Lawfully Chosen
Ginny Sterling
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Afterword
Lawfully Gifted
Lawfully Betrothed
Also by Ginny Sterling
Lawfully Promised- by Elle E. Kay
Introducing Lawfully Promised by Elle E. Kay
About the Author
Author’s Note
The time of gangsters, mobsters and outlaws has always been fascinating to me- but seems to end in death or tragedy. I wanted to introduce characters with a backstory …before they fell into a life of crime. Sometimes, it’s alarming to see how any normal person could become a well-known outlaw. I have taken liberties with historical facts and imagined how their storyline fell, trying to keep the timeline intact. Please enjoy Lawfully Chosen as I introduce fictional characters who befriend one such person. It’s the time between these known events where I have dropped our couple, Penny and Will.
1
December 1929
Dallas, Texas
“Penny! Can you get table six since Bonnie is out back smoking again?” Joe Milton called out over his shoulder as he stood at the grill of the restaurant that she worked at. “She steals more of my cigarettes than my wife does,” he muttered and turned back around to pay attention to the pancakes he was turning over with practiced skill.
Penelope Brown quickly rushed over to take the young couple’s order that had just sat down at the booth. Honestly, she was thankful for the job. She’d been hired on the spot two months ago when she’d stumbled inside, seeing the sign in the window. Things were tough and only seemed to be getting harder to make ends meet. Companies were making cuts left and right. She was competing for jobs against others that were simply searching for something to put food on the table.
Penny was bright, quick and had her looks going for her – which is part of the reason she thought Joe might have hired her on the spot until she met his daughter. Ruby worked in the diner too and was nearly the spitting image of Penelope, but with blonde hair instead of her own brown hair. The diner was a small place at the corner of Singleton Boulevard and Herbert Street in downtown Dallas. It was a nice, clean, fairly decent neighborhood where most everyone knew each other. She felt safe there and was grateful for the tiny house she rented when she had found herself alone and penniless on the streets.
Her mother had taken up with a stock broker that had been telling them for months that the action was in New York City and that ‘her beauty and brains’ was wasted away in the hick town. Dallas was a sprawling, up and coming city but it wasn’t enough for the slimy wastrel that charmed her mother right out of town. Penelope had come home from seeing a talking picture at the theater with her friends to find the mortgage papers and a letter from her mother, giving her the house.
What her mother had given her was an ulcer.
The house wasn’t paid off and the mortgage payment was due. Penny didn’t work at the time and hadn’t had a job as of yet. She was enjoying her days hanging out at the coffee shop, seeing friends and going out on the town. She was free, young and barely twenty-four years old. Reading that letter, seeing that the payment was due in three days and seeing the balance in the ledger that her mother had left made her ill. She immediately went in search of a job only to find that not many were hiring, and if they were? It wasn’t for much. She would not be able to keep the home.
Thinking back on those days was tough, making her appreciate the value of a dollar even more. She didn’t know how she’d managed it all by herself. That first weekend, she’d done her best to arrange a rummage sale in order to gain money for food and hopefully pay for the next month’s mortgage payment. This was an abysmal failure. No one had any money nor were the interested in their things that were worth any value unless it was sold at far below cost. It was eye opening to say the least!
Walking home one afternoon from leaving the grocery, she saw the sign in the window and leaped at the opportunity to take the waitressing job. Thrilled, she felt hope coarse through her for the first time in a few weeks. It was a bit of a distance from her home, but when she saw a man putting a sign in the yard that stated the tiny house with rose bushes at the corner was for rent? She took it as a sign from above.
The house would be affordable and manageable for herself if she worked a lot of hours. It was incredibly tiny, barely over 600 square feet but cheap and close to where she’d be working now. If she got a roommate, that would give her some room to breathe financially. It certainly was going to be easier to pay for than her home currently. She’d put her mother’s home on the market that day for what she owed in order to sell it quickly.
“You’ll have the eggs and ham, scrambled and she’ll have the oatmeal?” she repeated back absently as she heard the bell chime above the door indicating that another person had either entered or left the diner.
“Bonnie! Get out here now!” Joe yelled out again from the kitchen and Penny grinned as her friend’s Ruby’s musical laughter rang out.
“Sure, sure. I’m going!”
Penelope and Ruby Milton had hit it off right away from the very beginning. Penny was cautious, caring, and loyal to a fault. Ruby was the exact opposite. She was vibrant, carefree and eager for opportunity. It made her a lot of money as a waitress because she had a way of working the tables. Bonnie, however, didn’t quite fit in there at all. She reminded Penny of a trapped bird in a cage struggling to get away. The moment it came to leave, she would disappear and hightail it out the door leaving them to finish up.
“And you mentioned extra bacon for your lady, right? You wouldn’t want her to be hungry or make yourself look cheap,” Bonnie purred with a sly, knowing smile and glanced at Penny. She nearly laughed aloud at the outrageousness of her coworker but somehow it worked for Bonnie.
