The Runaway Bride (8 page)

“Yes,” she said, lifting her chin. “As a matter fact, I am. Why do you ask?”

He smiled. “No reason, Miss. I was just curious.”

“Well, thank you for your help.” She smiled again, so he wouldn’t think her overly concerned. “Have a good day, Mr. Smithson.”

“Same to you.”

She gave him a parting nod, then stepped around him to walk along the front of the bank. She glanced sideways at the reflection in the glass to see if he followed her. She saw that he continued to watch her for a moment before he turned and went in the opposite direction.

A breath of relief filtered through her lips. She glanced across the street, debating whether or not to tell Sean what she’d heard. She shook her head. What proof did she have? The men hadn’t mentioned any definite plans—but their intention was clear. She spared another quick glance behind her. Satisfied that she wasn’t being watched, she walked across the street and entered the sheriff’s office.

* * *

The last person Sean expected to see when he walked into his office was Lorelei Wilkins. Yet there she sat on the corner of his desk perusing his private files. He eyed her for a moment, then let the door close behind him with a bang. She jumped, and her eyes flew to his, then tracked his Stetson as it sailed through the air to land beside her on the desk. He lowered his chin to stare at her as he approached; tapping the mortgage papers he needed to fill out on his leg. “Where is Jeff?”

“I sent him to lunch. He said I didn’t have the authority to do that.”

“You don’t.”

“I know, but he was hungry. I assured him you wouldn’t be gone long and if anyone needed anything, I’d send them to the café.”

Sean shook his head. “Well, I hope you’re here to apologize.”

Her delicate brows lifted. “For what?”

He came to a stop in front of her. “Ruining our lunch—unless you can think of something else.”

She braced her arms behind her, wrinkling more of his files in the process, and stared back at him. “I’m not here to apologize. I had every right to ask you why you hadn’t told your family about us.”

“Enough of that,” he warned. “If you’re not going to apologize, why are you here?”

She placed her hands in her lap and suddenly became serious. “I heard something when I was in the alleyway just now.”

He frowned. “What were you doing in an alleyway?”

She shrugged guiltily. “That isn’t important. What is important is that I heard two men plotting to rob the bank.”

He paused for a moment to take that in. “Are you serious?”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“Then please get off my desk.”

She frowned. “That is not the response I was expecting.”

His mouth twitched with a suppressed smile. “You’re sitting on my notebook.”

“Oh,” she breathed and finally complied by sitting in the chair he pulled up for her. He grabbed a pencil to carefully record everything she’d heard and seen. Once she finished, he went over the notes he’d taken in silent contemplation. He closed his notebook and set it aside. “Lorelei, think very carefully before you answer the next few questions I ask you. Did he seem like he was suspicious of you?”

She thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I tried to ignore it but I definitely got that feeling from him.”

“Never ignore your instincts in a situation like that,” he advised. “What do you want to do when he contacts you again?”

“
When,
not
if?
”

He nodded and walked around the desk to pull up a chair beside her. “If he’s smart, he’ll try to figure out how much you really know about what they said. So that means you have two options. The first one is to wait until he approaches you and then play dumb like you did today. If he believes you the second time, you won’t have to worry about it again. However, if he figures out that you know too much, you’ll be in danger. And I’ve got to admit, if he didn’t believe you this time, then he’s probably not going to believe you later, either.”

She bit her lip and fiddled with the folds of her skirts. “What’s the second option?”

“The second option is to leave town. Visit your great-aunt in California, just like you planned to before. This Mr. Smithson wouldn’t be able to go after you, not without delaying his plans for the bank, which he won’t want to do. Once he and his friends are in custody, your father can send you word that it’s safe to come home.”

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not running away—not from this town, or my responsibilities, or bank robbers. Besides, what would Mrs. Greene say if I suddenly up and left?”

“If we explain the circumstances to her, I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“That’s funny. I’m sure she won’t.”

“No,” Sean agreed reluctantly. “She probably won’t. But as sheriff of this town, I’ve taken an oath to protect its citizens—and keeping you safe is more important than keeping Mrs. Greene happy.”

