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“The books were donated by various folks in and around town,” Susanna said. “Not many are new, but they’re in good condition.”
Evangeline gazed around at the site of her new occupation, and the depression she’d felt since seeing Justice lifted. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on those books. Perusing the titles, she pulled a copy of Pride and Prejudice from one box.
“Remember those summer nights when we stayed up late reading this to each other?” What romantic girls they’d been. At least Susanna had found her Mr. Darcy.
“I do.” Susanna smiled like a proud mother. “Isn’t this a lovely room? The men managed to get the walls painted and the shelves stained before roundup began, but we ladies have been busy with putting up our gardens, so we haven’t had time to make curtains for the windows.” She tapped one cheek thoughtfully. “I planned to sew them, but since you and I need to make clothes and you’ll also be working here, I should hire Mrs. Starling. She’s a sweet widow lady with four children, so it’s good to send work her way when we can.”
Evangeline gave her cousin a wry smile. “You’re good at helping widows.”
Susanna blinked, then hurried over to give Evangeline a hug. “Oh, my dear, I’m so sorry. I’m sure you miss Lucius terribly.” She waited expectantly for an answer.
The urge to tell the truth about her horrible marriage nearly overwhelmed Evangeline. But she merely sighed wistfully, hoping Susanna would take it for agreement.
“Well.” Quickly changing her mood, Susanna released her and posted fists on her hips. “There’s a great deal to be done here, but for now, I think we should return home and start our sewing.”
Soon on their way, they fell into the girlish chatter of their childhood. Only this time, instead of romantic dreams, they shared the joys and difficulties of motherhood.
The sound of hoofbeats rapidly approaching from behind put a stop to their conversation. While Susanna reined the buggy closer to the side of the road, Evangeline looked over her shoulder.
Justice. Was he pursuing them? His tall, dapple-gray horse moved nearer, but at least he was now cantering rather than galloping as though chasing a criminal.
He pulled up beside them and slowed to match the moderate trot of the buggy horse. “Good morning, ladies.” He tipped his hat.
“Hey, there, Sheriff.” Susanna smiled brightly at him. “Didn’t we see you a while ago? Don’t tell me you just happened to be out for a ride.” She turned to wink at Evangeline. “Why, I do believe you’re following us.”
Heat rushed to Evangeline’s face. She should have warned her cousin not to try matchmaking her with the sheriff.
“Not at all, ma’am.” Justice still hadn’t looked directly at Evangeline. “I’m headed out to the various ranches down this way to see if I can find out who shot up the mercantile.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” Susanna laughed as though she didn’t believe him. “Well, carry on, then. And if you’re hungry in an hour or so, stop by our place for dinner.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll see what happens.” He touched the brim of his hat. “Ladies.” He kicked his horse into a gallop and soon became a speck in the distance.
Evangeline exhaled so forcefully, she nearly tumbled from the buggy in relief.
Misunderstanding, Susanna laughed. “Oh, my dear, do I have plans for you.”
* * *
Justice’s stomach was already growling because he’d missed breakfast, so the mention of dinner ignited his appetite. But the last thing he planned to do was accept Susanna’s invitation, especially after seeing the look of horror on Evangeline’s face. His presence must be distasteful to her. Too bad, since they’d have to work together starting on Monday. She might even have to put up with him for a few minutes when he stopped by Nate’s house to ask about his temporary cowhands. He’d stop there last, and maybe they’d be finished eating. But otherwise, he’d stay as far away from her as possible.
He checked at the first ranch and learned from George Eberly that all of his seasonal cowhands were reliable men not given to troublemaking. Less than a mile down the road, he came to the main property of Four Stones Ranch. Foreman Seamus O’Brien, who’d been shot by outlaws a few years before and never recovered enough to participate in the roundups, told Justice he’d have to check with Nate to be sure about a few of the new men.
This warranted a quick change of plans. If he hurried, Justice could ride to the smaller house and speak to Nate before the ladies reached home. As tempted as he was to bypass the place, he needed to do his duty. He spurred Thunder to a gallop and raced over the fields instead of wasting time by going back to the main road. He rode into the small barnyard behind the house and heard unmistakable sounds of a ruckus coming from inside the barn.
He dismounted and unbuttoned the strap securing his gun to its holster. Edging up to the partially open door, he peered in. Dismayed but not surprised, he saw Nate hauling Gerard over his shoulder toward a stall, where he set the struggling, hollering boy down with a thump.
Towering over the youngster, Nate fisted his hands at his waist. “Now you stay in here and don’t move.”
The boy crossed his arms over his small chest and said, “Make me,” as he had at the restaurant the day before.
