Testing her fledgling resolve, she turned
from the window and went to the washstand to rinse her face. Crying
and moping accomplished nothing. Staring at her reflection in the
mirror, she repinned her hair and pinched a little color into her
cheeks. The ugly bruise on her cheekbone had finally faded, and now
she just looked white and scared.
Well, she had lived like a victim most of her
life, letting herself be carried along by what others thought and
said. That was the old Althea Ford. This new woman, Allie Ford, the
one who’d left the only home she’d ever known to strike out for an
unknown future, wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer again.
Until he told her otherwise, Jeff Hicks was still the man who had
promised her a better life somewhere else. If he wanted to withdraw
his offer, then he would have to tell her so to her face. She put
on her jacket and picked up her reticule.
Crossing the room to the door, she gripped
the knob and took a deep breath. Then she stepped into the hallway
and closed the door behind her.
~~*~*~*~~
“
Good afternoon, Sheriff Mason. I would
like to see Jeff Hicks, please.” Allie made every effort to keep
her eyes off the silver badge on the sheriff’s vest. She made
certain her back was straight and her chin parallel with the floor.
She would be firm. She would not be denied again.
Will Mason sat at his desk. Until she had so
rudely interrupted him, he had apparently been drinking coffee and
studying a dog-eared copy of the Oregon Statesman. “Yes, ma’am. You
come on with me.” He folded the newspaper with a snap and pulled
his big iron key ring from the side drawer of his desk.
Allie felt her jaw drop before she quickly
closed her mouth again. Goodness, being firm had worked the first
time she tried it. She hadn’t even had to make the carefully
worded, polite demand she’d rehearsed in her mind on the walk over
here from the hotel. She followed Will to the heavy oak door that
separated her from Jeff, thinking that the sheriff’s tall,
wide-shouldered stature resembled the hardwood itself. He unlocked
the door and without bothering to announce her, he stood back to
let her pass.
The first thing that struck her was the
profusion of closely set, vertical bars. Her eyes madly sought Jeff
in the small enclosure—he was a big man, he should be easy to spot.
But when she saw him sitting on a bunk against the wall, he looked
smaller than she remembered, as if he’d physically withdrawn into
himself.
She rushed to the cell door. “Jeff!”
He looked up, unfolding his tall form, and
came to his side of the bars. Reaching between them, he took her
face in his hands. “Oh, God, Allie, honey— Let me look at you.” His
fingertips brushed over her mouth and nose and brows, as if he were
a blind man. He reached for her hands and held them to his lips,
pressing kisses on her knuckles.
This horrible place couldn’t diminish his
handsomeness, but he looked as if he rarely slept. Obviously he
hadn’t shaved since he’d been here, and Allie made passing note of
the blond and brown stubble of his beard. Dark smudges beneath his
eyes gave him a hollow look, and his face seemed thinner. To see
him this way, caged and vulnerable, was more painful than she’d
expected. She wished this iron barrier were not between them so
that she could pull his head down to rest on her shoulder and
stroke his hair.
“
I’ve been here every day. Did you know
that? Will Mason told me you wouldn’t see me.”
He laced his fingers with hers. “I know. I
wanted to, but—” He gestured at his wretched prison with his free
hand. “How could I let you see me in here? Hell, I’m even wearing
the same clothes I had on my back when Will brought me in. At least
he’s going to loan me a suit for the trial.” Lifting her palm to
his cheek, he closed his eyes for an instant. “God, I’ve missed
you, Allie. I’ve had a lot of time to think these past few days.
There hasn’t been anything else to do. I knew had to see you one
more time so I told Will to let you in if you came to visit
again.
“
If! Of course I came!” She searched
his lean face. “Are you eating? Is the sheriff treating you
well?”
“
I’m all right, honey, I’m all right.”
She found no comfort in his words. He didn’t look all
right.
There was so much to tell him, her words
tumbled out one after the other. “I’m staying at the hotel. I left
Olivia and the farm. For good.”
“
You did?”
She told him everything, about Olivia spying
on them in Jeff’s bed, and the selfish reason for her
treachery.
He told her he knew Olivia had watched them.
