"I'm sorry Clara. Maybe I should have made my intentions more clearer but I thought you were and are still too young. To say that I am pleased about your marriage would be a lie."
Clara frowned but that soon turned into a glare. And after she had just told him she wished for the very best for his new law career.
"The only thing I can offer you is that I hope that your husband will do his best when the future comes and that you won't suffer if he doesn't."
She was not going to stand here and be hurt like this. Oh, she wanted to say more but what good would it do and what difference would it make? None.
"We are done here. I will never make the same mistake again of trying to talk to you. We have nothing further to say. Good day to you, Deputy," she said thru gritted teeth then stepped to one side of him and kept on walking.
I took an oath for this job. The oath says bring him in. That's what I'll do.
Charlie frowned and then shook his head slightly as Clara walked off. Part of him regretted not being more tactful but a part of him wasn't sorry. It was best that they parted the way they did. Anything more friendlier and that might have given him cause to hope that if anything happened to her husband, he would have a chance. A chance was the last thing he wanted now that she was another man's wife.
From now on, whenever he encountered her it would be in his official capacity as deputy and she would be treated the same as any other married woman in the community. However, deep down he knew that if she ever got into trouble, he would be the first to rush to her side and from what he knew of Jacob Lutz, that was a distinct possibility. Considering how young both of them were, they had a lot of growing up to do.
A small smile appeared on Charlie's face. Maybe sometime in the future, he and Clara could be friends again, when he could look at her without feeling that he missed out on something. In the meantime, he had a lot of growing up to do himself. With that thought in mind, he continued his rounds of the town.