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“Well, what do we do about all this?” Doc said.
Martha came back into the room, and Gray glanced at her in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed she’d disappeared up the outside staircase that led to the upper floor apartment. “There’s not much left up there. I don’t think he’s coming back.”
The preacher picked up a “wanted” poster from the floor and laid it back on the desk. “Looks like we need to find a new sheriff.”
The faces around him showed varying signs of dismay and discouragement. Gray leaned against the desk. “The man can’t have been such a saint as to inspire all this,” he said, waving his hand at them.
“Of course not,” Mercy said, though her brow remained furrowed.
“But,” Martha chimed in, “it took such a long time to find someone who’d take the job. We didn’t have a sheriff at all for years. If something happened, we’d have to take care of it ourselves and even then, we’d have to hold any prisoners until a sheriff from one of the neighboring towns could come collect them. And as you can imagine, that took a fair bit of time. So…no, the sheriff wasn’t much, and he certainly had his…issues,” she said, glancing at Mercy.
“But with him in town, there was at least some semblance of law and order,” the preacher filled in. “Even if it wasn’t ideal.”
Gray scratched at the stubble on his jaw but kept his opinions of law and order to himself.
The doc looked at him appraisingly, for long enough that Gray raised an eyebrow. “What?”
The doc flushed slightly at having been caught staring, and he glanced at the preacher, who gave him a little nod. Oh, this couldn’t be good.
“Well, the thought just occurred to me that, with you being new in town and, I presume…from what I’ve heard…newly retired from your…old profession…”
Gray nearly groaned. Very diplomatic.
The doc cleared his throat and continued. “Seeing as how we need a sheriff, and you certainly have the necessary skills, and, in a way, have the most experience with law enforcement…”
“From the wrong side of it,” Gray pointed out.
“True. The point stands, though.”
“What point?” Gray asked, knowing damn well what the man was getting at. But he was going to make him say it.
The tips of the doc’s ears turned pink, and he glanced at the preacher, who took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“The fact of the matter is that we need a new sheriff, and you are the most qualified candidate for the job,” he said in a rush.
Gray looked from the preacher to the doc to all the rest of the crowd, whose hesitant murmurs of agreement started gaining strength. He wasn’t sure if the feeling building in his gut was anger, panic, or sheer perplexment, but whatever it was, he only had one answer to give.
“No.”
He shoved away from the desk, marched through the group gathered in front of him, and headed straight for the wagon. Every time someone even opened their mouth, he repeated “No,” over and over again. Maybe if he said it enough times, they’d get the message.
It was lucky for Mercy she was right on his heels because he’d had no intention of slowing down. He wanted out of this town as fast as Mercy’s old horse could pull him. If he was smart, he’d bundle up Birdie and hightail it from her place as well.
He jumped into the wagon, scooping up the pie, which he thrust at Mercy as she scrambled into the seat next to him. He cracked the reins, and the wagon took off with a jolt, dumping her back into the seat. She glared at him.
“Well, that was rude.”
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I agree. Where do they get off, ambushing a man like that?”
Her forehead crinkled. “What? No.Youwere rude. Blurting outnolike that and then running off. Not to mention nearly leaving me behind.”
“You were in the wagon before I left, so you were not almost left behind. And they were the ones crossin’ the line. All I was doin’ was a little snoopin’ around, and they had to go tryin’ to force a job on a man like that—and alawmanjob to boot. It’s just plum wrong, is what it is. There I was, mindin’ my own business, and they gotta—”
“What? Offer you a respectable job with good wages?”
“Who the hell wants to be respectable?”
She opened her mouth to argue more and then just shook her head, rubbing at her temples like her head was fitful cracking.
