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Jesse stood and extended his hand to the man. “I will talk it over with my client and let you know.” The men shook hands. “Just keep in mind what I said. If anything happens to Mrs. Smith because of the police department’s short-sightedness, you will hear from me loud and clear.”
“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Cochran,” the DA growled as he shuffled the papers on his desk.
Emily alighted from the automobile in front of Millie’s shop and turned to Martin. “You don’t have to come in with me. Just wait out here, or return home if you like. I’ll need about three hours.”
“Yes, Mrs. Smith. I will return in three hours.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. Although why she should need to worry about Martin was ridiculous. There was no longer a reason to spy on her. And since the reading of the will where the servants had all been taken care of—unlike her—she was lucky Martin even deigned to drive her around.
The note she’d received from a young boy this morning, telling her to go to Millie’s shop at one o’clock, could only have come from Hunter. It had been unsigned, but no one else would summon her here. She hurried up the steps of the shop and burst through the door to the startled expressions of Mrs. Davis and her two daughters, Amy and Amelia.
“Oh, I am so sorry.” She smoothed the sides of her hair and gave them a bright smile. “Mrs. Davis, Amy, Amelia, so nice to see you.”
“Mrs. Smith,” Mrs. Davis said. “I am so sorry about your husband.” She clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Nasty business for sure. I’m just glad they locked up that horrid man who did it.”
Emily felt the blood rush to her face, and attempted to calm herself. She wanted so badly to blurt out how wrong they were, that the man they’d arrested had not killed her husband. But common sense prevailed, and she only dipped her chin slightly in acknowledgement of her statement, then turned to Millie. “I received a note. I assume my dress is ready?” She hoped the piercing glance she gave the dressmaker conveyed the proper message.
Millie stumbled for a moment, and then said, “Oh, yes. Of course. I have it in the back, Mrs. Smith. If you will follow me, I will get it for you.” She smiled at Mrs. Davis, “I will be right back, this will only take a moment.”
The woman waved the dressmaker off and continued to look through the many pattern books strewn around the table where she and her daughters sat.
“What is going on?” Millie asked as the curtain swung closed.
“I received a note. It had to be from Mr. Henderson. I’ll just peek out the back.” Sure enough when she opened the door, Hunter stood there, leaning against the fence. When he saw her, he straightened and gave her the lopsided smile she loved so much.
“Yes,” she said to Millie. “I was right. I will be gone for a while. Can you handle Mrs. Davis?”
“No worries, Mrs. Smith. I will tell her you have an entire wardrobe to try on.” She winked and then giggled like a youthful girl. “You go enjoy the time with your young man.”
Hunter opened his arms and Emily ran to him, feeling happy and carefree. “I’m so glad you came for me.”
“Come. I have a carriage. We need to get away from the center of town as quickly as possible.” He took her hand and led her to a horse and carriage in a stable two blocks from Millie’s shop.
Once they settled in Hunter snapped the reins, and the horse plodded along. “I’m afraid we don’t have the fastest animal in the stable.”
“That’s all right. I’m enjoying the pace.”
She pushed her problems to the back of her mind, allowing a sense of contentment to settle over her as they rode farther from town. Being with Hunter made her feel safer; why, she didn’t know. He could conceivably spend the rest of his life in prison, if he wasn’t hung instead. Her problem of no money seemed minor compared to what he faced.
It didn’t take her long to realize they were headed to the spot at the beach she considered ‘their place.’ She moved closer to him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her up against his body.
They followed the same routine from before, with Hunter helping her over the boulders to the wet sand of the beach. It was a cooler day, the sky filled with clouds, a reminder that autumn had arrived. Hunter spread out a blanket he’d carried with him, and they settled in front of the waves washing onto the shore.
“Emily, I need your help.”
“Of course. Anything.” Her heart skipped a beat at the serious look on his face. He’d been unusually quiet on the ride, but now she worried that something worse had happened. Here she was trying to forget her problems, and he was dealing with his very life. “What is it?”
“The police know about our relationship.”
She sighed. “I know. They came to visit me the day before the funeral. They’d already discovered I had been in Guthrie, and that Loui
s had come after me.”
“With that information, it only strengthens their case against me. Their initial reasoning for my arrest was the fact that I tried to get them to charge Louis with my father’s murder. They apparently assumed I’d taken the law into my own hands and shot him. Now that they know about us, they seem to think I killed Louis to free you from him.”
Her hands turned to ice and her mouth dried up. “What can we do?”
“I have a friend, Jeremy Steele, who worked as an investigator for the Rangers. We’ve worked together before. He’s been here in Galveston gathering information for my uncle to use for my defense.
