“There’d be other documents on record with your father’s signature,” Charles said. “Like the deed for your house and if he owned the office building where his business was. Whatever happened to that?”
“We have no idea,” Frances said.
“That’s what I was saying earlier,” Nick said. “Her uncle’s had free run of her father’s papers for nine months.”
“I’ll send my father a telegram, so he can get on it right away. I think I’ll have him get a picture of the signature on the deed to your house.” Charles tilted his head, his expression worried. “But you should know it’s not a common thing. Taking photographs of documents on file with the county is bound to get people talking. Your uncle could hear about it.”
“I hope he does.” Frances leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “I want you to understand something—if William Lancaster is responsible for my father’s death, I’m going to make him pay.”
“Frances ...” Charles said, his tone warning.
“I think she means she wants to give him enough rope to hang himself.” At her grin, Nick’s chest swelled. The confirmation he understood meant a lot to him. If only she knew how he felt.
2
“So, this is where you got to, Merrick,” Abe Vosburg, Lilac City’s sheriff, said as he strode into the hotel dining room.
“I’m sorry.” Charles jumped to his feet. “Did you need me for something?”
“No.” The older man took a seat of his own. “But we’ll need to meet the train here in about a half hour.”
“Why do you do that?” Frances asked as he signaled for coffee.
“I like to know who’s coming into my town. That’s how I knew you and your sisters had arrived, and how I met young Merrick here.” The sheriff grinned. “Good thing I did too, or he might not have stayed to marry your sister.”
“Are you saying you’re like that Mrs. Champion with her mail-order brides?” Charles asked, his eyes twinkling.
The sheriff gave a disgusted grunt. “I told you during our first meeting I was no matchmaker.”
“Why did you pull that face?” Frances asked Nick.
“Just something Reverend Pearce said,” he muttered, refusing to look at her.
“Oh, ho,” the sheriff said, clapping Nick on the back. “Did the parson tell you it was time to find yourself a wife and settle down?”
“I’ll bet he suggested you hire Mrs. Champion to find a bride for you.” Charles looked about to laugh.
A little twist of nausea began in Frances’s stomach. She never intended to marry; it would mean giving a man power over her. Until that moment, she’d never thought about Nick getting married someday. He came from a large family. The sister whose wedding he was going home for was the only child younger than he was. It would leave him the only unmarried child. When he went home, they’d be sure to pressure him to find a wife too.
A sense of loss hit Frances, the most powerful she’d felt since she’d held her father on their dining room floor as he’d taken his last breath. Her eyes stung, and she had to drop her gaze to her now lukewarm drink.
What was she going to do when Nick married? No woman would put up with her husband having a female best friend. Once he found a wife, Frances would have to break it off with him. She refused to be the cause for discord in his home, and she knew how spiteful and jealous girls could be. She’d suffered at their hands enough at finishing school.
“You’re quiet, Miss Frances,” the sheriff said, pulling her from her thoughts. “What are you thinking?”
“About how ridiculous our society is that a woman has to go to school to befinished.”
Abe burst out laughing. “Girl, you have the oddest way of looking at things.” When she started to protest, he raised his hands. “I’m not disagreeing with you. It’s only you bring up things I’ve never thought about. I like it because you make me see things differently. But, once you bring it up, I see you’re absolutely right. Edith would agree with you.”
Frances wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not. She never quite knew how to take the sheriff’s sister. The woman was progressive in some things as one would expect from a woman who’d managed to reach the age of thirty-eight and still be unmarried, but Edith was also too caught up on what everyone thought was proper and ladylike behavior.
At least it gave Frances something to stew about besides Nick getting married. And there she was again thinking about it. If she kept at it, she’d be cranky all day. That kind of behavior would make him glad to be married so he wouldn’t have to put up with his cantankerous best friend anymore.
Stop it.
“You heard anything from that lawyer of yours?” Frances asked Charles to change the subject.
“The same nonsense about Maude being underage when we were married,” he said with a scowl.
