Charlene Sands (6 page)

“What?” Kate asked, aware that Nora had something on her mind.

“I was just thinking how nice it would be if I had a friend to share this feeling with. I was wishing that friend were you. Do you want to have children, Kate?”

“I…I don’t know if that will ever happen.” Kate smiled, attempting to keep the conversation gay.

“I know you’re busy with the saloon and all, but…maybe someday?”

Nora sounded hopeful. Kate had just about given up all hope. The only man she’d want to share a family with was Cole. She’d put that notion into her head at such a young age that she didn’t think she’d ever shake it loose. And Cole had made himself clear to her from the start, what he expected in a woman. He certainly didn’t want someone like her to raise his daughter and have his babies. That was perfectly obvious to Kate. “Well, you’re forgetting, I’d have to be married first. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Nora replied, lowering her voice. “I think my brother-in-law is smitten.”

“Jethro?” Kate was taken by surprise. She’d only just met him. “He’s a nice young man, Nora. I think of him as a new friend.”

“Being friends is a good way to begin.” Once again Nora sounded hopeful. But Jethro Cable could never replace Cole in Kate’s heart. She and Cole had
started out as friends first, and through the years Kate’s feelings for him had grown to something even more powerful than their pledged friendship. She wondered how the six-year separation had changed him so? Or perhaps, both of them had changed some.

“Nora, I’d like to keep Jethro as my friend.
Just
as my friend. No offense, because Jethro is a good man, but my—”

“Your heart belongs to the sheriff.”

Kate hadn’t planned on admitting that to Nora. She’d intended to say that her time and energy had to go into the saloon, but Nora had been so honest and forthright in sharing her good news that Kate wanted to reciprocate by confiding in her. Having a new female friend took some getting used to, Kate mused. “Yes, but Cole and I see things differently. We’ll never have a real chance, Nora. I’ve come to understand that.”

“But, you and Cole have been so close.”

Kate shoved aside the remorse she felt at losing that one-time cherished closeness. “That was in the past. We were just children.”

“And now?”

Kate closed her eyes momentarily. When she reopened them, she knew the truth and wouldn’t hide it from her friend. Soon she and Cole would be on the opposite sides of the law. “Now, we’re nearly enemies.”

K
ate took her seat on a pew in the First Presbyterian Church of Calaveras County, sitting next to the Cables. The men, Jethro and Abe, hugged the aisle seats, while Nora and Kate sat in the middle. Kate noted the many curious onlookers who kept turning their heads her way. They weren’t being cordial in the least but rather hoping to gain a bit of local gossip about the saloon gal, she mused.

Kate was used to their scrutiny. It really didn’t bother her and, when their eyes met with hers, she smiled, noting that some chose to smile back. It was a start and Kate appreciated any gift, small as it may be.

Not all the townsfolk were opposed to the opening of the saloon. But the ones who were primarily at odds with her had just walked through the wide double church doors.

Cole, with his daughter Meggie in hand, entered alongside Patricia and Edward Wesley. Kate’s tender
heart skipped a beat seeing them together,
all of them.
They appeared a united front, a family. It’s what Cole had always wanted.

Cole’s gaze found hers and lingered a moment, holding her hostage with the sharp blue of his probing eyes until he noticed Jethro sitting to her left. A scowl tightened the handsome features of Cole’s face then and he quickly looked away.

Kate couldn’t help noticing Patricia. Schooled in Boston, she appeared the picture of social grace, dressed elegantly in a button-down light yellow gown of silk. She had a proprietary hand on Cole’s arm as they walked down the aisle to the pew reserved expressly for Edward Wesley. Some things just never changed.

“Snooty Miss Wesley has hired my services for riding lessons,” Jethro whispered near Kate’s ear. “It surely
won’t
be a pleasure,” he said adamantly.

Kate chuckled a bit too loudly, giving the churchgoers good reason to turn her way.

“Be nice, Jethro,” Kate admonished without an ounce of sincerity. “We are in the house of God.”

Jethro pulled his lips down into a deep frown. “I find it hard to remember my manners in Miss Wesley’s presence.”

The good Reverend Pritchard cleared his throat, thus silencing the group. When he began his sermon on the value of obeying the law, Kate had the distinct feeling the entire service was intended for her sole
benefit. Kate listened politely despite the stares she felt at her back.

Dear sweet Nora caught on instantly and took hold of Kate’s hand, giving her a squeeze of reassurance. Kate thanked her blessings for the gift of Nora’s friendship. Although it wasn’t quite the same as her longstanding friendship with Cole, at least now she didn’t feel at such an utter loss.

How she missed the camaraderie she and Cole had always shared.

