Emmy (Gold Rush Brides Book 2) by Cassie Hayes

ducked their heads in embarrassment. Emmy stiffened noticeably.
    “Is a requirement of your position to always be as rude as possible to everyone?” she asked Mason.
    The gall of that woman! Just who did she think she was, Cleopatra?
    “Listen here, little miss. These are my deputies and I’ll speak to ‘em any way I please. And you! You would be wise to keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut when it comes to how I treat my men, or anything else I do, for that matter!”
    She looked as if he’d reached across the fire and slapped her in the face. “Well!” was all she could manage in response.
    “Now, Mace—“ Fred started.
    “Not you, too, Fred! Aw, hang it all.” Mason stood to his full height, causing everyone around the fire to cower back a little. “I’ve lost my appetite. I’m turning in.”
    For the first time since he’d met her, Emmy didn’t open her mouth, and that was fine by him.
    ~ * ~ * ~
    The men cast worried glances at each other after the sheriff left them, and ate their meal in silence. The rabbit was delicious, as were the biscuits, but no one seemed to enjoy them as much as Emmy had expected. They seemed genuinely worried about their leader, which baffled her, considering how curt and short-tempered he was.
    Jake and David cleaned up and turned in after a few more jokes, leaving Fred and Emmy to peacefully stare into the fire together. It was probably the most comfortable moment she’d had in the past several months and she wanted it to last.  
    But she couldn’t get the sheriff’s attitude out of her head. When she heard steady breathing and snores coming from the nearby bedrolls, she summoned the courage to ask what she’d been wondering.
    “Fred, why is he like that?”
    The older man paused, and it was clear he knew exactly who she was talking about. He glanced at the largest lump of blankets before turning to her.
    “Mason’s had a rough spell lately. It’s set him on edge a bit, especially after you came to town.”
    “Me? Why? What did I do?”
    He kindly patted her shoulder. “No, Miss Emmy, it ain’t you, in particular. It’s just…well, your husband.”
    She bristled at the word. Through clenched teeth, she hissed, “He’s not my husband.”
    The poor man raised his hands in apology. “Sorry, sorry, I only meant that it’s Roy Kirby that’s got him going again.”
    “Again?”
    Fred shook his head and gazed into the fire. Emmy didn’t like the mournful look on his face. It made her sad, and she didn’t even know why.
    “A year ago, Mason was a different man. He was big as ever, of course, but he was happier, always joking around. Never took things too serious-like. He was the constable out this way, before we was an official county. He was here when Nevada City weren’t nothing more than an outfitting store on the way to the diggins.”
    Emmy tried to imagine the bustling town as anything but and found it difficult. She knew communities in California grew up almost overnight, but still, it was hard to visualize Nevada City as anything but what she knew it as. She supposed the same went for Sheriff Wilder. It was impossible to imagine him as anything but cranky.
    “Y’see, he had a lovely wife back then. Marie. She was a right fine lady, that one, and I ain’t seen a couple more in love than them.” He paused and brushed at his eyes, smiling sadly.  
    The sheriff had never mentioned a wife, and he didn’t wear a ring. Emmy’s stomach clenched at the implications.  
    “What happened to her?” she asked quietly.
    Once again, Fred paused and glanced at the sheriff’s sleeping form. Taking a deep breath, he launched into the story.
    “Marie was on her way back from visiting her family in San Francisco when her stagecoach was robbed by highwaymen right outside Nevada City, right where you was stopped. There’d been a few robberies like that happening from time to time, but Mason was able to track down every single one of them thieves. Mostly