Page 55 of A Convenient Heart
Jack.
But she didn’t know the surname Easton.
Merritt shook her head stiffly. “Who-who is that?”
If anything, the grim frown on Danna’s face intensified. “Jack Easton is a gambler. He’s somewhat famous in these parts.”
From the way Danna glanced to the side, Merritt knew there was more she wasn’t saying.
“Tell me.”
“There’s been a man asking for Jack Easton around town. Rumor is, he’s a hired gun. Is it possible he’s looking for your Jack?”
Cold seeped along the edges of Merritt’s extremities, shivered down her spine. She wiped her cheek, surprised to find a stray tear there. She wasn’t crying, was she?
“No—no. Jack is abusinessman.”
There was movement from the other room, and Danna sat back in her chair when the preacher walked into the parlor, followed by his wife.
“Miss Harding, I’m sorry but I have to go now. If your young man arrives, you can wait here. There’ll be time for the ceremony after service.” Mr. and Mrs. Carson slipped out the door, looking uncomfortable.
Merritt took a shaky breath. She felt battered from all sides. Jack was supposed to be here. Why hadn’t he come? And she couldn’t make sense of what Danna was saying.
And now the time for her wedding to Jack had come and gone.
She wasn’t getting married this morning.
The reality blasted into her like a burst from the fire she’d helped fight days ago.
Jack wasn’t coming.
There’d be no ceremony, no sacred moments standing face-to-face with Jack while they recited their vows.
No quiet nights spent in conversation over the supper table.
No future children.
Her dreams were crumbling around her.
And Jack hadn’t said a word.
Or had he?
Was this what he’d been trying to tell her last night, in the rush of activity? That he couldn’t marry her?
She blinked Danna into focus when her friend leaned forward in the chair with her elbows on her knees. “Is there any chance that your Jack, your John, is the same man as Jack Easton?”
More tears seeped down Merritt’s face, and she reached into her pocket for a handkerchief—but then remembered she hadn’t brought one. She’d thought this morning would be a time of joy.
Danna looked slightly panicked in the face of Merritt’s tears and scrambled in her own pockets until she found a handkerchief. She pushed it into Merritt’s hands.
Merritt wiped her face, tried to focus on Danna’s question, though she felt unsettled from her head to her toes. “How could John be Jack? Are you saying that this gambler wrote me letters, posing as a businessman? Why?”
Danna’s expression was as puzzled as Merritt felt. “I was hoping he’d be here, that he could answer those questions for me.” Then her expression darkened. “There’s more.” She sighed. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, but there appears to have been a break-in at the dance hall last night.”
The dance hall? No.
Danna continued, though Merritt was shaking her head. “The tables and chairs weren’t touched, but someone took a knife to your backdrops.”
