Page 86 of Magnolia Summer

“You’re forgetting something.”

“What?”

“I haven’t said yes to your proposal of marriage.”

“But you will.”

* * *

Celia wantedto get angry and tell him he had no right to assume so much. But how would that sound, since she was allowing the man to hold her in his arms? If she didn’t intend to marry him, she was behaving like a hoyden.

Truett pressed his lips to her forehead. Then he pulled back.

She looked up. Truett stared past her, searching the lane. Then she heard it too. The patter of running feet.

“Miss Celia! Miss Celia!”

Truett let go of her and hurried down the steps toward the girl child’s voice. Celia was right behind him.

She caught a glimpse of Annie’s tear-streaked face and her heart jumped into her throat.

“Miss Celia, please come quick! Sheriff Suggs, he—” She stopped at the porch steps, bent over, and gasped for breath. “Please come . . . help my Daddy . . . I’m so scared.”

“Get in the buggy,” Truett ordered. His carriage stood only a few feet away, the horse already hitched and ready to go. He picked Annie up and placed her on the seat.

Celia began climbing up beside Annie, but Truett grabbed her arm. “You stay here.”

“No! I’m coming with you.” She hoisted herself up without his help. “Let’s go.”

Truett leapt up beside her, frowning fiercely. He slapped the reins and urged the horse into a canter.

Celia turned to Annie. “What happened?”

“Sheriff Suggs rode up with three other men and started telling my Daddy and uncle that they didn’t have no business setting up a store when Bethel Springs already has a store. He told my Daddy he would burn it down. He had a torch. I’m so scared he’s gonna hurt my Daddy.” Annie sobbed while staring straight ahead.

Celia could only see Truett’s profile as he slapped the reins on the horses’ backs to urge them to go faster. His jaw looked carved from granite. She could only imagine how intense was the look in his eyes.

The orange glow of a tiny fire became visible ahead. When they were still a hundred feet away, Celia made out the figure of a man holding a torch, the tiny fire she had seen. Three other men were there. The man with the torch, which she recognized as Sheriff Suggs, held one man’s hands behind his back. Another man lay on the ground, and another had his boot resting in the middle of his back.

“That’s my Daddy!” Annie said. “He’s gonna hurt my daddy.”

Two women stood nearby yelling and sobbing. Sheriff Suggs’s torchlight flickered bright against the night. He handed his prisoner over to the other man and stalked toward the door of the store.

“Hey!” Truett yelled as the horse galloped even faster.

The sheriff halted and turned his head in their direction. He planted his feet apart and faced them.

Celia’s heart beat so hard it hurt, but she wasn’t sure if it was more fear or anger. How dare the man commit such an atrocity toward innocent people? He was a menace, evil and cruel.

Celia and Truett jumped down at the same time. Rage made her voice screechy. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Truett stepped toward Curtis, who was the man holding Annie’s father and the other man on the ground. Then she noticed three or four other men standing around with their horses in the shadows.

Truett’s hands clenched as he held them by his sides. Annie’s soft wailing came from the buggy behind them, the only sound.

“If it isn’t Miss Celia Wilcox and Dr. Truett Beverly.” Sheriff Suggs spoke slowly, drawing out his words. His features were highlighted by the garish orange light of his torch. His teeth showed and his upper lip curled into an animal-like sneer.

Celia knew Truett wouldn’t let the sheriff hurt her, and the men around him, warped as they obviously were, probably wouldn’t either. But what would they do to Truett? And to Annie’s father and his store?