The Teacher and the Scarred Rancher (Preview)

Chapter One

A few more strands of her dark red hair slipped out of the bun to fly freely at the sides of Juniper’s face. Her horse, Misty, seemed to understand how she felt, and she let out a little whinny before putting on a burst of speed. 

Juniper’s lips quirked up as an idea popped into her head. She looked around the empty road, then leaned forward and let out a cry. 

“Yahoo!”

She sat back on the saddle and laughed as Misty seemed to join in her happiness. It was the most uncouth thing she had ever done, particularly as a young teacher. If her father had seen it, Juniper knew he would have punished her for it. She may be an adult, but as the mayor of Spring Valley, her father still had a lot of control over her. A few strands of hair bounced softly  against her ears and neck, and her smile widened. Her father would disapprove of that, as well. But in that moment, she was on her own, free from the usual pressure as she hurried off to see her best friend.

What mattered was settled comfortably in her lap—a gift for Pearl, the only person who had been there for Juniper. It was probably the hardest project she would ever do, but Juniper couldn’t think of anyone more deserving. And she couldn’t wait to see Pearl’s expression when her friend opened the gift. 

These thoughts swirled in Juniper’s mind as she spurred her horse a little faster. The late summer breeze ran through her hair, making it feel like she was almost entirely free. She had returned home a few years ago from the East Coast, and she still fully appreciated the mentality of her small hometown. If she had it her way, she would spend the rest of her life in California—something that was under threat because of her father. 

As she reached the turn to head toward her best friend’s house, a shadow emerged out of the forest in the middle of the fork in the road. 

Misty reared up, managing to avoid colliding with the figure. The initial fear that the figure was a bandit quickly evaporated as Juniper struggled to hold herself in place. She stayed in the saddle, but she had to hold onto the reins to do so. As a result, the gift slipped off her lap and landed on the ground right before Misty dropped her front hooves back on the road. When the horse’s hooves hit the dirt, she landed right on top of the package, then whinnied and stomped her feet, stepping several paces back from the figure and the gift. 

Juniper quickly dismounted, keeping the reins in her hand as Misty was spooked. Before she could do anything, Juniper had to calm her horse. 

However, the stranger spoke just before Juniper could offer her horse any reassurance. 

“Whoa! Are you okay there?”

After a few strokes and some steadying words, Misty was still agitated, but she seemed more annoyed than upset. Barely aware of the man who had asked after her, Juniper started looking for the package. 

To her horror, it was now under the hooves of another horse. 

“No!” she cried, startling both her horse and the one standing on the gift. She took a step forward. 

In response, the other horse moved nervously, trampling the package underfoot. 

“Get off!” Juniper’s eyes were on the package, her mind immediately thinking of the worst-case scenario. She had put months into that gift, a gift that might be destroyed before her friend ever saw it. 

“You need to calm down.” 

The man’s sharp tone cut through her near panic, and for the first time, she looked up at the rider. He had a scar down his right cheek, but it was partially hidden under a day or two worth of stubble. His stormy eyes looked at her sternly as he did nothing to get his horse to move. 

“You need to get off my package!” 

“I’m sorry?” He looked at her, his stern expression shifting to one of uncertainty.

Stabbing her finger down at the ground under his horse’s hooves, Juniper said angrily, “Your horse is on my package!”

The man looked to the side of his horse, his dark blond hair swaying a little with the motion. As soon as he saw it, the man started urging his horse back a little. “I do apologize. But you’re putting—”

Whatever he said was lost as Juniper lunged for the package, tugging Misty a little too forcefully. This resulted in her horse rebuking her, but her thoughts were focused almost entirely on the state of the gift after being trampled by two horses. 

It’s ruined. The whole thing is ruined. She turned the package in her hands, looking for any signs that it had opened, potentially allowing dirt to further destroy all of her hard work. 

