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Adam threw his hands up. “Why didn’t you stop him?” Was it murder if you were goaded into it through sheer frustration? Surely a judge would side with him this once.
Willy shrugged. “He was following Birdie.”
Adam briefly closed his eyes.Count to three, murder is bad, Woodson specifically saidNo Killin’, deep breaths.
He gave Willy what he hoped was a nice smile, but judging by the confused and slightly horrified expression on the young man’s face, Adam wasn’t pulling it off. “You’re saying that like it answers all my questions. That doesn’t answer any of my questions. Who is Birdie and why didn’t you stop her from taking my horse?”
Willy eyed him like he was speaking a foreign language. “Birdie is the sheriff’s horse. She pretty much does what she wants. She got friendly when she passed by earlier, and your horse just followed her on out. I’ve been keeping an eye on him, but he’ll be fine. Birdie always naps for a few hours in the morning. No one can get her moving if she’s napping. Your horse is right over there.” He pointed to the sheriff’s office and then took off before Adam could grab him again.
Adam rubbed his hand over his face again. “Women are running around marrying men willy-nilly, horses are horse-napping other horses, and a goat named Lucille apparently runs the town. What kind of place is this?” he muttered.
He took a long, cleansing breath that did nothing whatsoever to steady him, then headed over to the sheriff’s office to retrieve his horse.
“Sherriff, I—” he started, trying, and failing, to keep his voice at a non-angry level.
Woodson spun around. “Shh,” he said, cutting him off before he could get more than two words out.
Adam opened his mouth to protest, but his jaw was too busy dropping to form words.
Woodson patted the back of the baby strapped to his chest and bounced a bit. The little girl snuggled into his chest, let out a sigh, and settled back to sleep.
Adam looked back and forth between Woodson and the baby a few times. Woodson just raised a brow, a faint smile on his stern lips. Adam finally shook his head. Everything else about this town was stranger than a cat swimming circles in a lake; why should the fact that the sheriff was strapped with a baby instead of his firearms be any different?
“Why did you take my horse?” Adam asked, though he was careful to keep his voice down.
Woodson frowned. “I didn’t take your horse.”
Adam flung out an arm, pointing to where the horse in question stood beside the sheriff’s own horse. “Then what is he doing here in front of your office instead of at the stables where I left him?”
The men were getting closer, their voices more heated, though they still kept them low, whisper-shouting at each other just loudly enough for the other to make out the words.
“Ask him,” Woodson said, jerking his head at Barnaby. “He just showed up here earlier, seems to have taken a liking to Birdie.”
Adam just stared at him, not sure how to respond. “Does your horse often pick up strays when wandering about town?”
Woodson shrugged. “Occasionally.”
Well, that…wasn’t the answer he was expecting as he’d been half joking. “Did it not occur to you to return him, or send word, or—”
Woodson let out an irritated sigh that Adam felt down to his soul. “Your horse was in no danger. He wasn’t far from where you’d left him. Anyone in town you cared to ask would have pointed you in this direction, so trying to hunt you down to tell you your horse was perfectly fine seemed unnecessary.”
A flood of responses flew through Adam’s mind, but each one seemed more likely than the last to get him shot, so he just kept his mouth shut.
“Besides,” Woodson continued, “it’s the first time I’ve seen her awake for this long of a stretch in years. She must return his affections.”
Adam stared at the horses, who were now nuzzling. Wonderful. His horse was courting.Traitor.“I…” He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Mr. Brady,” Doc said as he and Preacher stepped onto the walkway in front of the sheriff’s office. “How are you this fine day?”
Adam opened his mouth to answer but got distracted when Deputy Sunshine popped out of the office door and pinned them all with a cheerful smile.
“Want me to lay her down now, Sheriff?” he asked.
Woodson nodded and carefully disengaged himself from his daughter. When Sunshine had her and went through the door again, Adam caught sight of a small baby’s cot inside the office. His brows hit his hairline at the surprising domestic turn the country’s most notorious gunslinger had taken. But all it took was one glance at those hard, unyielding eyes for Adam to know that Gray Woodson could still be a very dangerous man when he wanted to be.
“Mr. Brady?” Doc asked again, and Adam gave himself a little shake.
“Apologies, Dr. Fairbanks.”