At the bell ringing again, Penny restrained a heavy sigh. It had been a long morning already and quite busy. She’d agreed to pull a double shift because she needed the money and hadn’t found a roommate as of yet. Mabel had called in for her shift in order to go to a party. Today Penny would be working 6am until 11pm when the diner closed. It was exhausting. She’d rather be out dancing till late in the night or enjoying a picture but alas, life had forced her to be responsible. Joe promised her a free dinner and she’d sleep good tonight from the extra work with a full stomach. Looking up to see who’d come in, she smiled.
Ted Hinton was sweet on Ruby Milton.
Who wouldn’t be? Her smile and laughter were infectious but today, he wasn’t alone. The two men took a seat at one of her tables and Penny smothered a giggle. She could picture Ted’s frown when it was Penny who waited on them and not Ruby. Hanging her paper on the wheel for Joe, she turned to take the postman’s order.
“Good morning, Ted. What will you have today?”
“Mornin’ Penny. Isn’t this Ruby’s section?”
“I’m afraid not,” she admitted. “But one of her booths is opening up soon if you’d rather wait for her?” Just as Ted opened his mouth to answer, the other man spoke up getting her attention.
“No, we’ll have two coffee’s and a menu please.”
Penny glanced down in surprise and caught her breath. The man was incredibly beautiful in an intense way. His dark green eyes stared at her as he pulled his hat off and lay it on the bench seat beside him. His face was tanned from time in the sun, the aquiline nose was peppered with freckles and his hair was slicked back, combed neatly to the side. This man meant bu
siness and looked like he never cracked a smile, ever.
“Of course,” she stammered and laid down the menus. Penny went to grab the two coffee cups dutifully when Ruby walked up behind her at the counter.
“Who’s the suit with Teddy?”
“I have no idea but he’s a bit intimidating.”
“All guys are intimidating to you, my little Penny. Live a little! The man won’t bite and if he does? Bite him back,” Ruby teased her bravely, “Watch me.”
Penny’s face flushed with embarrassment as Ruby headed over to the booth. Her game was strong, and she was laying it on thick. Ted was eating it up and enjoying the attention, but the other man barely moved. She noticed that his eyes were riveted on her instead of Ruby, watching her like a hawk. She nearly dropped the cup when she noticed but caught it at the last moment to prevent it from crashing down to the tile floor. The hot coffee splashed onto her wrist causing her to wince at the heat.
Nervously she looked down at her t-strap pumps as she walked back over to the table where Ruby had perched her hip on the side of the booth. The woman was much bolder than she could ever be!
“Here you are,” Penny murmured returning, she set the cup down slowly in front of Ted. The other man was making her nervous and the cup rattled against the saucer announcing that her hands were shaking. Suddenly, two tanned hands caught hers taking the hot coffee from her.
“Thank you, Miss Penny. I appreciate it,” his voice made her toes curl. “My name is William.”
“It’s very nice to meet you William,” she blurted out nervously, and saw the stern tanned face of his barely crack a smile. He looked so very serious, so stern that it frightened her. “Ruby will take your order!” she squeaked suddenly and hightailed it to the kitchen.
Darting into the door, she stopped and leaned back against it heavily, her heart thumping wildly.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” she quickly said. “I gave Ruby one of my tables since I took one of hers.”
“Fine by me.”
Just then, Ruby came flying through the kitchen door sending Penny forward a few feet as she stumbled. The young woman caught her just before she crashed face first onto the slippery tile floor.
“Whoops! Penny, that stiff suit with Teddy is asking for you. Want me to get rid of him?”
“No,” Joe interrupted. “We don’t get rid of paying customers, Ruby. I’ve told you that before. If we are to keep the place running, we smile and keep going unless he is threatening Penny?”
“Nope, just hot to trot for our little Penny.”
“He’s not hot to trot for me, Ruby!”
“Behave- both of you. Ruby, if your mama could hear you talking she’d be ashamed. Now act like a lady. Penny can handle herself.”
“Glad you think so,” Ruby announced with a sly smile. “I took their order, you can bring it out.”
“Fine,” Penny blurted out hotly. “You can handle table one then since Bonnie is outside smoking all the time. Why is she even here sometimes?”
“Awww my little Penny has backbone. I like it,” Ruby teased with a grin and patted Penny on the cheek. Glancing out the kitchen window, she saw Ruby head towards table one in the corner dutifully. Looking towards the left, she saw the two men sitting there chatting like old buddies. Ted was smiling, and she couldn’t see the William’s face. Was he always so formal, so stiff, so tense?
Suddenly, she saw William get to his feet and shake Ted’s hand. His heavy coat draped over his arm formally. He laid a dollar bill on the table and put his hat on his head, but not before tipping it towards where Penny stood peering from the kitchen door. She felt her cheeks pinken with embarrassment at being caught spying on them. Straightening her apron, she went back to the table with the single plate of food that had been ordered with Ruby.