“This isn’t only about keeping Mrs. Greene happy. If I left town, she’d tell everyone what happened and I might never be able to show my face in this town again. I left this town once, Sean. I know I wouldn’t want to stay away forever. Besides, you have to consider your reputation, as well.” She lifted her chin determinedly. “No, there has to be another way.”

He crossed his arms dubiously. “Such as?”

Sean saw an idea spark in Lorelei’s eyes, and his stomach sank as he realized what it meant. She was coming up with another one of her crazy, spontaneous, ridiculous ideas. And he was going to hate it, he was completely sure that whatever it was—

“I could go undercover,” she said.

His jaw clenched in frustration. Yep, he hated it, all right.

“Oh, Sean, it would be perfect!” Lorelei continued, practically jumping from her chair to pace the floor in enthusiasm. “I’ll pretend that I want to work with them, then they’ll tell me all of their plans—I’d then tell
you
those plans, and we’d have the whole group identified and caught in no time.”

“No,” Sean replied.

She whirled to face him as though somehow surprised by his immediate refusal. “But this idea is the perfect solution and—”

“No.”

“I’m sure I’d be able—”

“
No,
Lorelei. It’s too dangerous. Don’t you understand? It’s my duty to keep you safe. This would be the complete opposite of safe.”

“It’s also your duty to protect the bank, isn’t it?” she asked, tilting her head inquiringly. “And don’t you think it’s my duty, too? It’s my town as much as it is yours—and it’s my father’s bank, which makes this personal. If you’ll just trust me, I promise I won’t let you down or—”

Sean honestly didn’t intend to let the snort of disbelief slip out…but it did, and it stopped Lorelei in her tracks.

“Oh, so that’s what this is really about,” she said slowly. “You’re refusing to let me help because you think I’m too
flighty,
too
insincere
to be trusted, aren’t you?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the change in her voice. In an instant it had switched from that bright, overly enthusiastic tone to one that sounded cold, disappointed and downright…well…hurt. He suddenly felt about six inches tall. He didn’t like that feeling at all or the way she suddenly seemed to withdraw into herself. He cleared his throat. “I never said that.”

“Didn’t you?” she asked pointedly, then perched on his desk a little too close to him for comfort, especially when she peered down at him with that fire in her eyes. “Well, Sheriff O’Brien, I am
not
leaving town and I am
not
going to play dumb the next time I see that man. If you don’t trust me enough to let me help, then I suppose I’ll have to do things my own way.”

She got to her feet, and Sean felt a wave of pure panic wash over him as he grabbed for her arm. “Lorelei, stop! Can’t you see that I’m just trying to protect you? Your idea is just too d—”

“Too dangerous—yes, so you said. But tell me, Sean, what would be more dangerous, the two of us coming up with a plan together to put the idea into practice, or me walking out the door right now and doing it all on my own?”

And she would, Sean was certain. Once she decided to act on an impulse, there was no stopping her. She wouldn’t even pause to plan things out, either. She’d probably just trust it would all work out if she made things up as she went along. That didn’t work in life, and it certainly wouldn’t work in this situation. All he could do was try to figure out how to help her, and hopefully protect her.

“You are the most frustrating woman I have ever known,” he muttered.

For some reason that made a smile blossom across her lips. She lifted her eyebrows entreatingly. “Does that mean…”

“Yes.” He sighed. “You win.”

To her credit, she managed to almost completely hide her victorious smile. “You won’t regret it.”

“I know I won’t because we’re going to do this together.” He smiled ruefully before continuing, “I’ll be with you, as you so nicely put it before, ‘like fleas.’ It also means that you’d have to stay with it until the end. Impulsivity could have no place in this. You’d have to stick to my plan.”

He seated himself once more and was relieved to see her settle into her chair, as well. “I can do that, Sean. I know I can and I’m going to prove it.”

He nodded. “All right then, Lorelei, I’m trusting you on this, and the whole town will be depending on you. If Smithson approaches you, let him know that you’re wise to his plans, then tell me immediately. From then on, we’ll take it one step at a time.”

