Deborah Camp (44 page)

Jebidiah scrambled on board and helped her climb into the buggy. “I seen him in shackles.”

“Who?” Regina asked, shifting to a comfortable position on the thinly padded seat.

“Mr. Dane. He was wearing shackles ’round his wrists.”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” Regina said. “I don’t believe this.”

“I seen them with these here eyes.” Jebidiah clucked at Gardenia to get a move on and the horse broke into a canter. “I don’t rightly know what’s going on, but Miz Lu says it’s over your honor.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “This is some kind of game Theodore is playing. He’s got Lu to thinking it’s serious, but I assure you it’s not.” She noticed that some of the people on the street waved at them and grinned ear-to-ear. What was going on? Regina wondered, realizing that something
was
different in town. There was a buzz—an almost tangible excitement.

“Last time I was sent to fetch you to the jail was serious enough,” Jebidiah reminded her. “Wonder if Mr. Dane will need a lawyer for to get him out? I reckon his cousin will help him, or we can go for Mr. Potter like we did the last time.”

Regina had to laugh at that. “It won’t get that far, I assure you.” She placed an arm around Jebidiah’s bony shoulders. “Just simmer down. This is a misunderstanding, that’s all. By the time we get there, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that it’s been straightened out.”

“I dunno ’bout that.”

Sure enough, as Gardenia rounded the last corner and headed down the dusty street to the jail, a knot of people stood on the boardwalk, surrounding Sheriff Stu and Theodore Dane. It was around seven o’clock and summer’s soft twilight had descended. A few impatient stars blinked in the violet sky. A soft breeze scampered down the street, billowing skirts and mussing hair. Jebidiah reined in Gardenia, stopping the buggy a little ways from the jail, and Regina could see that Theodore was, indeed, handcuffed.

“Whatever is going on?” she murmured, alighting from the buggy, not waiting for Jebidiah to come around and assist her. She moved toward the others, curious as to what all the shouting was about. She froze in her tracks when she heard her name.

“… matter whether or not Miss Rose offered resistance. You took advantage of her and now you’ve got to make things right,” Sheriff Stu was saying. He had Theodore by the shirt collar and actually gave him a good shaking. Regina could hardly believe her eyes!

“Hey, she’s here! Let’s hear what she’s got to say about this,” someone shouted, and pointed to Regina.

The crowd parted to admit her. Regina recognized some of the faces—Emerald O’Brady, Tom Wilson, Dorrie Festerman, Mr. Mason from the General Store, Deputy Howard Ash, Councilman
Danforth, and Councilman Bunt. They all stared at her, expecting … what?

“Ah, good. Maybe you can clear this up, Miss Regina,” Sheriff Stu said, catching her elbow and bringing her closer. “I’ve arrested Theodore and he’s been arguing that he’s innocent.”

“Arrested him for what?” Regina looked at Theodore, but he hung his head and refused to meet her eyes. His tie was askew, his jacket awry, his hair windblown. The shackles on his wrists made her look away sharply and wince. “Why have you handcuffed him?”

“We hear that he’s compromised you, Miss Rose. Is that true? Has he taken liberties?”

Regina fell back a step and covered her toiling heart with one hand. “Liberties?” She stared at Theodore. “You’ve told everyone this? Theo, how
could
you?”

He shook his head.

“Look at me, Theodore! How could you have betrayed me like this? How could you have embarrassed me like this?”

“He didn’t. I did.”

Regina felt her heart kick against the palm of her hand as Lu emerged from the sheriff’s office, a serious expression on her face. “Lu! You? I don’t believe it.” She glanced around. “What is this, some kind of cruel joke? Well, I’m not laughing.”

“None of us are laughing, Miss Regina,” Stu said. “A lady’s honor is not a laughing matter.”

“I told the sheriff that Mr. Dane has compromised you and hasn’t done right by you, Regina,” Lu said. “He decided it was a punishable offense. I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d known that the sheriff would jail Mr. Dane.” Lu ran her gaze over Theo. “Although he deserves it. Why, you’ve been crying your eyes out! He’s broken your heart
and rained shame on you! He shouldn’t get away with it.”

“From what Theo said, he wasn’t all that mean to her,” Emerald O’Brady interjected. “He says he paid the back taxes on her house and offered her the deed to it, but she threw it right back in his face like it was week-old lettuce!”

“How do you know my business?” Regina demanded.

