Would they change their opinion of her? Already, several of the people dining were discreetly watching as Lyla walked towards Keith’s table as if they could sense that trouble was brewing.
He looked up and his gaze met hers. On the outside, he gave a big smile, but Lyla could tell that it was fake. It was tight and strained and looked as if it didn’t belong. His eyes still wore that cold, unfeeling expression she knew so well.
“Lyla, thank goodness you came!” he said, just a little too loudly. He reached out as if he meant to embrace her, but this time, Lyla didn’t have to endure it.
Instead, she extended her hand and took his before he could do anything else, making it impossible for him to refuse a handshake.
Once greetings were done, Lyla sat down calmly opposite Keith, and James sat down beside her.
“What is he doing here?” Keith asked, eyeing James but addressing Lyla.
“He’s my fiancé,” Lyla said smoothly, trying to keep her voice even and remain unruffled by Keith’s volatile way of speaking.
“Your fiancé!’ Keith snorted. “Last time I checked, I was your fiancé. Since when did that change?”
“Since I sent you the telegram. Didn’t you read it? I have a new life now. As I told you before, I am not returning to Merrill.”
Keith laughed but Lyla found no humor in it. “Oh, that garbage? Of course I read it, and then deposited it directly into the wastebasket. Is this some sort of joke? Is this your last chance to be loose before you marry me?” Keith shook his head, a sarcastic, amused look on his face. “You know, this behavior won’t be tolerated once we are married.”
James began to rise from his chair. “I warned you about talking like that…”
Lyla set her hand on James’ arm. She knew that Keith was just trying to get a rise out of both of them. But even still, his behavior was even surprising her. She’d known him to act inappropriately, but right now he was just being outrageous.
“Keith, I won’t be marrying you.” Lyla said flatly. She was tired of beating around the bush and was ready to get straight to the point.
“Why? What in heavens name did I do? Haven’t I done everything you wanted?”
For a second, Lyla felt a flicker of guilt, but she squashed it. She didn’t owe Keith an explanation. He had known just as well as she had that their marriage would be for convenience.
However, she would give him yet another explanation just because of his trouble of coming all the way here… just to be a considerate person.
“I have a son—my sister’s son, actually, but he’s really mine. I decided that I wasn’t happy with a loveless marriage anymore, so I decided to marry someone I do love: James. I have something to live for here that I really do want. You and I both know our marriage arrangement was purely for convenience. Is that enough of an explanation for you?”
“You call that an explanation? How did you have a child and why did you never tell me about it? Do you know what people will think of you?”
Lyla put her chin up and forced a smile. “I don’t care what people will think of me, and since I won’t be marrying you it shouldn’t matter to you either. You can have your pick of a dozen other women in Merrill. They will gladly marry you for your money, although I pity the one that does so.”
“How dare you speak to me that way after everything I did for you? You are just a good-for-nothing, penniless girl, who is lucky enough to be engaged to me. You can’t just walk out on me for another man. People will talk. My reputation will be ruined.”
Lyla once again laid a hand on James’ arm to keep him from defending her. “Let them talk,” she continued. “Or you can just find another good-for-nothing girl to fix your reputation. You know, the more I talk to you, the happier I am that I chose not to marry you.”
“You have no right to choose!” Keith jumped up from his seat and threw the pitcher of water that was standing on the table onto the floor. It shattered into a hundred little pieces, sending a splash of water and glass all around.
Everyone in the dining area looked their way, mouths open and eyes wide in shock. Some got up and left the room in consternation.
“What do you think you’re doing? We’re supposed to be having a conversation!” Lyla said with a shriek.
She stood and backed up from the table, suddenly desperate to take herself out of the equation.
“I can’t have a conversation with an uneducated wench like you.” Keith leaned over the table and planted his hands firmly in the middle. “You listen to me, Lyla. If you don’t change your mind right this minute and come back with me, you will regret it. I swear, you will regret it. I get what I want, and you are mine! Do you hear me?”
Lyla drew in a deep breath and words came from a part of her she didn’t know existed. It was the strong, courageous part, rising to the occasion. “You don’t get to threaten me, Keith. And even if I was silly enough to even consider your proposal, what would happen to Joey?”
Lyla felt regret wash over her as she said her son’s name—she hadn’t intended for Keith to know her son’s name or anything else about her new life that wasn’t necessary.
