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He stopped.
“Is there anyone in town who can do the work?” She wasn’t sure how this conversation might play out. He seemed to be a very prideful man. “My aunt and uncle built their hotel from nothing and we all pitched in. I may not know how to do many of the repairs but I can plaster, paint, sand floors.”
“And the windows?” he asked.
“Was there glass in them originally?”
“Yes.”
“Can we make arrangements to have a glazier replace them?”
“You’re serious.”
“I am. My sister and I have a substantial amount of wealth in our names, thanks to the generosity of my aunt and uncle. I can pay for whatever is needed.”
“And if I say no?”
“I’d ask why?” she replied honestly. When he didn’t respond, she assumed he didn’t have an answer, or at least not one he was willing to share.
“Let’s go outside so we don’t disturb Anna.”
They walked out to the back porch and once there, she decided the magnificent view of the mountains would always be the calm she’d seek out whenever obstacles challenged her new life. In their own way, they reminded her of home and she turned her mind away from the small pangs she continued to feel from being so far away from her loving family. “Stays light longer here than it does in Arizona.”
“Because we’re so far north.”
“Ah.”
“So, do you really have the funds you’d need?”
“I do. I’d also like to use some to spoil Anna a bit. With your approval of course.”
“In what way?”
“Fix up her room so it looks like it belongs to a little girl. New bed and bedding. Maybe paint her walls so they’re sunnier. Get her some dolls, take her shopping, and buy her new clothes that will make her smile.”
“Where’d she get the dress she wore to the wedding yesterday?”
“From Spring. Your sister said she saw it in a shop a few months ago and purchased it. She didn’t know if Anna would ever get to wear it, but you should’ve seen the way Anna’s eyes lit up when Spring took it out of the paper and told your daughter it was hers.”
“She looked mighty fine in it. I’ll have to thank Spring. So, all the clothes and things you want to buy means you want to raise her the way you were raised?”
“No. She’ll be raised the way her father and I want her raised, which I hope includes horses, being unafraid of getting dirty—fishing, books, chores, and whatever else she needs to help her grow into her own woman.” She looked his way. “What do you think?”
“I have no problems with that plan. I just want her to be happy and not so afraid of making mistakes all the time.”
“I want her to be happy, too.” She thought back on last night and compared that scandalous, almost playful man with the starchy distant doctor at her side. “And what makes you happy, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Order and peace.”
“I’m not well-known for that.”
“I’m finding that out.” His face was serious but there was something else in the gaze holding hers; a yearning almost. “I’ve been trying to get you out of my mind all day.”
“Hasn’t worked?”
He shook his head and said, “No, it hasn’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