“He’s been trying to defend himself,” Emerald said. “He says he’s got his reasons for taking liberties with you and that he’s tried to show you how much you’ve come to mean to him. Although, for the life of me, I don’t know why you’re being so pigheaded.”

“Me, pigheaded?” Regina planted her fists at her waist. “What does he say I’ve done?”

“You’ve been wearing blinders,” Dorrie Festerman cut in, angling toward Regina. “Why, everybody knows this man is plumb nuts about you.” She flung a finger in the direction of Theodore. “Ever since the town picnic, he’s made it plain as day.”

A sound of agreement moved through the others. Councilman Bunt grinned like a simian.

“I recall that,” he said, poking Councilman Danforth in the ribs with an elbow. “He paid a pretty price for her basket.”

“He coughed up the most money that’s ever been bid on one,” Danforth added. “Mrs. Festerman’s right. He sure let everybody know that he had set his sights on Miss Regina Rose.”

“So what?” Regina countered. “That doesn’t prove a thing. Just because a man is a braggart doesn’t mean he’s truthful. I haven’t done anything to be ashamed of,” she said, wondering if they could see through her thinly veiled guilt.

“I don’t know much about liberties and such,”
Jebidiah said in his creaky voice. “All’s I know is I took Miz Rose to Mr. Dane’s house one night and she was there a long,
long
spell! Why, it was dawn by the time she come outta his house.”

“Jebidiah!” Regina gasped. “Hush your mouth!”

“That does it!” Stu said. “He’s a fox and she’s a poor, defenseless hen.”

“I don’t like being referred to as a
hen
,” Regina protested. Someone cleared his throat behind Regina and she whirled to find Eric Carmichael looking slightly embarrassed. “Oh, Eric, thank heavens you’re here!” Regina almost fell on him. She clutched his arm. “Please help me put an end to this madness. Lu’s stirred up a hornet’s nest and the whole town’s gone crazy. Tell Stu to let Theo go. He can’t charge him with anything. Everyone is just being nosy and I’m sick of it.”

“Sorry, Regina, but I have to side with the others here. I recall that picnic. You were upset and I took you home. Remember?”

“Yes, of course. Your cousin was being his usual overbearing self and I—”

“And that evening Theo laid down the law to me.”

Regina’s hands slipped from Eric’s arm as she realized he was in on this insane conspiracy to make her the butt of a town joke.

“Do tell!” Emerald urged him on.

“He ordered me to keep away from Regina. Now, we’ve never fought over a woman, so I was stunned. But my cousin here told me that Regina was his and he didn’t want me interfering.”

Regina released a long-suffering sigh. “His, indeed! I don’t belong to
any
man.”

“Wrong,” Theo said, his voice cutting through the droning murmurs of the others. He brought his head up to show Regina his intense blue eyes.
“You belong to
this
man, Regina. No use denying it. Everybody knows.”

“Theo, you’ve lost your mind!” Regina charged, spinning away from him. She would have made tracks for the buggy, but Eric and Jebidiah blocked her way. “Will you kindly let me pass!”

“Hear ye! Hear ye!” Theo boomed at the top of his lungs. “I hereby confess to ravishing this woman—not once, not twice, but many times! And I loved every minute of it!”

Regina whirled to face him again, her fists clenched, her teeth bared. “Shut your trap, Theodore Dane, before I slap you silly!” She glanced around and felt her face flame. “Haven’t you hurt me enough?” Her gaze took in Lu, standing behind Theo. “How could you support him in this, Lu?”

“Regina … I was only trying to help.”

“Don’t go blaming her,” Sheriff Stu said. “I’m the one who decided Theo ought to be held accountable for his actions. He’s admitted to compromising you.” Stu glanced around at the others. “I think he ought to do something about it or spend time in jail. What do y’all think?”

“Right … he ought to pay … can’t get away with such behavior!” Voices rang out.

“I’m ready to make an honest woman of her,” Theo said. “You all can witness my amends. I love this woman and I want her to be my wife. I’ll marry her in front of God and everybody!”

Regina glared at him, but then she saw the mischief lurking in all the eyes around her, followed by the soft, satisfied laughter. Some of her mortification waned.

“Let him loose, Sheriff,” Emerald said. “He’s agreed to marry this here girl and that’s all any man can do once he’s compromised her. Besides, I imagine if you made this gal swear on the Bible,
she’d have to admit she liked the liberties he took.”

Chuckles leapfrogged through the crowd. Dorrie Festerman tugged on Stu’s sleeve.

