The Echo of Music (Kansas Crossroads) by Amelia C. Adams

Author:Amelia C. Adams [Adams, Amelia C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Nathan sat on the rickety bed in the corner of the jail cell, clenching his fists. He’d remained as calm as he could while he was brought in, but now, with the bars all but in his face, he found it difficult to draw a breath. What if they didn’t let him out this time? What if he was in here forever?

But that was ridiculous, he told himself. The colonel was sending a telegram, and because it was police business, it would be delivered immediately. They’d know the truth soon enough and he would be released, but that thought didn’t do much to calm his racing heart.

He stood and began pacing back and forth. Perhaps some physical movement would give an outlet to his building panic.

“Hello. I’d like to see Mr. Perry, please.”

He stopped his pacing at the sound of the soft voice coming from the front room.

“Of course, Miss Britt. Right this way.”

Just a moment later, Deputy Hayes showed Ori into the jail area of the building, and Nathan stepped over to the bars to get a better look at her. He’d seen her just a short time before, but it felt like an eternity.

“You came,” he said around the sudden lump in his throat.

“Yes, I did.” Ori smiled and nodded at the deputy when he carried in a chair. She scooted it a little closer to Nathan’s cell and sat down. “I have to admit, you left me in quite a whirlwind this morning.”

“I imagine I did.” He chuckled without humor. “I wish I could find the words to apologize, but there don’t seem to be any. I should have told you the truth right from the start, Ori. I shouldn’t have kept it from you even for a minute.”

She held up a hand. “It’s all right. I understand why you didn’t. You must have been worried about your reputation, what everyone would think, if you’d lose your clients—please don’t give it another thought.”

Could she really be this understanding? “I wanted to tell you last night. I wanted to come totally clean and tell you the entire story.”

“I realized that after you left. I should have let you speak—it would have saved us a lot of surprises this morning.”

“That it would.” Nathan wished he could reach through the bars and take her hand, but if he tried, he’d most likely get his arm stuck. “So what do we do now?”

Ori shrugged. “Wait and see, I suppose. It shouldn’t take long to get confirmation from Kansas City, should it?”

“No, but I meant . . . about us.”

“Us?” She lifted her gaze to meet his.

He swallowed. This was proving more difficult than he’d imagined, and he’d definitely never imagined it happening in a jail. “I realized some things last night, things I’d suspected before but wondered if they could possibly be true. Ori, there’s something building here, something we need to discuss. And we’ll do that as soon as I’m released, all right?”

She didn’t speak, but nodded, and that was all the promise he needed.

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.