“It was a year ago.” Eden softly voiced the thought aloud. “Mr. Grant was not even here then.”
“W-What?”
“The gal’s right, Wilson. Even if shoddy work led to the axle breaking, which we can’t know fer sure, Levi here ain’t the one responsible. You been punishing an innocent man.” Mr. Barnes pulled Wilson onto his feet and dusted the fellow off. “Just be glad he didn’t strike back. The way he’s built, he’d probably a-knocked all your teeth out with one tap. Come on. I’ll see you home.”
Mr. Barnes led the grieving father away. Wilson mumbled something that could have been an apology, but it was too quiet and slurred to be coherent.
Behind her, Levi’s boots scratched against the hard-packed earth. Eden turned to see him reach out for the wall as if in need of support. “Fourteen?” The whispered word fell from his lips, tinged with disbelief. “Not a man, grown?”
Eden stepped closer. “No. He was a boy. Thrown from a wagon.”
Levi’s eyes widened, and he blinked repeatedly. “Not a fighter?”
“A fighter?” Eden’s brows drew together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
He shook his head fiercely, like a dog expelling water from its fur. It left his hair quite mussed, but his eyes cleared, and Eden felt as if he once again was truly aware of her presence.
“Are you all right?” she asked, cautiously touching his arm.
Levi’s gaze found her fingers, and his lips lifted at one corner in a tiny smile. “I’m fine. A bad memory caught up to me for a minute, but . . . it left.”
His eyes met hers, and she longed to ask him about that memory. Yet she swallowed her questions. She knew firsthand how painful it could be to have someone dredge up the past. It wouldn’t do their fledgling friendship any good to press Levi for answers he clearly didn’t want to give.
“I heard you had a scuffle,” a male voice announced in overloud tones.
Eden flinched and yanked her hand away from Levi’s arm. “Sheriff Pratt,” she said, willing her cheeks not to blush. “I’m afraid you missed all the excitement.”
The lawman’s gaze traveled meaningfully from Eden to Levi and back again. “Don’t know about that, darlin’. Seems to me I got here just in time.”
There was no stopping the warm flood that washed over her face at his insinuation. The sheriff glared at her in disapproval before turning narrowed eyes on Levi.
“I warned you about stirring up trouble, Grant. A customer from the Hang Dog told me a fellow at the bar claimed your poor workmanship cost a boy his life. And that the man aimed to take a piece of your hide in payment. Where is he?” The sheriff stepped into the shop, his neck stretching from side to side as he searched. “I figure a drunk ain’t no match for you. His friends carry him off already?”
Eden bristled. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sheriff. Mr. Wilson is unharmed. Claude Barnes is seeing him home.”
Sheriff Pratt eyed Levi more closely. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the edge of his mouth, mirroring the location of Levi’s split lip. “Got in a lucky punch, did he?” The lawman smirked. “Guess you’re not as tough as I thought. Size ain’t everything, is it?”
Levi simply stood there, mute.
“Still, I want you out of my town. Can’t have kids dying because of your sloppy work.”
Eden gasped at the man’s audacity.
“Not my work,” Levi finally offered in his defense.
However, those three little words were far from sufficient to Eden’s way of thinking. She marched up to Conrad Pratt, indignation tearing at the seams of her control. “This is outrageous. You can’t oust a man from town on the word of some . . . some drunkard without even verifying the veracity of his story. What kind of lawman are you? The boy who died was young John Wilson, and the accident was over a year ago. Mr. Grant is innocent of any wrongdoing. It was all a misunderstanding.”
“That’s a mighty spirited defense, Miss Spencer.” The way he looked her up and down as he drawled her name made Eden cringe. “Seems odd, you takin’ up for a man you hardly know. Unless, of course, you know him far better than you’ve let on.”
“Watch it, Pratt.” Levi’s voice echoed behind her, steel lacing his tone.
