Page 34
“Just follow my lead,” Sadie whispered as Wally pulled the heavy oak door open for them.
Her shoes clicked on the tile floor as she made her way past the jail and courtroom to the land office. The Mayor’s office sat right next it, and she had a hunch that would be where she’d find Amos.
“Amos?” she called, knocking as the door swung open.
Sitting at a mahogany desk as big as her dining table, Amos’s face burned red like a beet as Otto towered over him from the other side, one word lingering in the air.
“Sadie.”
“Maybe we ought to come back,” Wally said as Otto swung around with a face so pinched with menace they both backed away from the door.
Growling as he passed them, Otto’s eyes narrowed to dark slits of accusation. Some of that accusation hit Sadie where it hurt, and she reflexively put a hand over her stomach like he’d punched her in the gut. The truth was he thought she’d killed Eli, and while she hadn’t pulled the trigger, she hadn’t felt much but shock and relief when it happened. Then she’d covered it up and been distracted by Wally’s appearance. She hadn’t had time to sit and think about it. Maybe the truth was she didn’t want to. Miserable as Eli had been, he was Otto’s brother. Someone had loved him. Would anyone be left grieving for her other than Teddy if she’d died? Ma, Pa, and Jo had moved on without a backward glance when she announced she was staying in town with James. True to their threats, they’d never written to her again.
Wally’s warm, reassuring hand supported her at the waist.
“You okay, Sadie?” he asked, leaning down over her ear.
Swallowing hard, she smiled weakly at him. “Yes, Wally. Thank you.”
She needed to get it together. This was her chance to garner some protection for Teddy, so she tossed her curls over her shoulder and swished her way up to Amos’s desk, where he sat wiping his sweaty head with a handkerchief.
“Afternoon, Mrs. Rogers. I don’t believe we had an appointment, and as you can see, I’m pretty busy.” He waved a hand in dismissal and picked up a bunch of papers that puffed out a veil of dust.
“Put that down, Amos,” Sadie said as Wally stepped up beside her. “You know it’s not easy for me to get over here, and Wally was kind enough to accompany me. All I need you to do is put the land deed in Teddy’s name.”
Straightening up to try and hide his anxious glance at Wally, Amos set down his kerchief and reached out to shake his hand.
“So you’re the fellow that won our Sadie’s heart,” Amos grumbled.
He stood and led the way to the land office, pausing to glance nervously side to side. To Sadie, the man looked like a giant rat sniffing around for a cat before going for the cheese.
“So, Mr. Amos,” Wally started as Amos rushed around the smaller desk to a filing cabinet.
“That’s Mayor,” Amos corrected absently. “Or Sheriff.”
Wally glanced at her behind Amos’s back. “Mayor Sheriff then. May I ask what we walked in on?”
“No you may not,” Amos snapped, standing back up with a folder.
The man came up to Wally’s chin.
“With all due respect, sir, I heard someone mention Sadie’s name, and if it involves my soon-to-be-wife in some way, I have every right to hear it.”
Sadie’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t expected him to do any more than smile pretty and sign the papers. Maybe some more of that kissing later…
Amos sat back in the chair, defeated. “If you want my advice, don’t go making an enemy of Otto or Eli.”
“I don’t intend to,” Wally said, stepping up to the desk. “What could Sadie have done? And I was under the impression Eli was missing.”
Sadie grabbed on to the crook of his elbow as Amos puffed up, glaring up at them like some annoying gnats he couldn’t get rid of.
“That’s right,” Amos said, “but if you ask me, he’s just off at the brothel in Tombstone blowing off some steam. He probably showed up to propose and found you there with Sadie. It don’t take a genius to figure out that could hurt a man’s pride. Just be thankful he didn’t challenge you to a duel. The man was a dead-eye shot.”
Amos paled and Sadie wondered what he left unsaid.
“Why’d you mention me?” Sadie reiterated the important question.
Tapping the pen on the now open folder on his desk, Amos glanced up, gaze softening.
