by M. Allen
He stepped up onto the wooden-planked porch. “What’s the problem here, Mayor?”
Without missing a beat, Grace spun around, giving him a killing look. “This here pig says a woman can’t run for town sheriff.”
The mayor cleared his throat. “I-It’s not that I think she can’t do it. I just think it’s better suited for men’s work.”
Edward looked down into her fiery emerald eyes. “What are you tryin’ to do, jump in front of every bullet comin’ your way?”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m doin’ what I need to.”
“Gracey!” Bart Newton, local general store owner and Grace’s father, shoved his way through the crowd. “What are you doin’?”
“Pa, stay out of it.” She slashed her hands through the air.
“Now, Gracey, this is gone too far.” Bart, a normally quiet, reserved man, stood red-faced and shaking. “It’s bad enough you’ve taken up with the Suttons, huntin’ down outlaws. It’s high time—”
“High time I settle down? You said it yourself, I’ve been huntin’ down criminals with the Suttons. I’m more than qualified to do this.”
Edward wanted nothing more than to keep her safe, keep her from the life he’d lived. Yet here she stood, demanding to be a part of it.
“Grace.” He leaned in closer to her. “Don’t do this.”
With a sound of disgust, she threw up her hands. “You of all people should know I can do this, and I will.”
“Riding with the Suttons for a few weeks isn’t the same as livin’ this life.” He tried to speak low enough for only her to hear, but the whole crowd seemed to be hanging on every word he said.
“And that’s right.” The mayor stepped between them. “I’d like to thank Edward Sutton for tossin’ his hat in and puttin’ his name up for sheriff.”
“What?” Edward’s jaw dropped.
Colton stepped forward. He was a man of very few words but when he spoke, people listened. “I think Grace Newton should be on that ballot, too.”
The mayor nearly choked on his words. “W-what?”
Grace crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s right.”
How the hell had things gone so wrong? Edward had gone from trying to protect her to putting his own ass in the fire. “I don’t want none of this.”
“Well, it seems you don’t have a choice.” Grace glared at him.
“That settles it. One month from this day, the town will take a vote to see who our new sheriff will be.” His voice grew louder. “Edward Sutton.” Then not as loud. “Or Grace Newton.”
The townsfolk clapped and cheered for their two candidates. All the while, Edward stood still as a statue, hating every single moment. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Colton moving away from the crowd toward where Luke waited. The two seemed to be sharing a joke at his expense.
The mayor turned and shook his hand. “Pleasure to have ya, Sutton.”
Was it just the name that had the mayor itching to make him sheriff, or was it that fact he didn’t want a woman representing this town? Either way, it didn’t sit well with Edward. He dropped his hands to his sides, about to turn to Grace to speak to her just once more. But before he could out get a word, she’d stepped off the porch and headed down the street without a glance back.
This wasn’t anywhere near finished between them. He followed closely behind her. When he caught up to her, he leaned in to whisper in her ear, “We need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything left to say to you, Edward.”
Wrapping his hand around her elbow, he steered her toward an alley between two buildings. “Well, I’ve got plenty to say to you.”
Once they were out of sight from prying eyes, she yanked away her arm from his grip and rounded on him. “Oh, now you want to talk?”
“Grace.” He softened his voice the way he did each time he tried train a wild stallion.
“Don’t you use that tone on me.” She stabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You’ve spent the whole day not talkin’ to me, and now you want to act like I’m some wild animal who needs calmin’ down.”
At that, his temper flared to match hers. “Maybe you are. Did you ever think of that? You’ve been hell-bent on pickin’ up a gun in every fight, and today you were about to step into a field of dynamite to light a fuse. I can’t decide if ya want to meet your maker or if you think I’ll just always be around to patch you up.”
She arched her eyebrow. “So that’s what this is about?”
“What?”
“You don’t like me puttin’ myself in danger?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Edward ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I can’t say I’m fond of it. Just once I’d like you to stop and think about what the heck you’re doin’.”
Narrowing her eyes, she spoke through gritted teeth. “I know what I’m doin’.” She took a step back out toward the street.
Edward reached out and pulled her back. “I don’t think you do.”
As he held onto her, the heat of her skin seeped through her cotton shirt into his hand. A breeze drifted toward him, carrying her heady scent, a mix of fresh rain and sunflowers. It drove him mad.
Once again, she pulled free of him. “Is that why you’re staying in this race to become sheriff, because you don’t think I know how to handle myself?”
When he ground his teeth together, he felt the muscle in his jaw tighten. How could he explain he didn’t want to see her hurt, couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to the one woman who’d finally brought him back from the brink? Words had left him. All he could do was take in her heart-shaped face, sunkissed skin and silky black hair.
The corner of her mouth tilted up in a sassy half smile. “And here I thought you were different.”
With a sweep of her dress, she walked away from him, back out into the bright sunny street, leaving him alone in the dark. Hadn’t it been that way before he’d met her? Him, lost to his inner devil, and her, a perfect ray of light, guiding him out. Now, she’d left him back where she’d found him, only this time he craved what he knew only she could offer.
“Grace!”
Her shoulders stiffened but she didn’t turn back toward him.
He called after her once more, “Grace.”
It was too late. She left him in the shadows while she walked away in the mid-afternoon sunshine.
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[LW1]