“Need some help?” Justice stepped inside and towered over Gerard from the other side. Poor Evangeline, having to deal with a son who seemed determined to cause trouble. The boy needed a man’s strong hand to guide him.
“Hello, Sheriff.” Nate used his title, probably to intimidate Gerard.
While it wasn’t the way Justice preferred to interact with children, in this case it was probably best.
“Howdy, Nate.”
“Tell me, Sheriff, how do you deal with a boy who chases milk cows out of their stalls and shoots barn cats with a slingshot?” As he talked to Justice, he watched Gerard, whose eyes darted from one man to the other and back again. Still, his defiant expression remained unchanged.
“Well, Nate.” Justice scratched the back of his head, causing his Stetson to tilt forward. “My father used to tan my hide when I did anything that rotten.” It happened only once, which was enough for Justice to mend his ways. But then, his godly father had been easy to obey. Lucius might not have disciplined his son.
“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Nate reached out, but Gerard ducked into a corner of the stall.
Justice managed to grab his shoulder. “You ever had your hide tanned, son?”
“I’m not your son,” the boy screamed while trying to twist away.
“What’s going on here?” Evangeline stood in the barn doorway, her face pale.
Gerard broke away, rushed to her and threw his arms around her waist. “Mother, save me. They’re gonna kill me.”
She hugged him close and glared at Justice, then Nate. “I’ll repeat myself. What is going on here?”
To her credit, while Nate described the boy’s mischief, her face went from angry defender to embarrassed parent.
“If those cows get scared,” Nate said, “they’ll stop giving milk, which puts us all in a bad spot. And we need those barn cats to keep down the mice population because mice eat the grain that the cows need to eat.”
“I see.” She brushed a hand down her son’s face. “Now that you understand, will you promise not to do those things again?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gerard said in a sing-song voice. He turned to face Nate and Justice and gave them a triumphant smirk. “May I go play now?”
“Not right now. First we’ll eat, and then we’ll go over to Marybeth’s to see the new foal. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
A tiny hint of vulnerability streaked across Gerard’s face. “Yes, ma’am.” Something akin to eagerness colored his words.
“If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen?” Evangeline ushered her son from the barn.
Nate exhaled a long breath and eyed Justice. “Don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy. I have to leave on Monday, and if he’s going to cause trouble for Susanna—”
Before he could stop himself, Justice blurted out, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thanks, Justice. That relieves my mind considerably.”
And yet the idea of riding herd on a recalcitrant brat, especially Lucius Benoit’s lookalike son, did anything but relieve Justice’s mind.
Chapter Three (#ubcb0d02d-8117-5b65-b8fc-e25ed681d595)
Evangeline studied her image in Susanna’s long mirror and brushed a whisk broom down the length of her bombazine gown to smooth out wrinkles and remove lint. Although black wasn’t her best color, she should have worn mourning while traveling instead of the light brown suit. Then perhaps Susanna wouldn’t be trying to play matchmaker, a useless endeavor, especially with Justice. After one bad marriage, Evangeline would never again put herself under the power of a man. However, with all of the children around, she hadn’t spoken to her cousin about the matter. To keep others from getting such ideas, she’d have to wear black whenever she went to town, both for church like today and for her work in the library.
Yesterday’s incident in the barn was alarming, especially when she saw how angry Nate was at Gerard for his mischief, even to the point of threatening her son. Justice stood there adding his official presence, which made matters worse. Later, Susanna explained to Evangeline how important this time of year was for the whole ranch because their livelihood depended on getting the cattle safely down from the mountain and to the trains. Before leaving, Nate needed to be sure his home was secure, not endangered by a boy who didn’t understand ranch life. Evangeline could accept that. She only hoped Gerard did, too.
She joined Susanna in the kitchen and donned the offered white apron.
“Will you beat the eggs, Evie?” Susanna stood at the blazing cast-iron stove and used a fork to turn bacon in her skillet. “The biscuits will be done soon.”
Evangeline looked around for the implements to do as she asked. All she located was a basket of dirty eggs on the work counter.
Susanna must have noticed her mild revulsion. “Wipe them off with a damp cloth.” She jutted her chin toward the sink where dishwater sat in a tin pan. “Then break them into a bowl and beat them with a fork.” Another jut of her chin pointed to a crockery bowl on a shelf.
“Very well.” Evangeline squeezed out a thin cloth and proceeded to clean the newly gathered eggs, trying to hide her disgust. A glance at Susanna revealed she was trying to hide a grin. Very well, indeed. If her cousin, who’d also been raised with cooks and servants, could overcome her squeamishness about henhouse soil, so could Evangeline.
After breaking the cleaned eggs into the bowl and removing the bothersome bits of shells, she took a fork and stirred them. While some yolks broke, the yellow refused to blend with the whites.
