Page 18 of More than Words Can Say

“Mayor Longfellow thinks I have no plans to comply with the city ordinance banning women from owning businesses.” Her voice shook slightly, but she held her own, her eyes flashing enough fire to keep the tears at bay. “He instructed the marshal to post an inflammatory notice about my being in violation despite the fact that the deadline the council dictated is several days away. He won’t take it down without the mayor’s permission, but I won’t be able to get in to see the mayor until after nine, and in the meantime, all my morning customers will see this—this slander and believe me to be unethical.”

Zach slid between Abigail and the marshal. “Take it down, Burton. She has until the end of the month.”

The marshal sighed and pivoted to face Zach, leaning his shoulder against the wall to keep the bottom edge of the notice from flapping in the breeze and possibly tearing free. “Look, Hamilton. It’s my job to enforce the law in this town, even laws I don’t particularly agree with. So unless you can change the law in the next few minutes or show me a falsehood in the document the mayor drew up, you’re out of luck.”

Zach hardened his jaw. “Step aside and let me read it.”

The marshal eyed him as if he thought Zach might light the notice on fire or something. “I already examined it and found nothing illegal or incorrect. Neither did Miss Kemp.” He tipped his head toward Abigail. “But give it your best shot.” He straightened away from the wall, keeping one hand on the bottom corner of the paper to hold it in place. “Just know that if you tear it down, I’ll take you in for obstruction of justice.”

As much as he wanted to rip the page away, Zach knew that wasn’t the way to win this round. Burton played by the rules. No bluffs. No trickery. And he held everyone else at the table to his standards. There was no room for sleight of hand or distraction techniques. A player had to rely on finesse and strong gameplay. Zach’s father might have taught him how to cheat, but he’d also taught him to out-strategize anyone who came to his table. That was what Zach aimed to do.

He read the notice from beginning to end, then went back to the top, searching for a loophole, for anything he could use to convince the lawman to remove the notice. At the start of the second read, his gut clenched the way it did when instinct flared faster than reason. He jerked his gaze back up to the first line and read it a third time.

Due to a failure to comply with city ordinance . . .

. . . a failure to comply . . .

Zach turned to the bakery’s owner, the winning strategy crystalizing in his mind. “That offer you proposed yesterday still on the table, Miss Kemp?”

Her eyes widened slightly, and her forehead crinkled. Her gaze moved from him to the marshal then to the notice tacked to her wall. She nodded. “It is.” Her attention flew back to Zach, her light brown eyes brimming with a depth of hope that made him nervous. A woman putting such store in him was bound to end up disappointed, but perhaps not today.

“Then I accept.” Zach backed away from the notice and braced his feet apart as he pivoted to face the marshal. “There you go, Burton. I found your inaccuracy. There is no longer a failure to comply on Miss Kemp’s part.”

The marshal raised a brow. “How do you figure? Her name’s still on the deed.”

Zach laid down his trump card. “But come Friday evening . . .” He cast a quick glance at his bride-to-be to make sure he’d gotten the timing right. Upon receiving her nod, he continued. “. . . she’ll be carrying a man’s name.”

“Yours, I suppose?” Burton asked.

“Yep.”

The marshal turned to Abigail. “That true, ma’am? You planning to sign your deed over to this fella?”

She glanced at Zach, her expression emitting equal parts gratitude and trepidation. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one unsure about this plan. Nevertheless, she stood her ground and looked the marshal straight in the eye. “Yes, sir, I am.”

Burton shook his head. “I suppose this is one of them details you were tellin’ me about earlier?”

Abigail nodded, sidling closer to Zach. Odd how that action made him want to stand a little taller and scowl a little fiercer at the lawman who had caused her such anxiety this morning. And drawn a crowd. An amazing number of neighboring shopkeepers had decided this was the perfect time to sweep their walkways. Zach angled his body a little more perpendicular to the shop wall to block even the closest neighbor’s line of sight to the notice.

“Technically, you’re not in compliance until ownership changes hands,” the marshal said.

Zach took a menacing step closer and opened his mouth to argue, but Burton shot a staying glance his way and held up his hand before Zach could utter a word.

“But since the mayor’s main concern was notifying the citizenry about the upcoming closure, I suppose we can forgo posting the notice if there will no longer be a closure.”

“Oh, thank you!” Abigail beamed a smile that had her dimples flashing and Zach’s gut tightening.

Burton yanked the notice down and crumpled it in his fist. He bent over, dropped his hammer into the tool box at his feet, then grabbed the handle and straightened. He pointed a finger first at Zach then at Abigail.

“I’m warning you, though. Hamilton’s name better be on the deed by the end of the week, or not only will I shut down this business, I’ll bring the two of you up on charges for making fraudulent claims. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Abigail nodded then glanced at Zach.

He gave a slow nod of his own. Not slow enough to show the lawman any disrespect, but enough to let the marshal know he wouldn’t be intimidated.

“All right, then. I’ll be on my way.” Burton tipped his hat, then set off down the boardwalk in the direction of the nosy neighbors. He gave Zach a telling look as he passed, making it clear that he’d run interference with the other shopkeepers, but it would be up to Zach to get Miss Kemp inside.

Seeing as how that matched his thought process precisely, Zach fit a hand to Abigail’s lower back and steered her to the bakery door—one that opened as if by magic and closed the instant they cleared the threshold.