“Miss, you really need to calm down because it—”

She glared up at the stranger. “Do you have any idea how long I spent on this?” She pressed the dirty package against her periwinkle dress, covering the whole side of her torso in dirt. 

He looked at her for a moment, his gray-blue eyes taking in the dirt on her clothing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

She shook her head, “What person comes barreling out of the woods to startle travelers?”

“I beg your pardon?” His words were civil, but his tone was far from it. 

Moving Misty back, Juniper easily swung herself back into the saddle as she replied, “Apart from a bandit, only a fool would be so careless, so…” She sought to find an insult that could convey her anger. “Reckless.” It was lame, but Juniper was too upset to uphold her usual cool, calm, neutral demeanor. 

When she looked at him, the man’s expression was as cloudy as his eyes. “What decent young woman goes racing her horse on a commonly traveled road? This isn’t some back road out in the middle of the prairies. It’s one of the main roads to and from town. And no respectable young woman should be treating it like her personal track.” 

The biting tone coupled with the admonition stopped any more quips. Juniper looked at the man, a much more acerbic retort dying on the tip of her tongue. For a brief moment, she felt ashamed, just as her father always made her feel. She gritted her teeth, then turned Misty to the road she needed to take. 

Keeping a hand on the package, she fought the desire to curse as she rode past the man. He called after her, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of talking down to her any further. She got enough of that at home. 

The rest of the ride was uneventful and long. Not wanting to further compromise the gift, Juniper refused to take her hand off of it. That meant riding much slower so that she could react faster if needed. 

The large house with the beautiful wraparound porch appeared on the horizon, and that was when Juniper stopped replaying the irritating encounter in her mind. Pearl must have seen her coming because she was hurrying down the porch stairs by the time Juniper was within a few hundred feet of the house. They quickly took care of Misty, making sure she had plenty of water and some hay while they talked. 

As they headed back to the house, Pearl finally said, “Well, I have to ask how you managed to get so dirty before you arrived.” She reached over and started to brush some of the dirt from Juniper’s side. 

With a sigh, Juniper replied, “I’ll tell you about it inside. First, I need to see how much damage has come to your present.”

“Oh! Is that why you’ve come calling?”

Juniper wrinkled her nose at her best friend and stuck out her tongue. “You and I both know that very soon, meeting up like this will be much harder to do.”

Pearl looked over at her, and Juniper suspected she was too afraid to voice her own concerns about what that would mean for their friendship. Juniper tried to shake it off. 

“Come on. I want you to see just how much I love you. Although I have to warn you that it’s a bit worse for the trip.”

Pearl opened the door, and they talked about small things while she led them into the living room. Once they sat down, Juniper put the gift on her own lap. 

“My apologies. Poor Misty was spooked on the way here and ended up trampling it. Since I’ve already taken on most of the dirt, I want to spare your beautiful dress the same fate.”

Pearl laughed. “Okay.” She started to open the gift as she talked, “My birthday is still some ways away, so I can’t imagine—” 

She stopped when she saw the light blue fabric with intricately beaded design peeking out from the opening. Her hands moved faster as she finished opening it. Standing up, Pearl pulled the gorgeous dress free from the packaging. 

“Juniper! This is… How did you…?”

Juniper wadded up the packaging, making sure it didn’t brush up against the wedding dress. “I started as soon as you said you were getting married. And since you were supposed to go dress shopping in a few weeks, I knew I had to get it to you sooner rather than later.”

Pearl held it up against herself, the lace and beading highlighting the parts of her figure that would draw her soon-to-be-husband’s eyes to her during the ceremony. It was also a perfect match for her eyes. Looking at Juniper, she said, “You have to see me in it.”

Juniper nodded in agreement. “If anything needs to be altered, I’ll need to do that in my free time, so better to know now how off I was. Also, it’s been trampled by a few horses, so I know I’m going to have to try to fix it before anyone else sees it.”

