“Thank you.” Her words may have been simple, but he could hear the gratitude in her voice.
Paden excused himself from the room and leaned back against the floral-papered wall in the hallway. He hadn’t planned to kiss her so soon, but he found he couldn’t help himself.
He was pleased that Rosalie had reacted so favorably. Perhaps convincing her to stay married to him wouldn’t be as hard as he thought.
Chapter 7
Rosalie stood outside the mercantile and watched as her father stepped out of his office across the bustling main street, the sun reflecting off the badge pinned to his black jacket. His commanding presence was in stark contrast with the easy smile that he flashed at the young school-aged children running down the boardwalk.
Sheriff Addis took a step onto the road, bypassing wagons and horses tied to posts, and tipping his hat politely at the townsfolk.
“Hello, my favorite girl,” he greeted her before kissing her on the cheek. “Did you find everything you needed in town?”
“There was a large assortment of material today, and I purchased enough to make a new dress.”
“That sounds like it will keep you busy for the next few days,” he joked, extending his arm toward her. “I wonder what my deputy will think of that.”
She grinned. “I am hoping he likes it, because I am making the dress for the barn raising next week.”
Her father chuckled. “I need to speak to the mayor…”
A gunshot rang through the air. Her father’s shoulder jerked back. “Get out of here, Rosie!” he shouted, shoving her toward the safety of the buildings.
Another shot rang out, forcing her father to stagger back. Reaching for his gun, a parade of shots came from further down the road. Rosalie stood frozen, unable to move. Then, she felt a searing pain in her left leg which caused her to collapse to the ground. She vaguely saw Mr. Tanner run out of his shop before he placed his hands under her arms and dragged her toward the safety of the alley.
“Stop!” she shouted, fighting against her rescuer. “I need to go help my father!”
“It is too late for him,” Mr. Tanner, the mercantile owner, declared, ignoring her feeble attempts to flee. “We’ve got to save you.”
The fight drained out of her when she saw her father lying motionless in the street, his gun never drawn. The children that had been running down the boardwalk just moments before were now dead and two women were lying not far from them, their canned goods littered across the road.
An eerie silence filled the air as a man approached her father and kicked his lifeless body. He turned toward her, his eyes black and soulless. He tipped his hat at her and gave her a sinister smile.
Rosalie jolted upright in bed and reached for the pistol under her pillow.
“It’s all right, Rosie,” Paden’s comforting voice murmured next to her.
Gripping her pistol reassuringly, she saw that Paden was lying in the bed. “What do you think you are doing?” she asked, seriously considering shooting him.
“You were having a nightmare earlier. When I woke you up, you asked me to stay with you.” His eyes were filled with concern. “Do you not recall that?”
A vague memory of her asking him to stay came to her mind. “I do now,” she sighed, placing the pistol on a small table next to the bed. “I am sorry if I kept you up.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
A rooster crowed in the distance, alerting them to the early hour. Rosalie brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. She had been having the same nightmare that had plagued her since her father’s death. When would those memories fade?
Paden turned to his side and propped himself up on his elbow. “Was your dream about your father?”
“It always is,” she confirmed, resting her chin on her knees.
“I wish I’d been there,” Paden said through gritted teeth. “If I hadn’t been out at the Olsen farm investigating who stole a chicken, then…”
Rosalie cut him off. “If you had been there then you would have been killed too.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he replied dryly.
She tilted her head to look at him. “It was ten against one. Those men shot women and children. If you had engaged them, more people would have died, including yourself.”
There was an abiding sadness in his voice as he said, “I wish I had been there for you.”
“You were,” she rushed to assure him.
He shook his head. “By the time I arrived, I saw men loading the dead into the coffins.”
“You rallied the men and formed a posse,” she reminded him. “You spent a whole week trying to find Bill Garrett and his gang.”
“We failed.” He dropped back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “We never received word that Garrett had escaped from jail. If we had known, then we would have taken precautions.”
“I agree, especially since Bill had threatened to kill my father on multiple occasions.” A brief smile came to her lips. “My father told Garrett to stop breaking the law if he didn’t want the law to come after him.”
“Sheriff Addis was a character,” Paden remarked reflectively. “He commanded respect with his no-nonsense attitude, but he always took the time to play games with the school children.”
A rooster crowed in the distance followed by a man shouting, “Shut up, you stupid bird!”
Rosalie laughed. “I take it that person does not appreciate the early hour.”
“We should discuss our next course of action,” Paden said. “First, we need to speak to the bankers, without giving away that we are agents.”
“I agree.”
Placing his arm behind his head,
