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With those words out there, I wondered if I could even make myself go through with my original plans now, no matter how pure my intentions may be.
Can I truly lie to the world and tell them that I’m giving my heart to one woman when it truly belongs to another?
9
LILY
I awaken the next morning grasping for someone who isn’t there. My arms flail, looking for Jack in bed, and him not being there fills me with a bit of desperation until I realize for a moment it’s not going to be the end of the world.
Your mind goes to the weirdest of places when it doesn’t have its bearings together, but I guess it also reveals a bit about your truest feelings.
I pull myself up. It’s the best I’ve slept in a long time, even if my entire body aches a bit from the physical activity of the night before. It’s a good ache, one I’m more than willing to endure if it means I get to spend more time with him.
“What do you mean, you can’t arrest him?” I perk up, and see that Jack is sitting at the desk in his room. He’s dressed in only his jeans, the phone call interrupting him getting dressed for the day. “He threatened to murder Lily. He damn near did it. That’s attempted murder.”
I sigh, realizing he must be on the phone with the sheriff, and that things aren’t exactly going our way.
“I’ve never once filed a false report about Max. But just because my uncles did so thirty years ago, it means you can’t take my word?”
His teeth are gritted, his hand nearly crushing the phone.
“I don’t know how much more you want from me, Sheila. Yes, I get it’s the district attorney saying this and not you. Fine. Yes, I understand.”
He clicks off the phone and throws it across the desk. He takes a few deep breaths. I expected him to go off and break something, and frankly, from what I heard, I would have gone and broke something too.”
I slide on one of his shirts for a bit of warmth as I approach him, and wrap my arms around him. “It’s okay.”
“The hell it’s okay. He tried to kill you, Lily. If the law won’t take care of him, I’m seriously debating going full old-school justice on him.”
“What do you mean, old-school justice?”
“I gather up a posse. I find Max. And we take care of things ourselves, just like they did back in 1875.”
I glare at him, my eyes wide. “You can’t be serious. You’d be the one getting arrested, then.”
“Well, what else can I do?” He’s fighting not to raise his voice at me. He’s angry, and worse than just angry, he’s filled with righteous rage. He knows he’s undeniably in the right and feels powerless to do what he feels needs doing. “I can’t let a man like him walk the streets alongside you.”
“I’ll... I’ll just stay close to you, Jack.”
He pulls me in for a firm hug, a smile finally coming to his face. “And I want you to stay close. But it’s not right for you to put yourself under house arrest when it’s him who has done wrong, Lily. I’m going to drive myself crazy if Max isn’t taken care of.”
There’s a knock on the door.
Which wasn’t fully closed in the first place.
“Y’all decent in here?” she calls out, but doesn’t wait for an answer.
Sarah walks into the room, and looks both our ways: at Jack, in nothing but jeans, and me in nothing but his shirt. I blush and hide behind Jack, who, to my surprise, is blushing a bit too.
“Well, no one has any parts flopping about, so y’all are decent enough.”
Jack shakes his head. “I know you’re still technically my fiancée, Sarah, but you should give me more warning that you’re coming in, than that.”
“I would if it weren’t so damn important.” She walks in, her gait one from a woman on a mission. “I need you two at the town square in Greenbluff today. It’s the end of the Summer Festival, and I’m going to send it out with a bang. Something to leave the people talking for years to come.”
“Sarah, I appreciate the invitation, but we’ve been dealing with some issues more serious than the festival.”
“Yeah, and that’s why you need to be there. Word travels fast in this town, Jack. I already know how everything went down yesterday, and that my father walked into our home like nothing happened and told me I can’t just be protecting him because he’s my father anymore.”