Looking down at it and moving a hand over the gorgeous stitching, Pearl said, “I can’t see anything wrong with it at all. Wait,” she looked up, “what do you mean a few horses?”

“Come on and I’ll tell you about it while you change.”

Juniper followed Pearl back to the bride-to-be’s room. Stepping behind a screen, Pearl started changing while Juniper stood near the door and told the tale of what happened. 

“I was enjoying the ride on Misty, and I suppose I got a little carried away.”

“What do you mean, carried away?”

Juniper scratched the area behind her ear. “I, um, I may have whooped while Misty was, um, galloping.”

“Juniper!” Pearl looked out from behind the screen. “Is this your way of hammer and tongs? My, my. Next, you’ll tell me that you were airing your lungs and looking for a saloon.”

Juniper couldn’t help but laugh. “I was just feeling high on the hog, Pearl. That dress was pretty much my summer.”

“Oh, Juniper! I don’t even know how to thank you.”

“I just want you to have a very happy marriage and have all those babies you’ve always wanted.”

This got a giggle from her friend.

“Anyway,” Juniper continued, “I was perhaps less than aware of my surroundings when the road forked. Some strange man with a scar on his face came gallivanting out of the woods, spooking poor Misty. She reared and landed on the package afterward. Then the man went a-stomping all over as soon as Misty was out of the way. I swear, he couldn’t have been more of a tin-horn lot if he tried.”

“Well, you said yourself that you were acting on the careless side, so you—” Pearl stepped out from behind the screen. 

Juniper gasped. “Oh my! You look even better than I thought you would. Let me take a look at you!” She hurried forward as her friend started to walk in a circle. “You look like an absolute dream!”

Pearl beamed. “I don’t know how to thank you.” She began to tear up as she looked in the large mirror Juniper knew her parents had special ordered from New York City. “I’m going to be married before I’m used to this contraption.” She turned to see her reflection. “Arlo is going to go weak in the knees as soon as he sees me.”

Juniper was looking over everything, and already she was noticing some of the damage from the horses’ hooves. “Oh dear, there is plenty that I have to do to fix this blasted thing.”

“Hey! You’re talking about my wedding dress. And I don’t think anyone but you is going to notice.”

Not really listening, Juniper began walking around her friend as she continued to look over the dress. “Fortunately, it’s not so bad that it’ll take me days to fix.”

“Juniper Brooks, you need to stop fussin’ over this. Look!” Pearl twirled around, forcing her to take a step back. “It fits me like a glove. There’s nothing for you to do except appreciate your beautiful work.”

Finally noticing the angelic smile on her friend’s face, Juniper looked at the dress without the kind of criticism with which she usually assessed her own work. “I’ll admit that it looks far better on you than off of you. Still,” she shook her head, “I want it to be perfect. While you’re right that it doesn’t need to be taken in or let out to fit you, please let me fix the damage. After all, it’s partly my fault that it happened. Had I taken more care on the road, it never would have ended up under the hooves of some tramp’s horse.”

“Some tramp?” Pearl tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think I’ve heard of any tramps able to keep their own horse. What did this tramp look like?”

“Oh, I don’t know, just some guy with dark blond hair—it was no halo like your beautiful hair, though.”

With a laugh, her best friend shook her head, “Stop flatterin’ me and tell me about this man who’s got you so riled up.”

Juniper frowned. “I’m not riled up.” Pearl gave her a look. “Alright, yeah, I’m a bit… flustered. But I spent so much time on the dress, can you blame me for being worried? Especially since I want you to be the most beautiful bride in the state. No, the whole entire country. Arlo Wells needs to realize just what a treasure he’s getting. Taking away my best friend… He has to treat you better than even I could.”

Pearl threw her arms around her, causing Juniper pull away. “I’m dirty, Pearl!”

Pearl squeezed her. “There’s plenty of time to clean it.” She finally let go of her, but held Juniper’s shoulders. “You can come back here to fix it. I wouldn’t want you running into any more tramps with my wedding dress.”

