“What are you talking about?”
“You and Mrs Hutchins.”
“We have a business relationship, nothing more.”
Hannah shook her head, hoping to divert him. If she could get him to lower his weapon, then she could pull her gun and shoot him.
Elliott continued to blather on about how his relationship with the madam was nothing more than business.
Hannah interrupted him. “But you want it to be more.” She lifted her skirt like she was changing her clothes, knowing she wasn’t shedding anything in front of this man.
“That’s none of your business.”
“True, but the sheriff isn’t going to want to share Mrs. Hutchins with anyone. She’s all his.”
“Why aren’t you dressed yet?”
She pulled her pistol out from beneath her petticoats and pointed the gun at him. “Drop your weapon.”
He threw back his head and laughed, and Hannah knew it was good for him not to feel threatened by her weapon. “That pistol isn’t big enough to do any damage.”
“It’ll kill a man.”
Elliott considered her words then pointed his gun at Jackson. “This one will blow him clear into heaven. And that’s what I’m going to do if you don’t drop your weapon, now.”
Terror gripped her. She couldn’t let Elliot hurt Jackson. If she took a shot, Elliot would shoot the man she loved, but if she didn’t, Elliot would kill them both.
“Hannah, keep your gun,” Jackson cried.
Her hand was shaking. She didn’t want to be the reason Jackson died. She didn’t want him hurt because of her. And she didn’t want Jackson disappointed in her because she’d killed a man. But this was the man she hated. The man who’d killed her mother.
What did she do?
“Drop your gun now, or he’s dead,” Elliott said, cocking the hammer.
“Shoot him, Hannah,” Jackson cried.
For the last six months of her life, she’d dreamed of nothing more than killing this man, and now when the time had come, she wavered. Could she live with herself knowing she’d taken a man’s life, even when he deserved to die?
Elliott fired his gun at Jackson.
In horror, she watched Jackson’s body fall backwards. The sound of his head hitting the floor and the grunt that escaped his mouth filled her with rage. Screaming, she fired her weapon, the jolt of the small pistol causing her to jump. Her bullet slammed into Elliott’s leg.
Shrieking in pain, he fell to the floor, clutching his leg.
Tears streamed down her face as she ran to Elliott and kicked his gun out of reach. Then she picked it up and hit him across the face with it, knocking him out. He was lucky she didn’t kill him.
Fearing the worst, she went to Jackson. The man she loved was dead because of her. He lay on the floor, not moving, still tied up in the chair that was now in pieces on the floor. Quickly, she untied his hands and removed the broken chair from his body.
“Jackson,” she cried, kneeling down beside his unmoving body, holding his head in her white gloved hands. “I’m so so sorry. I love you. Please don’t be dead. Please.”
Leaning over him, she tried to find a heartbeat and started to pray. “Oh God, I promise I’ll forgive you and attend church every Sunday, if only you’ll let him live. Please don’t take him from me. Please, God. Please.” Sobbing, she lay her head down on his chest, not hearing his heart, knowing he was dead. The man she loved had died because of her.
Suddenly, she felt his hand rubbing her back.
“Jackson?” she said, raising her head and staring into his darkened brown eyes.
“Hannah,” he said weakly.
“Where are you hit?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It felt like someone knocked the air from my lungs. Then everything went dark.”
Glancing at his clothes, she noticed the bullet hole in this shirt. She stuck her finger through the ragged ends, expecting to feel blood, but all she felt was paper. “What’s this?”
He gazed down at his shirt, smiled, and pulled a small Bible from his pocket. Caught in the pages was a bullet. He stared at her, and Hannah could see the shock on his face. “How could that be?”
Taking the book from his hands, she saw how the bullet had gone through the front leather cover, the pages, then lodged itself in the back leather jacket. It had not even broken Jackson’s skin.
Shaking her head, she stared in awe at him. “Your Bible protected you. Thank God, it protected you and kept you safe.”
His brown eyes filled with tears. “I think God had a reason to let me live.”
“You’re alive,” she sobbed.
“Hannah, I love you,” he said, reaching up to caress the side of her face. “I’ve loved you for weeks.”
“Oh, Jackson,” she said. “I love you too.”
Hearing her stepfather moaning, she sensed they weren’t out of danger. “Let’s get out of here before the madam returns with her henchmen. Come on, I know a way out.”
She yanked off the hated gloves and threw them on the floor. Then she helped him stand.
At first, he was unsteady, but then he took her arm and wrapped it around his waist. “Let’s get out of here. The Rangers can take care of Elliott.”
Once they were out of the room and heading down the back stairs, Hannah glanced at Jackson. “About the Rangers…I lied.”
When Jackson and Hannah reached the street, they noticed people running like a herd of cattle were chasing them down the street.
Jackson stopped a man. “What’s wrong?”
The man’s eyes were wide. “The Texas Rangers just rode into town along with the calvary from Fort Griffin. If you’ve got a price on your head, you better get out of town, now.”
Jackson laughed, the sound full of happiness and relief. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
“Really, I lied,” Hannah said.
