Page 8 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
Violet clenched her jaw.Rose was right, but it didn’t mean she had to like it.There were several single men in Silver Falls.Grayson Ford lived right outside of town and he came to the mercantile enough to know she was there.
She saw Levi Harper every day as he stood at his forge and hammered away on something in his blacksmith shop.
Bill Collins, Jasper Shook, and Carl Jenkins were also single and not a single one had asked for her hand.Heck, Tanner hadn’t either, and she talked to him almost every day and had for years.
But did that mean she had to jump at the first proposal someone gave her?
No.And she wouldn’t.Especially since the first proposal she had came from Edwin Wright.
Gertie and Hazel walked into the store, and all conversation about Edwin died, thankfully.He was a problem for another day and she never lingered on problems.They only made her feel miserable and all that worrying never solved anything so, she put it out of her mind.Hopefully, this whole thing would resolve itself and Edwin would go home.
And maybe pigs would ride cows into town.
It took physical effort to push thoughts of Violet Campbell from his mind and it wasn’t easy to do, especially now that his dirty mind had imagined her naked and rolling around on his sheets with her skin glowing in the sunlight.
He turned from the window to stare around the empty jail.He’d not bothered lighting a lamp, so the building was filled with dark shadows.It was quiet.The only noise he could hear was the bang of Levi’s hammer as he pounded on something over at his blacksmith shop and occasionally, a loud voice coming from down the street.
It was a typical day in Silver Falls.Quiet.Boring…or it had been until Violet Campbell dragged him into her personal drama.
The word lonely whispered through his head and he ignored it like he always did when he found himself alone at night, sitting at the small table in his room behind the jail, wishing someone was sitting across from him.
After several failed relationships, he’d left Durango determined to start over.His life had been anything but boring there, but the drama had been too much so, he got out while he could.
Some days, he’d give a month’s salary for one ounce of that turmoil just to have something happen around here.Thankfully, the feeling never lasted long.
He sighed and stood, grabbing his hat and putting it back on his head.His gaze darted toward the mercantile when he stepped outside.He could see movement through the windows and spotted Violet.She was talking, her hands flying in the air animatedly, and he knew she was still going on about Edwin.He wondered what Rose thought about it all, especially his getting drawn into her younger sister’s mess.
He stepped off the small porch and headed down the street.
As he did most days, he walked the single road through town, but it was a pointless activity.Nothing ever happened here.
Unlike Durango, Silver Falls was quiet.His life in Colorado had been filled with action on a daily basis.He couldn’t walk down the street and not see a number of crimes taking place when he lived there.It didn’t happen here, though, so walking through town turned into nothing more than a leisurely stroll to pass the time.
The new saloon at the end of the street filled the air with the scent of fresh-cut lumber and the voices he heard coming from inside the building were loud and boisterous.
He headed inside and nodded to Archie Cline, the owner, before stepping up to the bar.“Hey, Archie.”
The man nodded his head in greeting.“Marshall.It’s a little early for you to be drinking, ain’t it?”
He grinned.“That it is.”Propping his elbow on the bar, he turned to look out over the room.It was still pretty bare, with only a few tables scattered around the room.A door off to the left opened and Bonnie, the woman who lived there with Archie, stepped out.
Her face was painted, her large breasts all but falling out of her dress, and even though she claimed to be married to Archie, everyone knew it for the lie it was.Bonnie was there for one reason and one reason only.
To provide comfort to anyone willing to pay for it.
As saloon whores went, she was decent looking.Her nose was on the large side, her brown eyes set wide apart, and she looked cleaner than most.
It might have been because the town wasn’t big enough for the men here to monopolize her time like those in larger cities tended to do, and she could wash up and be presentable more often than not.He’d not been desperate enough to see firsthand if it were true or not, but he imagined she bathed between suiters.
He stayed for a few more minutes, spoke to those inside the building, then headed back outside.
And sighed.
This town was so laid back, it was downright depressing, but he’d never complain about it.This was what he’d wanted.A place so far back from the more populated cities that no one would find him.
He just didn’t think he’d spend his days searching for things to do.
Was it too much to ask for a stray cattle rustler to come riding through?Or a horse thief?Hell, a pick-pocket would do most days.Something to break up the monotony of the same old thing day after day.
