Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) (20 page)

all sorts of other thoughts. It was not a solid reason and

Liberty knew that, but she just kept justifying it by

reminding herself that all too soon it would be December,

with Christmas rushing up on the calendar.

S' *3r

"Do you know what happened to me on Sunday?" Tess

whispered to Griffin in the general store. She had been

shopping and turned to find him next to her, something

that never failed to delight her.

"What?"

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"A very wonderful man asked me to marry him."

"No kidding?" Griffin's eyes were impressively large.

"No kidding," Tess answered, her own eyes alight with

pleasure as she looked up at him. "I said yes."

"Did you?" Griffin smiled down at her. "When is the

big event?"

"Well," her brow dropped in the way he loved, "I'm

free tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is Thanksgiving," he reminded her, feeling

intoxicated by her nearness.

"Friday then?" Tess asked hopefully, and Griffin had to

laugh.

Tess smiled complacently and then noticed the eyes

that watched them, mostly older women who should have

known better.

"I can tell this is going to be interesting," Tess said as

she turned to examine a row of shoes and belts.

"Why is that?" Griffin asked, studying her profile with

pleasure.

"You might be the most well-known person in town.

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It's like courting in a house made of glass."

Griffin had noticed the attention as well, but there was

little he could do or say. He opted for a lighter note.

Every Little Thing About You 141

"You sound as though you're changing your mind."

No longer caring who might be watching, Tess' eyes

met his.

"Not even close," she said softly.

Griffin reached for her hand, their fingers entwining for

several seconds.

Not long afterward, Griffin went back to work, comforted

by the fact that in two days he could see her almost

all day. Nevertheless, he asked God to help him concentrate

on the job. Remembering Tess' sweet smile and love

for him, he thought he might endanger someone if he even

touched his gun.

fy Q-%f

249

The

second week in December was cold. Slater had not

paid much attention to the weather so far, working with

Price and Hank no matter what. But today his head felt full,

and every time he bent over the hammer, his forehead and

cheeks pounded. He told himself he could make it all day/

but by midaf ternoon, he knew he had to get inside.

"I don't feel well," Slater wasted no words in telling his boss. "I'm going to head home. I'll try to work tomorrow."

Hank looked up, a frown on his face, but Slater's glassy

eyes and red face softened him a little.

"Just take off till it's gone, or you'll have us all sick.*

Slater did little more than wave as he turned away.

"Hey, Slater," Price stepped in, "Miss Amy carries some

medicine for colds. Stop by for some on your way home.

Doc Bergram's or something like that"

"Thanks, Price."

Slater hadn't really decided to stop, but since he hadn't

ridden Arrow to the job that day, he felt nearly frozen by

the time he reached downtown. He stepped into the general

store just to get his lungs out of the cold. Miss Amy

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happened to be standing right inside.

"May I help you?"

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Every Little Thing About You 143

"Oh." Slater tried to smile and be polite, his mind fuzzy

with the headache. "I'm looking for something for colds. I

think Price said it was Doc Berg's or some name like that."

"Doc Bergrin's?"

"Yeah, that must be it."

"Right this way."

Slater followed her in something of a daze. She had a

large selection of tonics and such. He watched as she

plucked one off the shelf and handed it to him.

"That one will take all pain away--if s pretty potent

This one," she said, handing him another bottle, "doesn't

have any alcohol in it at all, but it's still good stuff. Typically,

husbands buy the first one and wives buy the second

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one."

No contest in Slater's mind. He took the second bottle

and turned toward the counter, wanting nothing more than

to get home and climb into bed.

"Price sent you, didn't he?" Miss Amy asked quietly as

Slater was fishing for coins.

"Yes. He said you might have something,"

"He hasn't been in since he got back," she murmured.

A note in her voice got through to Slater Working to ignore

his own discomfort, he looked at the tall, well-built woman

behind the cash register. She didn't appear to be quite as

young as Price, but there was no mistaking the interest in

her eyes.

"Maybe he doesn't know you'd like him to come in,"

Slater offered.

"Well," Miss Amy's gaze dropped, "I hope someone

tells him." With that, she slid Slater's change across the

counter, shut the drawer, and turned away. Slater watched

her take a feather duster to shelves that looked immaculate,

his heart turning over in compassion. He felt simply awful,

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but that did not stop him from praying for Price and Miss

Amy and asking God to open the door if he should tell his

coworker what this woman had said.