Chapter Nine

S
ean watched his niece and nephew race across the field. Hope tossed her long dark mane of hair this way and that as she pawed at the ground, playing the role of a wild horse. Timothy was right behind her pretending to swing a rope like a true cowboy. Sean looked back at the picnic Kate had set up for Sunday lunch. Ellie lounged on the blanket beside him and was obviously daydreaming as she slowly finished the apple in her hand. Three-year-old Grace snoozed in Kate’s lap, completely unaware of her surroundings while Nathan focused on finishing up a piece of his wife’s delicious pound cake.

So this was it. This was the perfect time to tell his family the truth about his relationship with Lorelei. He glanced up at the cloudy blue sky above him to steady his nerves.
Lord, should I?
There was no message spelled out in the clouds, just an overwhelming sense that it was time to do the right thing. He cleared his throat and quietly announced, “There’s something I need to tell everyone.”

Ellie’s eyes lost their dreamy stare as she met his gaze. Sean looked from her to Kate who watched him curiously. Nathan nodded. “Go ahead. We’re listening.”

For the first time in a long time, he felt that God was with him. He pulled in a quick breath. “I accidentally have to marry to Lorelei Wilkins.”

Shocked silence descended in uncomfortable thickness over his family. Kate recovered first. “Did you just say—”

“What does that even mean?” Ellie exclaimed in confusion.

“I’m really hoping I don’t know what that means,” Nathan said with a warning glance.

Sean held up a hand. “Hold on. Let me explain myself.”

“I think you’d better,” Kate urged.

“It started out innocently enough,” Sean began, then quickly told them the entire story.

“Oh, Sean,” Kate groaned. “What happens now?”

He glanced up to meet their gazes, then cleared his throat to ease the nervous lump that had settled there. “I’m supposed to publicly propose to Lorelei in a few weeks. In the meantime, Mr. Wilkins wants our courtship to appear perfectly normal so that no one else will find out what really happened.”

“So that’s the real reason you’re courting Lorelei?” Nathan asked. “You two don’t have feelings for each other?”

He smiled in wry amusement. “The truth is Lorelei can hardly stand me. She just agreed to it because her father didn’t give her a choice.”

Ellie stared at him. “Are you sure Mrs. Greene is helping you? I mean why would she do that?”

“I haven’t seen any evidence to the contrary.” He shrugged. “She’s doing it for Mrs. Wilkins’s sake.”

She nodded. “Well, I can guarantee she isn’t doing it for yours.”

“You and Mrs. Greene need to stop expecting the worst of each other,” Kate chided as she brushed a tear off of her cheek. “Sean, what I don’t understand is why it took you so long to tell us this.”

Nathan shifted closer to his wife to slide his arm around her and pull her into an embrace. “Don’t cry, Kate. I’m sure Sean wasn’t trying to hurt us.”

She nudged him softly with her elbow. “I know that, Nathan.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“Never mind,” she said. “Let him speak.”

Nathan looked as confused by the exchange as Sean felt. With a shrug, Nathan nodded toward Sean. “Go ahead.”

“I guess I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”

“Don’t be silly,” Kate said as she adjusted Grace into a more comfortable position. “We wouldn’t have been disappointed in you because of that. You’re doing the honorable thing. The only reason I’m disappointed is because you didn’t confide in us earlier.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, then realized something for the first time. “I guess I was disappointed for myself, too.”

“Why?” Nathan asked.

“When I was growing up, I saw what a loving, God-centered marriage you guys had. It was the same way with Ma and Pa. I never said much about it, but I’ve always wanted to have a marriage like that. Now, I don’t even have the smallest hope of it.” Sean shrugged. “I guess I feel like I failed. I failed to continue Ma and Pa’s legacy. I failed God by not allowing Him to lead me. I failed myself and I’ve failed Lorelei. That’s a lot of failure for one man to admit to even to his own family.”

Kate’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, there’s so much wrong with that statement I don’t know where to start.”

