Gerda's Lawman by Dooley Lena Nelson

Author:Dooley, Lena Nelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Nine

Frank was sure he would never make any headway with Gerda. Every time he went to the Dress Emporium, she wasn’t very friendly. Anna Nilsson always made him feel welcome, but Gerda was either almost rude to him, or she hid in the back room. Not only had he scared and insulted her when he tried to arrest her, he’d unknowingly bought her dream house. What did a man have to do to make up for the mistakes he inadvertently made? He never meant to hurt her.

Frank was walking toward the bank when the sheriff joined him. “I’d really like to talk to you. Would you join me in my office for a cup of coffee? Or should we go to the restaurant in the hotel?”

“Your coffee is fine with me.” Frank followed his friend into the building.

After pouring each of them a mugful of the brew, Sheriff Bartlett dropped into his chair behind the desk. He gathered the papers scattered across the top, formed them into a neat stack, and placed them to the side. Then he leaned his forearms on the smooth surface of the desk.

“I’m thinking about retiring.”

Frank knew that wasn’t the whole story, so he waited to let the man tell it in his own good time. Frank dropped into the other chair and propped one booted foot on his other knee.

“I’m thinking about buying a small farm that’s for sale outside town. It wouldn’t be too much for me to take care of, and it has a nice little house on it.”

Frank crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the older man. “Sounds good, if that’s what you want to do.”

“There’s more to it than that.” The sheriff leaned back and gazed off into the distance. “I’m thinking about getting married.”

“Mrs. Jenson?”

The lawman nodded. “I knew you probably had that one figured out. I don’t want to ask Margreta to marry me while I’m still a lawman. I’m getting too old for this, and I want to enjoy a life with less danger.”

“Just how much danger is there here in Litchfield?” Frank hadn’t seen much since he’d arrived. Even the men who frequented the saloon didn’t cause much of a disturbance.

“Not a lot.” Sheriff Bartlett wiped his hand across his clean-shaven jaw. “The worse that has happened since I’ve been here was the Le Blanc incident. It could have turned ugly and anything could have gone wrong, but it didn’t.”

Frank mulled over what the man had said. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Well, I’ve watched you as you’ve considered businesses to invest in. Nothing has appealed to you. I think it’s because you’re still a lawman at heart. Besides, you’re a lot younger than I am.”

Frank placed his foot back on the floor and laughed. “Some days I feel younger, but some days I feel older.”

“I know what you mean. You sure do see the hard side of life when you’re a lawman, but I don’t think that’s a problem here. Litchfield

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.