He told her of Royal Purdy, the man’s favorable impression of
Olivia, and his obvious pessimism about Jeff’s case.
“
She insists she saw me with the murder
weapon, that damned pick of Floyd’s.” His smile was rueful. “We
almost made it, didn’t we, Allie? We were going to have a new start
on a good life.” His voice trembled ever so slightly. “I even
imagined holding our newborn son in my arms.”
An icy shiver of foreboding washed through
Allie’s veins. “Jeff, what do you mean, ‘almost made it?’ ” You’re
not giving up—you can’t give up. As long as we’re alive there’s
still hope.”
“
I can’t fight the whole world. And I’m
beginning to think that this is the way things were supposed to
happen.”
“
What? Please, Jeff—I love you.” God,
but she wished she had told him sooner, under better circumstances.
“I have to tell Sheriff Mason I was with you that night. I am your
alibi.”
“
No. If you do, you won’t be able to
hold your head up in Decker Prairie ever again. Besides, I already
admitted that I talked to Matthews and Endicott. Your sister saw
me, Floyd saw me.”
Frightened, angry, determined, she stared at
his eyes. “But you were only there for a minute. I was with you the
rest of the night, and I’ll tell anyone who asks where you
were.”
“
No. I won’t let you do
that.”
“
You really can’t stop me.”
He fixed her with a hard look. “If you go
through with this, I’ll swear that you’re lying. In this case, I
know everyone will believe me. This town thinks little enough of me
already—they probably wouldn’t put it past me to try and hide
behind a woman’s skirts. And they’ll never forget your part in
it.”
“
I don’t care what Decker Prairie
thinks of me! Remember? I’m already one of the crazy Ford sisters.
They’ve always talked about me.”
“
But I do care. If I can’t be here to
look out for you, I want to know that you’ll be all right.” His
expression gentled again. “I love you, too, Allie. A lot more than
my own life.”
Allie knew she should find joy in his
declaration, but there was none to be found right now. She
struggled to blink back the tears gathering in her eyes but she
failed, her chaotic thoughts snagging on something he’d said
earlier. “What do you mean, this is the way it’s supposed to be?
You didn’t kill Cooper Matthews.”
He sighed. “No. I didn’t. But I killed
Wesley. That boy’s spirit has haunted me every day since. This is
like a reckoning. It’s my atonement, I guess.”
“
That’s ridiculous! You shot him in
self defense. Letting yourself be convicted for Cooper’s murder
doesn’t solve anything!”
He went on as if she hadn’t voiced this
objection. “My mother did well by us boys. She was a widow with
four sons to raise, but she did a good job. When I think about it,
it makes me feel small. She gave me the best start she could. If
she could see me now—this complete ruination of her son—well, I’m
grateful that she can’t.” He let out a huff of humorless laughter.
“Maybe she thinks I’m already dead.”
Allie didn’t try to stem the tears flowing
down her face. “W-why?”
“
She hasn’t heard from me in years, and
she doesn’t know about . . . anything that
happened to me. I just couldn’t bring myself to write and tell her.
After I shot Wes, well, that was when I realized that everything
I’d believed in, been taught, held as truth, was wrong. I couldn’t
fix a problem just because I knew how. Some things can’t be fixed.
Marriage doesn’t last for better and for worse. If you give some
people a hand up, they’ll take your whole arm.” He talked like a
man who had learned hard lessons, and now, seeing Death lurking in
the shadows, he accepted its presence as inevitable.
It scared Allie. If she could hold him, just
hold him and keep the world away from him. “Jeff, please—don’t give
up. You can’t. I love you, and I need you. We’ll work this out
yet.”
He gave her another wistful smile.
“Sweetheart, please, don’t get your hopes up. According to Purdy, I
don’t have the chance of a snowball in July. Olivia and Floyd are
complete strangers to each other, yet both of them swear they saw
me bury a pick in Cooper’s skull. And Olivia is—” His mouth twisted
bitterly. “Well, according to the lawyer, she comes off as sweet
and angelic, the kind who wouldn’t lie to save her soul. Purdy
doesn’t think it’s going to go well for me at the trial, and
I . . . I’m inclined to agree. You have to face
that.”
