Where the Heart Leads (27 page)

“Is there anything I can do?” Aumaleigh offered. “I have some free time.”

“No, I’m fine. All that’s wounded is my pride.” Magnolia patted her hair, trying to tame it. “And maybe, just maybe, my reputation, but it won’t be the first time. Do we have a spare cake?”

“I made an extra for the display case.” Wynne swung around, bustling back to the kitchen. “Missy, come help me with the frosting. We’ll get it fixed up as good as we can. Let’s move!”

“Gotta go!” Missy waved and scampered off, disappearing through the swinging doors.

“Oh, I almost forgot your order.” Rhoda circled the counter and plucked two small bakery boxes off a shelf. “Cinnamon rolls for Verbena, with extra icing just the way she likes it. And dinner rolls for Iris. I threw in a cupcake for everyone. I couldn’t resist.”

“Thanks, Rhoda.” Aumaleigh took the box, noticed that Magnolia was fully recovered, retelling the tale for Fred who had popped in for the latest scoop. She accepted Dottie’s thanks one more time, gave the girl a hug, boxes and all, and headed out onto the boardwalk.

Buttons lifted her head in greeting, so good and patient as always.

“I didn’t mean to be so long,” she told the mare and stowed the boxes on the buggy floor. “Let’s go down to the mercantile. There are other horses tethered down there. Oh, and a donkey too. Let’s go, girl.”

Buttons waited until Aumaleigh was seated before daintily making her way down the street. It was hard not to feel resentment when she saw the A-board on the other side of the street advertising
Now Open! Free Samples!
Several young ladies holding trays full of cookies. School children crowded around, taking as many as they could hold.

“Is Magnolia okay?” Lawrence Latimer was stowing a box of groceries in his handmade cart. “I heard what happened in the mercantile. Everyone’s talking about it. Did that Dobson woman really run into her?”

“Yes, but Magnolia’s okay.” Aumaleigh pulled Buttons to a stop. “You’re looking happy, Lawrence.”

“Why, thank you, Ma’am.” He gave a humble shrug. “Guess my life’s going pretty well these days. I’ve caught the attentions of a fair lady.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard.” She hopped down and smoothed her skirts, glad for the lost little man. It was hard not to like him. Everyone deserved love and the chance for happiness. “I’m hoping good things for you and Dottie. Have a good afternoon, Lawrence.”

“You too, Aumaleigh.” His handlebar mustache twitched when he smiled.

Leaving him to untie his donkey, she lifted her skirts, skipped up the steps and let the warmth of the sunshine sift over her. The world felt brighter. Better.

“Hi, Aumaleigh.” Gemma greeted the instant the door swung open. “I saw you out there chatting with Lawrence. Isn’t it an improvement? He hardly talked my ear off at all this afternoon. I sure hope things work out for him and Dottie.”

“Me, too.” She stopped to loosen her sunbonnet strings and pushed it back, letting it dangle down her back. She took a moment to study Gemma. The girl looked better today, less sad than the last time she’d seen her. Family troubles were never easy. She knew that firsthand. “Did you get the new button shipment in?”

“Yes! I just finished putting up the new display this morning. We’ve got some lovely mother-of-pearl ones in.” Gemma opened the account book on the counter in front of her, flipping through the pages. “Is there something specific you’re looking for?”

“I’ll know it when I see it. Thanks, Gemma.”

She wandered over to the sewing corner, her thoughts turning to her morning’s conversation with Gabriel.
Every once in a while, something—or someone—is worth anything to have.

Had he meant her? Oh, she hoped so. She wished it with her whole heart.

She moved into the kiss of the sun, streaming through the window, and made her way through the packets of buttons on display. Pink ones, red ones, blue ones, metal ones. She stopped at the card of carved ivory roses, dainty and intricate.

She used to have buttons like these, in fact they were the same buttons she was buying when—

The door whooshed open, and warm spring air breezed in. A shiver of recognition tingled down her spine, and her gaze flew upward.
Gabriel.
He stood braced in the doorway, dark-haired and handsome, so rugged he dwarfed the entire shop. A black, wide-brimmed hat shaded half his face, so all she could see was the straight blade of his nose, a masculine, sculpted mouth and an uncompromising iron-hewn jaw.

