Handpicked Husband (Love Inspired Historical) (23 page)

“Someone either very greedy, or very desperate.” Adam tightened his jaw. “Tell me about Sheriff Gleason.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What kind of sheriff is he?”

“He’s been sheriff here for as long as I can remember,” she said carefully. “I’ve always thought of him as fair-minded.” She shrugged. “Of course, the most he normally has to deal with are the occasional Saturday night brawls or mischief makers trying to steal melons from Carl Mason’s garden. Why?”

“I just wondered if he’d be likely to detain any of these ‘peddlers’ without solid proof.” He felt an obligation to make certain that didn’t happen.

She gave his arm a squeeze. “If he does, I know a good lawyer who’ll call his hand on it.”

Adam returned her smile, pleased by her show of faith. “That obvious, am I?” They had reached the studio by this time. “I think I’ll stop by the sheriff’s office and see what I can find out. I’ll be back to help you in an hour or so.”

“Take your time.” She waved him on. “Ira’ll be here soon and he can help me pack up what I need.”

* * *

As he passed the general store, a breathless youth rushed out, nearly running him over. “Sorry,” he said. Then quickly followed with “Did you hear? Sheriff Gleason caught the thief! He caught him!”

“Did he now?”

“Yes, sir. It’s one of them peddlers. The sheriff found the money hidden under a floorboard in his wagon.”

“Is the man in custody?” Adam asked.

“Yes, sir. And his daughter is there, too, complaining something fierce that her father ain’t guilty.”

Adam moved on, deciding he really ought to have a talk with this peddler. The sheriff may have gotten the right man, but it wouldn’t hurt to hear the other side of the story.

A few minutes later, Adam stood outside the sheriff’s office. He could hear a belligerent female voice before he stepped through the open door.

“I tell you, my pa ain’t never stole no money in his life. Why, he didn’t even know that money was there.”

The sheriff glanced up when he entered, looking as if he’d been thrown a lifeline. “Mr. Barr. You’re looking none the worse for wear after your accident. It was downright neighborly of you not to press charges against Mayor Sanders’s son.”

“That was my wife’s decision, not mine.” Adam kept his eyes on the girl as he spoke. In turn she sized him up and dismissed him in the space of a few seconds.

The sheriff leaned back. “Was there something you were needing from me?”

The girl planted her hands firmly on the sheriff’s desk and glared. “I was here first.”

Sheriff Gleason let out an exasperated huff. “Look, miss, I don’t like being disrespectful to a lady, but we’ve been through this a dozen times. Your pa was caught with the stolen money. He’s staying right there in that cell until the circuit judge comes through next week.”

“And I’m telling you that money is
mine
. I’ve been saving it up for near on five years. If Pa’d ’a known that money was there, he’d ’a gambled it all away by now.”

Adam stepped in. “Pardon me, miss. Do you mind if I ask your name?”

She glared at him suspiciously. “Daisy Johnson.”

“Miss Johnson.” Adam executed a short bow. “If your father
is
innocent, perhaps we can clear this up quickly.”

She still had a wary look about her, but some of the belligerence dimmed. “How we gonna do that?”

Adam turned to Sheriff Gleason. “Where’s the money you found in their wagon?”

Sheriff Gleason seemed as suspicious as the girl, but he pulled a sack out of his desk drawer. “I was planning to take this over to the bank for safe keeping.”

“That’s my money, I tell you.”

Adam held out a hand. “May I?”

At the sheriff’s nod, Adam opened the sack and counted it out. “Over ninety dollars. Is that the amount that was taken?”

The lawman spread his hands. “No way to tell. They planned to count it this morning.”

“I see.” Adam raised a brow. “I did notice something interesting about this money.”

“What’s that?” the girl asked peering over his shoulder.

“It’s almost all in large bills.”

“Makes it easier to hide from Pa,” she said defensively.

“I’m certain it does.” He turned back to the sheriff. “It also means this is not the money from yesterday’s fair. That would have all been in coins and smaller bills.”

Miss Johnson brightened and turned to the sheriff with a smug smile. “There, I told you it weren’t stole.”

Sheriff Gleason appeared unconvinced. “I don’t know—”

Adam interrupted his protest. “What time was Thomas Pierce robbed last night?

“Around nine-thirty.”

“Miss Johnson, do you know where your father was at nine-thirty last night?”

She gave a confident nod. “Sure do. He was playing poker at the livery. I had to haul him out before he lost all the money we earned yesterday.”

“And do you know who else was in this game?”

The girl rattled off a few names, then shrugged. “There were four or five others, but those are the only names I caught.”

Adam nodded. “Sheriff, you should be able to check her story without much trouble. If the men verify what she’s saying, I believe you’ll have to admit you have the wrong man.”