The sheriff took a menacing step forward, anger mottling his cheeks as he shifted his gaze to Levi. “You’re the one who should watch it, Grant. The Spencer family is well respected in this town. I won’t stand for anyone besmirching Miss Eden’s reputation. She has no business being here alone with you, and I aim to see her home straightaway.” He grabbed Eden’s elbow and began yanking her toward the road.
“Of all the high-handed, rude behavior . . .” Eden muttered as she tripped along behind him. She longed to whack Sheriff Pratt across the side of his head with her handbag and snatch her arm free of his biting hold, yet she knew antagonizing the man would only make matters worse. So instead, she called out a parting word to Levi over her shoulder.
“Good day, Mr. Grant. Thank you again for your generous donation to the Ladies Aid Society fund drive. Your gift will be a blessing to many, I’m sure.”
“Glad to help, ma’am. Let me know if you encounter any other project I can help with.” The way he glowered at the sheriff’s back left little doubt as to what other project he was referring to.
“I will, sir. Thank you.” She tried to wave, to reassure him she was fine, but all of the twisting she’d been doing to glance behind finally tripped up her feet. Eden stumbled into the sheriff, who released her elbow in order to wrap his full arm about her.
“I got ya, darlin’.”
“I’m not your darling.” Eden planted her feet and turned accusing eyes on the man at her side. “How could you insult me like that? Insinuating that I had done something improper?”
“What was I supposed to think?” he hissed at her. “I stride in expecting to break up a brawl, and instead I find you cozying up to the smith, talkin’ all quiet-like, touchin’ his arm. Looked mighty intimate to me.”
He loosened his hold and Eden stepped free, ducking her head as she brushed a spot of dust from her skirt. “The man had just been attacked. I was simply ensuring that he was all right before I took my leave.”
Well, there might have been a bit more to it than that, but Conrad Pratt need not be privy to every detail. The man was far too intrusive as it was.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me?” She brought her gaze back up to meet his. “I believe I’ll see myself home.” Eden forged down the road, praying the sheriff wouldn’t cause a scene in front of the ladies who had gathered on the boardwalk by the general store. The three women made a good show of being absorbed in their chatter, but Eden caught the curious glances cast in her direction as she approached. The kind of glances that reminded her of whispers and scandal and pity—three things she’d spent the last five years trying to escape.
Thankfully, the sheriff let her go without another word. However, the thud of his footsteps followed her the short distance home, the sound filling her with an odd sense of foreboding.
Chapter Eleven
On Friday afternoon, Levi walked into the Spencer bank with his first deposit jangling in his pocket. His profits from a week at the forge were meager at best, especially after having donated everything in his till to Eden’s fund drive on Wednesday, but like a kid who’d earned his first dime carting supplies or mucking stalls, the sense of accomplishment he carried rendered the dollar amount unimportant.
Taking his place in line, Levi glanced up to the clerk’s barred window and spied a familiar black bonnet perched atop a lovely coil of auburn hair. He’d seen Eden at the library just a few hours ago, but his stomach danced as if he hadn’t seen her in ages. Who would’ve guessed viewing the back of a woman’s head could have such an effect on a man?
Levi grinned, then sobered. He needed to keep a tighter rein on his reactions. The scuffle with the drunk a couple days back proved that his past could catch up to him at any time. He had no business pursuing m
ore than a friendship with Eden Spencer, no matter what the back of her head did to his insides.
“Thank you, Adam.” Eden’s soft voice carried in the quiet lobby, as did the click of her purse clasp after she tucked the bills she’d received within its folds. She had just begun to turn when the outside door swung inward and crashed into the wall.
Levi spun around. Three men charged into the bank.
“Draper!” the first one yelled as he shoved past Levi, “Get your sorry hide out here!”
One fellow blocked off the entrance with a crossed-arm stance as if to make sure their quarry didn’t escape while the other prowled about the room kicking at chairs with enough force to overturn a few while he heated the air with curses.
The first man reached the clerk’s window and pounded his fist against the bars. “Get Draper. Now!”
