Closer To You (Tales of the Sweet Magnolia Book 1) (15 page)

“Just when I thought you were the most beautiful woman in the county, you go and make it the whole state.”

Lillian heard the quiet tittering and sighs going on behind him. She blushed. Based on his gallant manner to both her and the girls, Lil was willing to do whatever he asked of her. “Thank you, Sheriff.” She responded gracefully. “And you make that suit look good.” 

His face lit up, pride shone in his eyes. “Shall we go?” He offered his arm to another round of quiet sighs as they passed through the small crowd waiting to see them off.

“You be sure to have her home early now,” one woman teased.

“And mind you, treat her like a lady, Sheriff Sloan,” Paddy cautioned.

“You have my word, Paddy,” Jake replied, tamping his hat down on his head.

He leaned close to whisper in her ear. “They seem a bit concerned about you.” 

Lil looked over her shoulder at the entourage lined up along the porch rail. In many ways, she felt as though she was representing each one of them, too long viewed as the lower forms of life in Deadwater. The unfortunate truth was that Lil didn’t think her attending this simple dinner would do one ounce of good for them, and certainly she had her concerns that it would help Jake’s position. Still, she would not spoil his enthusiasm or theirs. “They mean well, it’s just their way of teasing you.” She took his hand and started to climb in the rig.

“Wait a minute, wait a gosh darn minute. I want to document this.” Paddy came running at them with a black box attached to a tripod. “Got this here from a fella passing through town. Says it’s the latest thing for taking photos.” He began to set it up in front of the carriage.

“Oh, can we have the girls included?” Lil asked her hand still in Jake’s.

Jake smiled. “Tell you what, how about you and the girls on the front of the

Magnolia. That seems fitting.”

She gave him a wary look. “You aren’t ashamed to have your photo taken with me, are you, Sheriff?”

He looked away with a sigh. “Lil, I don’t like my photo taken at all. Now, get your butt back up there and get your picture taken. We’ve got to get going.”

It took Paddy another twenty minutes to get the right position and by the time he was done, the shadows had deepened as the girls lined up across the front porch rail. Lil reminded the girls to smile, but in the darkening shadows of the porch’s overhang, they’d be lucky if their hemlines showed up in that picture.

Jake was standing at the wagon and helped her into the leather buggy seat to the tune of whistles and calls from the girls. “That’s quite a fan club you have there.” She nodded toward the scantily dressed women waving at him.

He hopped in beside her, gave the reins a shake, and tossed her a wicked grin.

“That’s just because they’ve all seen my butt.”

Lil’s brow rose as she looked at him. “Very good, Sheriff. But that may be a topic you might wish to refrain from as dinner conversation this evening.” Lil chuckled as she waved to her girls. How strange that it seemed as if she’d known them all their lives. It was a dream-like existence and yet when she was with Jake, her world was illuminated with crystal-like clarity. Nothing else seemed more real than when she was in his arms. “Still,” Lil stated with a smile, “it’s too bad that women haven’t been given the right to vote yet. You’d have your own popularity vote cinched up.”

Jake threw her a curious look.

“Never mind.” Lil grinned.

For a time, they rode in silence except for the wind whistling through the steeple rock crags that stood sentinel between town and the Magnolia. Despite the fact that she felt certain Jake was the man she was meant to be with—her destiny—Lil was still unsettled, unable to shake the strange foreboding in the pit of her stomach.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight.” He broke the prolonged silence. “You’re not having second thoughts about this, are you?”

Second, third, and forth, given the truth, but she was determined not to let those concerns spoil his evening. She’d get through this for the sake of the Magnolia residents and for Jake, who had the gumption to invite her, hoping that he could change years of prejudices. It was bold for anyone to befriend a Magnolia woman in public, but even more so a man whose desire was to be appointed Deputy Marshall.

“I was just thinking,” Lil stated.

“Uh-oh.” He flashed a smile.

“Why do you want to be a Deputy Marshall? Not enough excitement here for you in Deadwater?”

The surrey rolled along as they sat in companionable silence. Lil thought at first that maybe he wasn’t going to answer her.

“Maybe that’s it. The west is expanding, Lil. With gold being found in California, there’ll be need for expanding the law to other counties. As it is now, my hands are tied. My jurisdiction doesn’t go beyond the county border.”

“And this is what you’re most passionate about, upholding the law?”

He glanced at her and chuckled. “Is this a trick question?”

She hit him playfully on the shoulder. “It’s not a test, Jake. I was curious what made you decide the law was what you wanted to do with your life.”

He took a deep breath and Lil got the sense that he was pinpointing an exact moment when he’d made the decision. 

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s that I felt like I wanted to protect those who didn’t have a say in what happened to them. The victims of wrongdoing. They rarely deserve what happens to them. And I’ve never liked those who feel it’s their prerogative to take away the rights of others.”

She watched his face and wondered if this was more personal for him than he let on. “Did you experience something at the hands of one of these individuals at one time in your life?” Lil posed the question cautiously.

“Let’s just say that I’ve had personal experience in seeing what ruthlessness can do.”

Lil considered that they’d never talked much about his past. She knew only that his mother had died, he had no siblings as far as she knew, and his father was known as Preacher in town. She’d never asked about the scars on his back, he’d never brought them up, and though they were nearly faded, she wondered whether they were from discipline or ruthless behavior. It was apparent at any rate that he wasn’t ready to talk about it. She chose to change the subject. “Well, it’s a beautiful evening. Look at that sunset. Isn’t it breathtaking?”

He smiled and shifted the reins covering her hand resting on his sleeve, with his. “You are breathtaking in that dress, Lil.” His sexy grin heated her to her toes.

“You’re breathtaking without that dress, as well.”

