Adams, Eve - Patience is Their Virtue [Brides of Bachelor Bay 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

“Doubtful,” Joshua answered with a grin.

“The Gallaghers aren’t as upstanding as you think.”

That did it. The Gallaghers were good, honest men who employed good, honest men. To hell with Miles Petty and his underhanded way to try and sway men’s opinions, all to pass a damn ordinance that should have never been brought to vote.

Adam stopped dancing and took his wife by her arm. “My dear, why don’t you go and get us some punch? I’ll say a few words to the men, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Her pale eyes lit up to a brilliant blue, the recognizable fire igniting inside her. He couldn’t wait to get her home. Raven had quite a feast there waiting for them, although with the hunger sweltering between them, they may just bypass the food.

“I won’t be long.” She glided away, and he watched her go to make sure she was out of earshot before he approached the crowd of men.

Joshua asked, “How do we know we wouldn’t have the same competition with them Indians if we worked for you?”

“I refuse to employ those savages. As your employer, I promise to only employ white men.” Miles caught Adam’s glare and stiffened.

“What makes the Indians so bad?” someone else asked. “They ain’t done nothing wrong.”

Miles flicked a nervous look Adam’s way before turning his attention to the man who spoke. “They are beasts who walk on two legs. Nothing more than wild animals that must be tamed.”

Adam growled and several of the men in the crowd turned, saw who it was, and quickly backed up. He barely noticed them as he pinpointed his glare onto Miles.

“Good evening, Mayor.” He smiled easily.

“What makes them any different than you?” Adam crossed his arms to stop himself from reaching over and snapping Miles’s scrawny neck like a twig.

“We were simply having a friendly conversation. There’s no need to get upset.”

“The hell with that,” Adam snapped. “You’re trying to push your views onto others and sway their opinions.”

“Nonsense. Indians are dirty beasts who eat food off the ground and live in pointy little tents.”

“The only beast I see is standing before me,” Adam ground out.

Miles colored and turned to Constance. “Perhaps you should join the women over by the punch. This may get a bit colorful, and it would be a shame if you had to hear the language.”

Constance lost her smile as she darted her wide gaze between Miles and Adam. She then nodded and hurried away, right over to the Gallaghers. She pointed right at Adam as she said something. The three brothers glanced over and started his way.

“Wonderful,” Miles muttered. “Now you have those brutes on their way over.”

“The more the merrier.” Adam gave them a nod as the Gallaghers stopped next to Adam and faced Miles.

Logan spoke up. “What seems to be the topic of conversation this evening, gentlemen?”

“It’s nothing,” Miles said.

“Oh, I think it’s more than that. Why else would someone like you be holding these men’s attention when there is a room full of women looking to dance with them?”

Color crept up Miles’s neck as he thinned his lips. “There are things far more important at stake than finding a dance partner, Logan.”

“Then perhaps you should take those who share that thought somewhere other than a dance hall when a dance is being held.”

“I can see where your loyalties lie.” Miles flicked his glare to Adam.

“It’s not loyalty,” Logan countered. “It’s common sense.”

Andrew Gallagher spoke up. “Come now, gentlemen. This is a night of dance. Let’s enjoy the evening instead of squabbling about
petty
things.” He then grinned wide as Miles Petty glared at him.

“This doesn’t sound all that petty to me,” one of the men said.

Another said, “Me, either.”

Several others joined in.

Adam held up his hands to silence them. “Gentlemen, please. Andrew and Logan are right. This is not the time, nor the place, for us to hold this conversation.”

“Then when?” a short, stout man with brown curly hair and eyes as large as silver dollars asked. “When else are men like me, who doesn’t have the power or money to be on the town council, supposed to talk about this? Our opinions matter as well.”

Adam nodded at him. “Of course they do. That isn’t what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying, Mayor? Would you hold an assembly with the town to discuss this?”

“Yes, of course—”

“Because that hasn’t happened,” the man talked over Adam.

“Shut up, Larry. You’re making a fool of yourself.” Joshua barked at him.

“These Indians are taking our jobs, Josh. What are you going to do if you can’t put food on the table or a roof over your head? Do you think any of these women will want a man who can’t provide?”

Too many men nodded their heads in agreement.

Shit. Shit.
Adam tossed Logan a look. He shook his head in return.

“This is getting out of hand,” Logan told him.

“Agreed.”

With tempers flaring, too many men in too tight of a space, and not enough attention paid to the women, it was too volatile a situation to allow it to continue.

“Enough!” Adam hollered above the growing group of arguing men.

The arguing grew louder and louder until the men had to shout to be heard. Even then, the sounds of their angry voices all joined together, their arguments falling into the crowd. The men all screamed their heated opinions, no matter how misguided they were. Even Miles Petty had started to shout.