“We was all witness to what he said. If he don’t marry her soon, you can round him up and we’ll have ourselves a shotgun wedding!”

“Yes, we all witnessed his proposal,” Lu chimed in. “What it lacked in romance, it made up for in sincerity. He’s going to do right by her. I’m sure of it.”

“I’ll vouch for him,” Eric said, raising a finger to call attention to himself. “To my knowledge, he’s never asked any woman to marry him before, so we must assume this proposal is heartfelt.”

Stud nodded gravely and fished a skeleton key from his vest pocket. “Very well, folks. I’ll cut him loose.” He removed the heavy iron cuffs from Theo’s wrists. “Theo, you’d best do what you swore to do or I’ll come after you with a loaded shotgun. We’ve grown fond of Miss Rose and we’ll make sure you do right by her. Right, folks?”

The others sent up a cheer, then took turns slapping Theo on the back or pumping his hand. Lu sidled toward Regina and smiled shyly.

“I left Annie at the General Store with Mrs. Mason, and I have to go collect her. We’ll just ride back with Jebidiah and Theo can see you home later.”

“Lu, I can’t believe you’d cook up such a pot of stew!” Regina said, but she couldn’t keep from smiling. She embraced Lu. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you do.” Lu held her at arm’s length. “You deserve the best of everything, honey.” She slanted a glance toward Theo. “And I think you’re about to get it.”

“May I walk you to the store, Lu?” Eric asked,
angling out his arm. “I’ll even buy you and Annie supper, if you’ll allow me.”

Lu hesitated only a moment. “Why, thank you, Eric. That would be most kind of you, and I know Annie would love seeing you again.”

Regina pivoted to confront Theo’s glittering gaze. “Was this
really
necessary, Theodore Dane?” she asked, trying hard to be firm while happiness soared through her like a flock of birds. “Why couldn’t you just tell me you loved me and ask me to marry you earlier today? That would have been the sensible thing to do. But, no, you had to enlist half the town in this spectacle of—”

“Come here, woman,” Theo growled, and grabbed Regina about the waist. “Will you please keep your mouth shut long enough for me to kiss it?”

She clamped her lips together and he took his reward in a hard, demanding kiss that left her head spinning. He took advantage of her temporary daze and swung her up into his arms.

“Theodore, what are you doing?” she protested, rattled by his kiss and everything leading up to it. “This has gone far enough. Put me down.”

He ignored her and she was secretly glad. Night had fallen and the lamplighter was applying a spark to each of the street lamps along the way. He grinned at them as he passed.

“Nice night, isn’t it?” Theo asked the man.

“Very nice, sir. Glad to see you’re enjoying yourself, sir.”

Regina pressed her face against Theo’s lapel, momentarily mortified again. “Theodore, where in heaven’s name are you taking me?”

“I told you, to my home. Hey, Eureka Springs!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. “I love this woman and she’ll be my wife by the end of the week, so don’t get your noses out of joint. I’m taking
her to my place so we can make some wedding plans and such.” He winked. “It’s the ‘such’ I’m not going to elaborate on until we get there.”

“Stop it!” She popped him on the shoulder with her fist. “You’re acting like the town drunk!”

“I’m drunk with love, honeybee.”

“Why all of a sudden? A few hours ago, love sure wasn’t on your mind.”

“Yes, it was,” he assured her. “I just didn’t know if you wanted to hear about it. You’d just buried your brother, and Mrs. Nation had you all worried about your work here. I thought that by handing over the deed to your house, it would ease your mind and make you see how much you mean to me. But you had to throw a hissy fit!”

“I thought you wanted me as your mistress.”

“And I thought you knew me better than that.”

She sighed and ran a finger along his stiff shirt collar. “Life has taught me never to take anything or anyone for granted. Until I heard you declare your love for me, I couldn’t believe in it or in you. Please forgive me, Theodore.”

He frowned. “Nothing to forgive. I should have told you weeks ago how I felt, but I was scared.”

“Of what?”

“That you wouldn’t love me back.”

She fought tears and rested her cheek against his shoulder. “Don’t you think you ought to put me down?”

“I like holding you like this.”

She kissed him. “And I like being held like this.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Uh-oh.”

“What?”

“Here comes trouble.”

Regina looked forward and spotted none other than Irene Cooper striding toward them on the arm of her father. They both ogled Regina and
Theo as if the two had lost their minds, instead of their hearts.