“I just think you were a bit premature with their arrival,” Jackson said, brushing his lips across hers. “This means the town will soon be cleaned up.”
An explosion boomed from inside the brothel, sending glass flying out into the street as flames shot up into the air. Jackson covered Hannah with his body, pressing her down as debris fell around them.
People raced with pails of water and started a bucket brigade to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the town.
“Elliott is in there and the girls,” Hannah said. “We have to save the girls!”
“Let’s go,” Jackson said.
They rushed around the back of the whorehouse, from where they’d just escaped. Girls stood in the windows, crying for help. Hannah ran inside the way she’d come, climbing the stairs with Jackson following. Smoke billowed around them, making it difficult to breathe.
When she reached the hall, all she could see were flames.
“We can’t reach them,” Jackson said.
Hannah screamed, and several girls heard her, popping their heads out of their bedroom doors. “Come this way!”
Opening a closet, she pulled out blankets.
Fear raged through her; her heart thumped like a wild ride across the prairie. She didn’t want to burn here in the brothel, but she couldn’t leave without helping the girls escape the blaze.
The women hurried toward her, running through the blaze that now consumed the furniture, their clothes catching on fire. When they reached Hannah and Jackson, they beat back the flames on the women’s clothes then showed them the hidden staircase that led outside.
Before Hannah could stop him, Jackson pulled a blanket over his head and ran through the fire.
She screamed. “Stop! No! Jackson, no!”
Paying her no heed, he disappeared into the flames. After what they’d just gone through, why would he risk his life again for her worthless stepfather?
Minutes passed and she felt her heart sink, fearing the worst.
Feeling like it had been hours, when it had only been but a few moments, she waited inside the burning buildi
ng. Knowing Jackson had gone back for Elliott, she was furious Jackson would risk his life for that piece of dung. The smoke almost overpowered her, but she refused to leave.
Suddenly, through the flames, she saw Jackson emerge with two more women and Elliott.
The preacher man had saved her hated stepfather. Yes, she wanted to see him hang, but not at the expense of the man she loved.
Limping, they hurried through the inferno. She waited with blankets. When they came through the flames, she beat their clothing until they no longer smoldered.
Standing in the hallway, they heard the ominous sound of cracking.
Glancing up, she saw the roof above them was about to collapse, the noise sending shudders through her.
“Everyone down the stairs!” Jackson screamed over the roar of the fire.
Hannah grabbed the other side of her stepfather, and together, they practically dragged him down the stairs. She didn’t understand why Jackson hadn’t just let the man die. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t have left him to burn, but then she realized this was Jackson.
He would never step back and let someone suffer, even if he were deserving of his fate. He was still God’s child, and she either had to accept that about the man or move on.
When they reached the streets, a Texas Ranger rode up. Jackson handed Elliott to the lawman. “Elliott Potter, wanted for the murder of Georgia Potter and suspected of killing Mary Williams Potter. Plus, there are two warrants out on him for kidnapping and selling women into prostitution.”
The lawman took Elliott and tied his hands behind his back. “You’re hereby taken into custody.”
“What about Mrs. Hutchins? Did she get out of the saloon?” Hannah asked the lawman, curious to know what had become of the hated woman.
“No, ma’am. She was shot by the sheriff who then started the fire in the saloon to cover her murder.”
“What? How do you know? Who turned in the sheriff?” Hannah asked.
Tim from the stables stepped up. “I did, Hannah. I saw him shoot Mrs. Hutchins to keep her from leaving town when they learned the Rangers had arrived. They’ve already arrested him.”
“Oh, my God, Tim. If I hadn’t asked for your help, he might have gotten away with her murder,” Hannah said, hugging the young man’s neck. “Thank you. Thank you for helping us.”
He nodded. “I was in the saloon, trying to find you, when I heard the argument. I was going to help her, when he shot her.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I hid until I saw him setting the gunpowder on fire. Then I hightailed it out of there.”
“Thanks, Tim,” Hannah repeated.
Elliott sighed. “We could have made so much money together.”
The Texas Ranger shook his head. “Let’s get you to jail. Then I’ll have the doctor tend to your leg.”
Jackson and Hannah watched the Texas Ranger haul off Elliott with Tim following. As they disappeared into the jail, Hannah turned to Jackson.
“It’s over,” she said with a sigh. “We did it. We cleaned up the town.”
“Yes, so now you have no excuse not to marry me.”
Her chest ached, and she wanted with all her being to say yes, but she just knew it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be fair to Jackson. He deserved a wife who would be accepted by everyone. “Your church is never going to welcome me. You’re better off without me.”
“Well, I have an idea on how you can change how they refer to you. How does Mrs. Jackson Colster, Sheriff of Hide Town, Texas, sound?”
“What? Are you crazy?” Sheriff?
She could continue the job of cleaning up this town. She would refuse to let anyone who was wanted by the law to reside here, and she’d make certain the saloon, if rebuilt, was run properly. But no, she couldn’t stay here because of Jackson.
