Page 54 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
And why did seeing her locked in that mercantile with Edwin make him want to rip the man's head off just for sitting so close to her?
“I’m beginning to think something isn’t right about the Reverend.”
Her voice drew him from his musings and he focused his eyes on her.“What do you mean?”
“Well, Edwin acted funny when I questioned him about the Reverend.”
“Funny how?”
“I’m not sure.It was just…the look on his face and the way he averted his eyes.”She shrugged.“I don’t know.It wasn’t anything he said, but something just felt—off.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked back toward the mercantile.“I’ll go have a conversation with him.I’m sure he’ll tell me more than he did you.”
Violet snorted an unladylike laugh.“What makes you think that?”
He grinned.“I have my ways.”He nodded toward the doctor's office.“Go sit with Bonnie.After I’m done with Edwin, I’ll join you and we can go grab some breakfast.”
He didn’t wait for her to argue with him and turned on his heel.He was headed back to the mercantile when he spotted the local sheriff across the street, his badge gleaming in the early morning sunlight.He shifted course and stepped off the sidewalk, waiting for a wagon to pass before heading in the man's direction.
It was customary to seek out the local lawman when in a new town, and they’d gotten in so late the night before he hadn’t had a chance to do it.Although he’d been to Elkin a few times since moving to Silver Falls, he’d never met the man.He’d always been out of town on business of some sort whenever he’d ridden in.
He was spotted before he even stepped up on the sidewalk.Like every lawman he knew, he always wore his badge, even when out of town, so it was easy for others to tell who he was, and today was no exception.
“Morning,” the sheriff said when he finally reached him.“I hope seeing you here isn’t a bad omen.”
Josiah grinned and held out his hand.“Josiah Lincoln,” he said.“And no, I’m not bringing trouble your way.I’m from Silver Falls.I had a man shot and our local doctor wasn’t able to care for him, so we brought him over here.”
“Ah,” he said, shaking Josiah’s hand.“Well, Doc Perkins is a good one.He’ll have your friend fixed up in no time.”
“I’m sure he will.If you have a minute, I need some information about a man.All I know of him is he goes by the name Reverend Peele.”
The sheriff scratched his chin, his mouth twisted as he thought.“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of him.”
Josiah sighed and looked toward the mercantile.“No one else seems to know him, either.”
“You in need of a preacher?Our local pastor is Caleb Morris.He lives beside the church.”
The sheriff pointed in the direction of the church and Josiah shook his head and said, “No.I’m actually looking for Reverend Peele.He performed a marriage ceremony for me a few weeks back and I’d like to talk to him about it and see if he ever filed the license.”
“Oh, well, that’s easy enough to find out.My office doubles as the local court office, so anything filed will be in there.”
Maybe their luck was about to change.Josiah followed him down the street, the man making small talk and nodding to people as they went.
When they reached his office, the sheriff shuffled through a stack of papers, looking for the license, he assumed.
“I’m not seeing anything,” the man said.
Josiah looked out the window.Tilting his head a fraction, he could see the mercantile.If the preacher didn’t live here, then maybe he filed it in some other town.It was possible but the question still remained as to how Edwin had met him.
“Are you sure he filed the license here?”
“No.I’m just guessing.Edwin is the one who brought the man to Silver Falls, so I just assumed he lived here.”
“Edwin?”the sheriff said.“As in Edwin Wright, the mercantile owner?”
“Yes.”Something about the look on the sheriff's face made his hackles rise.“You don’t look as if you like the man.Is there something I should know about him?”
“Not much to tell other than something is off about him as of late.Ever since his pa died, he’s been running around town acting erratic and hanging out with some shady looking fellers.”
