When a man Violet Campbell never thought to see again arrives in Silver Falls claiming she agreed to marry him, she denies it immediately. When the persistent man won’t take no for an answer and has no intentions of leaving town without her, she’s backed into a corner and resorts to a desperate lie, telling him she’s already engaged to the town’s rugged lawman, a man she’s been sweet on since he rode into town. Josiah Lincoln has sworn off women ever since his last relationship ended badly. When Violet’s white lie drags him into a fake engagement, instinct tells him to end it quickly, but one look into her beguiling eyes has him playing along against his better judgment. As their charade plays out, sparks fly and passions ignite, blurring the lines between truth and fiction when they become embroiled in an entanglement that could end with one of them hanged.

Chapter One

It wasn’t often someone got the jump on Josiah Lincoln, but he nearly came out of his skin when the door to his office flew open with such force, it banged against the wall.

He sprang from his chair and reached for his gun, pulling it from the holster as Violet Campbell ran into the building and slammed the door shut, leaning against it while panting for breath.

His heart took several long moments to return to a normal beat. He holstered his revolver and sat back down, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. The woman had always been peculiar. Beautiful, but peculiar. Her behavior now only confirmed it.

Her eyes were a bit too wide as she started laughing, but the look on her face told him she didn’t find whatever she was laughing at funny.

She leaned over and looked out the window beside his desk. When she straightened and slumped against the door, he glanced out the window to see what she’d been looking at but saw nothing unusual.

After several long moments of silence, he tilted his head to look at her. “Violet….care to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing much,” she said. “Just hiding.”

“From who?”

She laughed again. “My worst nightmare!”

Her hair was in a riot of russet curls today and her cheeks were stained a bright pink. She’d closed her eyes, her long lashes laying against the freckles he knew dotted her cheeks, and for once, he stared at her like she used to stare at him.

He’d lost count of how often he’d caught her peeking around corners at him or staring over at the jail when he’d first taken the job as Marshall in Silver Falls. Her attention to him was so obvious that he’d thought she was hiding some crime he should know about.

He’d found her behavior odd until some lonely voice in the back of his head started whispering that maybe she was staring because she was interested.

In him.

Romantically.

He shut that line of thought down quick-like and ignored the voice whenever it popped into his head but seeing her now, looking like a vision in pale green, her hair wild and her face flushed a pretty pink, some secret part of him mourned the loss of her attention. He didn’t find her staring at him like he used to and there were days he was so bored, he’d been tempted to ask her why.

Tilting the chair to balance on the back legs, he glanced out the window again toward the mercantile her family-owned. He didn’t see anyone, but Violet was no doubt hiding from someone.

When she sighed, his attention was drawn back to her. He noticed her full bottom lip as she worried it with her teeth, and he admired her in a way he probably shouldn’t have. Of the three Campbell sisters, Violet was by far the most alluring.

Daisy was quiet and barely looked at anyone, let alone spoke to them. She was nearly deaf, always shy, and so introverted she tried to blend into her environment without being seen.

Rose, on the other hand, was loud, prickly as a grizzly bear, and mean to boot. Despite her flaws, she’d married Graham Hart, a man she’d seemed to loathe on sight, as he did her. But they made it work. Somehow.

But Violet…she’d always been soft-spoken, or she had been whenever he saw her around others. He’d thought of her as a sweet little flower, one that drew his gaze more often than not.

Her dark auburn hair, which she had left down today, hung in soft curls clear to her waist, and he knew it flamed red when the sun hit it.

Her vibrant blue eyes seemed to take in everything around her, even him. Or they used to, but not so much anymore, and he tried to tell himself he wasn’t disappointed by the fact.

When she continued to do nothing but stand there, he asked, “What’s wrong, Violet?”

She made a sound that he’d almost say was a whine before she made a face that told him she was disgusted about something. “Oh, nothing much,” she said, throwing her hands into the air and rolling her eyes. “Except for life as I know it is coming to an end.”

He couldn’t help it. She was being so dramatic, he laughed.

“It’s not funny.” She did whine pitifully then. “I’m in serious trouble here, Josiah.”

He couldn’t remember if he’d ever heard her say his name quite like that before. It was soft and raspy and way too pleasing.

