Page 73 of Robin and Marian
Elinor held him back. “No.” Her voice was raspy with shock. “It was bound to happen eventually. I just hoped that I could get ahead before he called it all in.”
The sheriff’s usually unflappable exterior had melted with concern. “Do you take jewels?” Marian asked him.
He let out a low chuckle. “I’d thought you’d ask that.”
“Marian!” Elinor choked out. “I told you that was out of the question.”
The sheriff ignored that. “How much do you have?”
“About $90,000.”
He looked disappointed. “You’ll need about a hundred-and-fifty thousand more than that.”
“That land is worth so much more!” Elinor slammed her fist against the table. “I can’t stand to lose it for so little. I won’t. I’ll trade the house. Then I’ll sell the rest to him for full price. Make Guy dance for it.”
“You’d work with him after this?” Marian was stunned. “How could you?”
“No one else wants it.” Elinor dropped into her chair, burying her face in her hands. “And I’m tired. This town was a beautiful place once, you know? Full of friends.” Her voice lowered in resignation. “They betrayed me.”
“Guy isn’t getting another piece of your land,” Robin said from the doorway. He leaned against it, wiping the flour from his face. “Throw in that weirdcar thingoutside with the jewels, Sheriff. That will be more than enough.”
The sheriff whipped around and fell back against the table. “You can’t contact the victims of your embezzlement. You cannot work out transactions of business.” He’d gone into full sheriff mode as he shouted out the terms of his parole.
“I got it,” Robin said. He held out his hands to the man of law—it was almost laughable with the cast. “Just go easy on the wrist.”
Robin really meant to go through with this! Marian guessed that Alan would give up that Engler F.F. if it saved him from going down. Robin’s family would give up everything to make this work. The sheriff took a step towards him.
“You’ll do no such thing!” Elinor shouted. “It’s fine! I don’t want your help, Robin. I appreciate it, but I’m through with this town. I just want out.”
At her words, the sheriff moved away from Robin with such speed that Marian felt dizzy. “I want the money on my desk in the morning,” he said. “No more jewels or cars. Trade everything in yourselves. The joke’s over.” He went over to his plate and lectured them while he finished up his meal. “You have ten minutes to clear out. And I’m not giving you another break like this again. I’m a man of the law.” Taking his last bite, he kissed Elinor on the cheek. “Thanks for dinner.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Elinor crossed her arms and laid into Robin. “Why are you doing this?”
“We owe you.”
“But you weren’t the one who cheated me, isn’t that right?” He was silent in the face of this accusation and her lips thinned. “Who did?”
“Just promise me you won’t sell to Guy, okay?” It was the only information he was giving her.
“I’ll think about it, Robin!” But Marian knew that look. Elinor wouldn’t sell to Guy now that she suspected he was behind all her woes in the first place. Things were looking up. “Now, where will you stay tonight?”
Robin couldn’t answer that either. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, you’re not sleeping out in that weird ATV outside. William can try to arrest me if he likes, but you’re going into the guest room. Marian, you’ll be with me.” Her aunt swatted Robin on the back, and Marian knew what that meant too. He was growing on her. “You’ve been up to all sorts of mischief, Robin! I will skin you alive if you hurt my baby.”
“What if I only steal her from you?”
Her shoulders stiffened and then, unbelievably, she let out a strangled laugh. “It’ll be a partial skinning.”
Chapter 19
Just like they’d agreed, Robin threw the money on the sheriff’s desk the next morning. Not too early, because Robin had had to haggle with Scarlett about giving up her prized motorcycle hybrid. It turned out it was hers.
Being in a small town, the police station was smaller than in the movies, though the desks were still clustered together around filing cabinets and stacks of books. Certificates covered the wall next to weathered wooden blinds.
The sheriff sat behind his desk in a brown tweed suit, watching Robin with hard eyes. His lips that were meant for scorn were curled in their usual places, though they tipped up further than usual which almost turned it into a smile. “I didn’t think you two would pull it off,” he said.
It had been a close one. In the end it had been Alan who finally signed the Engler F.F. over to Robin and told him he wasn’t allowed to borrow anything from him again, including Midge who kept trying to stow away in the trunk next to their luggage that had been thrown from Guy’s estate onto the lawn. Guy had only gotten away with it because Richard had left on an emergency business trip after his party that night. No one knew where he had gone.