The clerk scurried away, as did Eden. She backed toward the side wall, her hands out before her in a placating manner. Levi moved to go to her, but before he took more than two steps, the second man snatched up one of the chairs he’d been kicking and hurled it at Levi’s head.
“Stay where you are, cowboy.”
Levi lurched back and twisted his face away, leaving his shoulder to deflect most of the blow.
His assailant grabbed a second chair and drew it back. “Mind yer own business and nobody’ll get hurt. All we want is that no-good, swindlin’ banker.”
Levi said nothing, just rubbed his shoulder and stared the man down. It was a little late to promise that no one would get hurt. The fellow finally lowered the chair, then straddled it as he placed himself between Levi and the man at the front, the one yelling for Draper.
The trio wasn’t armed as far as Levi could tell, unless one counted the chair, so it was doubtful they intended to rob the place.
“You too afraid to face me, Draper?” The first man pounded on the bars again, and the sound of coins quivering in an open drawer rattled from the other side. “You think you can just steal my brother’s land and not be held accountable? Come out here and face me like a man.”
Levi was plotting the best way to circumvent the man with the chair to get to Eden, when the crazy woman actually stepped closer to the ringleader.
“Gentlemen, please. Whatever injustice has transpired, this angry display will only make matters worse. Please, calm yoursel—”
“Shut up, lady,” the first man snapped. “This don’t concern you.”
“It most certainly—”
“Eden,” Levi said through his clenched jaw. “Be quiet.”
Her gaze locked with his, and the panic in her eyes made his heart throb worse than his shoulder.
“Get out of my bank, Monroe. You and those mangy brothers of yours.”
Draper had finally made an appearance, but it was the shotgun he carried that drew everyone’s attention. He jabbed the barrel through the bars, making Monroe step back.
“You gonna shoot me, Draper? I shoulda expected as much from a dirty dealer like you.”
Levi inched toward Eden while Draper distracted the men.
“Will hadn’t made a payment in four months. I warned him I’d foreclose if he couldn’t find the money a fifth time.”
“A decent man would wait until the next crop comes in.”
“I run a business not a charity, Monroe. Now, get out!” Draper cocked his weapon and aimed it at the man’s chest.
The brother at the door suddenly cried out in pain and fell to his knees as Sheriff Pratt forced his way in, gun drawn. “Everybody down!”
Levi lunged for Eden. He shielded her with his bulk, not trusting Pratt or Draper to keep their bullets to themselves. Eden trembled and her breath came out in shallow little puffs.
“Out,” she begged as she tugged on his arm. “Levi, I need to get out.”
He tipped his face slightly toward her while keeping an eye on the sheriff. “All right.”
The two Monroe brothers near the counter had their hands raised, but their mouths continued to call curses down on the banker as they slowly sank to their knees. Emboldened by Pratt’s presence, Draper unlocked the inner door and stepped out from behind the counter.
“I want these men arrested, Sheriff.”
“What for?” one of the brothers demanded. “We’re not robbin’ the place. You’re the one who should be locked up for threatening me with that shotgun.”
“Close your trap.” The sheriff glanced around the room, his eyes widening when he caught sight of Eden. He then scowled at Levi, a muscle in his jaw ticking where he ground his back teeth together.
Levi met his gaze. “Let me take her home, Pratt.”
The lawman checked on the Monroe brothers before looking back at Levi. He huffed out a disgusted breath, then strode to the door and yanked the last Monroe to his feet, dragging him away from the entrance. “Go on. Get her out of here.”
Levi made his way to the door with Eden sticking to him like a shadow.
“But you better hightail it back here and give me your statement, pronto.” Pratt glared at Levi as he passed, making his objection clear.
Levi would have promised almost anything to get Eden out of that powder keg. He nodded. “You have my word.”
Eden needed no urging to hurry. The minute she stepped clear of the bank, her arms and legs pumped with such haste, Levi struggled to keep up. When they reached her yard, Levi reached a hand out to slow her before she could disappear into the house.