Juniper finally laughed. “Okay, you win. I’ll come back and fix it. That’ll probably take a couple of visits, though.”

“If that’s meant to dissuade me, it’s not workin’.” 

“It warms my heart to hear that you want to keep seeing me, despite everything you have to do for the wedding.”

“Will you be staying for dinner?”

Juniper thought about it. “As much as I would love to, I still have plenty to do to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s right! I completely forgot. Hold on, I’ll get changed before seeing you off.”

“I’m in no rush to get back. I just can’t stay until dinner.”

“Is your pa still giving you trouble?” Pearl glanced at her before disappearing behind the screen. 

“With the mayoral election coming up again, he’s getting—”

“To be worse than a wet hen?”

“Not angry, just agitated. Very agitated.”

Steering the conversation away from the mayor, Pearl said, “So tell me more about this mystery man who appeared out of the woods.”

“There’s not much to tell.”

“What was he doing?”

“I don’t know. Didn’t bother to ask since I was mostly worried about the state of the dress.”

“Well, what else did you notice about him, besides his hair? Did you say he had a scar?”

“Yes, a jagged scar that disappeared into his stubble. He had some very stormy-looking eyes.”

Pearl peeked out at her. “You sound… wait.” She drew a finger down the right side of her face. “Was the scar here?”

Juniper nodded. “That looks about right. Do you know him?”

After a low whistle, Pearl disappeared back behind the screen. “I think you caught a glimpse of the reclusive Mr. Sawyer.”

After thinking about it for a moment, Juniper shrugged. “I don’t know any Sawyers.”

“He lives well out of town. Well, I guess kind of on the edge. He’s the man whose wife died a few years ago, not too long after giving birth.”

“Oh, that’s…” Suddenly, Juniper felt bad about the way she had behaved toward the man. “And that’s why he’s so reclusive now?”

“Well, rumors started not long after. Didn’t you hear them?”

“A few years ago, I was off doing schooling, thanks to pa. Remember?” 

“Oh, that’s right! I try so hard to forget those miserable years after he sent you to finishin’ school. The town changed quite a lot in that time, and your mystery man ended up getting a lot of what I gather was unwanted attention.” 

Pearl’s voice sounded a little muffled and Juniper could hear the rustle of fabric. It was obvious that her friend’s mind was somewhat occupied by the task of trying on the dress. Giving her a bit more time to change, Juniper talked about that time, too.

“Of course, when I got back, you were full of very different news, and little Spring Valley grew up, so there was no time to catch up on rumors. There were simply too many people to hear about every rumor that circulated in my absence. I still feel a little bitter that you didn’t tell me when Arlo started courting you. I mean, you sent me letters every week, and you left that out.”

The sound of rustling fabric continued, but when Pearl replied, it was obvious that she was making progress. “I didn’t want to write about it. The look of shock on your face was priceless! I don’t regret waiting.”

“It felt like you kept it from me because I was away for school.”

“I knew it wasn’t your fault, and I really hated that he sent you away. Writing simply wasn’t the same as having you here. Anyway, there were a lot of rumors flying around at the time, and Mr. Sawyer was at the center of several of them. The scuttlebutt was that he killed his wife because she was up and walking before she died. Then she was just gone without any warning.”

Juniper frowned. “Why would a man kill his wife when she was getting better? Was she bloody and battered?”

“No. They think he poisoned her because there was no sign of anything wrong with her.”

Juniper’s stomach flipped. “Of all the nonsense people spew, that’s just bosh. So people were saying this poor man killed his wife so he could… what? Raise a child on his own? Or did he end up marrying too soon afterward?”

“Oh no, no weddin’ bells or anything. As far as rumor goes, he pretty much kept to himself after she died. Been raising the kid on his own, although I think he has help.”

“It sounds to me like he was grieving, and people decided to turn that into some unfounded slander.”