“We’ll be keeping the dress on this evening. I doubt the alternative would go far in wooing the favor of your dinner guests.”

Jake shoved his hat back off his forehead and looked at her. “The wooing without that dress comes later.” He brushed a kiss over the back of her fingers, his gaze intense on hers. “Truthfully, you’re not nervous, are you?” 

Lil swallowed and kept a brave smile on her lips. “About losing my dress later or having dinner?”

He tipped his head. “Don’t tempt me to turn this rig around right now. You know where I’d rather be. Stuffy dinner parties do not get me excited.”

“And I do?” she coyly asked.

“Plum crazy riled up, Miss Lilly.”

He squeezed her hand and Lil wished she could ignore the feeling of dread in her gut. She held his arm as they rode through town. It was rare that a surrey of such high quality graced Deadwater’s hard cracked dirt main street. “Where’d you find such a nice rig?” She’d noticed how the townsfolk stopped and stared. She wondered if it was the surrey or the passengers that they stared at.

“Friend of mine up in Carson City has a business leasing fine carriages for special occasions. Figured you were special occasion enough.”

“Jake Sloan, don’t you know that flattery will get you everywhere with me?” She smiled and hugged his arm.

“That’s part of my plan, Lil,” he responded.

He pulled the horses to a stop in front of a stately Victorian two-story home, its massive, well-kept yard surrounded by a white picket fence. A wooden swing hung from a giant oak tree. It was a fine home, with black shuttered windows and pristine white wrap around front porch with delicate lace curtains showing through the lighted front windows. Clearly, no expense had been spared in making it not only a showcase, but a proverbial mansion by Deadwater’s standards.

As though reading her mind, Jake spoke, “The mayor’s wife comes from a well-to-do family back east.” He went about securing the horses to the hitching rail.

“Jake Sloan, what in the devil have you gotten me into?” Lil scooted to the edge of the seat and peered at the house.

***

Jake grabbed Lil around the waist as she stepped from the carriage, holding her in his embrace for a moment longer than he should. He wanted to tell her in plain words how he felt, wished that he could just take her to the fine hotel in town and treat her like the queen she was in his eyes, but something held him back. Maybe all this talk about her being from the future was the problem, or perhaps deep down he was more concerned than he let on by how their open relationship might affect the possibility of his appointment.

He held her close drinking in the smell of her jasmine-scented skin. “A kiss for luck, Lil?’

“Right here in the street? Do you think that’s wise?” Her smile sent an unexpected punch to his libido, but he could see the nervous look in her eyes.

Jake dropped her gently, easing her into the shadows of the buggy. “You make me lose all sense of propriety, Miss Lillian.” He rested his hand on the carriage above her head, taking advantage of the moment to nuzzle the spot beneath her ear. “But as much as it pains me to say so, this will have to do until later.” His lips found hers, brushing over them briefly, even so they reminded him of sweet flowers, dampened by the night ride.

“Perhaps we should be going, before you make me do things that a proper lady shouldn’t do in public.” Her hand slid deftly down the front of his shirt, stopping short of his belt.

Jake stepped away realizing she was right. It didn’t take much more than the thought of her body to get him aroused. “Guess we best be getting inside.”

“Your public awaits, Sheriff.” Lil sidled past him, trailing her fingers across his chest. “I suppose I can wait for as long as it takes to get you in private.”

Jake shifted his jacket, buttoning it up the front, in hopes of concealing what she’d managed to do to him with a simple kiss. If all went well tonight, he would follow through with his plan to take Lillian back to the hotel room he’d reserved in town. There he had plans to tell her how he felt and consider whether she’d be willing to give up her duties at the Magnolia in lieu of a making a life with him.

He followed her up the front steps to the mayor’s house, mesmerized by the gentle sway of her hips in that dress. He was quite sure she would get her share of envious glances from some of the women and the admiration of the men present.

Jake stepped beside her as they reached the beveled-glass front door. He glanced at Lil seeing her expression stoic and firm. She looked like she was about to face a firing squad.

“How do I look?” She spoke to him, her eyes glued to the door as though she was about to face a firing squad. 

“Like a beautiful painting,” Jake whispered and realized at that moment, that he truly meant every word. He’d come to see beyond her beauty and admired the woman inside who faced adversity and challenge without fear of what others thought of her.

The door swung open and the mayor’s butler stepped to the side ushering them into the foyer.

The mayor and his wife rushed down the short hallway and the host grabbed Jake’s hand, cranking it up and down like a water pump. “Everyone accepted our invitation to meet the brilliant man who is to become

our next Deputy Marshall.”

The older woman worked her way between Jake and Lillian, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the narrow hallway without so much as a nod to Lillian.

Jake smiled politely, extracting himself from the woman’s grasp. “Have either of you had the pleasure to meet my guest for the evening?” He distanced himself and turned, reaching for Lil’s hand. “Miss Lillian White, I’d like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Clancy. Mr. Clancy is the m—”

“Yes, Deadwater Gulch’s esteemed mayor.” Lil held her hand out in friendly greeting as her gaze moved to the woman standing behind him. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your honor, and this must be the lovely woman that everyone talks about…at least, that’s what Jake tells me.”

Jake placed his hand on Lilly’s back and gave it a playful tap.

“I’m so pleased to finally meet you.” Lil seemed to ignore the fact that the mayor had yet to accept her hand, or that by virtue of her expression, it appeared that the mayor’s wife blatantly disapproved of her presence.

Rosemond’s smile was icy, her expression pinched as she glanced nervously at how her husband gawked at Lil’s cleavage. “Have you and Sheriff Sloan known each other long?”

“Not intimately,” Lillian stated calmly.

Jake cleared his throat. “You’ll find that Miss White has a wicked sense of humor,” he offered.