“Joey would stay here, where he belongs, far away from you. You think you could be his mother? You think anyone would want you to be their mother? You’re a sad little girl who could barely take care of yourself.”
This time, Keith had hit a little too close to home. Lyla leapt away, and this time, she didn’t hold James back.
Chapter 28
James’ anger had been building from the moment they had entered the hotel and he had spotted Keith’s smug face.
At the man’s last barrage of words to Lyla, James was no longer able to contain himself.
The thought that he was the sheriff and therefore an example in town briefly crossed his mind, but he brushed it away. Lyla did not deserve these vile things to be said to her, and he wasn’t going to stand by and let this man treat her this way. It was about time someone stood up to Keith.
Fear flashed in Keith’s eyes when he realized that James was coming at him. He placed his hands on the round table between them and began to maneuver around it, as if it were his shield.
Out of the corner of his eye, James could see that Lyla was fuming mad. She had taken a few steps back and was simply watching the scene as if she were an innocent bystander with nothing to gain or lose from its outcome, although James knew better. No matter how strong Lyla had become, Keith’s words would sting if they were hurled at anyone.
With one massive effort, he threw the table to one side, clearing the space between him and Keith. James lunged forward and grabbed the other man by the front of his fancy suit.
The softness of the fabric in his hands made him even angrier. He threw Keith down to the floor.
“Now, you listen to me, Keith, you are under arrest for disrupting the peace.”
“Disrupting the peace? Keith gave a laugh that made James’ skin crawl. “Isn’t it you who’s disrupting the peace?”
James let out a growl. “You haven’t begun to see me disrupt the peace. I told you if you spoke ill of Lyla again you would be sorry.”
Keith stood up and brushed his suit off. “The most you can hold me for is a night. I need a place to stay, anyway.” He sneered in Lyla’s direction. “As for you, you will pay for your decision. And you will be my wife. You’ll see.”
James grabbed the man and secured his wrists before dragging him from the hotel and heading towards the jailhouse down the street.
“You think you’re tough, sheriff? Don’t you care that your sweet Lyla is a liar? She’s had a child before, for goodness’ sake, probably out of wedlock if she hid it all this time!”
James rolled his shoulders and gave Keith an extra tug. “Tell me, what makes you think you’re better than me? And what makes you think I should care about Lyla’s past? And tell me why you still want to marry her when you have other choices that would be willing to marry you.”
A malicious gleam fil
led Keith’s eye, “Because she’s mine. Don’t you get that? She agreed to marry me. Yes, it was a business deal, but she was mine then and she is mine now. You don’t seem to understand that concept. You can’t have her.”
“That’s not a good reason. We don’t always get what we want in life, and you’re no exception to that rule.”
Keith laughed. “I am an exception. I have the money and the power to back me. I always get what I want, one way or another.”
James narrowed his eyes. They were reaching the steps of the jailhouse now. “That sounds a lot like a threat.”
“I’m not the one playing games here, and yes, it is a threat. She will marry me. You’ll see.”
“You picked the wrong sheriff to threaten.” James shoved Keith through the jailhouse doors.
Merrick and Daniel had been playing a game of cards at the desk and leapt from their chairs with a look of shock on their faces from the sudden commotion.
They hurried over to James and helped him with Keith. Surprisingly, Keith didn’t struggle, but instead let Merrick and Daniel shove him into a cell.
Keith threw back his head and laughed. “Thanks for the room, boys. I like the bed.” He lay down on the cot and put his feet up, tucking his hands behind his head in a satisfied fashion as if it had been his plan all along to get a free night in the jailhouse.
“Keep this lowlife here over night. Let him go in the morning. And he’d better be out of town as soon as he leaves,” James instructed Merrick.
He headed toward the door, ready to go back and find Lyla to make sure she was okay, but—unable to help himself—he spun around and crossed the room until he was standing directly in front of the cell, looking down at Keith.
“I suggest that when they let you out, you get on whatever horse you used to get here and head straight back to whatever town you came from and don’t look back.”
Keith gave one of his sneers that James had already seen a few too many times. “Or what?”
“Or you’re going to find out just how it feels to be on the bad side of the law.”
With that, James turned and walked briskly out of the jailhouse and toward the hotel. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
He had lost control. He was positive many people had seen the scene but probably had no idea what had gone down. He hoped that his reputation wouldn’t suffer too much because of this incident.
