Page 70 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
“Don’t dose back off, Amos.These folks need some answers.I certainly didn’t find any.”
“No luck with the freckle, then?”Violet asked.
The sheriff’s face turned a funny shade of red.“No, he wasn’t shaved as you said he would be and I didn’t feel like rooting around to find it, but you’re more than welcome to.”
“I’d rather not.”
Amos looked over at her when she spoke, then spotted Josiah in the cell.He sat up, blinked blood-shot eyes, and grinned.“I know you.”He rubbed a hand over his face and blinked again, as if clearing the fuzziness away.“What did you do to get thrown in here?”
“He’s accused of killing Edwin.”The sheriff answered.
Amos’s eyes widened.“Ed is dead?”
“Maybe.That’s what we’re trying to figure out.Mrs.Lincoln doesn’t think the man we have at the undertakers is really Edwin.She wants you to go look at him and see if you can confirm it or not.”
“Miss Campbell,” Violet said, correcting the sheriff.She gave him a brief look and a sad smile.“If Amos isn’t a real preacher, then Josiah and I aren’t legally married.”
The sheriff looked at Josiah.“Is this the man you were asking me about the other day?The preacher you were looking for and the marriage license he was supposed to file.”
“Yes.Edwin brought him to Silver Falls, claiming the man was a preacher.Edwin wanted to marry Violet, but she’d told him we were already engaged.He thought we were lying and more or less bullied us into marrying on the spot and he,” he pointed an accusing finger at Amos, “is who performed the ceremony.”
Josiah left out a lot in the telling, like they really were lying about being engaged and the real reason they’d been looking for Amos when they arrived in town was to get the marriage annulled, but none of that mattered now.What mattered was Edwin, and if the man in the undertaker's care was really him or not.
“This true, Amos?”The sheriff narrowed his eyes at the man.“You were pretending to be a preacher?”
The old man nodded.“Yup,” he said before hiccuping.“Ed paid me enough money to stay drunk all month.”
“Edwin was going to con this woman into marrying him?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”the sheriff asked.
Amos shrugged his shoulders.“Didn’t say, but all those men he hangs around with might know.”He brought his head up.“I think he was scared of ‘em.”
It took another fifteen minutes to convince the sheriff to take Amos to the undertakers, and when they left, Violet followed along behind them.
She glanced back at him as she left, the tiny smile on her face not reaching her eyes, and he knew why.The knowledge they weren’t really married wasn’t sitting well with her.
She wanted a husband and a family.Ewan had told him as much, and the old man had also told him Violet had been sweet on him since he rode into Silver Falls and, for a brief time, she’d had it all.Now, they had nothing but lies and marriage that wasn’t legal.
The real question now was…what to do about it?
Violet stood just inside the doorway of the room the body was in.She’d seen enough death to last her a lifetime, and she had no desire to see the gruesome sight she’d seen earlier in the day.
Amos was so obviously drunk she wasn’t sure how much help the man was going to be, if any, and that fact alone left her feeling more melancholy than she already was.
Finding Amos had been on her and Josiah’s mind since arriving in town.Getting their marriage annulled had always been the objective, so why did knowing they weren’t even really married hurt so much?
Because you’re in love with him.
She sighed as the words whispered through her head.It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, she was sure.Half the town knew it.Did Josiah?He knew she wanted to stay married, but had she ever said the words?
No.She hadn’t.Fear of rejection had made her keep the words to herself and now she may never be able to say them.Telling him now only to have him reject her outright would destroy her.
He’d never wanted to marry.Had told her many times he didn’t want a wife and now, thanks to finding out Amos wasn’t a real preacher, he didn’t have one.She couldn’t risk her heart like that by confessing something so monumental, only to be rejected.She wouldn’t.
“I don’t know,” she heard Amos say.“There’s not much left of his face.”