Pearl came out from behind the screen, her wedding dress draped carefully over her arm. “It’s possible. I only heard bits and pieces over the years. As you pointed out, I was preoccupied with my own goings-on. To be honest, I never really considered it, and since I’ve never seen him myself, all I know about him is what I’ve heard.” She gave a half-smile. “I guess now you can tell me a good bit more about the man living just on the town’s border. Just,” she drew out the word with a mischievous expression, “barely in your pa’s town.” 

Juniper groaned. “I want to enjoy my stay here, so can we please avoid talking about my father.”

Pearl finished hanging up the dress. “Well, if you want to talk about Mr. Sawyer, I’m all ears.”

Rolling her eyes, Juniper retorted, “A brief encounter with some short tempers and quick words is all I have to say about that.”

“Fine. With my future largely settled, we could discuss you finally taking your future seriously.”

“I take my future very seriously.”

“I’m talking about when you get older. Marriage. Children.”

“That was always your dream. Never mine.”

Pearl let out a loud sigh. “Your father really has put your head in the wrong place.”

“Being a teacher has a lot of meaning. As far as having children, I’m helping to raise all of the children in town.”

Pearl gave her a sad smile. “I would be happy to know that someone is actually taking care of you, and not just you taking care of others. But since you aren’t interested in talking about the eligible men in town, why don’t you tell me about what you plan to do tomorrow? This is your third year as a teacher. Has it gotten any easier? The nerves, I mean?”

Finally landing on a subject that she could talk about for hours, Juniper described her plans for the school year as the two women went to have some tea and biscuits. By the time she left, her heart was feeling much lighter, and she was almost ready to face her father again.

 

Chapter Two

“Papa, I want to stay up.”

Cody smiled down at his daughter as he sat on the edge of her bed. “I know you do, Lily. But if you stay up, your birthday will get here even slower.”

“Why?” Her big gray eyes looked up at him, making it impossible for him to simply dismiss the question. 

“Because time moves faster when you sleep.”

“Why?”

He quickly realized how the conversation was going to go and that this was little more than her way of drawing out bedtime. With a knowing smile, he brushed a bit of her light brown hair out of her face and behind her tiny ear. “What story do you want to hear tonight?”

Fighting back a yawn that showed all of her baby teeth, Lily said, “I’m not tired yet.”

“I’m sure you aren’t,” he said, running a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. His fingers moved against the scar, and for a second he was reminded of a part of his life he preferred to forget. At least it helped him to keep from smiling. “I still feel like telling my little flower a story. So, what would you like to hear?”

“Tomorrow’s my birthday!”

He chortled. Her determination to procrastinate was greater than her exhaustion. Considering the next day was a big day, Cody decided he could let her stay up a little longer. It wasn’t like he was particularly anxious to finish up for the day. “Yes, tomorrow is your birthday.”

“And I’m going to school!”

“Yes.”

“What’s school like?” She blinked up at him, her eyes full of excitement. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s different today than when I went to school.”

“How was your school different?”

“Well.” He rubbed his stubble, thinking he should probably shave sometime soon as he considered how to answer that. “My parents sent me to a different kind of school.”

“How?”

“It was more of a… school for boys.”

“So, you didn’t see girls?”

“Not at my school.”

“Will I see boys?”

“Yes, you’ll see boys at your school. They will be different ages, too.”

“Really?” Her eyes were wide. 

“Yes. Your teacher is going to be taking care of all of the children in school.”

“All of the children in the world?”

He chuckled. “No, Lily, just in town.”

“I’ll bet that’s still a lot of children.”

“It might be.”

“What will my teacher be like?”

His immediate response was quashed as Cody wasn’t sure that it was correct. Instead of setting an unrealistic expectation, he went with something more measured. After all, teachers could be horrible, and if she ended up with a horrible one, he wanted her to tell him. “I haven’t met your teacher, but I’ll bet he’s really nice to sweet little girls like you.”