He straightened out his shirt and ran a hurried hand through his hair once he reached the hotel. He needed to work on keeping his emotions in check.
Lyla was waiting for him at the hotel’s entrance. When she saw him, her entire face lit up and she gave him a quick embrace. “Thank goodness you’re okay. I was beginning to worry.”
“Worried about me? Keith is the one you should worry about. Keith couldn’t do anything to me if he tried. He’d have this entire town on his tail. I just hope he takes my advice seriously and leaves first thing in the morning.”
Lyla frowned. “What if he doesn’t?”
James felt unease fill him. He wasn’t about to admit it, but that was something he was worried about, too. What if Keith decided to keep harassing him? He couldn’t exactly keep the man locked up in jail forever.
“I have to be in the sheriff’s office more these upcoming weeks. I think the boys are ready to have some time off,” James told her. “I’ll be right here in town, so I’ll be able to keep an eye out on him—and if he makes one wrong move, he’ll be right back in jail.”
Lyla sighed. “I’m going to miss you.”
James’s heart filled with happiness. He had never thought he would hear those words or share this kind of relationship again. To have it with Lyla was like every dream come true all at once.
“I know; I’ll try to make some time to spend at home.”
Lyla nodded. “I still don’t understand what he thought he would accomplish by coming out all this way to talk to me when I left things so clear in my telegram. He just thinks he has a right to me.”
“I don’t know. He seems a little too sure of himself. You need to stay close to home until this all blows over.”
Lyla nodded but looked unconvinced. On the way back to the ranch, James determined he was going to keep her safe from whatever terrible thing Keith wanted to do or impose on her, no matter what it took.
---*---
The next morning, when James got to the sheriff’s office, he found the cell empty. He had expected as much.
“So, what was the whole scoop with that maniac, yesterday?” Merrick asked as soon as he realized that James had come into the office.
“He’s actually the man Lyla was supposed to marry back in the city.”
Daniel shook his head, “No way! She was going to marry that guy? I could barely stand him for one night. It’s good to have you back, by the way.”
James nodded absentmindedly. “I suppose it’s good to be back.”
Merrick laughed. “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”
“Did either of you two see if Keith left this morning? Or is he sticking around town?” James asked.
“I figured you’d be curious to know. I followed him this morning to a little camp just outside of town. He has his own stagecoach and everything there. I’d say by what I saw that he wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. They had quite the camp set up…Lots of wood, like they are planning on staying a while.”
James slammed his fist down on the desk. “Well, I’ll be. I’d have sworn he would have had enough yesterday.”
“I’m not sure what’s going on over there, but it’s definitely something fishy. He has two men with him. One of them looks like he might be the stagecoach driver and the other looks like he’s the muscle. He was wearing a gun—big guy, lots of muscles; looked like a mean one.”
James shook his head. “Why would they stick around? Why wouldn’t they just leave? Lyla made it pretty clear she wouldn’t be changing her mind.”
Daniel laughed. “He wanted her to change her mind? You should have heard the way that he was going on and on about her last night. That man doesn’t have a loving bone in his body. He doesn’t deserve any woman. He talks about her like she’s his slave and you stole her from his house.”
The news of Keith’s continued talk in the jail cell made James’ blood boil. “He basically just wants her because he thinks he can force her. I can’t stand people like that.”
Merrick nodded in agreement. “We should run him out of town.”
“I’d like nothing better, but unfortunately, we’re supposed to uphold the law, not break it.”
“What I wouldn’t give to be a criminal for a day to take care of people like that.” Daniel leaned back in his chair and pulled out a deck of cards. “Do you guys want to play? It might help calm the nerves.”
James nodded reluctantly. “I’m sure that man has something up his sleeve—the question is, what?”
“Here.” Merrick had quickly shuffled the cards and dealt each person their hand. “May the best man win.”
The three of them often played cards together, and on a regular morning, James would enjoy the game as the way to pass time. But today, he was distracted by the unknown motives of Keith.
He hadn’t met many men like Keith, and he had no desire to meet more in the future. James sighed as the game went on around him.
He had promised to protect Lyla, but how was he going to do that if he didn’t even know what he was protecting her from? He was doubtful that Keith would try to take Lyla by force, but he wasn’t about to put it past him.
A Treasure Brought by Fate: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 21
