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Gray sighed and pinned it to his vest. “Speaking of which, who is watching our prisoners?”
“Frank,” Jason said, looking him over with a frown.
“And who is Frank?”
Jason raised his eyes and his lips twitched. This couldn’t be good.
“Well, from what I understand, he’s sort of the town drunk.”
Gray blinked at him. Slowly. “And that’s who you thought would be appropriate to watch the prisoners?”
Jason shrugged. “Not really, but no one else volunteered. Besides, Frank promised he wouldn’t drink until after I come back to relieve him, and Doc said he’s reliable, mostly, if you catch him early enough in the day. I’ll head over after the festivities and stay the night there. Figured you two would want a little privacy.”
Gray frowned. “You keep waggling those eyebrows at me, and I’m going to shave them off.”
Jason laughed, but he stopped it with the eyebrows. He glanced over Gray again, his amusement fading.
“What?” Gray asked, holding his arms out while Jason surveyed him with a slight frown. Gray looked down at himself. “Doesn’t it look all right?”
Jason tapped his finger against his chin. “The suit looks great. We just need to do something about…” He gestured to encompass Gray’s face and hair. “All that.”
“What do you mean? I’m clean.”
“Yes, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to run a comb through your hair.”
Gray waved him off. “What’s the point of that? It’ll just be covered up anyway.” He slapped his hat on his head, pushing it down tight.
Jason shook his head. “You can’t wear your hat during the wedding ceremony.”
Gray narrowed his eyes. “I’m wearin’ my hat.”
Jason sighed. “Fine. But you could at least get a shave.”
Gray rubbed a hand over the several days’ growth of whiskers on his cheeks. Fine. Sunshine might have a point there, but he hated to give the little twit the satisfaction of admitting it.
“Come on,” Jason said. “There’s a barbershop just across the street. My treat.”
He grinned. Gray groaned. But he followed him across the street without further argument. For himself, he wouldn’t bother. But Mercy might appreciate his effort. Not that he normally put any stock in what anyone else thought of him. But…since she seemed to be going through the effort of getting all gussied up herself, it might be kind of nice to surprise her with his own fancification.
He took a deep breath, gave himself a mental slap, and opened the door of the barbershop.
The barber’s eyes widened when he entered, but aside from a slight stammer in his voice when he said “welcome,” the man didn’t cause a fuss.
“Right this way, Mr. Woodson,” he said, leading him to a chair. “Sorry. Sheriff.”
Gray opened his mouth to protest and then remembered that he was, indeed, the new sheriff. That was going to take some getting used to.
It had been a while since he’d had anyone else shave him. Letting strange men near him with razor blades was a hazard he tended to avoid. Aside from an initial tremor or two, the barber did a quick and admirable job of it. The whole process had actually been kind of nice. Enough so that he agreed to a haircut as well. Since his last haircut had been accomplished with a pair of rusty scissors and without the assistance of another person or a mirror, he was probably due.
Even with the extra services, the whole ordeal was finished rather quickly and had left Gray feeling damn near relaxed. And his appearance…
He froze, not recognizing the man who stared back at him from the mirror. With his hair tamed and the whiskers gone, he could fully see his face for the first time in years. There were more lines there than he remembered. A few more grays mixed in with the darker strands of his hair. But the shadows were gone from under his eyes. His mouth wasn’t pinched, and his brow wasn’t furrowed in a frown. He actually looked a bit…younger. Even…happier?
The thought brought his frown back. He didn’t trust happy. Certainly not after so short a time. Desolation seemed like the answer to all his problems. Isolated, with townspeople friendly enough to welcome him but with enough of their own secrets they didn’t judge his. But Gray had been fooled before. Appearances were deceiving. Always. And he’d be wise to remember it.
“Now that’s a definite improvement,” Sunshine said, his irritating smile back in place. “Except for the scowl. Try and get rid of that before your bride walks down the aisle. Oh,” he said, glancing at his pocket watch, “we’d better hurry. It’s almost time.”
The blood drained from Gray’s face. Hisbride. Who would be walking down the aisle towardhim. Within minutes.
