West

He stood and went to the door and the small box outside. Unlocking it, he pulled out several letters, and I recognized the paper John had used among them. I reached for it.

Taylor shifted his back to me in a swift block.

"Don't read it yet! We have to talk about this!" I pushed at him. I grabbed at the letter once more.

A thick cuff went around my wrist.

The sheriff tossed his mail then took my arm and tugged me towards the cells. I pulled at him, but he resolutely bullied me to the cell before sliding the handcuffs through the bars and cuffing my free wrist.

"Stay put, ma'am," he ordered and moved away.

"I'll give you a million dollars not to read that letter," I said with a groan and pulled at my hands.

"Even if such an amount existed, I'd rather read this, more so because you don't want me to." He sat down at his desk and propped up his boots on his desk before picking up the note from John.

I waited, hopeful that he found this as weird as I did. If we could work out a deal where he delayed the wedding for a few more days …

He read the letter, and I almost laughed. He went from relaxed to tense. His legs dropped and he hunched over his desk, eyes pinned to the words. Suspicion was replaced by surprise and then consternation. The silence grew tense and thick, and I waited apprehensively for his reaction. The irrational part of me feared rejection while the logical side of me prayed for it.

"My father is not in the right mind," I said finally.

"This cannot be real."

"You're right. It's not. It's a horrible joke."

He glanced at me and rose, the letter in his hand. Clearly not buying my attempt to brush it off, he froze in place for another long minute.

"You can say no. Or you can say yes to my father and delay it for a while." I added.

"Considering someone burnt my house down, a place to sleep sounds mighty nice right now."

I rolled my eyes. "You have a barn."

"That burnt down after."

"You can stay in ours."

"Much obliged, ma'am." By the look he leveled on me, he blamed me for the fire. "I take it you're opposed." He lifted the letter.

"Not opposed," I said, recalling his naked torso from last night, along with the fact I was leaving soon. Then again, assuming he wasn't here to stop me, he could be the right person to help me influence Running Bear and Fighting Badger, and if John passed soon … "I don't know. Maybe it is a good idea. You're not an asshole like Philip. Just not … now. The timing is bad."