’s career again.
“Then why wasn’t I invited? Since your parents’ death I am your last living relative!” Walter snapped arrogantly, his eyes spewing daggers at Sadie. The fact that he had to bring that up again made her bristle. She inhaled deeply, trying to control the sudden trembling.
“Because we wanted our day to be as pleasant and peaceful as possible,” Sam explained calmly. Sadie was grateful that he’d said it. Those would have been her exact words.
Walter gasped and took a dramatic step backward. His hand clutched his chest. If Sadie didn’t know better, she could have been fooled into thinking that he was genuinely hurt by those words.
But when neither she nor Sam reacted to his over-acted display, Walter straightened up and pushed his chin out. His beady black eyes were stone cold.
“I still need to see proof!” he said dismissively.
“We don’t need to prove anything to you, Walter,” Sam said firmly, sliding his arm around Sadie’s back and over her shoulder, pressing her gently against his solid body.
“Just ask anybody in town. The priest, the folk in the stores and at every street corner. They were all there witnessing it. A whole town can’t lie,” Sam added with a slight tilt of his head.
Sadie couldn’t help but smile at him. She leaned closer against his side and even dared to put her hand on Sam’s chest. All in the name of pretending to be in love, of course, though she could feel Sam’s strong heartbeat beneath her fingertips speeding up a little.
It emboldened her and gave her the courage she needed to truly speak up and lay some ground rules.
“We are legally married,” Sadie declared matter-of-factly.
“Not that you’ve ever had a valid claim, but your efforts in trying to gain ownership of this ranch are and have been null and void.
Maybe you can stop harassing us from now on.
No more showing up unannounced. No more shouting and yelling at my people in our house and on our property. Do you understand?”
Sadie’s heart hammered wildly against her ribcage. Without Sam’s strength seeping into her bones in that moment, she wouldn’t have had the courage to speak so firmly to her uncle.
Walter stared at her agape.
Then he half turned toward the door, but he stared at Sadie with such a hateful glare it took her breath away.
“Don’t think this is over, niece,” he warned her with a menacing low voice. Walter spun around, ripped the door open and walked outside, then he slammed it so hard the whole house rattled.