Nathan met his gaze evenly. “You know, Sean, sometimes the desires we have in our hearts aren’t just our own desires. I believe more than anything that God placed that desire in you to have a loving, God-centered marriage. There is a reason He hasn’t taken it away yet.”

Sean shook his head skeptically. “It’s a sore temptation to give up hope after the mess I’ve made of everything.”

“Never give up hope,” Kate said. “No matter how much we might mess up, God never fails. Surrender the situation to Him. Trust Him to work it out and He will.”

“That’s easier said than done,” he countered.

“No, it’s the surrendering part that’s easier in the long run,” she insisted. “We were never created to carry the burdens of our lives alone. That’s God’s job, Sean.”

But wasn’t it his job, too? It was his life—shouldn’t he take responsibility for it? Shouldn’t he be able to come up with a plan to fix things? Surrendering it to God seemed like accepting defeat, admitting that he couldn’t handle things on his own. He plucked a blade of grass and twirled it nervously between his fingers. “That seems so passive.”

Nathan laughed. “It takes a lot more strength than you might think. Besides, once you are in God’s will, He will show you how to be active with your faith.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he said, mostly because he thought that was what they wanted to hear. It still seemed like a pretty weak way to go about life to him.

Ellie cleared her throat delicately to gain his attention. “One last thing, Sean O’Brien.”

He nearly groaned. “Yes, Ellie?”

She arched her brow threateningly. “If you call my brother a failure one more time, I just might have to punch you.”

He grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Keep this in mind, too. I don’t think you’re failing at all.”

“What would you call it then?”

She lifted her chin as though preparing for a fight. “I think it’s romantic.”

“Romantic?” he said with a look that told her exactly how preposterous she was being.

Her lips curved into a mischievous smile. “It certainly has the potential to be. Kate and Nathan didn’t start off much better than you and Lorelei. That turned out well, didn’t it?”

“What exactly are you suggesting, Ellie?”

“Just because Lorelei is playacting her way through the courtship doesn’t mean you have to. We all know she liked you in the past. If she liked you then, what’s keeping her from liking you now?” She pointed at him significantly. “Find that out and you could still stand a chance at making her fall in love with you.”

He gave a dry laugh. “Not that I think what you’re saying is actually right, but even if I did that, it might not bring
me
any closer to falling in love with
her.
”

She narrowed her gaze. “Love is a choice, Sean. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Nathan grinned. “She’s right.”

“Of course I am,” she said.

Fine, so maybe love was a choice. But did he want to choose to love Lorelei? How could he trust her to be someone he could build a life with after all the things she’d done? But on the other hand, if he didn’t let himself love her, what kind of life would they have together? Maybe this was a case where he’d have to take a calculated risk.

“Listen, regardless of what I decide to do or not do, y’all can’t tell anyone about this. Promise me you’ll keep it a secret.”

“It isn’t our secret to tell,” Nathan said.

Kate nodded. “We shouldn’t mention it around the children, either. They’d be liable to let something slip without meaning to.”

“I won’t say a word.” Ellie promised.

Kate smiled. “I’m glad you told us.”

“So am I.” It felt good to finally tell his family the truth. It was even better to realize that after the initial shock wore off, they were more than willing to support and encourage him. But accepting their support meant considering their advice, too. Could he do it? Could he surrender the whole situation to God?

I haven’t been doing a great job of taking care of this situation so far, but I’m willing to ask for Your help, Lord. Isn’t that the same thing as surrendering?
If so, why did it feel as though panic was slowly tying his stomach in tight little knots?

* * *

Lorelei stepped down from the buggy without Sean’s help and glanced at her surroundings. She couldn’t understand why her father had encouraged her to travel unaccompanied with Sean to this abandoned old house just outside of town. Of course, since what the town had perceived as their spat in the café almost a week ago, her parents had been encouraging them to be seen in public more often…without fighting. So far they weren’t fighting, but this wasn’t exactly public. She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. “Why are we here?”

“This is our house, Lorelei.”

She stopped walking to stare at him. “Our house?”

He continued looking at the house for a long moment. “Yes. We’re going to live here after the ceremony.”