The sheriff glowered at Adam a moment, then turned to his deputy. “Go fetch Lester and Belcher for me.”

Adam turned to the girl. “I think this will be straightened out fairly soon. You can find me at the photography studio on the edge of town for the next hour or so, however, if you need further assistance.”

She gave him a curious look. “Why you doing this for me and my pa, mister?”

“Let’s just say I hate to see an injustice done.” With a tip of his hat, Adam excused himself and left the sheriff’s office.

Chapter Twenty

R
eggie approached her grandfather’s study with her stomach in knots. But she couldn’t put this off.

They’d arrived at her grandfather’s house in Philedelphia three hours ago, and she needed to get this out of the way as soon as possible. She only hoped it didn’t result in cutting their visit short. Saying a silent prayer for the right words, she knocked on the door and entered.

She inhaled the familiar scents of cigars and port and musty books with a smile. She would know where she was even if she’d been blindfolded.

“Adam took Jack out to the stables to look at the horses,” she said as she took a seat. “I thought it would be good for you and I to talk alone.”

“I agree, my dear. It’s been far too long since we were able to chat face-to-face.” He wagged a finger. “So, is this where you give me a severe dressing-down for forcing you to the altar?”

Her lips twitched. “No, though I plan to do quite a bit of that later.” She straightened and took a deep breath. “I have a confession to make first.”

“Oh.” The judge leaned back and steepled his fingers. “I’m listening.”

Reggie braced herself for his reaction. “Jack is not Patricia’s son. He’s mine.”

Her grandfather’s expression remained impassive as he watched her. “I see.”

Reggie blinked in confusion. She’d just revealed her deepest, darkest secret, and he sat there looking as if she’d just mentioned it might rain tomorrow.

Why wasn’t he outraged, or at least shocked? “Do you understand? I lied to you, made you believe Jack was your blood kin, made you believe I was some sort of paragon looking out for my stepsister’s child.”

That brought an amused chuckle from him. “Much as I appreciate your many qualities, Reggie, I have never, ever thought of you as a paragon.”

Something was wrong here. He should be—

She straightened. “You already knew, didn’t you? Did Adam—”

“Adam didn’t breathe a word, though I’m glad to hear he knows. And I only suspected. I wasn’t certain until just now.”

“But how—”

“On your last visit it struck me how much Jack resembles you—your nose, your smile, your father’s eyes. I couldn’t see any similarity to Patricia or even Lemuel in the boy.” He shrugged. “Of course, there could have been other explanations. But once the idea of your being his mother presented itself, it explained so much about your stubborn refusal to find a husband.”

He’d known. And he didn’t seem to love her less. “Why didn’t you say something?” she whispered.

Her grandfather stood and came around to her side of the desk. “I wanted telling me to be your choice.”

Reggie clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “So, you don’t hate me?”

The judge leaned forward and took her hands. “Reggie, my dear, I could never hate you, no matter what. You and Jack are my family and always will be.”

“Oh, Grandfather.” She threw her arms around his neck, her eyes watering. She related the whole sordid story then, and when she was done, her grandfather gave her a hug then leaned back against his desk.

“I’m sorry you had to go through such heartbreak alone,” he said. “But it pleases me tremendously that you finally trusted me with your secret.”

She sniffed. “You can thank Adam for tweaking my conscience.”

“As well he should.” He handed her his handkerchief. “That’s much too heavy a burden for you to carry alone. Which is why I set up this whole matchmaking scheme in the first place. I figured you would either turn to me with the truth, or to Adam when you selected him for your husband.”

Her head jerked up at that. “But how’d you know I’d select Adam? He wasn’t even in the running.”

The judge smiled smugly. “Who else would you select? I’ve thought you and Adam would make a fine match for some time. But he would never have seen it on his own, thus the unorthodox but brilliantly conceived nudge.”

Proud of himself, was he? Well, she supposed he had reason.

Then he leaned back. “You are both happy with the match, I trust. I’d hate to discover my actions resulted otherwise.”

Happy? “I couldn’t ask for a better father for Jack,” she answered carefully. “The two have grown close over the past weeks—I think the relationship has been as good for Adam as it has for Jack.”

His keen gaze didn’t relent. “That’s good to hear, of course, but it’s not what I asked. Are you happy in this marriage?”

“I truly love him, Grandfather.”

“And how does he feel?”

“He’s been very kind and respectful, and he wants to make this work.”

“But?”

She wanted no more lies between them. “But he can’t forgive me for what I did.”

Her grandfather stiffened. “He blames you for what that villain did to you?”

“No. For my giving Jack to Patricia and Lemuel.”

