Page 8 of Conveniently Wed
Naturally, it was locked up tightly.
“Stay there,” he ordered when the older girl shifted impatiently.
She didn’t even seem to hear him as she sank down onto the boardwalk step.
Even in its threadbare condition, her simple dress was a reminder of how out of place she would be in one of the cells. He’d only been in the building once, when he and Jonas had had to spring Ricky after a night of carousing. Thankfully his sometimes-errant brother had thus far stuck close to home while Jonas and Penny were on their trip.
He turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. At least she wasn’t trying to run off, not like he would be if the law wanted him.
Seb’s thoughts seemed to mirror his own as his youngest brother sidled close. “We ain’t really gonna let ’em get locked up, are we?”
“Not our business,” Edgar said with a grunt.
He glanced at Matty, who was lounging against a post several feet away, just waiting.
But he couldn’t keep his eyes from skittering over his shoulder at the pair of girls. Fran had one shoe off, and he could see her bare foot peeking out beneath the hem of her skirt. Her toes were blistered and red.
He steeled himself against the irrational urge to help her. She probably wasn’t used to walking. Her shoe, obviously a hand-me-down, was battered. The thing probably didn’t fit right and had rubbed her toes raw.
Her toes were not his problem.
Her younger sister knelt at her side, speaking in a low, urgent tone. He couldn’t make out the words. The girl hadn’t spoken to anyone else that he’d noticed. Was she shy or just shaken up from the train wreck?
Suddenly, one of the girls’ stomachs rumbled. Loudly.
He did not feel a twinge of pity.
Emma blushed, her expression turning chagrined.
Matty shook his head. “I’m going to run down to the café.”
Edgar reached out an arm, temporarily blocking his brother’s progress down the street.
Matty gave him a level stare. Unblinking. “No telling how long the sheriff will be.”
After a long, hard afternoon, Edgar’s own stomach wouldn’t have minded a bit of sustenance. He narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Bring some wet cloths for her foot,” he growled.
He didn’t acknowledge the soft “thank you” from behind him.
Where was the sheriff?
He did not look at Fran or her sister and did not feel their curious gazes on him. He didn’t.
Edgar exhaled and pushed back the brim of his hat.
“You heard anything about the train schedule?” He directed the question at Seb, but it was another who answered. Ricky.
“Station’s closed.”
His other twenty-year-old brother strode up to their little group. “I was at the station a minute ago and heard the news, then passed Matty on the street and he told me where you were.”
Ricky tipped his hat to the two gals, a charming smile oozing across his face.
Edgar stepped in front of the girls, blocking them from Ricky’s sight. “Where have you been?”
Seb had said he’d disappeared before the cattle had made it to Mr. Fredrick’s place. Edgar had his suspicions, but would Ricky admit to where he’d been?
His brother squared his shoulders and set his jaw, steel gray eyes flashing. “Around.”