He’d lived in Silver Falls for nearly two years now and he talked to almost everyone anytime he saw them, but for some reason, he and Violet didn’t cross paths much, so hearing his name from her lips was always oddly pleasing.

He leaned forward and crossed his arms in front of him on the desk. “Come sit down and tell me what’s wrong.”

She glanced back out the window again before bypassing the chair in front of his desk and hurrying across the jail to the cell, walking inside to sit on the cot.

He turned in his chair and leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees, and watched her with a raised brow, his amusement growing by the second. “Well?”

“I saw someone who should not be here.” She laughed again, shaking her head before burying her face in her hands. “My life is over!”

“And who did you see?”

“Edwin Wright.”

“And who is Edwin Wright?”

Her face scrunched in misery. “His family owns the mercantile over in Elkin.”

When she said nothing else, he twirled his finger in the air and said, “Go on. I know there’s more.”

She heaved a deep breath and blew it out before turning to lie on the cot, throwing one arm over her head as if she were in a full dramatic swoon over something.

“When my parents were alive, my pa used to take me with him to Elkin to get the supplies he ordered when they’d come in. Well, Edwin was always there and my ma said it was rude to ignore people trying to talk to you so, I always sat and talked to him while my pa was loading the wagon.”

She sat up and leaned back against the wall. “Well, the foolish boy took a liking to me and used to say he was going to marry me one day, and doing what my ma said, I played nice and just smiled at him whenever he said it and now he’s here.”

“Okay. What makes you think he’s here for you?”

“Because he yelled my name when the stagecoach came through.”

“Maybe he was just being friendly.”

She laughed again. “No, he wasn’t. He has no reason to even be here other than for me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s never stepped foot in Silver Falls as far as I know and he always said, the moment he was ready to marry, he’d come for me.”

He sat back and crossed his feet at the ankles. “Well, he could be coming to pick your brain on how to run his mercantile.”

“He knows how to run one. He’s been helping his pa since he was old enough to pick up a broom.”

“Well, maybe he has business elsewhere and is just passing through.”

“I couldn’t get so lucky.”

He laughed and turned his head to look out the window. A few people were milling around in front of the mercantile now. “What does he look like?”

“Skinny as a stick with an enormous head.”

He grinned. “Well, there is a tall fellow over at the mercantile by the door.”

He heard the sound of her feet shuffling across the floor before he felt the heat of her body and the brush of her hair against the side of his face.

She was leaning over him, bent down to look out the window. “Yep, that’s him,” she said as the man stepped inside the building.

Josiah turned his head and was surrounded by wildflowers. Her hair covered his face now. He inhaled deeply and was disappointed when she straightened and stepped away from him.

“What am I supposed to do?”

Their eyes locked, and for a brief moment, he couldn’t get his tongue to work. She really was too beautiful for words. He cleared his throat and looked back out the window to distract himself. “You asking for advice or just talking it out to yourself?”

She scowled at him.

“What? I’m just trying to clarify your statement.”

She glared at him a moment before looking back outside. “I’m asking.”

“Okay. Well, what do you want to do?”

“I want to run him out of town.” Her eyes brightened. “Hey. Go make him leave. You can do that, right? You’re the town Marshall, so everyone has to do what you say and since he’s here, he has to listen.”

He watched her chew on her bottom lip until it was red and puffy and the moment he wondered what it would taste like, he turned to the window again, putting her at his back.

“I can’t run him out of town for no reason, so I don’t know what to tell you, Violet. You’re going to have to go out there and see why he’s here.”

He heard her sigh and long minutes later, she walked to the door. “You’ve been no help at all, Josiah.”

He grinned. “My apologies, Violet.”

She gave him another scowl and left. He watched as she stood on the small porch in front of the jail, but instead of crossing the street like he thought she would, she turned and started walking in the direction of her house. She couldn’t have taken more than three steps when Rose stepped out of the store and yelled her name.

Through the open window, he heard Violet spit out a string of curse words he wasn’t even aware she knew and grinned, watching as she stomped across the road, her steps slow, her back stiff. She looked as if she were marching to the gallows.

He supposed if some man she didn’t even like was waiting inside that store thinking he was coming to fetch his bride, then that’s probably exactly how Violet felt at the moment. He knew that trapped feeling all too well, so Violet asking him to run some random man out of town made him want to do it for no other reason than he knew how she felt but, it wasn’t his business so he’d stay out of it unless someone broke the law.

