Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) (22 page)

getting married."

Griffin smiled back at her. "Then you should get downtown

more--that's all I hear from people. And they all

want a date set right now."

"Well, maybe we'd better do that," Tess said softly.

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"We don't have to..." Griffin's tone was just as hushed.

It was not logical to people who knew of their plans,

but Tess Locken did not want to set a wedding date too

soon. She hadn't thought she would ever be engaged to the

man of her dreams, and she wasn't about to rush things. It

wasn't that she didn't look forward to being married--she

looked forward to it all the time--but this was special. This

was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, and she wanted

to savor it

"Maybe we could at least pick a season," Tess capitulated.

"Would people be pleased about that?"

Griffin shook his head. "We don't have to do anything.

I was just teasing."

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"I suppose everyone would be crushed if we just up

and married one of these days."

Griffin could only stare at her. A moment later Tess

caught his expression.

"What is it, Griff?"

"You're so easy to love, Tess."

"Why is that?"

"You're never the same, but everything I discover is

wonderful."

"Oh, Griffin," was all Tess could say; she was so much

in love with this man. She couldn't be having intimate

thoughts about him, not yet anyway, but the desire to crawl

into his lap was so very strong.

"Dinner," Mrs. Locken called from the other room.

Griffin stood immediately, took Tess' hand, and pulled

her from the chair. With his hand under her chin, he bent

and kissed her mouth.

"Merry Christmas, Tess."

"Merry Christmas, Griffin."

They walked hand-in-hand to the dining room where

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Mrs. Locken was waiting. It seemed that some weeks her

husband and sons never ceased to cause her pain with the

way they overlooked her and took her efforts for granted,

but this couple who loved the Lord and each other was like

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a gift from God and the best Christinas gift she could possibly

imagine.

^- 3r

%r

Dakota could not dispel Liberty's image from his mind.

He had tried closing his eyes, which only made it worse.

He had tried concentrating on the creek line, dark as it was,

but he could still see her in the bank building. He shook his

head a little at how fast she had been. He'd seen many a

quick draw in his business, and he thought she might rank

among the smoothest And her aim! If it hadn't been so sad,

he would have called it beautiful. That thougjht today, however,

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only made him ache.

"I wanted to see her in action," he said quietly, causing

Eli's ears to twitch, "but not like this."

Slater had asked him to head out for a time. Dakota had

been only too glad to oblige him. He needed to be alone. He

needed to think. For a moment his mind lingered on some

of the things he'd seen and heard from the pastor and the

church family, but it didn't take long for him to feel uncomfortable

with his thoughts. He pushed them away to concentrate

on his brother. As though he'd never had a

problem with Slater giving up his job, Dakota was now resolute.

Slate should stay here, he decided. Slate needs to step in as

deputy. I don't know why I didn't see it before. I'm still not certain

what to do with the change in him, but he's made a life here.

A man with his skill and level head shouldn't be building houses. He should be helping Griffin with the law, not Libby. And I'm going to tell him as soon as I get back.

# $-$

"This

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is my room," Laura told Slater after dinner, her

drawing of the house in her lap. The whole family was

gathered in the living room. "It used to be Griffin's room,

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but he moved next door, and Mam gave it to me. It's my

very own."

"What's this?" Slater pointed to a circle on the floor.

"My rug. It's all red and blue and green colors."

"It sounds nice." ,f

"Ubby's is almost the same, only hers has some

yellow."

Slater nodded and smiled down at her.

"If you marry Libby, then you can come upstairs and

see all the rugs."

"Laura May Peterson!" Duffy wasted no time in

exclaiming.

The little girl looked across at him, clearly upset and

uncertain, but her silence didn't last for more than a few

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seconds. Tears already filling her eyes and her chin tilted

upward, she said, "Well, he should marry Libby and make

her smile all the time!"

The room was silent with shock--not just over her

talking back--but at the words as well.

"Libby's sad because she had to shoot that man, and

when Slater comes she always smiles." With that Laura put

her face in her hands and sobbed. Kate was sitting closer

than Duffy, so she was the one to move and put her arms

around the little girl. It took some time for her to calm, the

others quietly waiting.

Laura would not look at anyone, but they all had eyes

on her. Duffy waited but could see that she was going to

keep her face burled against her mother's side. He went to

her, hunkered down in front of both his wife and daughter,

and spoke quietly.