“Harder,” Susanna encouraged.
Evangeline obeyed with enthusiasm, causing yellow slime to splash on the hand holding the bowl. With her cousin still chuckling under her breath, she figured out how to modify the action, and soon the eggs were a consistent creamy yellow. “There.”
“Good.” Susanna carried a plateful of cooked bacon to the table, where Lizzie was showing Isabelle how to set around the silverware and plates.
Feeling a bit more confident, Evangeline took the bowl to the stove and started to pour the eggs into the pan on top of the bacon grease.
“Wait.” Susanna rushed to her side. “We have to drain it first.”
Evangeline managed to pull the bowl upright before much of the liquid eggs slid into the sizzling pan. Susanna dumped the greasy, unappetizing mess into a bucket beside the sink.
“Never mind, honey. The pigs will be thrilled to have such a treat.” She returned the hot skillet to the stove and finished cooking the scrambled eggs to perfection.
Soon the family had gathered around the table. After Nate offered a prayer, the food was served, and everyone seemed eager to clean their plates. Even Gerard appeared to be in a good mood. He winked at his male cousins and closed his eyes in bliss as he ate his raspberry preserve–covered biscuits, causing Natty and Frankie to giggle...and copy him. Evangeline’s heart lifted at this glimpse of the boy he used to be. Perhaps things would improve now.
Yesterday, after unpacking their purchases and eating dinner, Susanna had driven Evangeline and her son over to Marybeth’s to fetch the other children. As expected, Gerard was smitten with the two-day-old foal and stayed out of trouble the rest of the day. Even Nate was impressed. If only Justice could see Gerard at such times, he wouldn’t be so hard on him.
Why did she care what Justice thought? Yes, he was the sheriff and had the power to arrest her if he ever learned why she’d fled New Orleans. But he couldn’t arrest an energetic boy simply for being mischievous. Could he?
After breakfast, they all climbed into a surrey and drove to the church in town. Evangeline greeted some of the people she’d already met and was introduced to even more, including the charming pastor, Reverend Thomas. His Virginia accent differed from Susanna’s Georgia drawl and Evangeline’s broader Cajun intonations, but there was no mistaking his southern origins. She also met the rest of the vast Northam family, including Colonel and Mrs. Northam, their youngest son, Bartholomew, nicknamed Tolley, and Tolley’s wife, Laurie.
Having played hostess for her father and husband, Evangeline put her keen memory skills to use and filed away something unique about each person so she could remember their names in the future.
“Justice.” Susanna stood in the aisle by the pew and waved to him as he entered the church. “I saved you a spot.” She indicated the space beside Evangeline.
If Evangeline weren’t in church, she’d be tempted to smack her cousin’s arm...hard. As it was, she saw Justice wince and look around like a scared mouse trying to escape a cat. The crowded sanctuary offered few remaining seats, so he had no choice but to obey the summons.
Justice brushed against Evangeline’s shoulder and skirt as he sat. “Morning, Mrs. Benoit.” His deep, rich voice caused a pleasant shiver to roll down her neck and arm. She eased the effects of her involuntary reaction by noting he’d lost some of his Cajun inflections in the past eleven years. She doubted he’d deliberately changed his speech to fit in. Justice was never one to follow the crowd.
“Good morning, Sheriff Gareau.” She was rescued from having to make further conversation when the pastor took his place at the front of the congregation and announced the first hymn.
Sneaky Susanna had arranged for them to share a hymnal, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Justice’s baritone voice had always been strong and sure, unlike poor Nate’s. Even standing down the row from him, she could hear his off-key voice and she gave a quick shake of her head. At the end of the verse Evangeline glanced up when she heard Justice clear his throat, in time to see him smother an amused smile. She couldn’t keep from responding with one of her own.
Dismissing such foolishness, she sang the alto line in the second stanza of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and a tiny thrill wove its way through her heart. So often while growing up, they’d stood side by side in the church where their families had worshipped and harmonized as they now did, enjoying hymns of praise to the loving God they both believed in. The God Who dwelt among His children in this humble community church as surely as He did in the grand New Orleans cathedral. If only she could erase the past eleven years...
No. That would mean she wouldn’t have her two precious children, whom she loved more than words could say. She must protect them at any cost, must protect all three of them from the strong, imposing lawman beside her, whose manly, orange-scented cologne made it difficult to concentrate on anything other than him.
Forcing such foolishness from her mind, she bowed her head and prayed, as she always did in church, for God to speak to her today. Then she settled back to enjoy the rest of the service.
After announcements, the offering and another hymn, Reverend Thomas began his sermon with Romans 13:8. “Paul tells us we should ‘Owe no man anything...’”
