Free A Bride in Store by Melissa Jagears

pen point. “I need another handful of these.”
    William left to gather the pen points, leaving the two of them alone.
    Her hands trembled as she smoothed her apron skirt. “I’m sorry I’m such a surprise.”
    “Not a surprise—a blow straight to the gut is what it is.” He looked to the ceiling. “That boy ain’t got no brains.”
    All right, maybe talking to him wouldn’t be beneficial. Though if she jilted Axel, she definitely had a supporter. “I have a love for business, sir. I grew up under my father’s tutelage, and Axel wanted help running the store. I’m not . . . I’m not worthless.”
    “Right.” His jaw set like concrete, he looked over her shoulder. “Will’s got my tips.” He sidestepped her as if she were nothing but a pothole in his path.
    She shivered in the wisp of air he left behind and fingered a flannel shirt dangling off a shelf’s ledge. For once, she had no desire to fold an item up nice and crisp and lay it perfectly atop the others in the stack.
    She dropped the sleeve. It could hang there for now.
    Or not. Snatching it off the shelf, she flicked the shirt out and started folding.
    “What’s wrong with her face?” Mr. Langston’s voice was lowered, but not enough that she couldn’t hear.
    “She came the day the train was robbed—”
    “Well, that’s not a good sign.”
    “Evidently, she held out on one of the thieves and he made her into an example.” William put the nibs and a bottle of ink in a small sack. “Could’ve been worse.”
    “Worse?” He grunted. “Seems to me stubborn women usually get what they deserve.”
    Stubborn? Would he rather she’d thanked the man for stealing her savings? She creased the shirt’s collar with more pressure than necessary.
    William rolled the top of the sack and tallied the price.
    Why didn’t he defend her? He’d seemed sympathetic. Or maybe he’d simply been pretending, knowing he’d have to work with her.
    Mr. Langston swished around in his pocket for coins. “Put it on my account.” He scowled back at her for a second. “Heard the sheriff nabbed the train robbers this morning. Got some loot back.”
    “Thanks for the information, Mr. Langston.” William handed Axel’s father his purchases. “Have a nice day.”
    “We’ll see.” He clomped past her, but she kept right on folding.
    Maybe there was a divine reason her fiancé had not been around when she arrived. Though she’d not really asked God what to do, was He warning her not to marry Axel through his father’s misgivings?
    And if that was so, would He provide her with a way out of Salt Flatts? The sheriff having hauled the robbers in this morning might not be a coincidence. Maybe it was her train ticket home.

Chapter 6
    The next day, Eliza quit an hour early so she’d be certain to catch the sheriff. She tried not to run, but yesterday the lawman’s doors had been locked after she’d left work.
    If she chose not to marry Axel, she’d need money to fend for herself until she found work or figured out where to go.
    Something wasn’t quite right. William seemed uncomfortable talking about Axel, Irena refused to tell her anything she knew, none of the townsfolk who’d learned of her impending marriage had congratulated her, and Axel’s father hadn’t even known about her.
    The jailhouse door stood ajar, and she stopped to catch her breath before entering.
    She stepped into the jailhouse and wrinkled her nose at the smell of unwashed bodies. A short man with a leer stared at her from the cell in the back, his hands hanging through the bars.
    She quickly broke eye contact and headed for the lawman behind the desk. “Sheriff Quade?”
    “Yes.” The older man with a long, well-groomed mustache looked up from his work and squinted. “Have I talked to you recently?”
    She put a hand to her stitches, no longer covered with a bandagebut still painful, and quite itchy. “Yes, sir, the day one of those men backhanded me with a gun.”
    “Ah, yes.