href="#ulink_b68faa8a-44e5-58cf-b719-b857912a1be7">Chapter Two
Mary stirred the pot of beans before dishing out a serving to the miner who stood before her in the churchyard. “Here you go. Polly’s got some cookies over there if you’d like one.”
A smile peeked out from his bushy mustache. “Thank ye kindly.”
The next miner approached, and Mary barely glanced up as she dished out another serving. “Enjoy. If you want some cookies—”
“I don’t want cookies. I want to talk to you.”
Him. Mary glanced around to be sure the rest of her family was busy with their tasks before looking at Will Lawson. “I already told you, I have nothing to say. Now, please go, before someone notices.”
“I hear you made these beans,” Will said with a twinkle in his eyes. “And I aim to enjoy them, then when folks clear out, I will talk to you.”
Not if she could help it. Mary looked down the line to see a number of others waiting to be served. At least it would give her time to figure a way out of this confrontation.
“Fine. Have your fill.” Mary plopped more beans on his plate.
“You know I want more than beans from you.” He touched her hand, sending a small jolt through her body.
Oh, she knew what that jolt was. Mary looked hard into Mr. Lawson’s eyes, letting him see that she was not affected by his charm. Not one whit.
The one good thing about her time with Ben was that she’d learned a lot about the way men thought they could get a woman to do their bidding with a pleasing look and flirtatious smile. And she wasn’t falling for it. Not now. Not ever again.
Only, the steely expression Mr. Lawson gave her in return was far from flirtatious. In fact, he looked deadlier than an unexpected blizzard in winter—and just as cold.
“I can’t help you,” Mary said slowly, quietly, trying not to draw attention to the conversation. “Please, go.”
Mr. Lawson’s gaze remained firm. “I’ll be waiting when the meal’s over. Talk to me, or I’ll be speaking with Pastor Lassiter about finding assistance.”
Mr. Lawson didn’t seem the type to make idle threats. And while Mary knew that Frank Lassiter preached forgiveness, she wasn’t sure she deserved it.
She’d done so many bad things in the name of love. No, she hadn’t known the various baubles she’d sold on Ben’s behalf were stolen, but she knew the law wouldn’t see it that way. And if there was one thing she knew for certain about Frank, it was that he believed in owning up to one’s mistakes and facing the consequences. If he knew the truth, he’d make Mary turn herself in.
How could Mary risk going to jail when her only crime was believing Ben’s lies?
When her brother Joseph had discovered the silver mine, making her family wealthy, she’d tracked down every family Ben had stolen from and anonymously made restitution. They didn’t know it was Mary, of course, but surely it was enough. Everything had been returned to the victims, as best as Mary knew how.
But for people to actually know what she had done?
Her family needed her. More important, now that her family was linked to the pastor’s through Joseph’s marriage to Annabelle Lassiter, they needed Mary’s reputation to be untarnished. Who would welcome Mary into their homes, knowing what she’d done? And how much damage would it do to Frank’s ministry?
Jail and pariah-hood. That was what Mary faced if the truth came out. Yet here stood Will Lawson, thinking he could just stare his way into ruining lives.
“So, what’s it going to be?” he asked, not breaking his stare.
“Meet me after. I’ll slip out, and we can talk over by the fence.”
She’d become good at slipping away and meeting with people undetected. Well, a person. Ben. She’d vowed to be different now that she knew the truth. But here she was, sneaking around again.
Would she ever be free of her past?
“You’re holding up the line!” Ernie, one of their regulars, shouted from the back.
Mary didn’t bother hiding her relief as Mr. Lawson moved on. She continued serving the men in line, giving Ernie an extra portion for his patience. He rewarded her with a toothless grin.
“I’ll be naming my next big strike after you, Miss Mary.”
“I’m honored,” she told him, ignoring the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She already had a mine named after her—by her father, who had done unspeakable things in pursuit of those riches.
At least Ernie didn’t have a family back home relying on him. Like her father, he put every dime he had into prospecting. If it wasn’t for the church feeding him on a regular basis, Mary had no idea how the poor man would survive.
She watched as Ernie took a seat among some of the other men, grimacing as she realized he’d sat right next to Mr. Lawson. Mr. Lawson caught her eye, and she turned away.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Mary Stone.” The familiar drawl jerked her attention to the man standing before her.
Ben Perry. The reason her life was in such disarray.
“What are you doing here?” she said, looking around again to be sure none of her family noticed that two of tonight’s visitors, both of questionable character, knew Mary.
“Now, that’s not the way to treat a man you promised to marry.”
His voice slid down her spine, making the hairs on her arms stand on end.
“I sent you a letter ending things.” Mary looked around. A letter, she realized, that Will Lawson now had in his possession.
Fortunately, Frank was engaged with a group of men, eating and talking. Her siblings all seemed to be occupied with their respective tasks. Even Polly, her friend and possibly the only confidant she’d consider telling, was busy.
“Please, leave,” she told him in the harshest voice she could muster without drawing too much attention to herself.
Gone was the charming smile he’d used to lure her in. Something evil glittered in his eyes as he said, “I don’t think so.”
Then, in a voice so loud it would have been impossible for anyone not to hear, he said, “My darling Mary, I’ve finally found you.”
Ben looked as though he was about to try to embrace her, so Mary did the only thing a woman in her situation could do. She dumped the plate of beans square down the front of his shirt.
“You will regret that.” His voice remained low and menacing, all while he was putting on an act of the charming, debonair man she’d once fallen for.
“Dear, sweet Mary. You’re so overcome with joy that your clumsiness has come upon you again.”
People began surrounding them. Polly was first at
