Page 76 of Conveniently Wed
A glance at Seb and Matty showed they were just as flabbergasted and embarrassed as Edgar was. Only Ricky seemed oblivious as he kept rambling on in the cell.
“There’s going to have to be restitution,” the marshal went on.
“How much?”
The number the man quoted had Seb whistling low. It would eat up pretty much all of the profits Edgar would have made from driving the extra cattle to sale.
“I can take care of myself—” Ricky went on, still slurring his words.
“Yes, and look where it got you,” Edgar mumbled, his temper getting the better of his mouth.
Ricky rattled the bars close behind where Edgar stood. “What? What’d you say to me?”
He reached through the bars and took a swipe at Edgar. Of course, the alcohol slowed him down, and Edgar was easily able to duck backward and avoid the hit.
Matty moved in, getting between them to try and calm Ricky down.
“I’m gonna have to hold him overnight,” the marshal said.
“He don’t care,” Ricky yelled, getting loud again.
Edgar’s anger snapped. He shoved Matty aside and put his fist through the bars, grabbing Ricky’s shirt. “I care what’s right. I care about those girls. If one hair on their heads gets hurt because of your foolishness, I’ll whip you so good….”
They both seemed to realize what he’d said at the same moment.
He cared about Fran. Not the cattle.
Ricky watched him with a smirk that made Edgar uncomfortable.
His heart pounded loudly in the sudden stillness.
The marshal pulled him away with a hand clapped on his shoulder before he really had time to process what he’d said so thoughtlessly. “What’s this about girls in danger?”
An hour later, parked in the hallway outside the girls’ room, back to the wall and Stetson over his face, the altercation with his brother replayed in Edgar’s head.
How had things gotten so wrong-footed with Ricky? He didn’t respect authority. The boy was twenty years old—plenty old enough to be responsible for himself. But he didn’t have a grain of common sense in his head.
Ricky could ruin everything. The sale of Pa’s cattle.
He’d already ruined Edgar’s night with Fran.
He thought back to her face across the supper table. She’d defended him to RuthAnn Hurst. Maintained a lively conversation with the rest.
And when she smiled that intimate smile, just for him…
Even now, his heart started pounding.
Remembering his objections to being married was getting harder and harder.
He hadn’t known Fran long. How could he trust someone who had only been a part of his world for a span of days?
She hadn’t lied to him. Not once. Not even when she’d been clearly uncomfortable answering the questions he’d asked.
Back at the jail, the marshal had been concerned about the possibility of them being followed. If the men coming after Fran and Emma had had legitimate cause, there would’ve been some kind of notice to the local law. And there hadn’t been.
It had settled something deep inside Edgar. It wasn’t exactly a verification that Fran’s story was true, but it was close.
Seb had shared that he’d asked around town, an unobtrusively as possible, and found out there’d been a couple of strangers around the past few days. Not causing trouble, but snooping around.
