LAURIE
San Francisco CA
17 August 1871
Doreen White
645 Sunset Road
Have married Jason Bolt of Seattle, Washington Territory. He will arrive within the week to settle my affairs.
- Laurel
"You know, I'd forgotten your proper name," said Jason, handing Laurie's telegraph paper to Ben Perkins when she finished writing. "It's pretty."
"Thank you," said Laurie.
"Well, it's not like you use it all the time," Ben reminded him. He began tapping on the telegrapher's key, but a wail from the storeroom made him miss his rhythm. Ben sighed and shook his head, standing up. "No rest for the wicked. I'll send this in a minute, Jason."
"That's fine, Ben," said Jason as Ben headed toward the back room. "Just make sure it's today."
"Will do."
"And tell Emily hello for us."
"Emily, I thought I said to take Ben junior—"
The door to Ben's living quarters slammed shut. Jason and Laurie exchanged a glance, both of them pressing their lips tight together until Jason gave in and laughed. "Oh, I suppose that might be us, one day," he said, opening the door to the front of the mercantile for her.
That thought. That one tiny, beautiful thought made Laurie feel like she was living a dream. She knew she had to be glowing like a lightning bug because people were giving them knowing looks, but she didn't care. All that mattered was the chance. They were finally building a family.
"Oh, hello there!" Biddie called to them from the dormitory.
"Hello, Biddie," Jason called back.
"You look very nice today," Laurie added when the younger woman approached them. Biddie was wearing a green and white gingham dress with a light green ribbon at the collar. The look in her brown eyes matched her mischievous smile.
"Oh, well, it's one of Aaron's favorites, you know," Biddie admitted, batting her eyes and giggling. She glanced around quickly, and with a nervous look toward the dormitory, she looped her arm through Laurie's to whisper, "No one wants to tell you, but I don't think that's fair. Hannah Baird eloped last night!"
"She what?" Jason asked from beside her, his voice sharp. Laurie could feel his entire body go rigid, and she imagined him storming over to the other women and demanding to know what had happened.
"I didn't tell you, you understand. But I just knew you'd want to know."
Laurie couldn't find her voice. It made no sense. Hannah couldn't have gotten over Jason so quickly.
"Of course," said Jason, putting his hands on his hips. "Now, what's this all about?"
"Well, you know she was going to come to the party last night," Biddie said to Laurie. "She said you invited her."
Laurie dumbly nodded.
"I know because she wore that orange dress Jason was so fond of. You know, the one with the big orange bow."
"Biddie..."
"Well," Biddie went on, as though Jason hadn't spoken. "The last person to see her was Carrie Heyes. She said she saw Hannah with a man last night. She couldn't see exactly who it was, because it was dark, but she seemed happy." She lowered her voice. "He had his arm around her, and Jenny said she was laughing like he had said the funniest thing."
"That's hardly a proposal."
"No, Jason, it's not, but there can't be any other explanation," Biddie said, with a large blink for emphasis. "She took all her things from the dormitory. Sally-Ann says she's been seeing someone for a while. Some people don't need a lot of courting, you know."
Jason glanced at the dormitory. "Someone had to see her leave."
"Well, most of us were at the party last night, and some of the girls went sparking. If anyone saw her go, they aren't saying so. But that's not surprising either."
Laurie glanced at Jason. "It's not?"
"No. Ever since Jason and you talked to her, Hannah and her friends have been quiet around the rest of us girls."
"Surely she left a note?" asked Laurie.
"No, no note. None that we've found, anyway. But Sally-Ann said Hannah had reason to expect a proposal soon. I just bet she'll send us a wire, or maybe surprise us like Joshua and Peggy did that time they got a marriage license but didn't go through with it. It would be just like her to spring a surprise on Seattle, don't you think?"
Laurie watched Jason closely. His brow was furrowed, worry etched in every line on his face. She touched his arm, and he flinched.
"You're right," he said to Biddie, softening his voice when he met Laurie's eyes. "That sounds like something she'd do, and no amount of pestering is going to get her friends to talk, either. Did anyone look for her? Just in case?"
Biddie nodded. "All morning. Sam and Corky got back a little while ago. There's no trace of her."
Jason shook his head and put his arm around Laurie. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see. Thanks for telling us, Biddie."
"Oh, anytime. If you see Aaron, will you tell him I'm looking for him?"
