The Accidental Lawman by Jill Marie Landis Page B

garden, jumped the low back fence, and headed east.
    Shaken to the core, Amelia stumbled back. She watched the distance widen between them. Her eyes filled with tears. His image wavered and shimmered against the sky. She clenched her fists, pressed them against her thighs. She wanted to scream she was so angry, but that wouldn’t bring him back.
    She could no longer ignore what was happening. She could no longer hide from the truth and still hold her head up before God and the good citizens of Glory.
    Hank Larson had to be told that Evan was involved in the holdup.
    She raised her fist to her lips. She couldn’t face Hank after what had happened the last time they were together.
    She decided she would go to Brand McCormick instead. The minister would listen without judgment. He could tell Hank about Evan. Brand McCormick would understand. He’d be more than happy to help her. Together, they would pray for Evan.
    She went back inside, intent upon collecting herself enough to walk to the McCormicks’ house. The momentshe stepped over the threshold, she saw her father’s mustache cup lying on its side on the table. She’d kept her savings stashed in the chipped cup for as long as she could remember. Her hand shook as she picked it up. The sound of coins was absent. She looked inside, knowing what she’d find.
    The cup was empty. The two silver dollars Laura Foster had paid her were gone.
    Evan had stolen from her. He’d been so desperate, so selfish, that he’d taken her savings. Taken the money that she’d set aside for taxes. Her tears overflowed. The room began to whirl. She quickly sat down on a chair, hung her head between her knees and waited for her head to clear.
    She got up slowly and started toward the parlor until she remembered her reticule wasn’t on the hall tree. She found it beside her medical bag near the kitchen door, but when she picked it up, it felt suspiciously light and her heart sank like a stone.
    Her fingers fumbled and caught on the strings. Reaching inside, she searched for her father’s gold watch, but her hand came away empty. She turned the small silk bag upside down and shook it. All that fell out was her yellowed ivory comb and three bent hairpins.
    This morning at the Ellenbergs’ she’d felt a hole at the bottom of the makeshift pocket she’d pinned to her waistband. A small niggling voice inside her told her to mend the pocket. Instead, she’d slipped her father’s gold watch into her reticule.
    Now, as much as she wanted to deny it, Evan had stolen the watch. It was like losing her father all over again.
    Staring at the meager items in the palm of her hand, she slowly sank to the floor and began to sob, mourning the loss of the watch. Mourning the loss of Evan’s innocence.

Chapter Nine
    H ank walked down Main Street with a spring in his step that belied his inner turmoil. It was good to be outside, away from his desk for a change. He’d been to Amelia Hawthorne’s house twice a week for the past two weeks and had yet to find her at home.
    At first he had convinced himself she was hiding from him, that she had isolated herself behind drawn shades and locked doors. Then Harrison mentioned she was most likely doing spring home visits to outlying ranches and his guilt eased a bit.
    He owed her an apology for what he’d done, and he meant to deliver it today if she had returned. Maybe then he could stop thinking about the spontaneous kiss. Maybe once he’d apologized, he could stop thinking about her altogether.
    When he noticed some blue wildflowers blooming at the edge of the town square, he decided to make her a peace offering. He picked a few stalks and bunched them together, then kept walking.
    When he reached her gate and pushed it open, henoticed that spring had come to Amelia’s yard. It was filling up with flowers in every color of the rainbow.
    Hank stared at the scraggly bunch of wildflowers in his hand and when he reached the porch, he set them down near the top