She tried to form a coherent sentence, but her mouth would not move. She shook her head. “Are you serious?”

“Sure, I am. You didn’t think I’d expect you to live in the one-room cabin I have in town, did you?”

“No,” she admitted slowly. No, she hadn’t thought that at all. She hadn’t allowed herself to think that far.

He mistook her shocked silence for disapproval and turned a critical eye back on the house before he met her gaze. “I suppose you’d rather live in town.”

“Yes,” she breathed, since he seemed to expect a response.

Concern lowered his brow as he earnestly said, “I can’t afford to buy a house in town. I know it isn’t what you’re used to, but I hope you understand that there is only so much I can offer you.”

“My father—”

“He was kind enough to give us a low mortgage on this house. I won’t expect anything more from him.”

“Sean, don’t you think you should have consulted me about this?” she asked incredulously. “Did you take me into consideration at all when you made this decision?”

“How can you ask that? Everything I’ve done so far has been for you or because of you.” He pressed his lips together to keep from saying more. “Why don’t we go inside? The house isn’t as bad as you think. It will need some work, of course, but the building is sound. There is plenty of room and you’ll be able to fix it up however you like.”

A resounding “no” begged to dance from her lips.

He seemed to sense it for he lowered his chin to pin her with a look. “Lorelei, I trusted you when you said you’d help me with the bank robbery. Surely, you can trust my judgment enough to at least look at the house.”

She let a few awkward moments of thoughtful silence pass between them. He smiled beseechingly. Finally, without a word, she moved forward. She stepped through the front door as he held it open for her, then cautiously walked into the house.

Light dove through the tall front windows to brightly illuminate the empty room. Dust lifted from the wooden boards at her feet and danced in the shafts of sunlight. A brick fireplace was built into the wall on her right. Its chimney stretched up the wall until it disappeared into the tall ceiling that housed the second floor. Sean left the door open behind them, allowing a breeze to filter through and stir the stale air. “This is the sitting room.”

“It’s a good-size room,” she admitted.

“Did you see the fireplace? It will be nice come winter,” he offered hesitantly.

She nodded. He seemed satisfied with her response to the sitting room, so he led her through the door into a much smaller space. It had a medium-size window and a small table for two. Sean announced it to be the dining room. She murmured something about it being adequate.

He led her into the kitchen. It had a large oven, but the stove seemed rather outdated. Sean seemed to notice her concern and mentioned something about replacing the stove. Suddenly she realized how like a shy little boy he seemed. He carefully watched her expression and waited for her approval over each feature of the house. She wasn’t used to seeing him so unguarded.

She followed him back into the sitting room, then he led her up toward the stairs. As she climbed to the second floor she felt the shock of his announcement begin to wear off. Her feet slowed on the steps. This was going to be her home with this man.

Her heartbeat quickened in her throat. She glanced over the banister to the sitting room where she would probably spend hours in Sean’s company. She imagined herself eating at that small table with him. She saw herself standing at the stove with Sean leaning over her shoulder to see what she was cooking, and her knees began to tremble. It was becoming too real.

They came to the landing of the stairs that ended in a wide hallway. Sean opened the door to one of the rooms on the left to let her peer inside of it. She slid through the doorway, careful to leave a few inches of space between herself and Sean. The room was moderately sized and the frames for two mattresses rested in opposite corners, but those could be removed to give Lorelei a nice sewing room or library. She heard the door slide open farther as Sean moved closer, and his voice interrupted her thoughts. “Eventually this would become the children’s room.”

Children.
Her breath stilled in her chest as she realized what that implied.
I hadn’t even thought about where we would live; I certainly hadn’t considered he might want children. Why would he want to bring children into a relationship like this?

She turned to find him striding directly across the hall to another room. He stepped inside and held the door open until she entered. The room was larger than the other with the same high ceiling. Large windows matched those on the lower floor, but drapes concealed the sunlight from their panes and left the room in dark muted tones. Sean turned toward her. His eyes glinted with determination and daring, yet his voice came out gently. “This will be our room, Lorelei.”