Read The Sheriff Wears Pants Online
Authors: Joannie Kay
The Sheriff Wears Pants
The Sheriff Wears Pants
By
Joannie Kay
©2014 by Blushing Books® and Joannie Kay
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Kay, Joannie
The Sheriff Wears Pants
eBook ISBN:
978-1-62750-3723
Cover Design by
ABCD Graphics
This book is intended for
adults only
. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.
Cactus Hill, Texas
April 1871
“Hear tell you got some competition in this here comin’ up election, Sheriff?” Harley Forbes asked with his toothless grin as he sauntered out of the Bonnie Jane Saloon just as Will was making his afternoon rounds. It was still early and the Saloon wouldn’t get rowdy and rambunctious until after suppertime. Harley and a few of his old cronies could be found inside most afternoons playing cards and swapping stories.
“That so, Harley? No one told me that anyone else was interested in the job?” Could be that Harley was joking, or the man could be serious. With the old-timer, it was sometimes hard to tell.
“Guess no one but me is fool enough to tell you, son.”
“Tell me what?”
“That girl of yours is runnin’ against you! She’s claimin’ all over town that she’ll make a better Sheriff than you!” Harley cackled, and then shook his head, almost losing his old battered hat in the process. “Don’t that beat all?”
“It sounds just like something Darcy would do,” Will muttered angrily. “Let her run. If folks are stupid enough to vote for that impossible redhead, then they deserve what they get!” He stomped off down the street, trying not to let his temper show.
“Yep, that boy done got steam comin’ out his ears, Jasper,” Harley muttered, rubbing his mule’s ears. “That is one foolish little gal!”
* * * * *
“Are you out of your mind, Darshana?” the elderly woman asked from where she sat in her wheelchair looking out the glass French doors over her rose garden. Miss Eleanor spent a lot of time in the front parlor enjoying the meticulously tended gardens that grew right outside. She savored watching the birds, too, and they were naturally drawn to all the different flowers that were planted for her enjoyment.
“I am going to get even with Will Davies if it is the very last thing I do, Gram! He embarrassed me in front of the entire town, and now I will embarrass him in front of the town!”
“But, child, think about this logically for a moment,” Eleanor Hamilton suggested in a frail voice. “What if you somehow get elected?” Her granddaughter was barely five feet tall, and she didn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet!
“All the better, Gram,” Darcy insisted.
“For whom, child? For yourself? Or will you be putting the entire town at risk?” Her granddaughter wasn’t seeing the whole picture. Her feelings were hurt, but instead of admitting it, she allowed her temper to take over and come up with a plan that could prove dangerous to the entire town of Cactus Hill.
“How could I be putting the town at risk, Gram? Nothing ever happens here!”
“Have you considered the possibility that it is Will’s reputation that keeps us safe from criminals?” Eleanor asked, and then coughed into her lace-trimmed handkerchief.
“Gram, you shouldn’t be worrying about this,” Darcy said. “I think I should call Louisa and have her take you to your room for a nap.”
“Yes, I am feeling quite done in. Darshana?” She called after Darcy. “Please reconsider this foolishness before you create a dangerous situation for yourself and the entire town. Will is suited to be a lawman. You are not.”
Anxious to calm her grandmother, Darcy nodded. “I’ll do as you ask and give the situation some serious thought. Now, let me find Louisa.” She hurried from the parlor and found Louisa in Eleanor’s downstairs’ bedroom, changing the sheets on the bed. The twenty-nine year old woman looked up when Darcy walked into the pretty room.
“Yes, Miss Darcy?”
“Gram is tired, Louisa, and she needs a nap. Let me give you a hand with this,” she offered, and the two of them quickly had the linens changed on the bed. “I’ll take the pile of dirty laundry to the back porch, Louisa, if you want to go and get Gram.”
“That would be helpful, Miss Darcy.” The young woman was very wealthy, but she wasn’t a bit spoiled, to Louisa’s amazement.
“We appreciate all you do for us, Louisa. You are wonderful with Gram, and you always know what to do.”
“I am a nurse,” Louisa said with a pretty smile, pleased by the compliment.
“We’re so lucky that Doctor Grayson was able to hire you for Gram.” Darcy meant the words. She did as much as she could for her elderly grandmother, but Louisa knew best how to care for Gram’s special needs.
Louisa just smiled, but she was the one who was lucky. The request from Doctor Grayson came when she needed it most. Malachi was out of prison and searching for her… even though she’d divorced him. She’d taken the reward money she got for turning him in and invested it in nursing school. She hoped never to see Malachi again! She was happy here with Miss Eleanor and Miss Darcy, and Doctor Grayson gave his word to keep her real identity a secret. Yes, she was the lucky one, and she would do anything for these wonderful people who made her feel worthwhile again!
“You need to lie down for a while, Miss Eleanor?” she asked the elderly woman, giving her a smile.
“Yes, Louisa. I am feeling rather tired today. I am pretty sure it is worry causing me to feel this way, but I’m not able to think clearly right now, and I just don’t know what to do with that headstrong granddaughter of mine.”
“She is a very nice young woman,” Louisa dared to say as she gently pushed the wheelchair out of the parlor and toward the back of the house where Eleanor’s bedroom was located.