“You going to be all right?”
She pivoted so fast, her handbag whacked him in the arm. “What is it with men, that they think yelling and pounding on things will get them what they want? Or throwing punches or waving a gun. It’s all so . . . so . . . stupid!”
Her eyes still had a bit of the wild, panicked look to them that he’d seen earlier in the bank, but a glow of righteous indignation dominated. Her cheeks flushed from the brisk pace she’d set, her chest heaving slightly from the exertion, wisps of her hair waving in the breeze—she was like a virago rising up to take mankind to task for their deficiencies.
“First that grieving man attacks you for no good reason other than he feels sorry for himself and wants to spread the misery around,” she started, gesticulating wildly, “and then a pack of wolves descends upon the bank, snarling and pouncing in the hopes of frightening their prey enough to get him to concede to their demands. Did they care who else might be inside when they charged through the door? No! They were too caught up in their own rage. Not five minutes before they arrived, the Cooper girls were skipping around the lobby while their mother made a deposit. Just imagine the disaster if those Monroe men had arrived a few minutes earlier. It’s unconscionable!” Eden’s arms flung wide, sending the handbag dangling from her wrist flying through the air until it snagged on a rosebush.
“Then Norman Draper with his shotgun and the sheriff with his strong-arm tactics—why, it’s a miracle we got out of there unscathed!”
Levi kept his mouth shut, letting her say what she needed to say. He didn’t try to explain a man’s need to assert himself among his peers or point out that the sheriff’s strong-arm tactics had proved effective in defusing the situation at the bank. Who was he to defend the actions of the men who had earned her scorn? He’d done far worse.
Silently, Levi reached around Eden to retrieve her handbag from a thorny branch. He picked off the tiny sticks that clung to the lacy fabric and handed it back to her. She accepted his offering and let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry, Levi. I had no call to vent my spleen on you like that. I just . . .” She turned away from him and started walking toward the porch. “I felt so trapped and helpless. It was as if someone had turned the clock back and I was twelve again, and . . .” Her voice trailed off as she reached the railing.
He thought she was going to disappear into the house, but she sank down onto the stairs instead. There wasn’t enough room to squeeze in beside her, but Levi wasn’t about to strand her with her memories, not when her eyes begged
him to stay. So he followed her to the porch steps and leaned against the newel post at the base.
“What happened when you were twelve?”
She dropped her purse in her lap and grabbed hold of one of the curved railing spindles. “My father took me to a political rally where one of his friends was speaking. Mother was supposed to go, but she didn’t feel well, so Daddy asked me to accompany him.”
A wistful smile touched Eden’s face as she gazed out across the yard. “I felt so grown up and special on his arm that day. The hall was terribly crowded, though, and when the speaker droned on and on I grew impatient. Daddy went to fetch me some lemonade, and while he was gone the riot started.”
Levi stiffened. “Riot?”
“Apparently my father’s friend had bought several mills in the area only to close them down in order to sell the land to the railroad. The townsfolk heralded him a hero because his deal brought the railroad, and with it increased prosperity for all their businesses. But the unemployed mill workers took a different view, and after building up their courage at the local saloon, they stormed the meeting hall.
“They fired shots in the air while casting aspersions on anyone siding with a man who would steal bread from their children’s mouths. People panicked and pushed and shoved to try to get away. I screamed for my father, but he was too far away to get to me, and everyone was pressing against him to try to exit the building. Some of the men tried to subdue the troublemakers and confiscate their weapons, but the mill workers fought back, and soon it was nothing more than an all-out brawl.
“The noise was deafening as everyone scrambled to escape. I was too scared to move, afraid Daddy wouldn’t be able to find me if I wasn’t where he left me. But as the brawl grew, it moved closer to the stage. Closer to me. Then one large fellow took a blow to the face and fell backward. Right on top of me. I lay beneath him as he rolled back and forth, trying to get up. I couldn’t breathe. The fall had knocked the wind out of me, and I thought I was dying.”