“Do you think he’s like you?”

“Oh, honey, I hope not.”

“Why? I want him to be like you.”

“Well, because I’m not the best teacher.”

“You teach me good.”

He smiled. “It’s very different teaching you. I can give you all of my time for lessons. Your teacher is going to have to share his time with all of the students. I couldn’t do that and be a good teacher. So, I would be a bad teacher for all of the other students.”

She moved over and put a little hand on his arm. “I like you as a teacher. But I want to go to school.”

“I know you do, love. I know you do.” 

“Will you walk me to school?”

This took him by surprise, but his instinctive response was to immediately agree. “Of course I will. And when you’re done for the day, I want to hear all about it.”

“You do? Does that mean you’ll get me from school, too?”

He beamed down at her, unable to say no. “I couldn’t possibly miss it. And I’ll have a birthday surprise for you after we get back home.”

“A surprise!” She sat up. “Are you getting me a new mama?”

Cody looked at her, not sure how to answer that. Unlike the last couple of questions, he knew he couldn’t fulfill that particular wish. “No, baby, I don’t have a new ma for you. But I hope you’ll be happy with the surprise I do have for you.”

She lay back down and looked at him. The thoughtful expression made her look older than her five years—or five years the next day. “I really want a ma.”

“I know, baby. But for now, you’ll just have to make do with me and Mrs. Gunder.”

“I wish she was my gammy.”

“She loves you just as much as a grandma.”

“Where are my gammies?”

Not wanting to talk any more about family, he began tucking her into bed. “We’ll talk about that when you’re a bit older.”

“I’m five tomorrow. Is that older?”

“It is older, but not old enough. Now,” he moved away from her a little, sitting up straighter on the bed, “it’s been more than five minutes, so you need to get to sleep. Do you want a story?”

“I want to hear about the bears.”

“The bears? Again?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Because the mama bear is nice.”

Cody smiled at her, knowing she wouldn’t understand the pain in his eyes. It was the story he had adapted from a dream he and Sarah had about their family. Of course, Lily didn’t know that. She just loved to hear about the little bears getting into trouble and how the mama bear always helped fix the problems. He launched into the story, and it didn’t take long before Lily was asleep. 

He leaned over and kissed her forehead, and for a moment considered how different things could have been. If only Sarah hadn’t died. Lily had been talking about mothers a lot more recently, but that was the first time that she had actually expressed a desire to have one. It broke his heart to see her hurting because getting married was something he couldn’t imagine doing again. Sarah had been the perfect woman. How could he ever consider wooing another woman, let alone marrying them? And the thought of marrying someone just to give his daughter a mother seemed wrong. 

Every time he looked at Lily, he was reminded of Sarah. Even at her age, she looked a lot like her mother—everything except her eyes. Those she had gotten from him. 

“I’m sorry, princess,” he whispered. 

After tucking her in, Cody stood up and left his daughter’s room. There was still plenty more to do, although none of it would be as rewarding as the time he spent with her. 

Heading downstairs, he just caught Mrs. Gunder as she finished up in the kitchen. She looked up at him from their relatively new sink. “Good evenin’, Cody. I have to say, you’ve proven me wrong with this new contraption.” She wiped her hands on a dishcloth. “This world is moving faster than a six-shooter horse, and it reminds me just how old I’m gettin’.”

Cody chuckled. “It’s a good thing that the changes are lightening your load, then.”

She pursed her lips at him and let out a disapproving sound before grinning. “You young’uns just don’t show respect, do you?”

He picked up one of the freshly washed dishes and started to dry it. “I would if it made you happy, but we both know that’s not what you want.”

She just smiled and took off her apron. “Well, if you’re going to do the drying, I guess that’s about it for me tonight.”

“As always, thank you very much for everything.”

“As always, you are very welcome, dear. I know how rough these last few years have been, and you shouldn’t have to go through your trials on your own.”

