"Oh, thank the good Lord," Ruth said, standing up and hoping the sheriff hadn't noticed them kissing. "We were locked in here by a desperado. He took the key with him."
The sheriff visibly softened. "Fortunately for you folks I keep a spare key on me."
The jingle of his keys were perhaps the sweetest music she'd ever heard.
He ran a finger through the dust on the desk. "I'm not much of a housekeeper, but we rarely see prisoners. I don't even come out here everyday. Just once a week to check that any pests haven't made themselves at home or some human vermin haven't decided to take up residence. You never know when we'll need the cell."
"Soon hopefully," Kid said. "I don't know if you're able to help capture him, but it would sure be appreciated. He stole a large sum of money from this lady here."
"He's probably out of my jurisdiction by now, and he don't seem like enough of a threat to the people I protect to gather up a posse, but if he shows up in town and tries to spend any of the money, I'll nab him."
Kid didn't look surprised, but he thanked the sheriff, and they were quickly on their way, hoping too much time hadn't been lost.
Kid said he had a hunch about where Abbott might have gone next. She took him at his words as he was the professional.
Before they'd taken too many steps, Ruth desperately wished the sheriff had come along because the kiss had made things between her and Kid awkward and her silence wasn't helping matters she knew, but she had so many conflicting emotions. She didn't trust herself to speak, and he had to notice the difference as they had maintained steady conversation on the trail or rather she had.
She loved Kid, not only because he was a child of God but she suspected her feelings for him ran deeper than just the surface attraction. However, until he came to know the Lord, she couldn't let things progress past the kiss. It wouldn't be right to put her needs over Kid's need for salvation.
And she was afraid of what a future with him might mean at this point in time. She'd seen it happen before. A man started attending church and confessing God with his mouth to win the hand of a woman, and when they were married, he started to drift, and he either made her drift with him or she became very unhappy, knowing her relationship with her husband was only temporal instead of eternal. She'd prayed many hours with such women, and she didn't want to be one of those women.
And above all, she wanted Kid to come to God because he wanted to come to God. Only then would his soul be saved and that meant he didn't need things getting complicated between them. She had to take a step back until he worked things out with His Maker.
It wasn't going to be easy though. She could still feel the ghostly sensations from where his mouth had moved on hers, and she longed to feel it again.
It was finally Kid who broke the silence. "You're quiet."
"Thinking is all."
That made him grin. "We definitely have a lot to think about."
She flushed. Had she led him on? She hadn't meant to. She'd only wanted to form an emotional connection with him, not a physical one, but she could see plainly how he had misconstrued her words back in the cell, and it was hard for him to misconstrue the way she'd willingly kissed him back. "Kid, we need to talk."
"I agree." She sighed in relief. He looked like he was about to say something hard. Maybe he thought things were moving too fast as well, but he had a whole other subject on his mind.
"I think we should stop the pursuit. It's too dangerous even if the trail hasn't gone cold. There's been at least three times you could've gotten hurt, killed even. Is it really worth risking your life to get it back?"
"Do you know how many Bibles that money could print?"
"So what? A few Bibles don't get printed."
"It's more than that. These Bibles are being printed for people who've never heard the Word of God in their own tongue or any tongue for that matter. We're not bringing them a book. We're bring them hope, life everlasting. Isn't that worth risking this short, earthly life for?"
He couldn't see the value of it, but he could see how much it meant to her. "If it's that important to you, I'll see it through to the end. We'll see it through."
She loved him for saying it. She hated that he didn't see the importance of God and His Word because that was what was going to keep them apart.
He suddenly stopped and swung into her path. She almost collided into his hard chest, which she wouldn't have minded all that much. "Now let's talk about us. I want to marry you."
"Oh, Kid." Did he hear the sadness that weighted those two words down?
He must not have because he cupped both sides of her face, and she felt her resolve weakening. He was so strong and yet tender. It was an intoxicating mix. He would be so easy to love. He was a good man just not God's man.
She gently took him by the wrists and lowered his hands.
"Is it too soon?" he asked. "I can wait. I'm a patient man."
"We're too different. Our lives are going completely different directions. I shouldn't have kissed you."
"I understand," he said in a cold voice that said he didn't really understand at all. "You thought we were going to die, and it happened in the heat of the moment. Forget about it. We'll pretend it never happened."
She hated the hurt she heard in his voice. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do. "I didn't think we were going to die, but I did let my emotions get the better of me. We just don't make sense right now. But I want to be your friend, your sis-"
He broke her words off. "Stop. I don't want to hear it. You could have said no. You don't have to placate me."
She was making a bad situation worse. She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't comfort him when she was the source of his pain.
He turned around, his steps heavier than before. He was so angry he wasn't watching where he was walking, and he didn't hear the rattler's warning before it struck. Her scream came too late.