“Where’d your friend go?” she asked Ted nonchalantly, fighting the curiosity beating in her brain. He had a presence that when he left, it made the room suddenly feel colder than it was already.
“William is a sheriff for the police department. He said he couldn’t stay long and would be back to see you again sometime,” she heard him hesitate and watched him swallow nervously as she set the plate down in front of him. He looked at her directly with an earnestness in his eyes. “Penny, he’s a nice guy. I put in a good word for you, so if you could do the same for me with Ruby? I’d appreciate it.”
There was the catch she’d been waiting for.
It wasn’t that he was trying to set her up with his friend, but more selfishly that he was trying to get Ruby to give him a chance. Didn’t he know that Ruby was more interested in having fun and living her life? Ted was too down to earth for her flighty friend. Penny knew she needed stability, peace and frankly a bit of church going to slow the girl down. Saying that or even thinking it, made her sound like her own grandmother.
“Of course, Ted. I will speak with Ruby on your behalf.”
“Thanks Penny, you’re a swell gal.”
2
January 1930
“You know, Ruby, you could give Ted a chance,” Penny hedged one afternoon as they were wiping down the tables before the evening rush. Bonnie had quit unexpectedly yesterday and darted out the front door disappearing into a car that was parked in front of the café. A lot of whooping and hollering was heard as it pulled away. She’d always been a wild one, more than anyone else Penny had met in her life. Frankly, the intensity of her reminded her of a fire. Beautiful to watch a flame flicker from a distance, but if you got to close you’d end up hurt.
Ruby was the opposite. She put on a brave face and acted brash, but Penny believed that was due to Bonnie’s influence. She saw how Ruby mimicked the divorcee and it boggled her mind that Ruby would want to behave anything like Bonnie. While times were changing, some things still stayed the same. Women could have fun now and vote, but when it came to what a guy wanted in a girl? They wanted someone they could bond with, talk to. If you put up a false façade or put on an act then how would they ever get to know the real you? Ted Hinton had been coming to the diner for years according to Joe but hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask Ruby out yet.
“I will give Teddy a chance if he ever asks me out on two conditions…” Ruby drawled and continued filling the salt and pepper shakers carefully to prevent Penny from having to wipe the tables yet again. Their coats hung on the wall on wooden pegs nearby, several other pegs were empty but would be filled quickly as the afternoon and evening wore on.
“What’s that?”
“First one is that I want to rent the extra room you have but please, don’t tell my father. He’d be really upset. I will tell him when he’s in a good mood. Okay? I’m the last kid in the house and he’s gonna be sad but I want to be out on my own.”
“I understand but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you can rent the room. I’d really like that a lot actually,” she admitted happily looking at Ruby’s beaming face. The two got along famously.
“The other condition is that if I am willing to give Teddy a chance, you have to do the same if that gorgeous sheriff shows up again. He had you running scared for no reason. What was his name?”
“William,” Penny quickly answered and then blushed at how fast she’d responded. She’d thought of his eyes several times and wondered what it would be like to make him laugh or smile. “I don’t know his last name. He never said it.”
“That’s okay. If Teddy comes in for dinner…”
“You mean when Ted comes in for dinner,” Penny amended with a grin. The man was there often, simply to see Ruby and they all knew it – including Joe, her father.
“Regardless, I don’t know the man and never seen him before. I doubt he’ll show again.”
“You mean that man?” Ruby announced grinning as she nodded towards the windows. Outside on the street were several buggy’s, horses, bicycles and a few motor cars. The sheriff was stepping out of a small Chevrolet and straightening his suit.
Penelope ca
ught her breath and watched fascinated as he seemed to be hesitating to come inside the diner. His breath causing a fog in the cool air. Could he be nervous? He seemed to be so bold before, simply staring at her so fiercely she thought it was an intimidation technique or something. Just then, he began to move towards the door and Penny did an about face, running for the kitchen. She heard the bell just as she gained sanctuary in the overly warm room.
“Penny?”
“Joe, can I hide here a second?”
“Hide? Why? Whats wrong?”
“There’s this guy out there…”
“He’s bothering you?”
“No, I think he likes me,” she breathed.
“Oh goodness, you girls just don’t know what-is-what anymore, do you?” He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the kitchen straight into the line of sight of the door. Penny stood there ramrod stiff in complete horror as she met Ruby’s wide full mouth smile that made her look like a Cheshire cat.
“Penny, why don’t you sit Sheriff William…”
“Clarke. William Clarke, miss.”
“Let’s set the sheriff at one of the tables near a window, eh? Penny? Penny!” Ruby’s voice broke her trance as she nervously smoothed her wavy hair and smiled shyly at the man who stood there silently holding his hat.
“Mr. Clarke, can I get you something?” she said politely, getting out her note pad.
“I’d like it if you called me William or Will, miss.”
“Of course, Will,” she hedged with a smile. “What can I get you?”
“Some coffee and whatever you like.”
Lawfully Chosen Page 1
