Chapter 42 - Lily
Lily
Imarched into city hall, eager to find my wrath’s next victim.
“Dad!”
Bill Sutton glanced up from behind the desk. “I thought you might join me soon.”
“What did you say to him? Don’t lie to me. You tricked him. You forced him to leave again, just like you forced him into the army. Well, stop it. We don’t want you interfering in our lives. I’m a grown woman, and I don’t need you protecting me.”
“Your protection isn’t an issue,” he said calmly. Dad set down his pen and moved to the couch, closer to me. “I merely reiterated the sheriff’s words and asked him to go, as a personal favor to all of us.”
“No one in this town cares about him.”
“You do, and you’re here.”
There was no reason to trust the sheriff, but my own father? “You aren’t manipulating him?”
His hard features relaxed into a comforting smile, the first one since my return to Deer Lake. “I have you and your brother. You two are all that matters in this world, and I want to create the best future for you both that I can. If that wasn’t possible, I’d tell you.”
It’d be easy if that were true. We’d stay in Deer Lake, and Ryan would come home. My family reunited. A lovely picture, all I dreamed of, except it didn’t change what Dean did a year ago.
Today’s events were too similar to Dean’s enlistment and my father’s role in it. He forced Dean then. Did he force Dean now? I couldn’t prove it. It sounded paranoid, yet as Dean stated, it stank more than the rotten trash he pushed aside in the drug stores.
“No. I don’t believe you. Stop lying to me.
Stop protecting me because I don’t need it.
I killed someone, Dad. Bashed his head in with a vase.
I lied to a girl to make her feel better, and I helped tie up a man at a car dealership so we could steal his truck.
You want to protect me? Well, don’t. You once accused Dean of wildness and never saw it in your own daughter.
So, be honest and tell me what’s going on. ”
“Lily.” Dad paled. I had a knack for doing that to him.
“Now, tell me everything, or I’ll take Dean and go. We’ll disappear, and you’ll never see me again.”
He took several deep breaths. “You’re all I have left. Ryan may be lost to us.” Dad buried his face in his hands, muffling his voice. “I believe the sheriff is behind the West Lake theft. I asked Dean to investigate.”
“You used my relationship with Dean as leverage because you knew how much he cared about me.” How much he loved me.
In exchange, I yelled and threatened him.
I took one of my dad’s hands with my own.
“I’m not all you have left. Dean is out there, risking himself for us, and if that isn’t family, what is?
You have two kids here with you, and the third will return someday.
I feel it. Try to love him a little for me. Please. Please try.”
“No wonder he loves you so much. Don’t blame him for going. Blame me if you want a target.”
That was a conversation I’d save for Dean. “So, we think the sheriff engineered this West Lake robbery? You realize I’m in the grocery store every day, and Rose is my best friend? Dean isn’t the only one capable of detective work.”
His grip on me tightened. “Don’t put yourself in harm’s way.”
“Now you sound like your son-in-law.”
Dad laughed for the first time since the comet landed.
“There you are.” Rose took my hand, dragging me towards the grocery store. “We have deliveries. There’s a new baby and clothes to distribute. Oh, and new toys for children.”
I forced cheer into my voice. “Lovely. A busy day.” A perfect day to keep me distracted, and a better day to begin an investigation.
“My father apologized to me. To me. He said he misjudged Bud and was sorry he had pushed us together. Daddy said he’d find someone new, someone better.”
“Would you like that?” She described an arranged marriage, and who does that nowadays? I slowed my steps.
“Maybe not a deputy this time. Oh, a rancher or a cowboy. I would make a fantastic cowboy’s wife, don’t you think?” she asked as we entered the grocery store.
There were no cowboys in Deer Lake, at least none that I ever saw. “The best.”
“It won’t happen. There are no eligible bachelors around here. I only told you because my father apologized, and he’d never said that to me before.”
I gave a few appreciative words and left it at that. What else could I say? “What’s our tasks for today?”
“The usual.”
“Oh, there they are,” the sheriff boomed from the manager’s office. He wore his typical uniform, starched and clean.
Julian looked as if he had picked his uniform out of the dirty clothes hamper. “Delivery work? I’m available if you want the extra help.”
His friendship offer still troubled me. Nothing explicit, but it carried a mob-like undertone. You have a great thing going with him. It’d be a real shame if you ever needed my help someday.
“Nonsense. Security requires you with me,” the sheriff said. “Rose, get your work done quick. I expect dinner on time. Also, one of the council members has a son. A decent gentleman, he assures me. We’ll discuss it tonight.”
He tapped her shoulder, and they left.
“I’d rather marry a Chance than a council member’s son,” Rose said. She stared at me, wearing an odd expression. Anger. I’d never seen it on her before.
“Rose, you don’t have to marry anyone.”
“I’ll run away first.” She rubbed her eyes and blinked. “Sorry about that. It appears I’m more heartbroken than I thought. Shall we get to work?” She smiled at me.
“I’ll fill the first wagon,” I said, unsure what else to say.
We loaded our deliveries into a pair of red children’s wagons and went back outside.
The snow had returned, heavier than before. Winter approached.
Dean had better hurry back to me.