Misty's True Love (Mail Order Brides of Pioneer Town, Book 2) (11 page)

When Olivia entered, Olivia glanced
around the silent room, waiting for Rosamund. The entire trip there
was probably pointless, but Olivia could not just sit back and do
nothing.

“
Mrs. Mills. I wasn’t aware
that you were stopping by. How lovely it is to see you,” Rosamund
said, walking in with a haughty expression on her face.

“
I do apologize for not
giving notice, but there’s a matter that we need to discuss at
once,” Olivia said.

“
Oh,” Rosamund replied,
showing signs of confusion. “Of course. Please have a seat. I shall
ring for tea.”

“
No thank you,” she said,
stopping Miss Swire in her tracks.

Rosamund swallowed hard, pausing for
several seconds before speaking. “May I ask what it is you came
here for? Is something wrong? You seem much different than you
normally are.”

“
That’s because I have
endured a taxing day,” Olivia said, sighing as she spoke. “I came
to see you with the hopes of putting matters to rights, so please
tell me that I came to the right place to accomplish such a
thing.”

“
I’m not sure I understand,
Mrs. Mills. Is this about that maid?” Rosamund said, finally
figuring out the reason behind Olivia’s visit.

“
Yes, it most certainly is.
I need to know what really happened when she came to see you. And
please, spare me the lies,” she said, folding her arms across her
chest.

The look on Rosamund’s face right then
was a peculiar one. Her narrowed eyes seemed to dart around the
room aimlessly as her hands began to fidget. “I apologize, but I am
not quite sure I understand your meaning, Mrs. Mills. Are you
asking if she actually stole my necklace or not?”

“
That is precisely what I
am asking you, Miss Swire. Is Miss Fields the thief that you’ve
made her out to be?” she asked, leaning forward in her
chair.

Rosamund paused again, averting
Olivia’s gaze. “I am somewhat confused, if I may say so. I thought
that you would approve…”

“
Approve? Of you lying to
the sheriff, and to me?” Olivia asked, her voice slowly getting
louder. “How absurd!”

Rosamund looked affronted. “I only did
what we had set out to do the moment that woman arrived to steal
your son away from me. Isn’t that what you wanted as well, to
secure a marriage between us?” Rosamund asked defensively, her eyes
finally meeting Olivia’s again.

“
Yes,” she said, slowly
rising from her chair, “but not like this, Miss Swire. You don’t
falsely bring the law into family matters. I would suggest you drop
the charges immediately so that this foolishness can be put behind
us.”

Rosamund’s mouth fell open. “You wish
me to drop the charges and admit that I lied? Why would I do such a
thing? That woman might not have stolen my necklace, but she did
take something that belonged to me.”

“
You cannot be serious,”
Olivia said, shaking her head. “You wish the woman to be falsely
charged because you think she took my son from you? I suppose my
son was right about you all along, and I am more regretful of not
listening to him sooner than I am of ever trusting you. Would you
please see me out?”

“
Mrs. Mills,” Rosamund
said, leaping to her feet. “Please, stay awhile so we can discuss
this. I never meant to…”

“
Unfortunately, Miss Swire,
your intentions matter not. You did something horrible without any
apprehension, and now you will not even confess to your deeds in
order to clear her name. My opinions on Miss Fields have not
changed, but I now see you for who you truly are. I must take my
leave.”

As Olivia turned to meet the butler in
the doorway, Rosamund called out one last time. “Does this mean
that he won’t be marrying me after all?”

Olivia felt that the woman didn’t even
deserve the dignity of a response after what she had done. “I hope
your visit went well, my lady,” the butler said, ushering her out
to the car.

“
I wouldn’t say that, but
it did work out in my favor,” she said. As he turned to go back
inside, she approached the vehicle and looked up at her driver.
“Would you please take me to see the sheriff
immediately.”

“
Yes, Madam. I’ll have you
there at once,” the driver said.