Stuck on those words, Evangeline didn’t hear the rest of the verse. Owe no man anything? And yet she owed thousands of dollars. Her guilt, compounded by the presence of the man beside her, routed out every good feeling she’d experienced that morning.
* * *
Justice always enjoyed the services in this homey little church, but today, Susanna’s matchmaking caused him a great deal of discomfort. He couldn’t avoid Evangeline’s scent of gardenias, a fragrance he recalled from his early teen years when he’d plucked the snowy-white blossoms from his mother’s bushes for the beautiful young girl he loved. When the two of them sang the familiar hymns, they fell into the natural harmonies they’d enjoyed so many years ago. Even their silent communication over poor Nate’s legendary tone-deafness tugged on his heartstrings because he remembered the harmless laughter they’d shared as children over the foibles of being human. They’d never been cruel, only good-humored toward others, as youngsters tended to be when the future seemed bright and certain before them. Over the years, Justice often wondered how differently things might have turned out if he hadn’t gone on his Grand Tour. Would his father have died so young after being swindled out of his money? Would Mr. LaPierre have given Justice permission to marry Evangeline instead of granting that privilege to Lucius Benoit? He’d never know.
The minister read from Romans 13:8, and Justice listened carefully, as his godly father taught him. “‘Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.’” Father also taught him never to contradict the Word of God. But it was difficult with Evangeline seated next to him. How could he love her? Yes, he knew the verse referred to Christian love, not the romantic sort. And he knew the law to be fulfilled referred to the commandment Christ called the second most important, to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Yet he would have a hard time being around Evangeline and loving her in Christ without thinking of the love they’d promised to one another so long ago. Thus, he should stay as far away from her as possible. Not easy when he’d be working on the Christmas village in the library’s back room. And then he’d promised Nate to keep watch over Gerard. There was no way he could win in this situation.
After the final hymn, he nodded to his seatmates and strode up the aisle, ignoring Susanna’s call. She’d trapped him for the church service, but he wasn’t about to get invited to dinner and have to spend Sunday afternoon in the same house as Evangeline.
He snagged his hat and winter jacket from the cloakroom and shook hands with the preacher before exiting into the churchyard. Nate’s brother Tolley and his wife, Laurie, were walking toward their home three blocks away, so he caught up with them. Tolley carried their one-year-old son on his hip, and Laurie grasped his other arm.
“Nice day.” Feeling more than a little foolish, Justice fell into step beside them.
“Yes, it is.” Tolley looked at him expectantly.
Laurie, being the more perceptive of the two, elbowed her husband. “Sheriff, won’t you come for dinner? We’re having our usual pot roast and sure would enjoy your company.”
“Sheriff.” Susanna bustled after them, waving her hand in the air.
“Thank you, Laurie. I’d be pleased to accept.” Relieved to have successfully escaped Susanna, Justice inhaled a deep breath of the fresh autumn air. Safe. At least for today.
“Sheriff, are you going deaf?” Susanna caught up with them and took a moment to chuck her young nephew under the chin. “Hello, sugar.” She turned her attention back to Justice. “Don’t you recall my inviting you to Sunday dinner?”
“Did you?” Justice recalled it well. He also recalled not exactly accepting. “I’m sorry, but Laurie here has invited me, too.”
Susanna gave her sister-in-law one of those looks women gave each other when they were put out. “Laurie, surely you knew I wanted him at my house today.”
“Oh, dear.” Laurie batted her dark red eyelashes. “Well...” She looked up at Justice.
“Tell you what,” Tolley broke in. “He can eat with us today, and next week he can join all of us for our monthly gathering at the big house.”
“That might work.” Though he wanted to shake Tolley’s hand in gratitude, Justice instead tipped his hat to Susanna. He’d probably be forced to attend next week, but at least he’d be among a larger group where he might be able to avoid Evangeline. “Thank you for thinking of me,” he said to Susanna. “We poor bachelors depend on the kindness of our married friends to keep us fed.”
She crossed her arms and tapped one foot on the hard-packed dirt road. “Very well. Next week, then. And I can count on you to keep an eye on Evangeline as she begins work at the library tomorrow?” Her expression held that private meaning she was so good at. Only a few people knew about the Christmas village, and this younger Northam couple was not among them.
“Yes, ma’am.” He was sunk as surely as if he’d stepped into quicksand. He’d never be able to escape Susanna Northam’s matchmaking. And now he couldn’t avoid Evangeline, the woman who’d irreparably broken his heart and made him determined never to give it to another.
* * *
Early Monday morning, the little family waved goodbye to Nate as he rode off toward the hills to the south. While Wes, the trusted cowhand he’d left behind to tend chores, hitched up the buggy, Susanna and Evangeline prepared the children for school.
