“Well, that’s what courtship is for, isn’t it?” Sheriff Williams said simply, leaning back in his chair and looking at his daughter as if she were a stranger. This was clearly not the reaction he was expecting. “He is a wealthy man who can provide a financially stable life for you and your future children. And he has a whole security detail that can keep you safe.”
Cora physically recoiled at the thought of having children with Alfred, a man she didn’t know and had never had any desire to know. He had a reputation in town for being entitled and egotistical, using his financial power, rather than genuine likability, to force people to respect him. Those were not exactly the traits of godliness, which to Cora was essential for a future husband. And Cora was not in love with him.
Her visceral reaction was not lost on her father.
“Why are you being so ungrateful?” he asked angrily. “You are being given an opportunity that most young women only dream about, to marry a man of wealth and prestige. And you’restillnot happy!”
“Because I do not care about wealth and prestige, Pa!” Cora yelled, desperation evident in her voice. “I want to wait to marry the person God has chosen specifically for me, and I want fall in love with him! I wantlove, Pa!”
“Enough!” her father shouted, a rare occurrence, his voice shaking the cutlery that hung on the walls of the kitchen. Cora was shocked into silence.
“That is enough of this foolish, emotionally ruled talk of love and romance,” he repeated, his voice softer this time.
“Pa, is this my punishment? I promise I will never disobey you again like I did yesterday. Please, just don’t make me marry a man who I don’t know or love.”
Sheriff Williams furrowed his brow in concern, looking genuinely hurt that his daughter would believe him to have anything more than the best intentions for her.
“This is not a punishment, Cora,” the sheriff said softly. “You are my daughter, and I love you. I have always had only your best interest at heart. And as your father, I believe this man who can provide you with stability, and safety is what is best for you.”
“But Pa…” Cora made one last attempt at a protest, but Sheriff Williams held out his hand to stop her.
“It’s time, Cora. You are not a girl anymore. You are a woman of twenty years. It is high time you accepted a husband and began to do your duty to God to submit to your husband and bear children of your own.”
Sheriff Williams stood up from the table, placing his hat back on his head and making his way toward the door to resume his work day. Before he left, he turned his head once more to Cora.
“I have given him my blessing. I expect you to graciously accept his proposal.”
Chapter Ten
Roy was dreading the trip to the farrier to repair Iggy’s shoe for the simple reason that he was not ready for the uncomfortable conversation about where he had been for the past five years and the possibility of anymore judgment than he had already endured in the past twenty-four hours. Cora’s words earlier this morning stung more than he cared to admit.
Fortunately, the farrier was out, and his son was running the shop, a tall, scrawny kid who couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. He was skilled from working as an apprentice under his father, and having been young when Roy left town, he wasn’t privy to any of the drama. The entire process went smoothly for both Iggy and Roy, and with Iggy fitted with new shoes, they were ready to head back to Wheats Ridge.
Roy detoured on his way back to the main road to lock up his father’s house. As he approached the house, realizing this might be the last time he would be back to visit, an unexpected sadness filled his heart. Part of him wished things had been different, but he knew that there was no longer any place for him in Lakewood. He simply didn’t belong.
As he prepared to put the key in the door for the last time, he stopped at the sound of a noise coming from inside the house—the sound of a woman crying.
Roy didn’t have to stop to think who it was, and he immediately stepped once more back inside his father’s house. The crying was coming from his father’s bedroom, the one place he had avoided during his stay the night before—he was strong enough to enter the house and even his childhood bedroom, but he wasn’t yet strong enough to go into a room so intimately associated with his father. But now Cora was sitting on his father’s bed, her head bent down and shoulders shaking. She didn’t hear him enter the room through her loud sobs.
Roy stood in the doorway for a moment, wrestling with the feeling that he was intruding on a private moment, and the instinctual urge to wrap a comforting arm around her, to allow her to lean her head on his shoulder and soak his shirt with her tears.
Allowing himself a compromise and not announcing his presence with any dramatic fanfare, Roy quietly made his way over to his father’s bed and silently sat down beside her. Cora’s sobbing paused only momentarily when she became aware of his presence, and then she continued her crying. Roy didn’t say anything but remained sitting by her side, hoping that his presence provided the slightest comfort.
Eventually, her tears subsided, and Cora looked up at him. Her eyes were wet and bloodshot from all the crying, which made her blue eyes just a shade brighter. Her face was red and splotched, and strands of her golden-blonde hair were matted to the side of her face by tears that had dried on her cheeks.
Roy wondered why he had never realized before this moment how beautiful she was, tearstained face and all.
“I’m sorry,” Cora said, her voice still unsteady. “For what I said earlier. It was cruel and untrue, and I shouldn’t have said it.”
Roy frowned. “Apology accepted, of course, but… I hope that’s not the thing that has you in here so upset?”
Cora shook her head, but she didn’t elaborate further.
“I’ve come here every day since your father died,” she admitted. “I came here every day before he died, too, taking care of him. But after he passed, I kept coming, because being here makes me feel close to him.”
Roy nodded, his heart melting at her genuine words.
“My father doesn’t understand me,” Cora whispered. “He raised me by himself after my mother died giving birth to me, and I don’t think he ever really recovered from that. It’s like he didn’t know what to do with me.
