Page 103 of The Formation of Us

“Do you? Then why couldn’t you tell he was lying when he was skipping out of school?”

“Because I didn’t ask him where he was going.”

Furious, Duke planted the pole on the ground. “How do you suppose this rod got on my boat, Adam?”

The boy glared at him. “You’re the sheriff, you figure it out.”

Duke’s chest felt close to exploding. Tangling with Archer at the meeting had gotten his blood warm, but finding the fishing rod on his own damned boat then getting wise-mouthed from Adam pushed his temperature to boiling.

“All right, Adam, I will. I’ll do my job without your help. But you stay in the yard. No wandering in the gorge. No going anywhere but to school. I want Faith to know where you are every minute of the day.”

“Why? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m your guardian, and your actions reflect on me. Don’t challenge me on this, Adam, or I’ll put you in jail and keep an eye on you myself.”

Faith gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief and disappointment.

“How come nobody ever believes me?” Adam demanded.

“Because you’ve lied to both of us,” Duke said. “This is what happens when you break a person’s trust.”

“I didn’t take that stupid fishing rod!”

Before Adam could bolt, Duke clamped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I told you to stay in the yard.”

“You aren’t my father.”

The boy’s words hit Duke like a bucket of ice water, hurting and startling, then infuriating him.

“Maybe not, Adam, but I’m the sheriff in this town and I can damn well confine you to the yard if I see fit. Since you don’t like that idea, I’ll see if a jail cell suits you better.”

He marched Adam across the yard.

“Duke!” Faith hurried after them. “You can’t take him to jail.”

“The hell I can’t.”

“He’s only a boy!”

“Age has nothing to do with it, Faith. Adam has been caught stealing and lying, and he’s being charged with another theft. I can’t turn a blind eye to the boy’s shenanigans and expect to keep my job. It’s time Adam faced the consequences of his actions. You lie, nobody trusts you. You steal, you go to jail. You mislead people, you risk losing everything.”

“You’re trying to punishme, Duke. I’m the one you’re angry with. I’m the one who lied. I’m the one who misled you. And you’ll never forgive me for burdening your lily white conscience, will you?”

She was crying now, tearing him apart with her tears and words. He turned away, unable to look at her, not wanting to believe she was right, or that he was allowing his anger make him cruel.

Adam tried and failed to jerk his elbow free. “Faith hasn’t hurt anybody!”

Duke kept his grip firm and propelled Adam down the street. “You’d better get all the facts before you pass judgment, Adam.”

“Maybe you should take your own advice. I didn’t steal anything but that brush. And Faith wouldn’t hurt anybody for any reason.”

Duke blocked out Adam’s angry denial, and Faith’s tears, and marched the boy straight to his empty jail cell. He left his deputy to watch the boy, then took a walk to cool off.

He strode up West Hill and turned left on Chestnut Street, trying to burn off his anger. All he’d wanted was a truthful and loving wife. Supporting Faith and her large family was a job he’d accepted without complaint or resentment. Being a father to Cora and Adam was as rewarding as it was challenging. And he could understand why Faith hid the truth from him.

But damn it, he’d earned her trust. All those nights in the bathhouse, when he’d ached to make love to her, he’d protected her from his lust and waited until they were married to consummate their attraction. He’d bought her the house she loved. On their wedding night, he nearly crippled himself trying to take things slow, to give her as much pleasure as possible in their marriage bed. Like an open book, he shared his life and his memories with her, but never pressed her to talk about her own life because he sensed it brought her pain. He gave her his heart and his passion.

She gave him lies.