And just as he had promised, they
arrived at the sheriff’s station in almost no time. The chilly
evening was creeping up on them quickly.

When she headed inside, the first
person she saw was a short, chubby man wearing a brown uniform.
“Good afternoon,” he said. “May I help you with
something?”

“
Yes, I wish to speak to
Sheriff Dobbs about an urgent matter,” Olivia said, looking over
the man’s shoulder hoping to see if the sheriff might be
around.

“
Oh, the sheriff is busy. I
can see if…” the deputy said, before his sentence was abruptly
interrupted by another man’s voice.

“
There’s no need, Roberts,”
Sheriff Dobbs said, walking out into the foyer. “I’m right here.”
He then turned his attention toward Olivia, smiling before speaking
in a quiet, raspy tone. “Mrs. Mills, how unexpected it is to see
you here. Is there something I may assist you with?”

“
Yes, there is. May we
speak somewhere privately?”

“
Of course,” he said,
pointing down the corridor. “We can speak in my office.”

Sheriff Dobbs led Olivia to a small
room near the back of the station. He pulled open the door,
ushering her inside. “Please, take a seat if you’d like,” he added,
pointing to a chair across from him as he sat down behind a large
desk. “What seems to be the problem?”

Olivia fidgeted in the uncomfortable
chair, trying to get herself situated. “Well, for starters, you are
holding an innocent woman for a crime she didn’t
commit.”

She watched the sheriff carefully as
his mouth fell open. “Are you saying that Miss Fields isn’t the
perpetrator of the theft? Then who is?”

“
No one is, and that’s the
issue at hand. Miss Swire falsely reported a crime that hadn’t
happened—for her own, selfish gain,” Olivia said, trying her best
to explain the truth as she knew it. “Miss Rosamund Swire confessed
the deed to me willingly. She thought that I would approve of such
nonsense. Needless to say, that was not the case. I have matters
that I will have to tend to once I get home with this news, but I
felt it was my responsibility to speak with you and offer the
truth. No one should be falsely imprisoned.”

“
Well, that’s certainly a
stance that I agree with. In light of this new evidence, I will see
that Miss Fields is released at once. May I inform her of your
visit?”

“
No, please don’t,” Olivia
said, looking down at her hands as she interlocked her fingers
across her lap. “My son can explain everything to her. All she
needs to know now is that she’s free to go.”

“
Yes, of course,” he said.
“I will take care of it immediately.”

Olivia stood up, smiling at the
sheriff as she walked toward the door. “Thank you, Sheriff Dobbs. I
wanted Miss Swire to resolve this mess on her own, but she refused,
leaving me no other option.”

“
Thank you, Mrs. Mills,” he
said

“
Don’t thank me, Sheriff. I
am only doing what is right, and it is what I have to for my son.
It’s he who would suffer the most from these lies.” Olivia then
turned and headed back toward the main exit, but her mind was only
focused on one thing now: regaining Cody’s trust.

Chapter 16

The last day had been something of a
nightmare. Misty had been locked away in a cold, dusty cell for
something she hadn’t done; a crime that had probably never even
been committed. Misty was sure that the jewelry had not been stolen
by at all, but was merely a false accusation against her. Now,
things were left up in the air and she had no idea why. The sheriff
had freed her, saying that evidence had been found to contradict
the accusation, but he refused to elaborate any further on the
subject. It was a good thing that the truth had been discovered,
but now a dark cloud seemed to be following her around everywhere
she went. It was a strange, odd sensation that she just couldn’t
shake, regardless of how hard she tried.

Misty sat in the drawing room, sipping
from her morning teacup, when the sound of a gentle knock echoed
softly through the house. “I wonder who that could be,” she
whispered, looking around as if she would somehow see the visitor
by doing so. Since Indiana and Morgan had gone to town that
morning, Misty would have to greet the visitor and ask that they
return at a later time or leave a message.