Standing, he grabbed his hat from the nail by the door and stepped outside, resisting the urge to cross the street to the mercantile to meet the fellow Violet claimed was here to marry her and ignored the fact the thought of it made him angsty for reasons he didn’t want to examine.

He looked for her through the windows instead and stilled when he saw her. She was staring right at him.

* * *

Violet watched Josiah stare back at her through the window and wished she could start the entire day over. She would have never stepped foot out of her house.

Standing by her front gate as the stagecoach barreled through town hadn’t been anything new. Why she’d even stopped to watch it, she’ll never know, but seeing Edwin hanging out the window and yelling her name would forever be etched into her brain.

She turned from the window and heaved a breath before pasting on a fake smile, her irritation growing when Edwin stood there grinning at her as if his world were perfect.

Maybe Josiah was right and Edwin was just passing through town. Or he had, in fact, come to learn some things about the business management of the store.

She knew both of those assumptions were wrong the moment his gaze traveled the length of her body and back a few times, the look in his eyes glossing over a bit.

“You’re prettier than I remember, Violet.”

“Um, thank you.” She threw a look at Rose, who was standing behind the counter now. At least her sister looked remorseful at having to call her to come into the store. Rose knew why he was here and that look alone told her Josiah was wrong.

She cleared her throat and looked back at Edwin. “I’m surprised to see you here. What brings you all the way to Silver Falls?”

He straightened, throwing his shoulders back, and grinned. “You did, Violet.”

Something died inside of her at his words. Images of her ma popped into her head, her lovely face beaming down at her as she said, “Nice girls aren’t rude regardless of the situation.”

She’d done as told growing up, but her ma was gone now and those rules didn’t apply in her adult world. They couldn’t.

“I’m afraid I don’t, Edwin. I must say, seeing you here is a complete surprise.”

He stepped toward her and it took everything in her not to run. When he stopped way too close to her, she held her breath when he opened his mouth to speak.

“My pa’s doing poorly,” he said.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

He nodded. “Thank you.” He inhaled a breath and gave her a tiny smile. “His health is getting worse, and he wants me married and with a family, so I won’t be left here all alone when he’s gone, so…here I am!”

His grin was so wide now she could almost see every tooth in his mouth. She knew what he meant by that statement and it was exactly as she’d expected, but played dumb. “I’m not sure I follow, Edwin. What does your being here have to do with your pa’s dying wish?”

He gave her a wink. “I’m here to get married, Violet.”

“Oh!” she feigned happiness. “That’s wonderful news, Edwin. Who’s the lucky lady?”

He chuckled. “You always were a funny girl, Violet.” In a move bolder than she thought he’d ever have the courage to do, he reached out and cupped her cheek.

Her heart started pounding as she took a step away, his hand hanging in mid-air a moment before he lowered it.

She glanced at Rose, secretly asking her for help, but her sister didn’t say a word. The room started to go hazy her pulse was racing so fast, dizziness making her knees wobbly. She needed to sit down.

Rushing out of the store, she plopped down on the first bench she saw along the sidewalk and inhaled a big breath, drawing in the clean fresh scent of flowers and new grass. The air outside was getting warmer, the sun shining in a cloudless sky.

How had such a perfect day gone so wrong?

Summer had finally come to Silver Falls. A glance up at the mountain told her the warmth was here to stay. The ice that usually clung to the rocks had melted, the waterfall rushing over the side in a torrential downpour flowing full force now and, if she quieted long enough, she could hear it.

There was a clear view of it from where she sat. The jail was across from the store but it sat to the side enough that it didn’t spoil her view of the waterfall and she would have been content to sit there all day had movement from her right not caught her attention.

Her gaze darted to the jail. Josiah was on the porch, staring down the street, but his head turned her way when she heard Edwin join her on the porch. When he stepped into view and got down on one knee in front of her, saying, “Violet, will you—,” she screamed to cut him off and jumped to her feet.

A step back put some distance between them, but he was still on one knee staring at her as if she’d hung the sun just for him. She blew out a frustrated breath.

Like most girls, she dreamed of being married. Her pa had made her and her sister’s hope chests and hers was so full, she had to sit on the lid to get it latched, and never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d be turning down a marriage proposal but…she was.

