Chapter Three

      Nora leaned back and inhaled a breath of in-this-moment contentment. The sight of the cottage as they rounded that final bend always filled her with such joy and pride. Already this felt like home to her. How could her sisters believe she would ever want to leave it?

       She glanced down at Grace and made a silent pledge. I promise you that, whatever else shall be, in this home you shall never want for love.

       “You know, I was thinking,” her companion said slowly, “most of the urgent repairs are done on the place. Before you spend all your money on additional repairs, you might want to look into getting yourself a horse and wagon of your own.”

       Nora’s cheeks heated in embarrassment. Had she overstepped on his kindness somehow? Since the day she’d moved into the cottage a few weeks ago, he’d insisted on bringing his wagon around to pick her up in the mornings and bring her back in the evenings. She’d protested at first, but as usual he’d ignored her. He’d said at the time that it was no trouble, but she wondered now if perhaps he’d changed his mind.

       “Of course,” she said quickly. “I didn’t intend to take advantage of your kindness. You’re a busy man and it’s an easy walk into town from here—”

       “Hold on,” he said, interrupting her. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t mind one bit giving you a lift into town on workdays. In fact, it gives me an opportunity to start my rounds by checking things out on this side of town.”

       She wasn’t entirely convinced that he was being completely honest. “Then was there some other reason you brought this up?”

       “What I was thinking was that if there’s ever any kind of emergency out here it would be handy for you to have your own transportation.”

       “Emergency?”

       “You know, like if one of the Coulters or Grace got hurt or took ill.”

       “Oh, I see. I hadn’t really thought of that.” But she was thinking of it now. The Coulters were quite frail. And if something should happen to Grace…

       “I can find you a good deal,” the sheriff assured her. “I’ll even loan you the money and you can pay me back a little at a time.”

       Seemed he was always doing that—loaning those in need the means to get by. Well, she wasn’t one of his charity cases. “That’s very kind of you but we’ve managed to make do this long, we can get by a bit longer until I can save up the funds.”

       “No offense, and I know you have your pride and all, but I really think we should go ahead and take care of this now.”

       Of all the high-handed— “Sheriff Long, I appreciate your concern, but this is really not your decision to make.”

       Her not-so-veiled reprimand failed to have the desired effect. “Now don’t go getting all prickly on me.” His tone contained the barest hint of amusement, setting her teeth on edge.

       “Because,” he continued, “as a matter of fact, this does concern me. I’ve worried about Agnes and James out here on their own for years now, but haven’t been able to do much more than check on them regularly. If you had a vehicle—”

       “Well, they’re not on their own any longer,” she interrupted. “I’m here to keep an eye on things.”

       “Yes you are, and that does relieve my mind a bit. But that doesn’t change the fact that James and Agnes are getting on in years and you have an infant to take care of which limits your ability to just take off and go for help if help’s needed. So, being the conscientious lawman that I am, I’d still feel obligated to come out here on a regular basis to check in on things. Now, if I knew you had a means to go for help if something…unexpected happened, then I wouldn’t feel as if I had to come out here and check on things so often.”

       She clamped her lips shut and glared at him. He was trying to manipulate her but it wouldn’t work. “I apologize,” she said stiffly. “I had no idea you were inconveniencing yourself on our account.”

       She brushed at her skirt with her free hand. “Well, you can set your mind at ease. James and Agnes may be unable to get around very well, but I’m perfectly capable of running to town for help if an emergency should arise.” She lifted her chin. “So there’s no need for you to continue to check in on us any more than you do any other citizen of Faith Glen.”

       “But that’s my job. You wouldn’t want me to shirk my duties, would you?”

       She held back her retort, settling for merely glaring at him. Not that he seemed at all appreciative of her restraint.

       “Tell me,” he asked equably, “how would you feel if James or Agnes got hurt or took ill while you were in town and they were alone out here with no way to go for help? I know I certainly wouldn’t want something like that on my conscience. Especially if it was just a bit of pride that kept me from providing them with the means.”

       She felt her resolve fade, but glared at him resentfully. “You, sir, do not play fair.”

       The sheriff’s little-boy grin reappeared, signaling that he knew he’d won.

       But she wasn’t going to let him have his way altogether. “I don’t want anything fancy mind you. A serviceable cart and pony will do just fine.”

       He swept his hand out to indicate the rickety wagon they were currently riding in. “As you can see, my tastes don’t usually run to fancy.” He pulled the vehicle to a stop near the front of the cottage. “I should be able to find something for you to take a look at on Monday.”

       He hopped down and strode over to her side of the wagon. This time he didn’t hesitate to take the baby from her, though he still held Grace with more trepidation than enthusiasm.

       Once she was back on the ground and he’d returned Grace to her, the sheriff snatched the bag with Grace’s things from the bed of the wagon and escorted Nora inside without waiting for an invitation.

       They found the Coulters in the kitchen. Ben had driven them home earlier, and the older couple had already changed out of the clothes they’d worn to Bridget’s wedding and were back in their everyday work clothes. Agnes sat at the table, darning a nearly threadbare sock with knobby fingers that had lost much of their nimbleness. James sat nearby, reading silently from a well-worn Bible.

       Both looked up when they entered. Cam set the bag on the table and turned to James. “Good news. Nora here has decided to get a cart and a pony to pull it.”