Wow. Just wow. Her jaw dropped, her soul stilled and she knew she would never be the same again.

She felt the impact of his gaze long before he tipped back his hat to reveal intense gray eyes fringed by black lashes. The force in his gaze startled her, made her heart lurch into a frantic dash. It was as if he could see inside her, past her facades and her defenses. Just the way he used to.

“Hi, Mr. Daniels,” Gemma called from the counter. “How’s Leigh?”

“She’ll be mad when she finds out I came here without her.” He may be speaking with Gemma, but his attention stayed riveted on her, standing in front of the button display.

A strange sense of déjà vu whispered over her.

Their gazes met and locked. An eternity passed in that moment. Recognition came to the innermost part of her. She knew this man down to his soul. She’d always known him.

And forever would.

“Gemma, could you get me a bucket of nails?” He called over his shoulder, breaking eye contact.

Aumaleigh grabbed the edge of the counter. She felt wobbly, dizzy. Breathless.

“Burton and I worked out a deal.” He strode up to her, long, denim-encased legs, a blue shirt covering muscled arms and torso. He tipped back his hat. “I’m the proud owner of some of your best horses.”

“Oh, good.” Flustered, she couldn’t seem to make her brain work. Words tangled on her tongue. Or maybe it was the disappointment he’d come to talk business when she’d been expecting…well, what exactly was she expecting? She shrugged. “They couldn’t have a better home. This way I’ll get to see them now and again. Your fields come up to my side yard.”

“Yes, I know. You’re welcome to climb the fence and visit them any time. I promise not to chase you off.”

“Generous of you.”

“Yes, I know. It’s just in my nature.” The corners of his chiseled mouth hooked upward, and his laughter rumbled rich and low.

“Shouldn’t you be home sleeping? You were up all night.”

“I’m on my way. Just stopping for some nails. I’m hoping to get in some repair work this afternoon before I’m hauled in for deputy duty.”

“So you’ve been drafted, have you? You’re already part of the community.”

“It feels that way. It’s nice. I’m starting to feel at home around here.” He turned when Gemma called out to him, nodding in acknowledgement. “Guess I’d better head home.”

“Guess so.” Her voice cracked. Maybe because of the longing filling her up. She wanted more than this friendliness. Much more.

“See you later, Aumaleigh.” He backed away. “You can count on it.”

His gaze met hers, and the connection left her reeling. Steady eyes, radiating integrity and something more.

That wasn’t desire, was it?

There was the murmur of his voice, then Gemma’s answering and he was out the door, crossing the boardwalk and heading out into the street. Muscular form, impressive shoulders, iron strength. The bright rays of the sun drown him out, and he was gone.

“Aumaleigh, did you find what you were looking for?” Gemma swished over, business-like in her plain brown dress. “Aumaleigh? Are you all right.”

“F-fine.” She stared down, realizing she held two packets of the carved rose buttons in her hand. “I’ll take these.”

“I’ll put them on your account. Anything else?”

“N-no.” She didn’t trust her voice to say more. This feeling Gabriel had left with her, this awareness of him deep in her soul—she’d felt it before.

“Okay, do you want me to wrap them up for you, or do you want to put them in your reticule?” Gemma asked.

In answer, she loosened her reticule strings and popped the buttons inside. “There.”

“Great. Have a good day, Aumaleigh. Tell Iris I’m thinking of her and Milo.” Gemma retreated behind the front counter.

“Iris?” Her brain refused to work. She reached for the door knob, trying to remember what she’d been planning to do with the rest of her afternoon.

“Aren’t you going to see her? Tell her I’ll stop by for her grocery list this evening. I do not want her leaving Milo’s side.”

“That’s sweet of you.” Aumaleigh pulled open the door, still a little dazed, touched by Gemma’s thoughtfulness. “Have a good day, dear.”

“You too.” Gemma waved.

Aumaleigh closed the door, standing on the boardwalk. The world rushed around her—horses clomped by on the road drawing wagons, shoes struck the boards as shoppers passed by. Kids across the street shouted, racing around with cookies in their hands from Dobson’s Bakery.