"Yeah," said Jason, pulling Laurie away. "We'll do that."
After a tiny wave goodbye, Laurie followed Jason. "You're concerned, aren't you?" she asked quietly.
"Yes. I don't like there's no note, but Hannah doesn't always think things through. And Biddie's right, she loves surprising people, the more the better. I hope she didn't do something rash, but there's nothing to be done about it now."
Her husband had already sent one of his loggers traipsing up the mountain to find his brothers, and with her small errand of sending Doreen the telegraph completed, Laurie thought he'd steer her home. Instead, his guiding arm led her to Lottie's, and with several curious questions buzzing around in her head, she followed him inside. She guessed he might need a drink after hearing about Hannah. While she understood, it made her burn from the inside out. For a man who swore he had never been in love, let alone with Hannah, he seemed to have a hard time getting over her.
"Clancey! Just the pirate I wanted to see!" Jason boomed and left her side to join the old sea captain at the bar.
"Och! Well, where else would I be drinking my breakfast, I would like to know?"
"Breakfast?" Laurie asked. Surely he was kidding.
Jason grinned at her and looked at his pocket watch. "Uh, I think he means lunch."
Oh.
Clancey snorted and peered through the bushy grey eyebrows that seemed to grow into his eyes at her husband. "It's not lunch until I've had me breakfast, bucko." His demeanor changed as his eyes landed on Laurie, a wicked grin splashing across his face. "Ah-ha ha, I hear you've already had enough of him, and are sending the old fox to San Francisco with me, eh?"
"Exactly why we're here," Jason answered him, looking at Laurie with a sly smile. Lottie came out of the backroom with a beer mug in hand and he winked at Laurie before he said, "Uh, Lottie, mind if Laurie joins you for lunch today? I still have business around town."
"Of course," said Lottie.
"Thank you," said Jason. He kissed Laurie's hand and turned to Clancey, fixated on business details.
Lottie smiled and gestured to the pile of sandwich fixings at the bar. "Help yourself. In fact," she said, lowering her voice confidentially to Laurie. "I'm dying for some juicy conversation about you know who." She tilted her head toward Jason and not so innocently batted her eyes.
Laurie felt her heart beat a little faster and with a stray glance in Jason's direction said, "That sounds lovely."
Lottie looked sympathetically at Jason's back. "Want some help?"
Laurie softly chuckled. "That would be nice."
She and Lottie moved to the other end of the bar and began compiling sandwiches. She hadn't added the first pickle before Lottie whispered, "Alright, sister. Spill."
"Spill?"
"You know what I mean. As Jason put it last night, Aphrodite herself couldn't have wowed those poor deprived lumberjacks any more than you did. That red dress had siren written all over it. Just try to tell me it didn't work."
"Oh." Laurie meticulously placed the second pickle onto Jason's sandwich. "Well, if that wasn't what did it, my nightgown did."
Lottie's eyes grew impossibly wider. "You mean the one Jeremy said he laid out on the bed for you? This morning he popped in and couldn't mention it without stammering so hard we thought his lips were going to fall off."
That made Laurie laugh despite her burning cheeks. "Mm-hmm. Jason found it and had me put it on."
"Good."
"And... it worked."
"Maybe. Maybe it was bound to happen, anyway," Lottie said, her eyes now moving to make slits while she studied Laurie. It occurred to Laurie that Lottie's eyes were truly the most expressive part of her. Whatever Lottie felt, it was mirrored in her eyes. Laurie wondered if she was that easy to read too. Lottie straightened the sandwiches and handed the plate to Laurie. "You go give this to Jason and Clancey, and I'll get Jason a beer. Then we'll have a nice, long talk about anything but business."
Laurie nodded and took the sandwiches to the two men. Jason smiled back at her and said, "Thank you, darling. Clancey says I need to be on the ship tonight just before ten o'clock."
"Oh. That means we have a little more time than we thought," she murmured, and almost gasped when Jason's eyes darkened and a slow suggestive smile appeared around his lips.
Clancey snickered. "Ah, I knew there was something going on between the two of ya. Didn't I say so, Lottie?"
"You say a lot of things, Fish Face," said Lottie, placing the beer in front of Jason and a glass of whiskey in front of Clancey. "Doesn't mean I have to listen to all of them."