He looked down, not wanting another difficult discussion. Especially with someone who would be able to understand what he was thinking. “It’s still much appreciated. Now, I figured we should talk about tomorrow.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose, I’ll need to get started a little earlier to get little Lily to school.”

“And that’s the crux of the matter.” He cleared his throat and looked up from under his eyelashes while drying the next dish. “I promised her that I would take her and pick her up.” 

The way her expression shifted was almost humorous. That was clearly not something she’d expected. Whenever there was something to be done in town, he left it to Claire.

“Really?” She quirked up an eyebrow. 

“Yes, I promised Lily I would see her before and after school. She’s just so excited. I don’t want to miss her smiles as she goes in. And I hope she’s just as happy when she leaves.”

“And you want to comfort her if she doesn’t.”

He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Also, there’s the big surprise for when she gets home.”

“How is that project going?”

“I should be able to finish while she’s at school tomorrow.”

Claire patted his shoulder. “You are a great father. And a good man. It’s a shame you keep most of that to yourself.” She gave him a knowing look but didn’t give him time to respond. “Now that you’ve taken over, I think I’ll head to bed for a little light reading.”

Cody smiled at her while wiping down a glass. “Good night, and let me know when you want me to fix up your little home with some plumbing.”

She laughed. “Do you really think I need all of that newfangled stuff?”

“I think once winter comes and you have to use the outhouse, you’ll wish you had taken me up on the offer.”

She laughed again, her mostly white hair shaking a little with the motion. “I suppose if you’re going to insist, I won’t stand in your way.”

“You can always stay in the main house like you did when you first came to us. That way we won’t be in your way as we get to the meat of the work.”

“Don’t talk shop with me, young man. I’ve got no idea what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

Cody put the dry dish away and turned to the older woman. To her obvious surprise, he pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you very much, Claire. I really don’t know what we would have done without you here.”

She patted his back, seeming to enjoying the rare display of emotion from someone who was admittedly usually quite stoic. “And I don’t know what would have happened to me if you and Sarah hadn’t taken me in when I came here. Now, you go on and finish up your work because you’ve got a very long day ahead of you tomorrow.” She pulled away from him and patted his lower bicep because his shoulder was a little too high for her to comfortably reach. 

“Have a very good night, Claire. And enjoy that romantic tale of yours.”

With a giggle, she said, “You should at least pretend that you don’t know what I’m reading. Leave an old woman some semblance of decency.”

“I would, but we both know that’s not what you want, Claire. Have a good night, and I’ll see you for breakfast.”

“Good night, dear.”

Once the older woman was gone, Cody settled into his usual nightly routine. First, he headed out to the barn to make sure all the animals were settling down for the night. Then he moved to the coops to give a little bit of extra feed to the hens. With winter coming, he wanted to make sure they were well tended. Once they were happily pecking at the ground, he did a quick inspection of the fencing. It had been a while since any animals had tried to get in, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be new threats. Finally, he headed to the stables to make sure the horses were fed and ready for the night. One of his mares was pregnant, so Cody gave her a bit of extra attention and care. It was her first pregnancy, a situation that always made him a bit more apprehensive. 

With the chores done and some of his concern alleviated, Cody stepped out of the barn and into a beautiful night. The moon was full, creating a glow that highlighted the world he and Sarah had created, though the brightness was marred by the clouds that were blowing in from the ocean. They were a few hours’ drive from the ocean, but they were still subjected to some of the unpredictable weather that came from living between the Pacific Ocean and a mountain range. 

Movement from out of the corner of his eye drew his attention toward the clothesline. With a smile and a shake of his head, Cody walked over to remove the clothing that hung there. Claire was good at a lot of things, but she was starting to be more forgetful. More clouds were rolled in; he would need to get it down before a sudden rain meant having to leave it up for another day. 

