The Widow's Touch (A Whimsical Select Romance Novella) (12 page)

“I know,” she whispered, but she
looked at him pleadingly.  “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

“You have pressed upon me how I must uphold my badge, and now you ask me to look away from the law?” he pierced her with curious stare.  “Am I only to disregard the law when it applies to you?” he asked, and then smiled wide.

“Just this one time, and I’ll never ask again, I promise,” she vowed.

“I can’t do that, Eloda.  The loyalty to what my badge represents is mightier than even you,” he said.  “I see that now.”

“But, he’s only a boy and he’ll undoubtedly face the same injustices that I have encountered” she interjected angrily.  “How can you stand there and state so freely you’re willingness to do that?”  She stood up and placed her hands on her hips.  She wondered how she could have been so wrong about the man she fancied herself in love with.    

“
But,” he softly said as he rose to face her, “There’s a way I’m willing to work around it, lawfully.”

“How?
” she eagerly asked.  “I’ll do anything, Jack.”

“A man can’t testify against his wife
,” he said.

She inhaled sharply and her mouth gaped open, and Jack
smiled even wider.  Placing his hands on her hips, he pulled her close and looked lovingly into her eyes.

“And I’m rightly sure a wife can find other ways to convince
a husband to keep her secrets.”

“Truly, Jack?  You want to marry me?”
  Her heart fluttered and tears trickled down her cheeks.

He nodded his head and
brought his lips down against hers.  He kissed her soft and tenderly and then gently pushed her away just enough to look into her eyes.  “You’re the most peculiar woman I’ve ever met, Eloda, but I love you nonetheless.”

“I love you, too, Jack,
” she vowed and tears flooded her cheeks as she rejoiced in the love he so freely offered her.

They both startled and turned guiltily when someone loudly cleared his throat outside the jail cell.

Eloda nervously straightened her dress and smiled, awkwardly, and didn’t breathe until Jonathon returned the smile.

“I just talked to some of the jurymen,” he said
, and leaned lazily against the bars of the cell with his arms crossed.

“Do they honestly expect me to go back to court now, after this?” 
Eloda gasped and reached for Jack’s arm for support. 

Jonathon shook his head
and a look of relief and surprise covered his face.  “The verdict was not guilty, Eloda,” he said with a wide smile, and he chuckled out his surprise.  “It’s all over.”

“But why?” she asked, shocked.  “I thought for sure after Ellen’s testimony they’d have no other
option but to convict me.”

“The people in this town deserve
d more credit than we gave them,” he said.  “Those who remember Ellen as that young girl beaten and violated knew she’d not have changed her testimony unless coerced into doing so. It proved to the jury how much of a farce this trial was.”

“Shultz must have caught wind
of the verdict too,” Jack said.  “Probably why he took Andy,” he added.

“Where are Shultz and his men now
?” Eloda asked.

Jack lowered his head and raised his
eyes to Jonathon, and looked as if he waited for him to explain.

“I think I’ll take your advice and get that long needed sleep,” he said to Eloda.  “I’ll come by and see you on the morrow
.”  He tipped his hat, smiled again, and walked towards the door.

“There was a gunfight, wasn’t there?” she asked.

Jack nodded.  “It couldn’t be helped.  They’re all dead.”

“And the town’s reaction to all of this?
”

“
Many are still angered over not seeing the hanging, but there are some good folks in this town as well,” he said. 

Eloda snorted her disbelieve.  “I’ve yet to see them.”

“If you were conscious, you would have.  It was those good folks who saved you, and there were more in numbers than either of us could have expected.”

“It wasn’t you
who saved me?” she asked, surprised.

Jack shook his head.  “One of Shultz’s men jumped me the moment I
reached you.”   He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.  “I so wanted it to be me who rescued you though.  I wanted to be that hero who saves the damsel in distress,” he said and smiled down at her.

“You are my hero, Jack,” she said, and kissed him.

“And something inside warns me that you’ll always be my damsel in distress,” he grinned.

She laughed and squeezed him tightly.  Laying her head on his shoulder, she basked in delight from the fresh feelings of love that welled within her.  The emotions were new, exciting, and powerfully intoxicating
.

“So, it’s truly over
, isn’t it, Jack?” she said and her lips brushed against his.

“No, Eloda,” he
whispered raggedly, and he claimed her mouth to his.  He pulled away and his eyes were bright and hopeful. “It’s just the beginning.”