$-*3r

-

"Oh!

Dakota!" Liberty said when the door was opened,

"I didn't know you were back."

Dakota had been called to work just after Thanksgiving

and hadn't been in town since.

"I'm just in," he explained. "Come on in."

"Well, I don't want to be in the way, but Mam thought

she saw Slater come in and wanted to send this soup for

him. Is he here?"

"I don't think so, but maybe he is. Come on through

and I'll check."

Dakota held the door wide, and Liberty took the pot of

warm soup straight through to the kitchen. Since her

brother had gained a housemate, she did not come and go

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as she pleased through his back door.

"Let me see if he's here now," Dakota said.

Liberty put the pot on the stove top and went ahead

and added a little wood to the fire in the oven. The house

felt chilly to her.

"He's sound asleep," Dakota announced when he

returned from upstairs.

Liberty nodded. "He mentioned on the weekend that

he thought he'd caught something. Well, tell him to rest,

and hopefully the soup will help."

"All right. Thanks."

Liberty started back toward the front door, Dakota on

her heels.

"Should I take this as a good sign?" Dakota suddenly

asked, causing Liberty to turn before she reached the doorknob.

"For what?"

"Well," Dakota smiled charmingly. "When a lady

brings a gentleman hot soup, I would say that means she

cares."

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254

Liberty's eyes lit with amusement. "My mother sent the

soup, and to answer your question, yes, she cares very

much."

"Come on, Libby," he coaxed now, "give a guy a

break."

"Dakota," Liberty replied, trying not to laugh at his

pleading look, "I don't know what you want."

His black eyes narrowed as they always did when he

was in thought.

"All right," he finally said, Til play my hand. How do

you feel about Slater?"

Liberty's look was remarkably calm. "That, Mr. Rawlngs,

is a question the gentleman himself will have to ask

me."

""But you could give me a hint."

"No, I couldn't," Liberty said on a laugh. She thought

he was so funny. "And while we're on the subject, what is

it to you?"

"I'll tell you what. He's going to let you get away if he

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isn't careful."

Liberty shook her head. "I don't think I've ever seen the

like."

"What's that?"

"A Texas Ranger with nothing better to do than play

matchmaker."

Dakota was opening his mouth in outrage when Liberty

slipped out the door. She didn't look back or even

wave, but she smiled to herself all the way back to her own

front door.

-S-"

"Did I hear Liberty's voice?" Slater asked when Dakota

checked on him about 20 minutes later.

"Yes. Are you going to marry that lady or not?"

"This afternoon," Slater said as he rolled over to go

back to sleep. "Didn't I tell you?"

Every Little Thing About You 145

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Dakota took compassion when he heard Slater's rough

voice. Thinking his throat had to be sore, he took himself

from the room. It didn't look as though anything he could

say or do would induce Slater back to the Rangers, but

where Liberty Drake was concerned, he wasn't going to

leave things so up in the air. He decided that before he left

town he was going to wring a few promises out of his little

brother.

$

A high-noon bank robbery the day after Christmas was

not what Griffin and Liberty had been expecting, but that

was exactly what they got.

It was a Monday, and Liberty was due to go off duty

when a terrified Miss Amy came running to tell her what

she'd witnessed across the street. Liberty knew better than

to go alone. Thankfully, Griffin was in the mayor's office,

and within minutes the two of them were making their

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way to the bank building. The only way in was through the

front door, so they started to inch their way down the

boardwalk. They had just gained positions at the window

when a shot was fired and at least two women screamed.

Wasting no more time, the Drakes rushed in.

"Don't do it!" a wild-eyed man screamed, his gun

pointed right at them. "Get your hands up. I swear I'll

shoot again."

Liberty and Griffin did exactly as they were told,

coming in and leaving the door wide open. The man kept

turning, moving around so fast that he gave them no time

to reach for their weapons. At the same time, he didn't

seem to notice their gun belts. Standing with her hands in

the air, helpless for die moment, Liberty took in the scene

and felt very sick.

Seven people stood against the tellers' windows. One

of them was three-year-old Josie Frank, who stood frozen

as she stared at her mother's body. What had compelled

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this man to shoot Desna Frank was unclear, but the pool of

blood underneath her and her motionless form did not

look good.

Liberty forced her mind back onto the robber just in