“Oh, she is nice… until you make her angry, and then she loses all common sense to try to repay in kind. That is the problem now. She saw Will kissing Priscilla Clemons. She and Priscilla have disliked each other since before they started first grade! The fact that Will was engaged to Darshana at the time he kissed Priscilla felt like he was cheating on her.”
“That doesn’t sound like something Sheriff Davies would do,” Louisa said, frowning.
“No, it doesn’t. But, that hotheaded granddaughter of mine wouldn’t give the man a chance to explain. She just took off his mother’s ring, threw it at him, and told him the engagement is off. Darshana can be unreasonable at times.”
“How did she get such an unusual name?” Louisa asked, doing her best to change the subject.
“Oh. I lived in India as a child and my best friend’s name was Darshana. When my daughter-in-law died in childbirth, my son was very distraught, and he got on his horse and didn’t return for three years. I named the baby Darshana to honor my childhood friend. When my son finally returned, he promptly nicknamed the little one Darcy, and to my displeasure, the nickname stuck. I am the only one who calls Darshana by her given name, to her relief, I might add.” She smiled as she admitted that to Louisa.
“I am sure that Miss Darcy is honored you gave her that pretty name, Miss Eleanor.”
The elderly woman was barely clinging to life, and Doctor Grayson warned Louisa when she took the job that it could be a week or two, or as long as a year. He had no way of knowing for sure, but Miss Eleanor was in her nineties, and if not for Miss Darcy, he felt Eleanor would have given up long ago. When Darcy’s father was killed in a hunting accident right after he came home, Darcy was only three years old. Eleanor completely took over raising the child, and she clung to her life to keep from leaving Darcy alone at such a tender age.
Darcy loved music, and when she was most upset, she found that sitting at the piano and playing helped her soothe her soul. It comforted her as nothing, but her dear Gram, could ever do. She was so hurt that Will Davies would turn to Priscilla Clemons and then kiss her in front of so many people! Why would he ask
her
to marry him and then take up with Priscilla? Will
knew
how she felt about that blonde witch!
There was a knock at the front door, and since Greta was out shopping, she knew she was the one to answer the summons. Through the window, she could make out Waldo Phares standing on the front porch. She pasted a smile she didn’t feel on her face and then opened the front door. “Well, hello, Waldo. What brings you here today?” she asked, although she already knew.
“Miss Darcy, first of all, is it true that you are running for Sheriff against present Sheriff, Will Davies?” Waldo Phares owned the one and only newspaper in Cactus Hill, and he truly looked like a reporter. He wore glasses that were constantly sliding down on his long nose, and his gray eyes were always probing and prying into folks’ private business.
“Why, yes, Waldo, that is true. I am running for Sheriff,” she admitted, reminding herself that she wanted the free publicity his paper would provide. “Would you like to come inside and have a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade?” she offered, every inch the lady she was raised to be.
“I would like that just fine, Miss Darcy.”
“I believe you know the way into the parlor? Have a seat and I’ll return in a few moments with the lemonade.” He eagerly nodded and hurried into the parlor, probably snooping for all he was worth, as any good reporter would do. Darcy hurried to the kitchen and took the lemonade from the brand new wooden icebox. She put the pitcher and two glasses on a tray, and then added a plate of ginger cookies. Darcy slowly made her way back to the parlor and put the tray on a serving table.
“I haven’t had cold lemonade in a while, Miss Darcy. This is a real treat,” Waldo told her after taking a sip from his glass. “And ginger cookies are the best. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Waldo. You are here to ask about my run for Sheriff?” she asked.
“Yes, I am. Unless you object to questions?” And if she did object, that would make for a good interview, too. The town would wonder what she was trying to hide. Waldo waited on her answer.
“No, I would love to answer questions,” Darcy said with a smile as she picked up the plate of cookies and offered Waldo one while trying to decide what to say that would put Will in
the worst possible light. “I decided to run for the office of Sheriff when I realized that Will Davies is not the man he would have everyone believe he is.”
“He’s been the Sheriff here for five years, Miss Darcy, and most everyone thinks he’s done a fine job of it.”
“They haven’t had the misfortune of getting to know him as I have,” she stated bluntly. “He is not a man of his word. He does not keep the promises he makes.”
“There are rumors going around that you are running against him because he broke off your engagement. Is this true?” Waldo was a reporter through and through, and he didn’t hesitate to ask the difficult questions, even if he personally thought they were tactless.
“For the record, Waldo,
I
am the one who ended our engagement,” she stated with emphasis, correcting him. “Will Davies was cheating on me with Priscilla Clemons, and half the town saw them kissing on the street a couple of weeks ago! I ask you, is a man who cheats someone you would want for your Sheriff? I have the best interests of the town in my heart. I feel it is time for William Percival Davies to leave town.”
“‘Percival’ is what the P stands for?” Waldo asked, doing his best to hide a grin as he took notes. That was a question many folks had asked, and Davies always made up some humorous answer that distracted the one who asked. Waldo himself had taken a
lot
of ribbing over his ‘sissy-fied’ name, so he understood why Will didn’t want to admit to the name Percival. However, it was news, and he was a reporter. It was no small wonder that Will hid the name since it didn’t sound like a name a lawman would have.