Roy nodded in agreement. “I’m guilty of the same mistake. For a while I thought he would be a better match than me for Cora just because he had money. I had no idea that he was murderous.”
“And murderous he was.” Sheriff Williams nodded, frustration and anger flashing across his eyes. “He told me that he had no quarrel with me, that I had done my best to control my headstrong, disobedient daughter and her scoundrel of a lover—those were his words—but that some people were too far gone. He said that if they weren’t here, then they must be back at the Burns’ property.”
Sheriff Williams scrunched up his face as if the memory was physically painful to recall, and then relaxed it, forcing himself to a calm state of mind. Neither Cora nor Roy interrupted but listened intently, realizing his need to get all of this out. It was like his subconscious had been stewing over this the entire time he was unconscious, and now that he was able to vocalize it all, the part when Alfred expressed a desire to kill Cora was the part that angered him the most.
“He turned his back to me to head back out the kitchen door, and that’s when I pulled my gun out of the holster. I told him to freeze and not make another move. But I think in that moment, the fear for your life—my fatherly instincts—took over all my training as a sheriff. I hesitated for only a moment, and that was enough. That’s the last thing I remember.”
The story that her father told played over in her mind in the same way that her mind would create a series of images when she would read a novel. She could see Alfred’s upper lip curling when he explained to her father why he detested the ‘headstrong, disobedient’ daughter of the sheriff, why he wanted her dead.
She could see the smirk on his face when he took advantage of her father’s moment of hesitation, born from paternal concern, that was just enough to put a bullet in his chest, knocking him to the floor and causing the gun in his hand to fall on his way down and spiral beneath the chair.
If Alfred had been smart, he would have taken the gun with him, but he was too single-track minded, focused on hunting down Cora and Roy. He must have heard the two of them arrive before he was far from the property and was able to let himself back in the house and hid while they kneeled beside the sheriff’s side.
Cora’s realization that her father had been willing to lay down her life for her sent her chin quivering with unshed tears, and Roy put a comforting arm around Cora’s shoulder. For most of her life, there had been a disconnect between her and her father, a good and dedicated man who just never quite fully understood how to parent a young girl without a mother in her life.
This had caused so much tension and discord between them, and the rift in their relationship had only grown larger as Cora got older, to the point that she even began to see Pastor Burns as more of a father to her than the sheriff had ever been.
But now, hearing her father tell this story, and knowing that he had been not only willing but actually came on the verge of death on Cora’s behalf—all of that misunderstanding and tension and petty arguments between the two of them went out the window.Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends—words spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself had never held more relevance in Cora’s life.
In spite of everything, her father had always been the one who had loved her more than life itself. It took a near-deadly tragedy for her to see it.
“Oh, Pa!” Cora cried, no longer able to hold back her emotions. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, mindful of the wound on his shoulder, and somewhere from the depths of the desert that had become her tear ducts, new tears found their way to the surface, soaking her father’s neck. “I’m so, so thankful that you are okay. I love you, Pa.”
After a few moments she pulled away, nervous that she would aggravate his injury, and Sheriff Williams smiled warmly at her and squeezed her hand again with more strength this time.
“Cora, you didn’t think I’d die before I had a chance to walk my only daughter down the aisle on her wedding day, did you?” Then he looked over his shoulder and winked at Roy.
Dr. Davenport arrived minutes later and assessed Sheriff Williams’ condition. He examined the sheriff’s vitals, checking his pupils and his heart rate, and then he carefully removed the bandages to check on the wound, which showed no signs of infection and seemed to be healing nicely. The doctor took off his glasses, wiped sweat from his brow—for he had rushed over as quickly as possible when Philip gave him the news that the sheriff had awakened—and shook his head in disbelief.
“In all my years of being a doctor, including the time I spent as a medic on the battlefield, I have never seen something quite like this,” he said, scratching his jaw.
“Do you mean that in a good way?” Roy asked nervously.
“Well, absolutely,” Dr. Davenport explained. “I have never seen a patient come out from an unconscious state, brought about by a gunshot wound that caused an excessive amount of loss blood, and return to such a vibrant and lucid state so quickly. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s almost like…”
“Like a miracle,” Cora finished for him as a statement of fact rather than a question, smiling down at her father.
“Indeed,” Dr. Davenport agreed. “As a doctor, I’m a man of science; but as a human being, I’m a man of God, and I have always believed that the two aren’t in discord but work together in perfect harmony. And sometimes, in situations like this when science can only go so far, that’s when God and the power of prayer steps in.”
Cora once again thanked God for answering her prayers.
“You are a lucky man, Thomas,” Dr. Davenport said, speaking to the sheriff informally, as they had been schoolyard friends themselves years ago. “Your daughter and her fiancé have not left your bedside, praying without ceasing.”
“Thank you, Doc,” Sheriff Williams said, his voice flooded with emotion. “I know I’m a lucky man, and it’s going to be hard to give her away soon.” He reached for Cora’s hand and then held out his hand for Roy, who took a tentative step forward and accepted it.
“But it’s time. She’s ready for her husband now, and there’s no one I trust more than Roy to fill that role as the most important man in her life.”
The three of them shared a quiet, heartfelt moment before Sheriff Williams turned back to Dr. Davenport.
“Now, what are the next instructions, Doc? I need to get healed up as quickly as possible. Because we have a wedding to plan.”
Epilogue
Three weeks had passed since the fateful events of that week when Alfred Mills had unleashed his fury on the Williams family. Alfred Mills’ trial for attempted murder was still pending, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it would be an open and shut case. His mother had not returned to town and was presumed—as Philip had suggested—to be living with family in Wyoming, in a ranch as large and stately as the Mills’ property.
There was no questioning that Violet Mills would experience no change to her extravagant lifestyle, which was an unfortunate injustice, but Roy knew they had to focus on the positives and what they could control. As it stood, even all of Alfred’s money couldn’t save him from a charge as severe as attempted murder of the beloved sheriff of Lakewood, and while Alfred had attempted to name his henchmen who had burned down the church, they could not be found. Even if they were to be found, there would be no way to prove their involvement.
With the conviction imminent, the state seized the Mills’ property and put it up for sale. There had not yet been any offers, as no one else in Lakewood or the surrounding areas had the wealth to afford such a property, and there were worries that whoever might acquire it would be an outsider who could be just as corrupt as the Mills family. But this was another worry that Roy wouldn’t allow himself to distract him—especially not today, his wedding day.
