Carol Cox (32 page)
Authors: Trouble in Store
“Yes, he mentioned those. He said something about setting oily rags on fire in your office, too.” The marshal let out a dry laugh. “As long as he was in a confessing mood, I guess he figured he’d make a clean breast of everything. Not that it will do him any good when it comes to his trial. Murder is murder.”
“What about Cousin George?” Melanie asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
“I asked him about that,” the marshal said. “Doc swears George’s heart just gave out on him, nothing more than that.” He settled his hat back on his head and turned toward the door. “Since he owned up to all the others, I don’t see any
reason to believe he’s holding anything back. I’m sure he’s telling the truth about that.”
Melanie dropped the bar in place to secure the front door, then repeated the process with the back door and turned to make her way up the stairs. She had only spent a few hours dealing with customers and the well-wishers who continued to come in throughout the afternoon, but even that limited activity left her feeling utterly spent.
Up in her room, she pulled the pins from her hair and ran her fingers through the long chestnut strands, letting them fall loose across her shoulders.
Something rattled against the window, and Melanie spun around with her hand pressed to her throat. When the noise sounded again, she pushed the curtain aside and peered out. Caleb stood below her in the alley, a basket in his hand and Levi by his side.
Melanie pushed the window up and leaned her arms on the sill. “Is everything all right?”
“I was going to use my key, but you’ve barred the door. Would you mind coming down to let us in?”
A smile curved Melanie’s lips. “What if someone already saw you flinging pebbles at my window? Are you trying to sully my reputation?”
“This is broad daylight, not the middle of the night. Besides”—he nodded at Levi—“I brought along a chaperone.”
Melanie laughed. “Give me a minute. I need to put my hair back up.”
“No, leave it just the way it is.” The look he gave her sent a tingle from her scalp to her toes.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll be right down.”
When she opened the door, Levi darted inside. “We brought dinner, Miss Ross.”
Caleb grinned and held up the basket. “I figured you’d be too worn out to fix yourself anything substantial, so I got some food from the café. I hoped we could all eat together, and it would give us a chance to talk.”
Melanie’s exhaustion began to slip away. “How thoughtful of you. I was only planning to put together a plate of cheese and crackers.”
Levi hopped from one foot to the other. “And Papa said I get to eat in my fort. I’m going to pretend I’m out on bivouac with my soldiers.”
Caleb carried the basket into the office. “While he’s playing, I’d like to discuss our partnership.”
Melanie followed him, fighting the feeling of letdown at the prospect of talking business after a long, tiring day.
Caleb set the basket on the desk. “I don’t want the food to get cold, so we won’t take time to set up a table like we did before. Why don’t you get some plates from the kitchen, and we’ll just eat in here?”
She went to do as he asked, wondering what lay behind the desire to discuss their partnership. A queasy feeling settled in her stomach. Did he still want her out of the store? The kiss they’d shared the day before had seemed to be full of promise, but maybe she’d read it all wrong.
She carried the plates back to the office, where Caleb put a drumstick and a biscuit on Levi’s before sending him off to play. While Levi scampered off, Melanie set food out for her and Caleb.
When she turned around, he stood in front of her, only
inches away. His nearness made her breath come quickly, and she stared into his face, trying to discern what was on his mind.
He glanced away for a moment before he began to speak. “When you first came here, I wasn’t very gracious to you. In fact, I was quite rude, and I want to apologize for that.”
He looked up again, meeting her eyes. “But the more I watched you, the more I saw the kind of person you are. I saw your kindness, the way you care about people like Mrs. Fetterman and the Professor, the way you’ve captured Levi’s heart . . .”
His eyes darkened in a way that left her breathless. “. . . and mine.”
Melanie felt like her own heart had stopped beating.
Without taking his eyes off her, Caleb leaned to one side and reached behind a stack of catalogs. The lilting strains of “Liebestraum” filled the office.
Melanie decided she’d been wrong. Her heart was beating, all right. She could feel it pounding in her chest at double speed.
Caleb straightened and moved even closer. He framed her face in his hands and traced her cheekbones with his thumbs.
Melanie’s eyelids fluttered closed, and she stood lost in the moment, listening to the music, drinking in Caleb’s nearness, thrilling to the wonder of his touch.
When he spoke again, his voice sounded husky. “When I said I wanted to talk to you about our partnership, I didn’t mean the mercantile.”
Her eyes flew open, and her breath caught at the intensity of his gaze. He bent his head down, and she felt his breath graze her cheek. “I don’t want to spend another day of my life without you by my side.”
A film of tears blurred her vision, and she blinked them away.
“I want us to go on together as partners in life.” Lowering his hands, he grasped her fingers in his and sank down onto one knee. “Melanie, would you do me the honor—the very great honor—of becoming my wife?”
A joyous laugh escaped her lips while tears spilled over onto her cheeks. Finally, a proposal she wanted to hear! “There is nothing I’d like better in the world.”
With a jubilant smile, Caleb got back to his feet and pulled her into his arms again. Melanie raised her face to meet his kiss, knowing in her heart she had found her home at last.
Dear Reader:
It has been a joy to write another story set in the early days of Arizona’s history. With such a rich variety of settings to draw from, I’ve loved being able to focus on a completely different area of my home state this time.
People often ask where the ideas in a book come from. In the case of
Trouble in Store
, I can trace the inspiration for several scenes back to my ninth summer, when my mother, grandmother, and I set off on a tour of northern Arizona. With its rolling hills and flowing creeks, it was quite a change from the cactus-studded desert where I’d grown up! I’ll never forget my first view of Montezuma Castle, a pueblo built into the side of a limestone cliff by the Sinagua people many centuries ago. The sight of cliffside dwellings sparked my imagination as a child. Who were the people who lived there? What were they like? Those questions lay buried in my mind all through the years, and Melanie pondered them as well during the early part of her stay in Cedar Ridge.
When Melanie arrived in Arizona, she already felt like her life had been turned upside down. Becoming the proprietor of the mercantile she inherited from her cousin wasn’t a turn she’d expected her life to take. Little did she know that God had even more surprises in store! I don’t know about you, but I often feel like Melanie did when life throws me a curve. I’d like to have things planned out well in advance and know exactly where I’m going and how to get there . . . but more often than not, it doesn’t work out that way.
What then? How are we supposed to react when the path we expected to follow turns out to be far different than the one God gives us? We can kick up a fuss, wail, and complain—something I’ll confess I’ve done more than once. But if we want true peace, we’ll find that in trusting the Lord and seeking His perfect will for our lives. No matter how wonderful I think my plans are, His are always so much better. And that’s where our happy ending truly lies—in trusting Him to know what’s best.
Thank you for taking the time to read
Trouble in Store.
May you find your own happy ending in following God’s best for your life!
Carol
Philippians 4:4
Author of nearly 30 novels and novellas,
Carol Cox
has an abiding love for history and romance, especially when it’s set in her native Southwest. As a third-generation Arizonan, she takes a keen interest in the Old West and hopes to make it live again in the hearts of her readers. A pastor’s wife, Carol lives with her husband and daughter in northern Arizona, where the deer and the antelope really do play—within view of the family’s front porch.
To learn more about Carol, please visit her at:
Her Web site:
www.AuthorCarolCox.com
Her blog:
www.AuthorCarolCox.com/journal
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/carol.cox
Twitter:
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Love in Disguise
Trouble in Store