But it was Gabriel she saw. Across the street, he untied his team of horses from the hitching post. Her pulse fluttered frantically, knocking against the backside of her ribs.

He glanced up and spotted her. He fastened his gaze on hers with unexpected power, seeing everything, all of her to the depths of her soul.

She saw him too—a good man, a good, good heart. A touch of loneliness, someone who always did the right thing. He climbed into his wagon seat with athletic ease. Raised a leather-gloved hand to her as he drove away.

She stood mesmerized as his wagon rattled down the street and out of sight. There it was again, the powerful feeling, the soul-deep knowledge that he was the one. The one man she would love for the rest of her life.

“Gramma Aumaleigh!” Sadie swung down from the tree in the front yard sporting a sheriff’s badge and hung from her knees by a branch. Her Stetson stayed on thanks to a band at her chin. “I didn’t know you were comin’!”

“That’s me, full of surprises. How’s the county, Sheriff? Any bad men on the loose?” Aumaleigh gave Buttons a final pat at the hitching post. “I hear there’s all sorts of trouble.”

“Yes, there is!” Sadie nodded vehemently, making her hat and braids bounce. “But it’s our job to hunt down trouble.”

A second face appeared, swinging down from the tree. Evie had a Stetson too. “We’re tracking the Klemp brothers.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna bring them down.” Sadie swung back and forth like a monkey. “Are there any cookies in there?”

“You’ll have to wait until after dinner to find out.” Aumaleigh balanced the two bakery boxes in her arms. “Any luck with those Klemp brothers?”

“Wait! I think I see somethin’!” Sadie pointed across the street in Mrs. McClellan’s yard.

“Me, too!” Evie agreed. “Sheriff, I think it’s them!”

“Let’s go!” Sadie landed on her feet, already running. “We’re bringing those rats in!”

“Yeah, those rats!” Evie landed on her feet and dashed after Sadie. They ducked behind the white fence that protected Mrs. McClellan’s roses.

“Aumaleigh!” The front door swung open and Iris stood in the doorway, radiant.

Didn’t that say everything? Milo must be doing well. Iris, dear sweet Iris, had never looked so good.

“I brought a little something for supper.” Aumaleigh clomped up the steps and handed over the boxes. “Here, take these, I have more in the buggy. Josslyn and I were far too industrious in the kitchen this morning.”

“You’re spoiling me, Aumaleigh.”

“That’s the idea.” She went to fetch the two dishes of food wrapped in towels on her buggy floor. “Now that I’ve started, don’t expect me to stop.”

“We should be spoiling you. You don’t know how it felt being on our own in Chicago, and then to find out we had you. You’re going to stay for supper, right?”

“I’d love to, but maybe another time. I have Annie and her family coming to my place for supper. Besides, you and Milo just got married. You don’t need me hanging around.”

“Are you kidding? It’s always a treat to have you over. Mitsy loves you.”

“Yes, I’m quite fond of Mitsy.” Aumaleigh tucked one dish in the crook of her arm and clutched the other. “Have you heard? Dobson’s Bakery is opening today.”

“Yes, we’re having a meeting later, the five of us, to figure out what to do. We can’t let Fanny try to run us out of business.” Iris held the door open and closed it after Aumaleigh passed through. “You’re welcome to stay for that, but something tells me you’ve got other plans.”

“Big plans. Lots to do.” Aumaleigh thought of the newspaper advertisement she’d just placed in town for a cook for the kitchen. Tomorrow, she would be seeing Nathaniel about the ranch. She headed straight for the kitchen, where Fluffy rushed up to bark a greeting and Sally could be seen in the back yard with her tiara and her sword, fighting imaginary dragons.

“Maybe some of those big plans have to do with a certain handsome man new to town?” Iris slipped the boxes on the counter. She waggled her brows. “I heard about a romantic encounter in town.”

“Not that old rumor again!”

“Oh, no, this is an entirely new one. Mrs. McClellan saw it herself through the mercantile window. She said you and Gabriel looked rather enchanted with one another. Do you deny it?”