The Sheriff's Runaway Bride

“I’m armed, Vincent, and entitled to defend myself. Think about that.”

Jerking away, Vincent stumbled backward. He fell against the corner of the closet and careened right out the back door, somehow managing to get down the steep stairs on his feet. Kylie moved forward without even realizing it until she stood crammed in the doorway shoulder-to-shoulder with Zach. Weaving and huffing, Vincent lifted a hand, pointing at them. Just then, Sherilyn came around the corner of the building.

“Vincent? What’s happening?” She hurried over and tried to steady him. “You okay?”

Vincent shoved her away. Sherilyn reeled but didn’t fall. Sparing not so much as a glance for her, he jabbed his finger at the doorway. “You two have embarrassed me for the last time!”

“You’re embarrassing yourself, Vincent,” Kylie said quietly.

He glared at her, but what she’d said seemed to sink in finally. Whirling around, he stalked off. Sherilyn ran after him. He could be heard growling, “Get away from me!” as Zach pulled the door closed.

Kylie shoved the bolt home and turned to put her back to the door, sighing. “Thank God you came when you did. Again.”

“I saw him follow you inside,” Zach explained. “By the time I could get over here …” He shook his head. “It was all I could do not to run, but I didn’t want to attract attention. I won’t hesitate next time.”

Glad for that, Kylie nodded. Reaching out, he pushed the closet door closed. Kylie opened it again and twisted the lock in the center of the knob before closing it once more.

“What now?” Zach asked.

She pretended not to understand the question. “Now, we watch some fireworks.”

“Okay,” Zach said on a sigh. “Pressing charges against Vincent would do no good and probably make matters worse. Besides, no real harm occurred. I’ll let it go. This time.”

“I think that’s best,” she said, moving swiftly toward the sanctuary.

When she heard the clumps of Zach’s boots on the floor behind her, she switched off the light and stepped out into the larger room. The darkness had deepened just in those few minutes since she’d crossed the space earlier. She groped her way past the piano then found herself slightly disoriented. A touch on her arm startled her, then his hand slid down and found hers. He tugged her forward. She followed gratefully, breaking the contact only when they reached the foyer.

Kylie waved her hand at the woman seated on the church lawn. “This is my mom, Lynette.”

Zach dipped his head. “Ma’am.”

“You must be Zach Clayton.”

“Yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

“What was going on?” Gene asked, peering toward the deepening shadows at the rear of the building. “I thought I saw Vincent coming from back there.”

“You’d have to ask him,” Kylie said with a shrug, linking her arm through Zach’s.

He managed not to start at the contact, the way she had when he’d taken her hand back there in the sanctuary. It had been an automatic gesture on his part, a way of saying that he was with her there in the dark. This … he didn’t know what this was.

“Well, everybody’s heading over to the football field,” Gene noted, hauling himself out of his chair.

“My Jeep’s parked over there,” Zach said. “Guess I better follow the crowd.”

“You kids go on and enjoy the fireworks,” Mrs. Jones told them. “We’ll lock up this place and watch from here.”

To Zach’s surprise, Kylie chirped a cheery “Thanks, Mom,” and turned him toward the green. Zach plastered a smile on his face and gave her parents a parting wave.

“Come over to the Feed & Supply when you’re done,” Gene called as they walked away.

They had put all of ten feet between them and her parents before Kylie loosened her hold and softly said, “Thanks for not telling them about Vincent cornering me. My dad worries.”

“He should,” Zach said. “How did you get mixed up with Vincent, anyway?”

She sighed. “He started asking me out when I was in high school, but Dad thought he was too old for me back then.”

Because he and Vincent were about the same age, Zach lifted his eyebrows at that. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

That made her eight years younger than him. “Yeah, I can see why your daddy would think that. Then.”

She nodded. “Well, as soon as I got back to town about a year ago, Vincent started asking me out again.” She shrugged. “I didn’t see why not. One thing led to another and eventually he asked me to marry him.”

Zach nodded. Sounded perfectly reasonable, so why did it chafe him? Clearing his throat, he asked, “What brought you back here?”

