Page 73 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
Was he going to hang for killing Edwin, even though he never laid a hand on the man?
So many memories of men shouting they were innocent came to mind as he watched those men hammer new nails into the posts, holding the beam across the top of the gallows together.How many of them truly were innocent?
Would that be him in the near future?Standing up there with a noose around his neck, shouting his innocence to a crowd of people who didn’t want to hear it?
He didn’t get time to contemplate it more as the front door slammed open so hard it hit the wall.He turned, eyes wide, as he stared at Violet.He smiled when he saw her, the last time she’d entered his jailhouse, much the same way coming to mind.
It seemed like ages ago since then.She’d been running from Edwin.Now, he was accused of killing the man.
She slammed the door back shut, ignoring the deputy who was sitting at the sheriff’s desk, and hurried across the room toward him.He knew the moment she saw the gallows out the window behind him.Her eyes closed, her shoulders drooping.
“This is all wrong, Josiah.”
“I know.”
She looked up at him, despair evident in her eyes.“Why are they shoring up the gallows?”He didn’t say anything, but didn’t have to.She could see the answer in his eyes.“Are they going to hang you?”
“I don’t know.”He didn’t want to lie, but hated admitting the obvious.Leaving her in the dark about these things might make it worse off for her.
He glanced at the deputy, who was trying not to listen to their conversation, and lowered his voice when he said, “Sometimes things don’t go as they should, Violet, so you need to prepare yourself for that.”
“What does that mean?”
He glanced at the deputy again.“It means, if the people of this town want me to hang, then chances are I will.”
“But the sheriff can’t just decide to hang you.”
“No, but the townsfolk may.”
It took her a few moments to realize what he was saying.She blew out a breath.“Can they do that?”
“Not legally, but I’ve seen it done.The citizens in any given town always outnumber the lawmen and sometimes there isn’t anything you can do to stop them.”
“But you didn’t kill Edwin.”
Her eyes grew glassy and the words her grandfather had spoken, telling him Violet had been sweet on him since the day he’d ridden into Silver Falls, came to mind.How would she react if they did hang him?
He didn’t want her to even have to witness it, which was why he would beg Tanner to get her out of town before it happened.If he showed up.He wasn’t even sure the deputy sent the telegram.He could have pocketed the money and tossed his note into the trash for all he knew.
“Hey,” he said, cupping a finger under her chin to lift her head.“Don’t worry about me.Everything will work out fine.”
“How can you say that?”
He gave her a smile he didn’t feel and said, “Because the alternative is too depressing to think about.”
She reached through the bars and cupped his face before leaning up on her toes and kissed him.It wasn’t the deep, soul-stealing kisses she’d given him before, but it was enough.It lifted some of the dread he’d been feeling and erased the sense of doom hanging over his head.
When she finally broke the kiss, she sighed.“I guess I don’t really have the right to do that anymore.”
“Why is that?”
She met his gave and gave him a sad smile.“You’re not my husband.I can’t just go around kissing you whenever I want.”
The reminder that Amos was a fraud and hadn’t really performed a legal wedding ceremony for them, along with the look on her face, made something tight in his chest clench.
He’d fought the pull towards her, the fake marriage he knew she’d wanted despite the fact it wasn’t real, and once he finally gave in and accepted it all, the news that they weren’t really married left him a bit numb.
What was he supposed to do now?Carry on as he’d done before?Swearing off women and relationships and live his life alone and bored out of his mind?