And all throughout the sermon, Kate’s gaze kept drifting to Cole and his daughter, sitting several pews up on the other side of the aisle. The little child sat ever so close to her father, and when she’d become a bit too fidgety, incapable of sitting still during the reverend’s monotone speech, Cole had lifted her onto his lap. There Kate witnessed Cole brush aside several strands of the child’s golden hair absently and place a soft kiss on her forehead.

Cole was a good father.

He was a decent man, a man who deserved a family. Kate couldn’t deny him that, but he was also rigid in his beliefs and as unbending as a one-hundred-year-old oak.

When the service ended, Jethro offered his arm and Kate joined Abe and Nora outside on the lawn.

“Well, that was some sermon,” Nora whispered to the three of them.

Abe laughed and put his arm around his wife. “I just about nodded off to sleep.”

“You’d best get all the sleep you can, brother,” Jethro said on a teasing note, “’cause when that little babe comes, you won’t be getting a whole lot of it.”

Abe playfully jabbed Jethro on the shoulder. “What are you looking so smug about? Your room’s next to the baby nursery.”

Kate had only just met Abe Cable this morning before the service, but already she liked him. He had an easy manner, a good nature and he sure made Nora happy.

“I think I might take to sleeping in the livery. Then the only thing I’ll be hearing is the snorting of the mares.”

“And don’t forget the hee-hawing of the mules,” Abe added with a grin.

Kate enjoyed being included in their banter. Growing up with just her mama, she’d missed out on such things.

“What do you say, Miss Kate. Where do you suppose I should spend my nights?” Jethro asked innocently.

Kate was ready to answer when Cole suddenly appeared by her side. She froze when she glanced at his face. A tic worked out a beat in his jaw. He was fence-post stiff and eyeing Jethro with cold disdain. “Cole?”

Cole’s attention didn’t shift; he kept his gaze on Jethro. “If I didn’t know you better, Cable, I’d say you ought to show the lady a bit more respect.”

Chagrined, Jethro turned three shades of red. “No disrespect intended, Miss Kate. Honest.”

“I know that, Jethro,” Kate said softly, then turned to Cole with anger sizzling in her veins. She managed to keep her tone civil. They were, after all, still on the church grounds. “We were having a private conversation.”

Cole’s blue eyes blazed dark as midnight. He glared at Kate for a moment. Then he turned his attention to Nora and Abe and had the nerve to lift his lips in a genuine smile. “Sorry to interrupt. Just came by to congratulate you both. I understand you’re in the family way, Miss Nora.”

“Why yes, Sheriff. I am.” Nora placed her hand on her tiny stomach and Kate assessed that gesture to be a purely maternal instinct. The babe couldn’t be much bigger than a peppermint candy, yet Nora felt the need to protect and nurture the child already.

“I wish you both well. If the child’s anything like my daughter, you’ll know nothing but joy.”

Abe and Nora looked at each other, their faces already filled with such elation they could barely hold back wide grins. “We think so too, Sheriff,” Abe said. “We appreciate your good wishes.”

The two men shook hands, then Cole tipped his hat to all of them and walked back to where the Wesleys were waiting with little Meggie. Kate let loose a long, tired sigh. She truly wished her path wouldn’t cross Cole’s so often. At times, the man infuriated her and
made her wish for things she had no right wishing for.

She turned back to her friends and offered a smile. “Shall we go to supper?”

Kate had looked forward to having her new friends over for dinner. They’d be her first real guests in a house she’d labored vigorously to make livable. With a great deal of spit and shine, the once-neglected house had polished up rather nicely, faring far better than she’d ever have imagined. Kate was proud to show off her accomplishment to the Cables.

On the walk back to her house, Nora took hold of Kate’s arm and steered her away from the men. “Kate, did you notice the way Cole was looking at you with Jethro?”

Kate frowned. “Cole shouldn’t have said what he said, Nora. Jethro meant no harm.” She’d felt immediate remorse the minute Cole stepped up and made his comment.

“No, I’m sure Jethro didn’t, but there’s something in the way the sheriff looks at you all the time. Something he can’t hide. He’s got feelings for you, Kate. I’m sure of it.”

Kate let a chuckle escape. “I’m sure of it, too. He’s
feeling
like stringing me up on a thick rope. He’s not at all happy about me having the saloon built.”

“Maybe, or perhaps, he’s afraid of something.”

Confused, Kate shook her head. “Afraid? What would Cole Bradshaw have to be afraid of?”

“Oh, plenty I’d say,” she continued, as they neared
Kate’s house. “Like losing his best friend, losing the woman he truly wants and fearing you’ll get hurt when all is said and done.”

“Nora, I’m convinced Cole doesn’t want me. He’s got Patricia Wesley. She’s the perfect sort of woman for him. She’s schooled and mannerly.”

“And…spoiled,” Nora added with a whisper. “Cole couldn’t possibly enjoy her company. Why, I overheard the Wesleys inviting him and Meggie over for supper after church. Cole refused.”

