Page 57 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
“I’m going to repay the favor and leave a few bruises on him.”
Her eyes widened.“You can’t.”
“Sure I can.”
“Josiah, you can’t ju—
“—Did he do this?”he asked, cutting her off while softly brushing his finger against her cheek.“You have four bruises that are perfectly lined up as if someone grabbed your face, so tell me now, did Edwin leave these bruises on you?Because if he did, I’m going to repay the favor.”
Someone walking past them paused and looked their way.Violet threw the aging lady a hurried smile before giving her attention back to Josiah.When she didn’t answer his question, he stepped around her without another word.
“Josiah!”She caught him before he reached the mercantile, grabbing his arm.He opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of gunfire pulled a scream from her throat and she jumped, startled as the people around them started to scream and duck for cover.
Multiple gunshots rang throughout the street.The chaos was instantaneous.Screams and shouts filled the air.People started running as bullets started pinging off the surrounding buildings, one hitting the wall beside them right between their heads.
Josiah grabbed her and ushered her into an open doorway before rushing to the back of the building.
Others followed them in, the raised voices and screaming nearly deafening her as Josiah placed her against the back wall, crouching with her there while others filed into the room.“Stay here,” he said.“Don’t move until I come back for you.”
He didn’t wait for a reply before standing and reaching for the gun he carried holstered at his hip and hurrying back to the front door.
Violet waited with the others, and the few small children that were crying only added to her fraying nerves.Gunshots were still popping off, the noise echoing down the street, and wondering what was happening out there, and if Josiah was in the middle of it, caused her already stressed brain to overreact.
What if he was shot in the mayhem?Had he been already?Was he lying in the street bleeding out even now?
The very thought of it had her rising and heading back through the small shop she was hiding in.She peered out the dirty window but didn’t see anyone, then screamed when a bullet hit the glass, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.
She hit the floor on her knees and turned, crawling through the store to the back again to wait for Josiah like he’d told her to do.
The wait was excruciating and images of Josiah lying in the rutted dirt road that ran through town wouldn’t leave her head.What if he died out there?
Was this the way he felt?Fearing for her life on a daily basis for no other reason than someone would hurt her to get to him?No wonder he didn’t want a wife.
But she could have died the moment the first gunshot went off, and it had nothing to do with him.Any number of things could kill her.An infection from stepping on a rusty nail could, so his argument that it was dangerous to be married to him wasn’t sensible.
By the time it was over, she was on the verge of tears.Fear for his safety and their future had her nerves wrecked.
Voices from outside started to raise, but it was different from before.No one was yelling now, and the gunfire had stopped.It was over.
The sound of footsteps crunching over broken glass brought her head up.Everyone in the small back room seemed to hold their breath.The moment Josiah walked through the doorway, the fear she’d lost him vanished.
She sprang to her feet without a word and lunged for him.He caught her mid-run, and he never got a chance to say a word when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
ChapterSeventeen
The worry clawing at his chest died the instant Violet threw herself at him and kissed him.Her desperation seemed to match his own, and he forgot they weren’t alone and pulled her into his body, angling his head to kiss her back as if no one was watching.
The feel of her in his arms seemed to calm the panic he’d been trying to fight.Since the first gunshot went off, and that bullet hit the wall beside their heads, he’d been fighting to keep calm.
He’d already been furious at the thought of Edwin grabbing her face hard enough to bruise, but hearing her yell his name while a few idiots at the saloon took their fight to the street left him half mad with overwhelming anxiety.Getting her to safety had been his only concern.Now that he knew she was safe, his only thought was making sure she’d never be put into harm’s way again.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her out of his sight after this.Fear, unlike any he’d felt in years, made his chest ache to the point it felt like his heart was ready to explode and it wasn’t only the gunfight that caused it.It was Violet, and the knowledge he could lose her without even really knowing her.
He’d pushed her away time and time again and she was still there, invading his every waking thought and fool that he was, he knew she was so far under his skin now, he’d never get her out.
Was what he felt for her some form of love?Possibly, but he wasn’t going to put a label on it.Not yet.He couldn’t.He had his own heart to protect.He’d had it torn out once.He wasn’t ready to do it again.
Noise from the others in the room finally registered, and he broke the kiss and looked over Violet’s head.Everyone present was watching them.He cleared his throat and took a step away from Violet, dropping his arms to his side.“It’s safe to leave now,” he told them.“The sheriff has everything under control.”