“Listen to me. You could use your bounty hunting skills, but instead of traveling around the country catching criminals, you would be doing it right here in our town. And you could also do your duties as a preacher's wife, at least until we had kids, and then you might be kind of busy taking care of them.”
This was why she couldn’t stay. He deserved to be happy, and she couldn’t be around when he finally married another woman. Watching him with someone else would break her heart. She had to leave.
“Jackson, I love you with all my heart and soul, but I refuse to become your wife and have your church not accept me. It wouldn’t be fair to you or me.”
“Our love should not be about my church. It should be about the two of us. If they refuse to see how wonderful you are, then we find a new congregation. It’s simple.”
“But your church is a part of who you are. No one is going to accept an ex-soiled dove.”
His brows drew together, and his eyes flashed with anger. “Okay, I agree with you my church is a part of who I am, but you said a very important word. Ex-soiled dove. We all have pasts. We all have sin. It’s time you put the past behind you and started fresh.”
“I agree, and I want to start fresh.” She really did, but she loved him way too much to let her past hurt him.
Jackson took a deep breath, gazed into her eyes. “I don’t want to live without you. You’re more important to me than any congregation. And they’re going to love you like I do, once they know you.” He picked up her hands. “Will you marry me?”
Hannah thought about it for a moment. It was what she wanted. She loved this man. She wanted to have his babies, to grow old together, and to love him each night. But could his church find it in their hearts to love her as she was?
“I would love to be your wife if your church will accept me.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, right in the middle of Main Street. “I love you, Hannah Williams. You better find yourself a wedding dress because there is soon going to be a wedding.”
Chapter 15
The next Sunday, Margaret and Hannah sat in the front pew of the church. When they had come through the door, people had stopped and greeted her, saying hello and how good it was to see her. They acted like she was their long-lost best friend, and several times she’d been shocked at how nice they were. She’d received two invitations to lunch and one to tea.
“Margaret, what did you promise them or should I say threaten them with?” she asked.
“Not a thing,”Margaret said. “Though I did read some scriptures to several ladies.”
After the song leader sang a few songs and a man came up and led the prayer, Jackson took the podium.
At first Hannah felt fearful of what he would say, but then he held everyone’s attention.
“Good morning! I can’t tell you how glad I am to be with you today.” He held up his Bible, the one he carried in his pocket—the one that still had the bullet meant to kill him stuck in the leather cover.
The crowd gasped.
“I shouldn’t be here this morning. I should be dead. I was going to give a sermon on forgiveness today. I had it all written out, thought it was a fine lesson. Then yesterday, when the shooting started and I thought I wouldn’t be here today, it came to me. Love is what I should be talking about.”
He walked across the built-up platform. “If you read your Bible, you know we are all supposed to love one another. We may not agree with each other’s actions, but we’re to love and accept each other and let God judge us for our actions here on earth. Not man.”
Hannah watched the man she loved with all her heart and knew there was no way she could leave him. Even if his church didn’t accept her, he was her heart and soul, and she could no more go off and leave him than not take her next breath.
Yes, he was a preacher, and she was an ex-soiled dove, but he could help her learn to trust God again, and she could help him get over the Civil War and the killing he’d seen. Together, they would help rebuild Hide Town into a community where they could raise their children.
“I want you to know I’ve fallen in love with Hannah Williams. Yes, I know her past, but did you know I had a past as well? I
ran from the Civil War. Sure, I was only ten years old, but I’d seen enough men’s bodies torn by bullets and bayonets that I couldn’t deal with the carnage. So I ran. I lied and told everyone the general sent me home when I ran because I didn’t want to watch another person die.
“Hannah and I are both imperfect human beings that life has tossed about like two souls lost at sea. And now we’re joining forces. I hope you will love and accept her the same as me. But if not, we will be moving to another town and a new congregation. We’re all imperfect human beings, and we all need God’s love.”
He stepped down from the podium and came over to where she was sitting. “Hannah, marriage was created by God for two people to join together for a lifetime. I love you.” He got down on bended knee. “Will you please marry me and let me show you love for the rest of our lives together?”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she heard Margaret beside her blubbering like a baby.
She took his hand and pulled him to his feet and stood with him. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes, Jackson, I would be honored to be your wife. I love you with all my heart.”
He smiled, kissed her on the lips in front of his congregation, then hurried back to the podium.
Love filled every corner of her heart, and she had to wipe the tears of happiness away. For better or worse, she’d just agreed to marry Jackson, and she would spend her days loving him for being a wonderful man.
“Song leader, please lead us in a song and one more prayer.”
Jackson came back down and pulled Hannah to her feet, leading her out the door. Together, they greeted the members of the church as they left the building. Hannah was treated like a treasured member in the congregation, the people in his church opening their arms to her.
After everyone left, Jackson wrapped his arms around her. “So what are we going to do for excitement next week, Miss Williams?”
She laughed. “We’re going to get married.”
“Oh, I like the way you think.”
“Well, do you want to wait?”
“We could do it right this moment as far as I’m concerned.”
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