Jason chuckled and put his hand to Laurie's cheek in a soft touch. "I've still got to talk to Aaron about some things before I'm ready to head home," he said, waving to his friend who had just entered the saloon. When he said the word home, he dropped his gaze to her figure.
"Och, Jason, you should be ashamed of yourself now, making your bride blush like that, though it's a very pretty blush you have there, Mrs. Bolt," Clancey added.
"A very pretty blush," Aaron agreed, joining them. "Jason's luck holds out again."
"She does look pretty, doesn't she?" said Jason, his eyes full of mischief. "That's the dress she wore when she married me."
"Is it?" Lottie asked, taking in Laurie's appearance before grasping her hand. "It's got some beautiful handiwork."
"Thank you," said Laurie, Lottie leading her away from the men as she carried the plate of fixings with her. She glanced back at Jason and saw him watching her with open interest.
"Well," Lottie said, sitting down at a table with the bread to make their own lunch. "That was a whirl of a shindig last night, wasn't it?"
Laurie seated herself in front of Lottie, putting her back to Jason. "I suppose it was."
Lottie leaned across the table and whispered, "Now. Tell me the truth. What's crawled up your corset? Didn't you enjoy it?"
"What?"
"Honey, every time that man looks at you he looks hungrier than a bear coming out of hibernation, and if it wasn't for that blush, you're acting like you couldn't care less. I would have thought after everything you went through yesterday to set the evening up, you'd have waltzed in here, over the moon. Aren't you happy it happened?"
"Oh, I am happy. And sad. And..." Laurie wanted to say mad, but that wasn't wholly true. Jealous would have been honest, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. Not to Lottie.
Lottie patted her hand. "Tell me about it."
Laurie took a deep breath, staring at the pile of vegetables, meat, and bread. "It was a wonderful night, Lottie. More than I expected. Because the dress, and the gown, and... oh, you know..."
Lottie blinked her eyes like a wise old owl. "Yes, I know. He's a little clueless, but he's far from dead."
"But when we got up this morning..."
"Not so blissful? Reality hit a little too hard?"
"I suppose. It started out a little romantic, but then he told me he was broke."
"Oh, I see. So you're angry with him for that."
"No!" Laurie cringed at the sound of her voice and peeked over her shoulder to see if Jason had noticed. Still engrossed in conversation with Clancey and Aaron, it seemed he had not.
"Well, what is it that's got you in such a state? Getting information out of you is worse than it was getting Jason down the wedding aisle."
With a deep sigh, Laurie recounted the entire morning to Lottie. When she got to the part about Hannah's elopement, she shook her head at herself, hating the tears stinging her eyes.
"Oh, honey, you don't have to be jealous of her."
Inwardly Laurie cringed. So I am that easy to read.
"I know, it's just—it felt so awkward."
"I think you need to understand that Hannah is a Seattle bride. Sure, Jason courted her a few times, but that doesn't matter. He's always been soft where any of the brides are concerned. He's felt responsible for them."
"People keep saying that, but all one hundred? That's a lot of women."
"Sure. He brought them here, didn't he? Anytime the girls wanted something, it was the Bolt brothers they asked, and usually, Jason was expected to handle things. He tried to make sure they were comfortable in the dormitory and had all the opportunities to marry that he could make possible. It was Jason that matched a Jewish girl with the only man in Seattle who had the same religion, and he was the one that helped a few couples to keep from breaking up, including Essie and Swede. It's been Jason that has walked most of them down the aisle. Sure, it started out to win the bet, but he never stopped caring, even after the year was up. He's done more for some of the brides than their own fathers did back east."
Laurie thought of her father. "That's true for me too."
"Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry, honey. What I mean is, Jason's interest in the matter is purely in the spirit of that brotherly compassion. He doesn't love her. That was reserved for you."
Laurie peeked over her shoulder just in time to see her husband and Aaron slip into Lottie's private room. She gave Lottie a smile and nodded as if everything was fine, picked up a slice of bread, and constructed her lunch. But while the conversation wound its way to the subject of Miss Essie's colicky baby, Laurie's mind drifted over what Lottie had said. It wasn't that she thought Jason pined after Hannah, but that didn't mean he had warm feelings like that for Laurie either. Marital relations didn't guarantee that.
Besides, that wasn't the question that plagued her mind. Jason's feelings were his own. No, the question that had her munching mindlessly on her lunch was much more confusing than anything Jason could have thrown at her.