Cody folded each piece of clothing as he removed it, then placed it in the hamper tucked under a nearby table. He had built it just for Sarah so that she could write, read, or draw while waiting for the laundry to dry. Claire had taken to using it over the years, but things had been hectic of late. Between Lily’s birthday, first day of school, and the return of Sheriff Paul, there had been too much for the older woman to handle.

As he took down one of Claire’s dresses and began folding it, his mind drifted back to the day and the strange encounter on the road. There had been a lot going on since it had happened, but now that he had a few minutes of mindless work, Cody couldn’t help but think about the young woman with the red hair and flashing green eyes. From the way she had looked at him, she had been very angry. At the same time, she had been far more restrained than her eyes suggested she could be. Her focus had been on a large package, although she didn’t give any kind of indication of what it was. 

“Perhaps it was some kind of clothing,” he muttered to himself. “Maybe some clothing for her suitor. Or a new dress that she was excited to wear. It couldn’t have been books or anything hard since it was soft and flexible. Or it could have just been material for something she was making.” 

As he muttered potential things that could have been in the package, Cody started to get annoyed with himself. Why do you care? You have enough to worry about without thinking about some woman who was being reckless on the road.

Despite the internal reprimand, he couldn’t help but replay the scenario in his mind. He had been collecting some berries to add to his daughter’s cake and was finally satisfied that he had enough. As he was leaving the wooded area to head home, the woman had come charging down the road. Initially, he’d been worried that she was in danger, but that concern had quickly disappeared when she had dismounted and started taking care of her horse. Her ability to calm her horse did not seem to translate to calming her own nerves. Nor did she seem able to continue to tend to her horse as her attention quickly pivoted to the package.

“All she had to do was warn me instead of getting upset like that. It’s not like I intentionally had Billy step on it. The whole thing could have been handled much better.” 

The grumbled words didn’t alleviate his annoyance and guilt that he hadn’t even noticed the larger package on the ground. His focus had first been on trying to save her from whatever was pursuing her, then switched to trying to help her get her horse under control. 

Giving his head a shake, Cody felt foolish. Stop worrying about all of that. Even if you did something wrong, she took off before you could try to make it right. There’s no reason for you to harp on this. Focus on what’s important—there’s still so much to do, and you’re thinking about some angry woman who almost literally ran into you. She didn’t apologize; she didn’t really even talk to you. You’ll probably never see her again, anyway. 

The more he thought about her, the more upset and frustrated Cody became. Soon, he was almost throwing the clothing into the hamper. When the last item fell out and hit the dirt, he realized that he was being unreasonable. 

Closing his eyes, he picked up his shirt from the ground and took a deep breath. As he beat the shirt to see if he could get the dirt out of it, shame washed over him. After carefully folding it up again and placing it into the hamper, he picked the hamper up. He paused and looked up as a drop of rain hit him. Despite the clouds and a few more raindrops, there were still plenty of stars. 

He swallowed a lump in his throat as a few of the stars twinkled above him. They reminded him of the way his wife’s eyes used to twinkle when she was happy. And her eyes used to flash like that young woman’s when she was angry. 

In a low voice, he whispered, “I really miss you, Sarah.”

The stars continued to twinkle, unaffected by his words. 

A few more drops struck his face before Cody finally turned to head inside. By the time he reached the door, he had settled his emotions enough to feel foolish for having gotten upset. 

It’s been a while since anyone has caught your attention like that. That’s why you keep thinking of it. You’re just emotional because there is so much going on, and it’s nearly the anniversary of Sarah’s death. You’ll get through this, and in a few months, you won’t remember anything about today because it’ll be eclipsed by Lily’s birthday. 

Cody stopped in the doorway and looked one more time at the skies, which were now much cloudier. Rain began to patter in the dust, and he felt a sense of satisfaction—at least he was able to get the laundry inside before the things got soaked. The door was closed and locked by the time the rain started falling heavily.