Amon by Kit Morgan

I’m afraid.” Amon said.
    “And yourself?” Newton asked.
    “Me?” Amon suddenly realized he’d have to answer the man – he had basically just told him he was going to marry his sister. Now what would he do?
     
    * * *
     
    Nettie blinked at the man standing in front of her. Had she just heard him right? “You?” she said and pointed at him.
    He raised a single eyebrow at the word – or rather, at her finger – as he stared at it. “As I was first choice, then … yes, me. Unless of course you would prefer not to, but that might risk you being at the mercies of Mr. Moresy.”
    Behind her, she could hear the doors of the hotel lobby slamming, as if in punctuation of the violent Mr. Moresy’s intent. She grimaced and took a few steps backward.
    “It’s all right, dear,” Newton whispered. “He’s gone. For now, at least.”
    Nettie relaxed, slightly, and her eyes drifted back to the man in front of her. His features were different, odd, though handsome. His cheekbones were high, and there was a slight upward slant to his eyes, as if part of his ancestry were Chinese. His hair was a thick reddish-brown, poking out from under his hat. He was tall and lean but not undernourished – he seemed all muscle and sinew beneath his clothes. She blinked a few more times in an effort to tear her gaze from him – after all, it was impolite to stare – but found she couldn’t.
    “Nettie?” Newton said softly to get her attention. Thankfully, it worked. “Perhaps we should speak to this gentleman in private?”
    Her eyes slowly drifted back to the man standing before her. “As you wish.”
    “Follow us, please,” Newton instructed, “Mr. er … ah …”
    “The name’s Cotter. Amon Cotter.”
    “Mr. Cotter,” he confirmed then took Nettie by the arm, turned and headed down the hall. She could sense the man following – what a strange feeling! She stole a quick glance at him and noticed his tight jaw. But the unpleasant Mr. Moresy was gone now …
    She heard the lobby doors slam again. “Now lissen here – I ain’t said my peace yet!” Mr. Moresy yelled as he came stomping toward the stairs.
    Mr. Cotter growled low in his throat and turned back. “I’ll take care of this –”
    “If you’ll just come with us please, Mr. Cotter,” she said quickly, hoping to calm the situation. It wouldn’t do for the two of them to get into a fistfight there in the hallway. Besides, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be married to a man so quick to anger. Or was he simply being protective of her?
    “Mr. Moresy,” Newton called as the little man came thundering up the staircase. “I’ll grant you an audience after I’ve spoken with Mr. Cotter. Would that suit you?”
    Mr. Moresy stopped, his eyes darting around like a fly at a picnic. “How come I gotta go second?”
    “On the simple basis that Mr. Cotter here has manners. Whereas you don’t.”
    “Then why even bother to talk to me?” he asked with suspicion.
    Newton gave him a casual smile. “Because then you can say I did.”  He turned back around, motioned to Mr. Cotter, and steered Nettie down the hall again.
    With a man beside her and another close behind, she felt safe from the uncouth Mr. Moresy, who from the sound of it – or lack thereof – had chosen not to follow again. If she were lucky, he’d leave and not speak with her brother at all, but she somehow knew that wouldn’t be the case. He’d want to talk to Newton, even if it was to bad-mouth the man beside her. Something was better than nothing, and she guessed Mr. Moresy would take what he could get.
    They reached Newton’s room and went inside. He invited Mr. Cotter to have a seat on a sofa near the window, then took a nearby chair and set it down on the other side of the small table in front of the sofa. “Nettie, would you mind running down to the kitchen and having Mrs. Upton fix us some tea?”
    She looked between them. “Getting rid of me already?”
    He gave her a warm