AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sam’s brow shot up. “I’m honored, but you know damn well I’m not ready for that type of commitment.”
Roy shot a look over at Ivy. “You sure?”
Sam followed his gaze and felt a wave of hopelessness fill his chest. “Yeah.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“The usual. Probably head back to Oklahoma, scout out the next bounty.”
Roy gave him a little surprised look. “I would have thought you might have decided to make Chicago your home base.”
“The city isn’t for me.” Sam cringed inwardly merely from the thought.
“Never figured ya for a city boy,” Roy nodded in understanding. “But things change.”
Sam didn’t respond. He knew Roy was still referring to Ivy. There were some things that could never change.
“I’m going to be sticking around for the court trial to give my testimony, and probably afterwards as well.” Roy glanced over at Ivy before he told Sam, “I suppose this means I still owe you?”
Sam gave a small smirk before an idea struck him. “Actually, I think I’ll take you up on that debt now.”
“Oh? What are you thinking?”
Sam gave Ivy a long look before he said, “You wouldn’t by any chance have any contacts in Ireland?”
* * *
A little over a week later, Ivy stood at the window in the room she rented in the core of downtown Chicago. She looked over the smoky rooftops toward the prison. From her view, it was not visible. But she knew the activity surrounding it that morning. Becky’s execution was scheduled for noon.
Retrieving her woolen cloak from her bedside, something fell out of one of the pockets. Orville Hendrickson’s check. She picked it up and looked at the amount again. Much larger than she had anticipated. She hadn’t wanted to accept it, but in the end, she took it because she had no other means of income until she received work. There was one other reason she needed it as well.
She placed it on her night table and slid her gaze to the letter of recommendation lying next to it. She was certain finding another domestic position in a private home would come easily. Ivy just wasn’t sure that was what she wanted to do.
Beneath it lay the day before’s newspaper. Becky Taylor’s face was splashed all over it. Thankfully, Ivy’s name was mentioned only a few times in the article. A small oval inset to the side of the editorial, was a picture of Stella. Even now she couldn’t help but feel sadness. She knew only too well how it felt to lose your only living family member.
A knock at the door brought her head around, the sorrow in her heart only momentarily dampened. It would be Sam. He was returning to Oklahoma and had said he would come and see her before he left. She had seen little of him over the past week. He stuck around for the court hearing and her subsequent acquittal, but otherwise made himself scarce.
Though she was glad he had, she didn’t know what to think of that. Perhaps it was an idiotic wish that she had hoped he would have pursued her after this was all over. Not that she would have relented. She wasn’t given a second chance at life only to risk it once more on a person she wasn’t entirely certain she could trust.
Drawing in a deep breath she made her way slowly across the room and wished he had just left without saying goodbye. The next few minutes would be the most difficult of her life.
He was staring at the ground when she opened the door. His cowboy hat clutched between his hands, enabling her to see his clean-shaven face and freshly shampooed hair.
When he raised those clear hazel eyes to look at her, Ivy had to swallow a sudden lump in her throat. No matter how hard she prepared herself, the emotion she saw in them nearly had her falling at his feet, begging him to stay.
At first neither spoke. They simply stood gazing into each other’s eyes before Sam finally cleared his throat and shoved a hand through his unruly blond locks.
“You going out?” he asked with a gesture toward the cloak she wore over her gray outfit.
She nodded. “The prison.”
His brows arched. “You going to watch them hang Becky?”
“I’m going for moral support. Stella will be needing it.”
“She don’t deserve it,” he stated flatly. Though really needn’t have because she could see it in his face.
“Still.” She gave a careless shrug,