How will I know when I'm in love?
JASON
"You heard about Hannah."
It wasn't a question. Jason groaned as he sat in the chair across from Aaron. "Yeah, I heard."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time a spurned woman had eloped with the next available man."
"I know."
Aaron looked at him with amusement. "Feeling jilted?"
"No. Oh, I suppose I feel a little guilty. I didn't know she was seeing anyone."
Aaron scoffed. "Don't let it eat you up too much. Miss Baird is a lot of things, but flighty isn't one of them. If she married a man, it was a long time coming. Probably somebody she had waiting in the wings in case you disappointed her again."
Jason studied his beer mug and drank the last of the liquid until the mug was dry. It made sense. The timing was perfect. Hannah didn't like being scorned, and if she couldn't have Jason, it would be like her to upstage Laurie by doing something more dramatic. After everyone had listened to Biddie's suppositions all morning, he was confident they had forgotten his wife's near-angelic performance. Too bad for them. He eyed Aaron, thinking of his friend's new love interest. Talk about not seeing things coming.
"Well?" Aaron asked him. "Thoughts?"
"Oh. Uh," Jason said, mentally kicking himself awake. "Maybe you're right. She'll probably be back in a day or so with a ring on her finger and a baby on the way."
Aaron chuckled and sat back in his chair. "Like your wife?"
Jason felt the slow grin spread across his face. "These things... well, it's hard to know, isn't it?"
"Hmm. Well, I can tell you this much. Whatever you did to her last night, it looks good on her."
"Aaron."
"Jason, there's no denying the way she responded to you out there. A true blushing bride," Aaron said defensively, holding his drink in his hand.
Jason's mind drifted to his wife, thinking of her standing next to him, blushing. She's happy. Content. Jason sat a little straighter at the realization. "I guess you're right."
Aaron chuckled a little more knowingly than Jason would have preferred. "So, tell me what you wanted from me. I gotta get back to work."
"Yeah... It's a little... uh, a little odd."
One of Aaron's dark eyebrows arched high over his eye. "Odd?"
Jason leaned with one arm on the table, searching his mind for the right words. "Well, I got up last night after Laurie fell asleep. To check things out, uh, blow the lamps out and such."
"Sure. Makes sense."
Jason opened and closed his mouth without talking. He hung his head for a moment, and when he began speaking again, it gave him pain in his heart. "I lied to you just now, Aaron. That's not why I got up."
"Oh?"
"I heard someone whistling. Woke me from a dead sleep."
"Whistling?"
"Yeah, I think it was a song I've heard some of the loggers sing on occasion."
"Which one?"
"Oh, I don't know. A song from the war, I think."
"Oh."
"But it wasn't the first time I've heard it. Sometimes when I'm home, I'll hear the same whistle plain as your voice sitting across from me, and sometimes, it sounds a little distant. But only at night. Laurie doesn't sleep very well while it's going on."
"Why the devil would someone be whistling at your place? At the old cabin, sure, on the way up the mountain. But where you've built...?"
"Well, that's what I thought! I don't know. I don't... I don't want to be an alarmist. But this time, Aaron. This time something's not right." He glared at his empty mug. He should have been more careful and investigated the events leading up to his marriage. Never in his life could he have imagined this strange course of events.
"Yeah. Well, things have been odd all summer. Since you brought Laurie to Seattle, really."
"You mean my being married makes things seem odd."
"No... well, yeah, somewhat, but that's not what I meant. Remember when you first brought her here? Wasn't a week later you were already dealing with peeping Toms."
Jason frowned at the memory, McAllister still at the top of his suspicions. "I remember."
"Well, if it is the same guy, he's clever," said Aaron.
Jason shrugged, not willing to commit.
"No telling how often he's indulging," Aaron continued, still mulling the possibility over. "But more than likely he's not getting caught because he doesn't do it often."
"Yeah."
Aaron leaned back at Jason's tone. "Oh come now, just because some man thinks your wife is pretty, and she is beautiful, doesn't mean they're dangerous."
Jason shook his head with vehemence and used his hand in a chopping manner while he said, "It was hot last night. And truthfully, I wasn't thinking about the windows when I got home, but—"
"You left them open while you and Laurie... uh..."
"Exactly."
