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Adam froze with his glass halfway to his lips until Preacher winked at him. Though something about the man’s expression said he’d have no problem following through on his threat if the occasion called for it. Adam definitely should have gotten something stronger than cider.
“There’s always the other option, since keepin’ a job seems to be too difficult a task for you,” Woodson said. “Though what that woman sees in you, I’ll never understand.”
“You and me both,” Adam muttered. “And no, thank you. I’ll stick to finding employment. Trust me, she’s better off without me. There’s more than one reason I swore off marriage.”
Woodson shrugged. “Suit yourself. Clock is tickin’. And you’re runnin’ out of places to work.”
Yes, he was. Those who hadn’t already fired him were starting to run the other way when they saw him coming. His reputation doth precede him, apparently.
Too bad Nora wouldn’t take heed and follow suit. Because she was beginning to wear down his defenses. And if anyone should be running from him, it was her.
Chapter Twenty-One
The moment Nora walked into Mrs. DuVere’s, Mercy rushed at her.
“Nora, I’m so sorry. Gray told me what Lucille did to your gardens. I can’t believe she did that. Or I can, rather, but I’m absolutely mortified. We are going to pay for everything she damaged. I’m so sorry!”
“It’s all right, Mercy, truly. She didn’t damage too much, and I was able to salvage a lot of it.”
“Thank heavens! I’m so glad. Still, we will pay for whatever she did destroy and whatever damages she did to your property. Gray has money for you over at his office if you’ll come with me after our tea.”
Nora agreed and hugged her friend, at least some of the weight lifted off her shoulders.
“Wonderful, now that that has been settled,” Mrs. DuVere said, happily wiggling in her seat, “tell us all how things are going with that handsome gunslinger you’ve got living with you.”
Nothing got past Mrs. DuVere. She knew everything that went on in this town, even more than the sheriff. Mercy and Martha turned to her with twin expressions of delighted surprise.
“What?” Martha squealed. “When did this happen? Has he agreed to sign the papers? Is he really living with you?”
“It depends on what you mean bywith me. On my property, yes. With me in my house, no. With me as man and wife, also no.”
“So I take it that means he hasn’t signed the papers,” Mercy said.
“No. I have never met a more stubborn man.”
Mercy snorted. “Have you met my husband?”
The ladies all laughed and then turned back to Nora, waiting for more details. She filled them in as best she could. It was hard to get too detailed, though, since she didn’t quite understand what was going on, either.
“Does your father know?” Martha asked.
“He does now. He came back the other day and saw us together in the barn and—”
“Wait,” Mercy said. “Saw youtogetherin the barn?”
Martha’s jaw dropped, and Mrs. DuVere looked positively giddy.
“I knew I liked him,” she said.
“No, not together likethat,” Nora said, then frowned. “Or, not exactly like that.” She waved off a fresh round of squeals. “It was nothing, just a kiss.”
“My dear,” Mrs. DuVere said, “first of all, a kiss from a man who is theoretically your husband is not nothing, and secondly, even if the first part wasn’t true, your face is telling all kinds of different stories.”
Nora covered her betraying face in her hands and dropped her forehead to the table with a groan.
She finally sat back up but shook off more questions. “I’m sorry, I really am. But I truly have no idea what is going on with us. One minute we are fighting about nothing and the next he has me against the wall and is kissing me until I can’t breathe. And the next,” she said, over her friends’ exclamations, “my father comes in and tosses a bucket of cold water on us. And…nothing has happened since then. We’ve barely had a moment to talk.”
“Well, if he still hasn’t signed the papers, then our original plan is still on,” Mercy said. “He’s already been fired from nearly every place in town. I’ve been trying to talk Gray into hiring him to work at the sheriff’s office or even to help me out at the ranch if he doesn’t want him around. He could mind Daisy for me while I’m doing chores if I can’t find anything else for him to do. But Gray hasn’t budged.”