"Laura, you need to look at me."

Laura obeyed at once, her little face blotchy and

tearstained.

"I know you meant well, but Slater and Libby's relationship

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is not your business. If you have questions, you

may ask Mam or me, but you can't just sit and give your

opinion whenever you feel like it. Understood?"

Every Little Thing About You 161

Laura nodded, and her father gave her knee a little

squeeze.

"You need to apologize." This said, Duffy returned to

his seat, fully expecting to be obeyed.

"I'm sorry, Libby/' Laura said to the big sister who sat

across the room.

"I forgive you, Laura."

"I'm sorry, Slater."

"Thank you, Laura, and I want you to know that I do

appreciate the nice words you said."

"I can be nice sometimes," Laura told him, "but not

always."

Slater had to smile over this. He looked over at Liberty

to find her smiling at Laura too. He was still watching her

when she noticed him. Duffy asked Zach a question just

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then, and the little boy began to answer, but it took several

minutes for Slater and Liberty to hear.

"I want to talk to you/' Dakota greeted Slater the

moment he walked in the door.

"All right. Let me get my coat off."

Dakota waited with ill-concealed impatience, and

Slater wanted to laugh. It was always clear to him when

Dakota had a mission.

"When are you headed back to work, Dak?" Slater

asked as he sauntered his way toward the living room and

took a seat on the davenport

"Not until I'm through with you, at the very least Now,

I've been doing some thinking."

"About my life or yours?"

"My life is fine," Dakota clarified for him. "Yours could

use a little work."

Slater laughed, which only got him glared at

"Are you going to listen?"

"Yes." Slater schooled his features and worked not to

smile.

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"Now, I think the most logical thing for you to do is

apply as deputy of Shotgun. You're good enough to be the

sheriff, but Griffin already has the job, and he's doing fine.

However, a man with your talents has no business

pounding nails for a living, and I don't want to hear any

arguments.

"My first choice would be to have you come back to the

Rangers, but since you're being mule stubborn about that,

this is the next best thing. I'll also concede," Dakota went

on even as both men heard the back door open and close,

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"that there's a very sweet lady in town who makes staying

a very palatable option. But, if I find out that you've let her

get away, you'll have some fast explaining to do."

"Hello," Griffin greeted the men as he walked in and

took a chair. He saw that Slater was on the sofa, relaxed as

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a cat, but Dakota was standing as though giving a lecture.

Griffin, not worrying about offending anyone, spoke to

Slater.

"Did you tell Dakota about the job as deputy?"

"Not yet," Slater replied and let his gaze swing back to

his older sibling.

Not surprisingly, Dakota was looking right back at

Slater.

"You could have stopped me," the older man said.

"That wouldn't have been half as much fun."

Dakota dropped into a chair and shook his head.

"Someone should fill me in," Griffin suggested.

Slater did the honors, and both men had a laugh on

Dakota.

"How's Tess?" Slater asked when the laughter died

down.

"She's fine."

"Price asked me this morning if the two of you had a

date."

"That seems to be the common question. Tonight Tess

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suggested that we just up and marry."

"That would be fun," Dakota agreed.

"Spoken like a man," Griffin stated. "I know I would

like it, but somehow I think the women in my life, namely

Kate Peterson, Liberty Drake, and Rebecca Locken, would

not find it so amusing."

"You never know/' Slater put in. "Our mother wanted

to elope, but our father wouldn't hear of it."

"Did she really?"

"That's what they've always told us," Slater confirmed.

"Our father hailed from modest means, and our mother

had been reared in the lap of luxury. Her mother desper-

Every

Little Thing About You 165

ately wanted a large wedding, the kind befitting a young

socialite, but our mother had had that her whole life. I

guess Grandma Slater, who had a terrible time accepting

our father, was won over in an instant when he took his

future mother-in-law's side and opted for a grand wedding."

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"What did your mother say?f

"She was ready to call the whole thing off," Dakota

continued. "She can be rather stubborn, but our father

talked her around."

Griffin looked between the two of them, so mismatched

in appearance.

"By the way, where do you two get your coloring?"

Both Rawlings laughed.

"He should see Cash," Dakota said to Slater.

"What does Cash look like?" Griffin took the bait.

"Dark red hair, brown eyes."