At twenty-three, and with no other offers in sight, she should be ecstatic someone wanted to marry her but standing there looking at Edwin, all she felt was panic.

There wasn’t anything really wrong with Edwin, he was just—not who she had envisioned her future husband to be as a girl. He wasn’t the tall, dark-haired rogue who came in and rescued her, whisking her away to his ranch out in the middle of nowhere where they’d live happily ever after. He was just—Edwin. The irritating skinny boy who followed her around in Elkin that she was nice to because her ma told her to be.

He wasn’t who she wanted.

He wasn’t Josiah Lincoln.

She resisted the urge to glance over at him and kept her attention on Edwin instead. “I still don’t understand why you’re here, Edwin. Why would you think I’d marry you? I’ve not seen you in over eight years.”

His brow scrunched. “Well, we always said we’d get married one day.”

Uh, no we didn’t. She tilted her head while looking at him. “I remember all our conversations from when we were children, Edwin, and I don’t ever recall saying I’d marry you.”

His brow rose. “Sure you did.”

“Noooo,” she said, stretching the word out. “I never once said I’d marry you.”

He scratched his head as if confused and maybe he was, especially if he’d spent the last, however many years, thinking they were engaged.

What if this is the only proposal you ever receive?

The thought gave her a moment of true panic. Was this her only chance at a family? Visions of a life being married to Edwin had her on the verge of running. To flee clean to the other end of the valley and never stop.

Regardless of wanting a family someday, she didn’t want that life with Edwin. Besides, running now didn’t mean he’d leave.

She inhaled a calming breath and gave him what she hoped came off as a friendly smile. “I’m sorry, Edwin, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I never agreed to marry you.”

He climbed to his feet and smiled at her as if he were calming a child having a temper tantrum and grabbed her hand. “I remember our conversations too, Violet, and we talked about getting married dozens of times.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Sure we did.”

“Did you ever say, “Violet, will you marry me?”

He stared at her a moment, his brows lowering as if in thought. “Well, I don’t know if I ever said it quite like that, but you knew what I meant.”

“Nooo…I don’t think so. You may have thought I did, but I never said, ‘Yes, Edwin, I’ll marry you someday.’”

“But you never said you wouldn’t, so that’s practically an agreement.”

She pulled her hand out of his own and laughed. She couldn’t help it. Did he really think just because he talked about marrying her and her not saying anything about it meant she was agreeing?

“Edwin, that’s not how life works. Besides…how do you even know I’m not already married?”

“Because I ask Tanner about you every time he comes to town for your store supplies. If you had gotten married, he would have told me.”

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Josiah was still leaning against the porch post holding the roof up in front of the jail. He was too far away to see the look in his eyes, but she knew he was finding this too amusing to ignore. Why else would he still be outside watching this spectacle?

“Violet.” Edwin grabbed her hand again and gave it a light squeeze. “I know this feels sudden to you and maybe you just don’t remember things as I do, but even so, the fact remains that I’m here now to marry you and that’s what I aim to do.”

Her heart started pounding again as her entire life flashed before her eyes. A life that involved Edwin and living in Elkin. She barely held back a shudder and turned her head to look for any escape she could find.

She saw it a moment later and latched onto it for dear life. “I’m sorry, Edwin, but I really can’t marry you.” She turned back to face him and looked him in the eye. “You see, I already have a fiance.”

The shocked expression on his face only lasted a moment. “You already have a fiance?”

“Yes, I do.” She tried to temper her voice to let him know she was sorry she couldn’t marry him but took another step away from the bench. “I’m afraid you’ve come all this way for nothing.”

Edwin scratched his head and squinted at her before slowly shaking his head. “Tanner never said you got engaged.”

“Oh, well, um…that’s because it just happened.”

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. “I’m not sure I believe you, Violet.”

She gasped dramatically and placed her hand against her chest. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“No.” His lips thinned into a white slash across his face. “But I want to meet him. Where is this man you’re supposed to marry?”

She swallowed to moisten her suddenly dry throat before lifting her arm and pointing across the road. “He’s right over there.

 

Pre-Order your copy here—> https://books2read.com/SFSASoftKissinSummerA Soft Kiss in Summer