As she made her way to the front, she
could see a silhouette through the windows that lined the door.
Although the man’s face was blurred and hard to see, Misty was sure
that she recognized him. Pulling the door open in a hurry, she
stood there in shock when she found out that she had been right: it
was Cody.

“
I wasn’t aware that you
would be stopping by today,” she said with delight.

“
I was hoping that you
might be able to afford me some of your time,” Cody said, smiling
through a reddened face.

“
Yes, of course,” Misty
said, unsure of what to think of his sudden arrival. Was he there
to tell her that the marriage would never happen? It would be in
line with her luck, wouldn’t it? First the earthquake threatened
her way of life back in San Francisco, and then her aunt’s passing
sent her off to an even more futile place. “I hope that there is
nothing is wrong.”

“
To be honest, things are
better now than they were even a day ago. What I’ve come to say is
nothing unsatisfactory. There are just a few matters I’d like to
discuss with you in private, if I may,” Cody said, flashing his
sweet smile her way. “Shall we take a walk?”

“
Yes, that would be lovely.
There is a beautiful walk along the creek,” Misty said, excited,
yet fearful at the same time, of having Cody join her at one of her
favorite spots on the ranch.

“
That sounds lovely,” he
said, holding out his arm for her to join him.

It had been a rather unexpected start
to her morning, but now Misty was walking Cody by her side. It was
all such a stark contrast to what her day had felt like just one
before.

As they walked past along, the smell
of cows wafted through the air, filling her nostrils with the
unpleasant odor. She was finally beginning to grow accustomed to
the stench, having lived with Indiana and Morgan for a while now,
but even still, it caused her to sneeze and cough whenever she got
too close to the cattle.

“
I see you have yet to
master the art of cattle-ranching,” Cody said, laughing as he
looked over at her. “It’s basically the same as any industry that
works with animals or even lumber, though. It takes time to become
accustomed to the dust and odors and whatnot when you’re living
right there with it all.”

His words were reassuring and
comforting, but Misty’s last worry in the world right then was the
smell of animals. “If only the cows were the most troubling thing
about my time out here so far,” she said, the words escaping from
her tongue before she could pull them back.

“
Pardon me? You’re speaking
of what happened with the sheriff, aren’t you?” Cody said, stopping
in his tracks.

Misty was embarrassed. “I still don’t
even know why I was arrested or what happened to have me released
Misty said, sighing as she explained herself.

“
Well, that is precisely
why I’m here.”

“
Oh,” Misty replied, her
chest tightening as she stood there. “Well, the creek is just over
that small crest on the hill,” she added, pointing toward
it.

“
Then let us go and see
this beautiful spot of yours,” Cody said, smiling as happily as she
had ever seen him.

It was a good thing that the creek was
only a short trip from where they had briefly stopped, because the
anticipation was wreaking havoc on Misty’s mind. When they arrived
at the place, she walked over toward the stream and sat by a large
pile of rocks on the shore. Then, she looked up at Cody, smiling in
the hope that he would join her.

“
This is a rather
remarkable sight,” he said, sitting beside her and staring off over
the creek. “I can certainly see why you like to come
here.”

“
Yes, it’s so nice and
serene. I’ve found that it’s the perfect place to sit when I need
to be alone or remind myself of how beautiful the world can be,”
she said, watching the ripples in the water as they frothed and
moved about with the current.

“
So,” Cody said, clearing
his throat before he continued. “The reason I came out to see you
was to let you know that Miss Rosamund Swire was behind everything
that happened to you recently. She had the horrible idea of getting
you out of the picture so that she could have me for herself,” he
added, looking down at his feet as he spoke.

Misty gasped. “Really? I cannot
believe such a thing! Perhaps I should not have met with her,” she
said, sighing loudly as she rubbed her forehead.

“
Well, do not blame
yourself for her evil deeds,” Cody said, looking back up at her
once again. “Miss Swire did what she did because she was envious of
others. I am happy that Mother discovered the truth, and now it can
all be left in the past where it belongs.”