“I see.” He rubbed his jaw. “Because of his mother—I should have realized.” Then he patted her hand. “I’m sorry, my dear. Perhaps, in time—”

Reggie stood and moved to the window. “Don’t worry, he’s really been quite the gentleman. And we’re both determined to make life as pleasant for Jack as possible. It’s not his fault that he can’t give his heart to me, too.” The instances when Adam looked at her with that hard edge in his gaze were getting fewer but they were still there.

She turned back to her grandfather, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “I’ve been spending more time with my Bible these past few weeks. You know the passage in the book of Philippians about the peace that passeth all understanding? I’ve been clinging to that verse and it has helped me find that promised peace in my situation.”

She moved back to her grandfather and took both his hands in hers. “Be happy for me. In a lot of ways, I’m so much better off than I was before. After all, it’s much more of a family life than I ever dreamed I’d have.”

Before he could respond, Reggie heard some familiar voices in the hallway. “That sounds like Jack and Adam now.” She linked her arm through his. “What do you say we join them?”

When they stepped out of the study, Judge Madison disengaged his arm and moved to Jack. “Have I ever showed you my stereopticon?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, come along then, I have some slides of the great pyramids that I think you will enjoy.”

As they walked away, Adam led her into the parlor and sat next to her on the settee. “How did your talk go?”

Better than the one I had with you.
“Quite well, really. It turns out Grandfather already suspected much of what I told him.”

Adam smiled and nodded. “Not much gets by him.”

“Thank you for helping me see this needed to be done. I feel as if an enormous burden has been lifted from my shoulders.”

He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’m glad.”

His hand remained on her arm and there was warmth in his smile that she longed to respond to. But she knew she was reading emotions there that didn’t exist.

She withdrew her arm on the pretext of smoothing her skirt, then changed the subject. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

* * *

Adam eyed Regina cautiously. Was that tightness about her due to the conversation she’d just had with her grandfather? Or was something else causing it? “What would you like to know?”

“Now that you’re back in Philadelphia, do you have a plan for how you’re going to go about clearing your name?”

Her question caught him off guard and he stood, moving to stand near the fireplace.

“If you’d rather not talk about it, I’ll understand.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t want to say anything yet, not until I’m certain.”

“Certain?”

“I had a lot of time to think about this while I was in prison. And every time I went through it in my mind, who stood to gain, who knew my habits, who had access and opportunity—it all kept coming back to one name.”

“You mean it was someone you
know?
”

He’d been such a blind fool back then, too trusting by far. “Like I said, I’m not saying anything until I’m certain.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.” From the expression on her face, he realized that had come out more harshly than he’d intended. “This is something I need to do myself,” he said in a milder tone.

“Of course.” She rose and moved to stand in front of him. “And what is it you want to accomplish?”

What kind of question was that? “Clear my name, of course.”

“I guess I’m asking if it’s justice you want, or vengeance?”

Her question felt like a slap. “In this case they’re the same thing.”

“Are they? Will you take pleasure in seeing your nemesis be punished?”

“It’s what he deserves.” Why did he suddenly feel so defensive?

“Just search your heart, and make sure, whatever you do, it’s for the right reasons. Remember, God reserves vengeance as
His
province. And besides, revenge never tastes as sweet as you think it will. In fact, sometimes it can be pure poison.”

Then she smiled self-consciously. “I’m sorry. That was awfully melodramatic and I certainly didn’t mean to read you a lecture. Come on, let’s find Grandfather and Jack and see if they’d like to go for a ride in the park.”

Adam mulled over her words as he followed her out of the room. She was wrong. He was after justice, clearing his name, nothing more. But if getting justice resulted in a bit of vengeance at the same time, there was nothing wrong with that. He’d waited to long for this to stop now.

The ride to the park never materialized. Adam and Regina had just joined Judge Madison and Jack in the library when the housekeeper handed Regina a telegram.

Adam watched her expressive face as she read the missive and closed the distance between them when he saw her dismay. “What is it?”

“The Peavys were in a carriage accident. Doc Pratt thinks they’re going to be okay, but neither one should be up and about for the next few weeks. Myrtis has been looking after them, but she’s due to go out of town in a few days.” She turned to her grandfather. “I’m so sorry to cut my visit short, but I really should be there for them.”

“Of course. Go see about your friends. You can come back and finish your visit when they’re better.”

Adam took her hand, trying to comfort her with a squeeze while he addressed the judge. “Do you know the train schedule?”

“The next one headed that direction is early tomorrow morning. I’ll have Hodgkins take care of the tickets.”

“Just two tickets,” Regina said.

Adam frowned. “I’m going with you.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re not. You need to stay here and finish your investigation. Jack and I will be fine for the next few weeks.”

He couldn’t do that. “I’m not—”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “I’ve quite made up my mind. Take care of this business so you can come back to Turnabout with your spirit free.”