"Oh." Aaron averted his eyes and fumbled with his collar.
"And I'm sure whoever it was... whether it was the same man or not, Aaron. Whoever was out there whistling, watched."
"That's..." Aaron blew air through his cheeks. "Okay, Jason. You know how it is. You're walking around in the dark, and sometimes you come across a couple..."
"But you leave. Quickly. You don't stay. And you don't look in windows... not, not if you're a gentleman. Not if you're a decent man. And it's not like our window is exactly on the way to anywhere."
"Well, no. But... what makes you think they stuck around?"
Jason stared into his empty glass. "The whistling. Why let me know he was there? And this morning I went outside to look around. Well, I went out last night, but the lighting..."
Aaron nodded.
"I couldn't see anything, but I heard someone run away."
"Sounds like kids. Might've been that Schultz boy."
"No," answered Jason, shaking his head, thinking of the young man that had faced him at the party. "No, I don't think so. This is more than just a peeping Tom, Aaron. This morning I told Laurie I was going to dump the chamber pots, but I really went to check around the cabin. Just about tripped over Matthew's dog. The one he bred a week ago."
The furrows in Aaron's brow grew deeper. "What was it doing there?"
"Someone had snapped its neck and took a knife to it."
Aaron stared. "I don't think I heard you right, Jason."
"Yes, you did," said Jason, frowning at the memory of the gruesome sight. "A person who would do that to an animal isn't normal."
"That's..." Aaron cleared his throat while shaking his head.
"Exactly."
"Yeah."
"So, I did a quick clean-up before Laurie saw anything and took it back to Matthew."
"Mm. What'd he say?"
"What the hell did you do to my dog?!"
"I can imagine," said Aaron dryly.
"I told him I didn't do anything to his dog, that I found it on my porch! That's when he told me it went missing last night."
"But who would do something like that?"
"Well, that's the thing, isn't it? It has to be a sickness someone has. Makes me think I shouldn't even be going on this blasted trip. Especially with that sign around its neck."
"What sign? What did it say?"
Jason tightened his features as he said the distasteful words. "Shrew, harlot... some other names that aren't befitting a lady. Any woman. It was written across a piece of paper tied with a rope around its neck. And on the back, it had a quote from Shakespeare."
"Shakespeare?!"
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm sure the word 'shrew' is the clue. Something about how Laurie was owned, like a horse or a donkey. Like she's his property."
Aaron blew a whistle out of his lips. "Jason, your wife is being threatened."
"I know, Aaron, I know! But it's not like I can tell her about it! What would that do to a woman?"
"Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't want to tell Biddie either." Aaron was quiet for a moment. "Well, what do you want to do?"
"Stay home. Board up the house, put up fences and shoot at anything that comes within fifty feet of her."
"Well, that sounds reasonable. Then what? Stay with her day in and day out until both of you starve?"
Jason threw his head back and pinched his nose. "You're right. I'm not thinking too clearly right now."
His friend shifted in his chair a little and gave him a weak smile. "It's understandable, Jason. You're in love."
"Love has nothing to do with this."
"No? Oh. I guess I thought it went a little deeper than a few tumbles, but if you say so—"
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Do I?" Aaron pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it. While still puffing to get it started, he said through the side of his mouth, "Look, I still don't know what you want from me."
"I want your opinion."
Aaron raised both eyebrows this time. "I'd think you'd go to your brothers for that."
"Jeremy's got his hands full between the mountain, Candy, and Christopher. And Josh, well..." Jason paused, not wanting to be disloyal.
"He and Laurie are still struggling, huh?"
"Something like that. They're better, but I'm not sure how much better."
Aaron straightened in his chair and shook his head. "All right, Jason. Tell me about it."
"I don't want to leave. Not now, not with the way things are."
"That's understandable."
"But there's money in San Francisco that could help us. Plenty enough to see us through flume breakdowns and labor strikes, more rain, and whatever else the devil throws at us. I can't send Josh or Jeremy, it has to be me, her husband. Tell me, am I foolish to stay?"
"Of course, you're foolish! Look, there's no reason you shouldn't take care of business and have a little fun. Take Laurie with you."
"She won't go."
"She won't go? Make her go! She's your wife."
"I thought about that. I could, but Aaron, she's been through too much already. I can't force her. I won't do it."
"Well, you can't not go."