“That means nothing. Maybe he had other plans.”

“Perhaps, Kate, but think about it.”

“Oh Nora, you are so kind to worry about me. I’m fine, really. And there’s nothing to think over. There’s no room in Cole’s heart for me. He’s set on what he wants.”

Nora smiled warmly as they climbed up the steps to Kate’s house. “Hmm. I do believe I know another person with that very same quality.”

“Be kinda quiet, Meggie, and ease up on them,” Cole said, watching Meggie chase one butterfly after another in a field of new spring wildflowers. “You gotta wait until they settle, then sneak up on them.”

Meggie lunged and scared half the butterflies away from all the noise and commotion she made. A fast and furious line of fleeting color rose up then parted, flying off in different directions. “I want that one!” she cried, pointing at a large, beautiful monarch. “It’s so pretty, Daddy.” She ran farther into the field,
jumping from one plant to another, looking to Cole like a cute little jittery butterfly herself.

“The pretty ones are harder to catch,” he offered, sitting down on the soft patch of grass and stretching out his legs. “They know you want them and they let you get real close, then poof! just like that, they’re gone.”

Meggie giggled and lunged again when the monarch landed on a golden-yellow poppy, but it lit off again as if on fire. Meggie followed it until the darn thing disappeared into the cloudless blue sky.

Meggie put her head down and walked toward him, disappointed.

Cole shook his head and smiled. There was such determination in her eyes, such want, and Cole was glad his daughter had a strong mind. Well, most times, he was glad of it. “Come here, Megpie. Daddy wants to talk to you.”

“But I want to catch one,” Meggie said, jutting out her chin.

“Well, we’ll see what we can do about that later. We have to wait until the butterflies come back around.”

Meggie plopped herself down next to him on the grass. “Will you help me catch one, Daddy?”

Her mind sure stayed on one track, Cole mused, just like another determined female he knew. “Sure will, sweet darlin’.”

He picked a tall grass blade and tickled her under
the chin. Her frown lifted and she let out a giggle of joy. “It tickles,” she said.

“I know. Feels sorta nice though, doesn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.” Meggie laid herself down on her stomach, bracing her head with her hands and swinging her legs up in the air.

“You’re gonna get your pretty Sunday dress all dirty lying like that. Mrs. Gregory would pluck my whiskers if she saw you right now.”

Meggie giggled again, bringing Cole a full measure of joy. “Daddy don’t have any whiskers.”

“Well, if I did, she sure would. Actually that’s what I’d like to talk to you about, Meg. Mrs. Gregory spoke to you about her going to live with her daughter Caroline, didn’t she?”

“Yep.” Meggie nodded.

“She won’t be leaving right away, but I suspect as soon as summer hits, she’ll be moving on.”

Meggie kept quiet.

“It ain’t ’cause she doesn’t love you, Meggie. ’Cause I know she does. She’s getting old—but don’t you tell her I said so—and she wants to spend more time with her family.”

“I know…” she said.

“And…well, I’ll be looking to find a nice lady to come help out at the house. It’ll be someone new, Meggie, but I swear, she’ll be nice and you’ll like her.”

Meggie plucked a blade of grass, but she didn’t
tickle him with it. Instead, she swirled it around with her fingers, staring. “’Kay.”

“Okay?” What did he expect her to say? This bit of news might be a tad overwhelming for a four-and-a-half-year-old. It nearly killed him to disappoint her again.

Hell, for two bits, he’d up and propose marriage to Patricia. She’d been hinting and Cole had been playing possum.

He’d been all over it in his mind a hundred times. His head told him Patricia would make a good wife and mother, but his heart said otherwise.

He’d been expected to dine with the Wesleys today after church, but at the last minute, Cole had changed his mind. He’d excused himself, claiming a need to spend the day with Meggie. That had been the truth. He didn’t have enough time to devote solely to her and he knew that Meggie enjoyed their special “alone” time together.

But it had been more than that.

He didn’t want to lead Patricia down a path he wouldn’t take. Cole wasn’t made that way. He had to be sure about his feelings.

And he was more confused than ever.

Damn, if only Kate Malone had been a different sort of woman, Cole would have her pregnant and tied to him with a lead rope. A devilish grin parted his lips, thinking about making Kate pregnant. And he’d keep her that way until their house was filled with children. But he recognized those thoughts as
dangerous, so he banished them from his mind. Besides, something told him, if she were any other kind of woman, he wouldn’t be thinking of her all the time. Plain and simple, Kate was Kate and he couldn’t fathom her being any other way.

Cole lifted his face to the sun and took a breath of fresh spring air. Then he noticed a stream of bugs flitting by. “Looks like the butterflies are back. C’mon, Megpie, let’s go catch us something elusive and beautiful.”

At least he could do that for his daughter; he surely couldn’t do it for himself.