Free Twilight in Texas by Jodi Thomas Page B

without a word until they reached Molly’s place.
    When Wolf stomped into the drugstore, shedding water like a fully primed pump, she didn’t say a word. She stood at the foot of the stairs in parade dress. Her tailored red jacket and matching gloves could have been a uniform, for there was no softness of lace or gathering. She wore a hat that reminded Wolf of a drawing he saw once of Napoleon. She looked a general’s daughter from the top of her head to the shine on her black boots. He wasn’t sure whether she planned to wed or go to war.
    He glanced down at his clothes in comparison. The leather jacket he wore had turned dark brown with rain and smelled somewhat of the animal who first wore it. His hair and beard were thick with natural curl when dry and downright bushy when wet. Mud clung to him by the pound.
    He glanced at Molly, who silently stared at him. She was probably wondering whether to marry him or plant him.
    Wolf took out his handkerchief and wiped his face as he introduced his future wife to the preacher.
    She shook hands nervously then turned to face Wolf. “Will you shave before we marry?”
    Wolf watched her closely. He could see the anxiety in her eyes, blended with determination. She was going through with this wedding because she saw no other road to take. He shouldn’t try to fool himself into believing it was for any different reason. “I will not,” he answered. “Does that change your mind about the ceremony?”
    “It does not.” She lifted her chin. “Only there will be no kissing afterward. I’ll never kiss a man who isn’t clean-shaven.”
    “Fair enough,” he decided. Right now all he wanted to do was marry her and know that she’d be safe. If he shaved before the service, she might refuse to marry him on other grounds. “I’ll do without a kiss.”
    The preacher removed his Bible from a pouch beneath his coat and cleared his throat. “We’ll need two witnesses before we start.”
    Josh stepped from the kitchen with Callie Ann in tow. “I’ll witness,” he offered as he finished off a biscuit.
    Ford nodded. “And one more.”
    “I want to be a witness too,” Callie Ann said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “If Mr. Josh is one, I want to be one.”
    “I’m afraid you’re too young,” the preacher answered sternly.
    “Then Uncle Orson will,” she said. “He’s older than dirt.”
    Wolf left the room with Molly trying to explain to Callie Ann why Uncle Orson couldn’t witness and Callie Ann threatening to cry if she didn’t get her way. The preacher muttered what sounded like Bible verses about children. No one, including the child, seemed to be listening.
    Walking out the back door of the store onto a small screened-in porch, Wolf grinned as he looked through the rain. Just as he’d hoped, he saw Charlie Filmore huddled beneath the undertaker’s woodshed. He could see the little man’s holey boots propped at one end of a long line of lumber.
    “Charlie! Charlie Filmore!” Wolf yelled. “Come here a minute.”
    A man less than five feet tall staggered from beneath the wood, dusting shavings from his unruly hair. “I ain’t done nothing, Captain. I swear I ain’t.”
    “I didn’t say you had.” Wolf waved him in. “I just need you to witness a wedding.”
    Charlie stared at the distance between his warm hiding place and the back porch of Molly’s store. “Does it pay?”
    “Two drinks,” Wolf yelled.
    “A bottle.”
    “Three drinks.” Wolf swore beneath his breath. He was one of the few people in town who didn’t buy Charlie drinks, but the man considered nothing else worth bargaining for. Most men in the saloons would buy him a shot just to have the little man move on down the bar and not linger too long at their side.
    “A bottle.” Charlie must have been able to tell even through the rain that he had the upper hand.
    “All right. Get over here.”
    The drunk wrapped his only blanket over him and limped toward the