Jason's eyes narrowed, looking through the swirl of smoke between them. This was why he needed to talk to Aaron. Whatever feelings Aaron felt, it always came down to business with him, unlike Jason, whose focus in life had always been family. Now that he had a family beyond his brothers, he could hardly afford to be reckless in his actions, yet all his faculties screamed at him to stay.
"Well, I know I'm a bit in a financial bind, and that's why—"
"Jason, listen to me. There have been times you've been in such a financial bind I thought I'd end up owning your mountain."
Jason leaned forward and rested his chin on his thumbs. It had been a while since either of them had mentioned the war they had waged against each other in the past.
"And there's been other times I thought you were unaware of the danger your mountain was in. But I realized over time that it was just your way. Somehow you go through these wild, crazy schemes, and while it never works out the way you think it will... somehow you still come out on top."
"What's your point?"
"The point is, there are also those times when you've been pragmatic. Pushed yourself and your brothers into success, and it's won your men's respect, Seattle's respect, and the respect of neighboring businesses. Sure, even mine. Seattle is thriving in part because you run the largest logging camp around. If you go bust, it's going to affect a lot of people. Even me."
"Even you," said Jason with an amused smile.
"Oh, I'm not just talking about the money. I'm talking about people leaving Seattle. I'm talking about the end of the Seattle before it's really started."
"I don't think—"
"Exactly what I mean! You're not thinking straight, you're thinking like a lovesick lumberjack. We were, what, a population close to one hundred and fifty when you took your brothers to New Bedford? Now we're over three hundred and growing."
"Oh Aaron, I'm not so arrogant as to think I matter all that much to the well-being of Seattle. Anyone can run a lumber camp up here. What matters to me is my family," said Jason, gesturing to himself. "Laurie, and God willing, any children we may have. How do I support them without the mountain? Jeremy and Candy? How will they ever be able to settle down and get married? And Josh? What will he do? Oh, I don't know." Jason rubbed his eyes. "We could start again, I guess."
"But why start again when you don't have to? Tell me more about this big benefactor in San Francisco. I only caught part of it while you were talking to Clancey."
"Laurie has some money in San Francisco from investments she made before we married. She wants me to go there to collect instead of heading to Olympia for a loan."
Aaron straightened. "That's what this is all about? Well, that's good news! Jason, that's the kind of break you need!"
"Yes, but at what cost, Aaron?!" Jason said, shooting out of his chair and pacing toward the back of the room. "That's what I've been talking about, what I've been thinking about all day! If I go, will Laurie be safe enough? If anything were to happen to her because I wasn't around, I don't think I could forgive myself. And if I stay, will I lose the mountain? Either is unacceptable, yet... yet I can't seem to find an answer."
An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Aaron sighed and took a long puff on his cigar. "Go get the money, Jason. Laurie will be here when you get back, you can count on that."
"Can I? Because whoever this, this peeping Tom is, he knew she'd see that warning. He left it right where Laurie steps every morning, which means he's been watching her."
"Well, we'll just have to give her some new habits, won't we?"
Jason frowned and sat back down.
"Look, you're overthinking, which is something I thought I'd never say of you," Aaron added, emphasizing himself by pointing at Jason with the pencil. "She's got friends, she's got your brothers, and she's got a sound head on her shoulders. Lay down some ground rules and go get your money. Sooner or later, Jason, you're going to have to trust her to be on her own. Might as well be now."
Jason stared at Lottie's blue wallpaper. "I didn't realize I wasn't trusting her."
"Well, I didn't mean to sound harsh. So she's had a little trouble adjusting, but she's a lady, through and through, and smart too. I'm sure once you tell her exactly what you expect, she'll follow your wishes to the letter."
Jason hated to admit it, but he had thought the same thing earlier. Laurie, for all her bold ways of doing things, craved clear boundaries, and always seemed contrite when she failed to comply. In some ways he was grateful, and in some, he recognized the enormous responsibility her deference put on his shoulders. "Maybe you're right."
"Well, of course, I am. Now, go say some pretty words to your wife and sweep her off her feet. Give her a goodbye she can think about while you're gone." Both of the men chuckled. "And don't worry about someone hurting her in the meantime. This town will make sure she's safe."
Jason stood and held out his hand. When Aaron grasped it he said, "Thank you, Aaron. I know I can count on you. On all of you."
He meant it.