“Gentlemen, please!” Adam yelled, but no one listened to him. Hell, they weren’t even listening to each other as they made a scene.

The piano stopped, and those on the dance floor stilled to stare at the scene. Men started to push at each other. Someone pushed Joshua, who stumbled into Adam. Logan caught him before he fell back.

And then the fight broke out.

Adam didn’t know who threw the first punch, only that it was from the biggest damn fist he’d ever seen. It struck him in the jaw and snapped his mouth closed. Jesus Christ, he hoped that hadn’t chipped any of his teeth.

“Goddamn it, you just hit the mayor, you son of a bitch!"

“He’ll just get his savage shadow to scalp you.”

“Shut the hell up.” Joshua pulled his hand back and connected his fist with the man's face. Adam cringed when the man fell back, out cold.

“I’ll kill you!” Another man yelled and jumped on Joshua’s back.

Men from the dance floor left their dance partners and joined in on the brawl, pulling men off their friends and attacking others. Soon almost every man in the room had joined in the brawl.

“Andrew! Get the women out of here!” Logan threw a punch at a man whose punch he’d just blocked.

Adam threw man after man off each other just to break up the fight. Larry jumped on his back, and he threw the man off. Larry ran into another man, and together, the two turned on Adam.

“You’re an Indian lover,” a tall man with several missing teeth accused.

“I’m a man who doesn’t believe in judging another based solely on the color of his skin,” Adam growled in return.

Two men had jumped on Logan’s back. Adam ran over and threw them off. Logan nodded at him in thanks. “We have to stop this.”

Someone jumped on Logan, and together, they fell to the ground. Adam reached down, grabbed the man by his collar, and drew his arm back. He’d knock every last one of them out if that was what it took to stop this.

An ear-piercing screech sounded from the front doors. The men all froze and turned to see the town clerk standing there, a telegram in his hands and tears in his red-rimmed eyes. Time stood still as they all waited to hear the news that would change the world.

“The president has been shot,” he sobbed. “President Lincoln is dead.”

Nobody made a sound. Nobody moved. Everyone simply stood there, numb.

The women hadn’t made it out of the room, yet. Echoes of sobs started and soon filled the room. Men stood, brushed themselves off, and even helped the man they were fighting with to stand.

Logan paled as he turned to Adam. They stared at each other as a thousand words passed between them. Here they were, fighting to protect a man’s civil liberties, as were the men in the war. The parallels weren’t lost on Adam, and he saw that same recognition in Logan’s eyes.

And now their president. Shot down, no doubt in cold blood, all over a war that put brother against brother.

Logan shook his head to hide the devastation Adam saw burning in his eyes. “I believe we’ll call it a night.”

Adam nodded and glanced around the room to find his wife, who stood hugging one of the other women. He turned his attention to the men. “Gentlemen, in light of this shock, I believe it’s best if we continue this conversation at a later date and in a more civilized manner.”

The men remained silent as they shuffled out of the dance hall behind the sobbing women. Adam made sure the last one had left before he went to Patience and pulled her into his arms. Her body shook as she cried, and her tears pulled at his heart.

“I’m, uh, going to go home and, uh…I’m sure Lizzie will want to know.” Logan swallowed and shook his head. “Jesus, this is just terrible.”

Andrew and Noah agreed to stay back and help Hattie clean the dance hall so the men with wives could take them home. Adam wrapped his arm around his wife and fought the feeling of loss and despair clawing at his inside. He paused outside the hall as he glanced up at the sky.

The rain had returned.

Patience’s Journal, Wednesday, April 19, 1865

Port Steele, Washington Territory

According to the paper, today is President Lincoln’s funeral procession. It is truly a dark time. Adam brings the paper home every day and seems to sink into a depression with every word he reads. I pray that the man who shot and killed our beloved president finds his just punishment. For now, I must focus my prayers on my husband. Raven and I are concerned as Adam falls into a deeper and deeper depression. This ordinance is gaining strength. Men from Seattle came and spoke at a gathering held by Mr. Miles Petty. More and more men are now supporting the ban of Indians. It is absurd, and I know it must be tearing my dear husband apart. I only wish there were something I could do to help.

The brides were once again on their separate sides, the ones following Constance standing with her and shooting daggers with their glares at those standing with Lizzie Gallagher. A few more women had been married and sported sparkling rings, including Patience’s.

Constance stood and stepped forward, her petite chin out and her haughtiness in full effect. “Well, Elizabeth, you called this meeting. Perhaps you’d like to inform us as to why.”

Lizzie nodded and stepped forward as well. The women all stood on opposite sides of the room, siding with the woman they followed, and glared at each other. It broke Patience’s heart. Even the women had chosen their sides.

Lizzie drew in a deep breath and addressed everyone in the room. “The men in this town are, I fear, being led down a dangerous path.”