Allie felt an awful pressure building in her
chest. She wanted to scream and pound her fists on the bars, to
cling to Jeff and sob. She needed for him to tell her everything
would be all right.
But no—she wasn’t the one facing a noose. Not
the one locked up in this dank cell. He was the one who needed
comforting, not her. And if that was all God had seen fit to let
her give this man, it was little enough. “Oh,
Jeff . . . please,” she whispered, framing his
face between her hands. “Even in the worst storm, you can find
patches of sunlight shining through the gloom if you really
search.”
His gaze trailed slowly over her face. In a
thick voice, he said, “You’re my sunlight, Allie—and my
moonlight.”
Tears filled her eyes, nearly blinding her.
“We’re going to be strong and get through this. Together.”
He nodded and pressed close to the bars to
kiss her tears away. “All right, honey. Strong. We’ll be strong.
And we won’t give up hope.”
Even as he parroted the words, Allie heard
the ring of hopelessness in his voice.
“
But if it all goes wrong,” he went on,
“I have to ask a favor of you.”
She gripped his hands and took a deep breath.
“I’ll do anything you want.”
“
Write to my mother and tell her what
happened to me. Mrs. Kate Hicks in Klamath Falls. You can tell her
that Sally left me, but leave out the really bad things, like how I
turned into a drunk and was arrested for stealing an egg. That
would just hurt her. If I’m convicted and they hang me, don’t tell
her that either. Maybe you can just say I died to protect someone
else? I know you’ll find the right way to put it. Will you do it
for me?”
Allie had heard of heartache and she thought
she’d known it. But what she felt now was a thousand times worse.
It made her voice shake as if she stood in a high wind. “Yes, if it
comes to that. I’ll tell your mother that her son is the finest man
I’ve ever known.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Allie.” Then he pulled
her closer and reached to place a tender kiss on her lips. She
heard an anguished sound in his throat when his mouth touched hers.
“You go on now. Are you coming to the trial?” His eyes were
wet.
She pressed her hand to his face. “Yes, of
course I’ll be there! I won’t leave you alone in this.”
“
Okay, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. And
Allie? Thanks. For everything.”
Allie turned and stumbled out of the back
room, tears blinding her. Will Mason asked some question of her as
she hurried through his office, but she didn’t hear it, and she
didn’t stop until she was outside on the street.
She looked around her, at a town in a world
that rolled on despite the tragedy about to occur to the man locked
up in the office behind her. Her sense of helplessness infuriated
her to the point of overriding her heartbreak. She clutched her
reticule in tight hands. There had to be something she could do to
help Jeff.
Her head came up then as an idea occurred to
her. A possible way out. It was a slim chance, and it might mean a
final and complete schism between her and Olivia. But to save Jeff,
Allie was willing to sacrifice anything.
Turning on her heel, she walked back into
Will Mason’s office. He was back at his desk, reading his
newspaper, and looked up at her with a surprised expression.
“
Ma’am?”
“
Sheriff Mason, where might I find
Royal Purdy?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“
I don’t know, Miss Ford. It’s not much
to go on.” Royal Purdy sat at his gouged pine desk and leaned back
in his chair.
Allie sat across from the lawyer, her back to
the wall and with barely enough room for her knees. Her chair was
so rough and splintered that she was sure it would catch her skirt.
“I know it seems that way, but we could at least go out to the farm
and have a look.”
No wonder Jeff had sounded so bereft of hope
when Allie had talked to him. She’d been here for the better part
of an hour, trying to convince Royal Purdy that Jeff was innocent
and must be defended in court. His interest in the case was, at
best, lukewarm. Dear God, wouldn’t this man make any attempt to
save his client? Did he care nothing at all for the plight of a man
who might hang, despite his innocence? Her efforts to remain calm
were failing, and desperation crept in. “The real evidence might
provide just enough discrepancy to befuddle the two witnesses.”
Purdy put his hands together and tented his
fingers. “But the trial begins tomorrow morning. Judge John
Cavanaugh and Marshall Hastings, the prosecutor, have already
arrived. At this point, I don’t know what—”