She sighed, reached behind her with her free hand and tugged her braid around to drape over one shoulder. “My father borrowed money to go into partnership with Vincent’s grandpa, Samuel. The price of silver had bumped up, and Samuel had a lead on a ranch east of town with a rich assay report but not enough money to buy it outright.” Zach could feel what was coming next, but he kept quiet and listened. “Turned out the assay reports were done ten years ago by a firm that’s gone out of business. Dad didn’t know until he started contacting mining companies, trying to interest them.”

“They did their own assay reports, I assume.”

She nodded. “And declined further involvement. Meanwhile, Samuel bought cattle and started running them on the land. Dad couldn’t afford to do the same, so he’s stuck making payments on the loan while Samuel plays rancher. For a while, it looked like Mom and Dad would lose everything because Dad had to put up the Feed & Supply as collateral on the loan. I dropped out of college and came home to help out.”

Zach shook his head, drawing the only possible conclusion. “So when Vincent promised that Samuel would buy out your father’s share of the ranch if you married him, you agreed.”

“Something like that,” she admitted softly. “Pretty stupid, huh?”

“Maybe.” They’d walked all the way across the green. Zach drew to a halt at the corner of Hawk Street and Morning Dove Road, looking down at her. “It’s also loyal, trusting and selfless.”

She scoffed. “Hardly that. It looked like an easy way out, if you want to know the truth. I convinced myself that Vincent was the answer to my prayers. Like I said, stupid.” She grimaced, adding, “It might have worked, if I’d really connected with Vincent, but I realize now that I was using him. I didn’t even try to feel the way I should have.”

“Whoa!” Zach gaped at her. “You’re going to stand there and blame yourself? You caught him with another woman.” He glanced around and lowered his voice, adding, “On your wedding day, for pity’s sake.”

Kylie lifted a hand to the top of her head. “I know. I guess it took that to wake me up, though.” She shook her head, adding, “I don’t even understand it myself, really. I never wanted to come back to Clayton. I was happy in Denver, and I’ve always intended to get back there, but with Mom and Dad’s financial mess …” She shrugged.

“You wanted to help your family that much?” Zach asked, feeling humbled. Sure, he’d come back to Clayton to help out family, but he stood to gain, too. He couldn’t positively say that he’d have come back if something hadn’t been in it for him. That brought a twinge of shame.

Kylie lifted a hand. “Look, my little sister is heading to college in a couple months. She has a scholarship. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible. But even with that, it’s going to be a challenge.”

“You gave up college so she could go.”

“I just have a single semester to complete. I can do that anytime, online even.”

“But you won’t until she graduates.”

Kylie didn’t reply to that. Zach stood transfixed for a moment, caught by the purity of her beauty and the depth of her soul. He didn’t even realize that he’d dipped his head and leaned toward her until a spray of gravel caught his attention. Jerking straight, he glanced around. Others also walked toward the football field, but some who had parked around the square tried to drive the block or so to the school grounds, resulting in what passed for a traffic jam in Clayton. No one seemed to pay them any attention. Besides, he had not almost kissed her just now. Really.

“I’m parked on Barn Owl between School Road and Goose Lane,” he said, taking her by the arm and walking her along the edge of the green past the grocery. “We can watch the fireworks from the back of my Jeep.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to rope you into keeping me company.”

“I thought you were keeping me company.” He gazed down at her. “Come on. Unless you prefer to sit in the stands.”

She made a face. “I’m not big on imitating sardines.”

Zach laughed. Because the stands on either side of the football field might accommodate a hundred people each, she could be right about the crowded conditions. Many would doubtlessly sit outside the chain-link fence around the field in their lawn chairs, but most would want the seats in the stands. Like her, Zach appreciated a bit of breathing room. They weren’t the only ones. Vehicles of every description lined the street.

He nosed in on the north side. Swinging open the tailgate on the Wrangler, he sat on the bumper and stretched out his legs before him. He crossed his ankles and leaned back on his elbows. Kylie perched on the lip above the bumper and drew up her feet, folding her arms atop her knees. She asked why he’d moved back to Clayton, and he told her about his grandfather’s unconventional will.

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