anyone.â He smoked quietly for a moment, then cleared his throat. âSo, what did those men really say about me? As if I canât guess.â
Jeff adjusted his spectacles. âThey pretty much called you every name in the book. Some were so bad, I canât even bring myself to repeat them.â
Jake grinned again. âWell, sticks and stones may break my bonesâ¦â
âYeah, I guess youâve heard it all.â
âAnd a lot of those names apply, which is why Iâm not in that church.â
âArenât you a little worried about revenge?â he asked. âThose men said if they ever get loose, theyâll come after youâ¦and Iâm afraid they also threatened your family, your daughter in particular. That really roused your son-in-law.â
Jake cast him a dark look. âThat true?â
âYes, sir. The one called Marty made the threat.â
The look in Jakeâs eyes made Jeff wish he hadnât said anything about it.
Jake looked away again and smoked silently. Jeff waited until the man spoke again on his own.
âJeff, my daughter is an absolute contrast to me. Sheâs as close to an angel as anyone. Marty Bryant is welcome to come after me anytime. If he does, he has half a chance of living through it, because Iâm supposed to behave like a lawman.â He stared at his cigarette as he rolled it between his fingers. âBut if he goes after one member of my family, especially my daughterââhe watched a wagon go byââthe badge comes off,â he finished. âIâve done some rotten things in my life, but none of it would compare to what Iâd do to that man if he ever touches Randy or Evie. Hurting a woman is unforgivable in my book.â
Jeff swallowed. Because of your mother?
âIâve been a target most of my life, Trubridge,â Jake added. He seemed to be weighing his words then. âIâll tell you something about revenge. Iâve enacted revenge of my own, and Iâve been the brunt of it. Either way usually ends bad, and revenge doesnât take away the hurt, or the ugly memories. Sometimes it creates even more ugly memories. But a man canât help going after it anyway.â
Jeff wanted to ask specifics but decided it was way too soon to press the man for more details.
âTell me what keeps you and your wife together,â he dared to ask instead, hoping to lighten the mood. âTwenty years or more, Iâm told.â
âTwenty-six.â
âFrom what Iâve observed, the two of you couldnât be moreâ¦wellâ¦different.â
Jake finally grinned again. âDifferent is an understatement,â he told Jeff. He thought a moment and Jeff waited, deciding heâd get farther by keeping his mouth shut than by opening it at the wrong time. One wrong question and the man would probably throw him off the church steps.
âI actually tried once or twice to get rid of herâfor her own good, not because I didnât love her. I expect maybe I love her too much. The damn woman wonât leave me. Sheâs stuck by me through things that would make most women scream and run away, but not Randy. Sheâs everything a man hopes to find in a wife, and why in hell she picked me, Iâll never understandâ¦never.â
Jeff scribbled some notes. âMaybe she saw the good in you.â
Jake didnât answer right away. He took one last draw on his cigarette, then stepped it out while inside the preacher carried on about sin and salvation. âSome people see things through a rosy glow, I guess,â Jake finally answered.
âAnd some see very clearly, Marshal.â I see you, Jake Harkner. Thereâs a part of you that wants to go into that church. Jake glanced sidelong at him, and Jeff knew it was a warning. He decided to move on to something else.
âTell me something, Marshal. How in heck do you know when to draw on
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