“Oh, Mr. MacLean! He’s such a nice man. Always treats me with kindness whenever he comes in. Handsome, too.” She folded her arms across her chest, and rocked back on her heels, her mouth pursed in deep thought. “Let’s see. What would a man like Mr. MacLean like?” Her gaze roamed over everything in the glass case before finally stopping and pointing to an intricately engraved silver flask. “What about that?”
“What is it?”
Corianna glanced at her like she had three heads before she smiled. “It’s a flask. It’s used to carry whiskey or brandy or….” She moved a glass panel and removed the silver flask. “Whatever they want, I guess.”
Sheridan accepted the flask, turned it this way and that, noticing the pattern of the engraving, which turned out to be that of a stag in the forest. It was beautiful, but was it Wyatt? She didn’t know him well enough to know. “I’m not sure.”
“There are other things.” Corianna’s gaze went back to the items in the case. “What about a gold tie clasp?”
Sheridan shook her head. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him wear a tie. He’s a rancher. He wears work clothes and cowboy hats and boots but never a tie.”
“That’s right. He is a rancher. Have you been out to Stone Creek?”
“I have. It’s lovely, but I got the distinct impression he hasn’t owned it that long.”
“Just a little more than three years now. He bought it from the Widow Contreras because Katie wanted it.”
“Katie? Who is Katie?”
“The woman he was supposed to marry.”
That came as a surprise to her. She hadn’t known. No one had mentioned Wyatt had been engaged before now. Was this Katie still in the picture? Did he still love her? Why didn’t they marry?
Before she could ask any one of the myriad questions rambling through her brain, Corianna spoke. “I don’t know all the details. You’ll have to ask him. But what I do know is that she left him at the altar and ran away with a gambler. It had the gossips’ tongues wagging for months. I felt bad for him. Katie shouldn’t have done that.”
Sheridan didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Her heart hurt for Wyatt and the pain he must have gone through.No one should experience that kind of devastation, or the embarrassment of having someone love you one moment, then run away with someone else the next. What a horrible thing for Katie to have done.
And her grandmother said men can’t be trusted. Maybe some women couldn’t be trusted either.
She brought her focus back to the task at hand—finding a thank you gift for Wyatt—but thoughts of Katie and who she was kept intruding, and she couldn’t concentrate. “Let me think about what an appropriate gift for him would be,” she said. “I have a few more errands to run, but I’ll be back.”
Corianna nodded. “I’ll think about it, too, and see what I can come up with.”
“Thank you. It was lovely to meet you.”
“You as well.”
Sheridan left the store, the little bell chiming as she opened and closed the door and walked across the town square. Several people nodded in her direction, but she didn’t stop to chat. She hadn’t lied to Corianna. She did have more errands to run—Sullivan’s had been her first stop. Second on the list was Goldwater’s General Store. Striding into the building, she noticed how busy it was. A line of people waited patiently while their orders of fresh vegetables and other items were rung up by Winston and his wife, Gemma.
When it was finally her turn, she walked up to the counter. “Good afternoon, Gemma.”
“And good afternoon to you, Sheridan. What can I do for you?”
“Mrs. Gallagher sent me over to pick up the mail.”
Gemma turned away from the counter toward a big wooden box nailed to the wall filled with cubbyholes, some big, some small, just the size of a letter. All had the names of the ranching families, farming families and the like, clearly labeled.She pulled several letters from the cubby hole marked asJosie’s. “Looks like you have quite a few letters. I hope it’s all good news.”
“Thank you, Gemma. Have a good day.” She took the bundle of letters and slowly walked toward the door, her fingers methodically going through the pile, noticing the names of who those letters were addressed to as well as who they came from. She let out a sigh. Bills. Bills. And more bills. Mrs. Gallagher would handle them as competently as she always did. There were a few personal letters to the girls as well, which made her smile.
It wasn’t until she got to the last letter in the pile that her smile disappeared. Her hands started shaking and her heart stopped for a brief moment.
She’d recognize that spidery penmanship anywhere.
She paused, but only long enough to rip open the envelope and start reading while she walked to the door. Tears gathered in her eyes.
They were coming. The two people she didn’t want to see were on their way here. Right now.
She pushed through the door, the letter in front of her face, and bumped into a strong chest.
