Roy’s heart sank at the look of disappointment and anger on Sheriff Williams’ face as he saw them coming off the Ferris Wheel together. He scolded himself for once again getting Cora in trouble, jeopardizing her relationship with her father to fulfill his own selfish need to spend time with her.
“Pa,” Cora said nervously. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for work, Cora,” the sheriff said coolly, as if he were trying to keep his temper in check. “Magnolia Grove requested extra security for the fair, as they typically do every year. Now the real question is, what areyoudoing here?”
Before Cora could speak, Roy interjected. “It’s my fault, Sheriff Williams. I asked her to come with me. I take full responsibility—”
Sheriff Williams put his hand in the air to stop him, and Roy fell silent. “You listen here, son. This is between me and my daughter—who was given very clear orders to stay away from you.”
Roy swallowed hard and glanced at Cora out of the corner of his eye, whose shoulders were slumped in shame. Roy’s stomach twisted with guilt. He knew her father had been angry last Sunday, but Cora never told him that she had been forbidden from seeing him.
“Do you like my daughter, Roy?” the sheriff asked, leveling with him. Roy hesitated, wondering whether it was a trick question, before answering as honestly as he could without getting Cora in anymore trouble.
“I care about her. She’s my friend.”
“That’s what I thought,” the sheriff said. “Well, being that she’s your friend, and that you care about her, do you know what a frienddoesn’tdo? A friend doesn’t sabotage his friend’s future. Every day that you spend with Cora, taking her out in public, walking around like you two are in some courtship, you jeopardize her chance at marrying a wealthy man. Someone who can provide for her financial security and ensure she is taken care of for life. You said you care about her, so answer me this, son: what can you offer Cora?”
There was one, singular word that came to Roy’s mind that he could possibly give to answer the sheriff’s question. But wasn’t the answer the sheriff wanted to hear, nor was it the time to say it. So instead of speaking with his heart, Roy looked down at the ground in shame and said, “Nothing, sir. I can’t offer her anything.”
“That’s not true, Roy!” Cora yelled suddenly, her voice becoming shrill. “How can you say that?” Roy’s heart shattered, but he remained silent.
“That’s what I thought,” Sheriff Williams said, ignoring Cora and keeping his gaze fixed on Roy, his lips curling. “Cora was doing just fine until you showed up, and she would have been better off if you had just stayed in Wheats Ridge.”
“Pa! That’s not true!” Cora cried out. “Roy, please don’t listen to him!”
But Roy wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at the ground with his hands in his pockets, ashamed at how quickly he had let everything spiral out of control, all because he thought he had the right to spend time with the daughter of the sheriff, a woman who was already spoken for. Cora’s father didn’t seem care to listen to her protests. He grasped her firmly by the arm and pulled her away, leaving Roy standing there as Cora looked helplessly at him over her shoulder.
Roy traveled alone back to his father’s house. What had been such a perfect day had ended in disaster. He could still feel Cora’s delicate lips against his cheek, and the warmth that had come over him in that moment. He had never been happier to be taken by surprise.
After arriving home and securing Iggy in the barn, Roy changed into his night clothes, thinking hard about everything Sheriff Williams had said. If he had known that Cora had been forbidden from seeing him, he never would have shown up at their house yesterday afternoon, and he certainly wouldn’t have invited her to the fair. Not for lack of want, but out of respect for Cora’s relationship with her father.
He knew what it was like to have a sore relationship with his father, and his own father had died before he had been able to reconcile. He would carry that burden with him for the rest of his life. He didn’t want Cora to have to suffer through the same heartache with her own father.
That aside, Sheriff Williams was right. Roy couldn’t provide for Cora. All he had to his name was his father’s old property and a small savings, which he was soon planning to sell. Investing in a ranch was a risk—he might be successful one day, but it would take him time to establish himself, and he could just as easily fail. On the contrary, the man she was currently set to marry was well-established and could provide her with everything she would ever need.
Cora was the most special person he had ever met, and she deserved the world. Roy had been selfish to continuously go out alone with her and put her financial security at risk. He resolved that he wouldn’t do anything else to jeopardize her future.
After a few restless hours thinking about Cora, Roy finally fell into a dreamless sleep. At the first morning light, however, he was awakened by a knock on the door.
To his surprise, it was Cora standing on his father’s doorstep, for once knocking rather than letting herself in. She looked up at him with a pained expression while Roy stood in the doorway, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, feeling a loss of what to say.
“Why are you here, Cora?” he said finally. He was aware that the mental exhaustion evident in his voice. He just wanted to pull her in his arms and hold her for as long as she would allow him, but he had to remind himself that truly caring about someone meant doing what was best for them, even when it hurt.
“I just… I wanted to check on you, to see if you are okay,” Cora said in a small voice. She started to reach for his hand, but Roy pulled it back. He didn’t want to, and it pained him to do so, but he knew he had to stand his ground for her sake.
“I’m fine, Cora. Really, you don’t need to worry about me.”
“I’m sorry about everything my father said. He was wrong and—”
“No,” Roy interrupted. “Your father was right.”
Cora’s face contorted in a mixture of confusion and pain, and Roy knew that he might as well have slapped her across the face. Her hurt expression crushed his heart.I’m doing this for her,Roy silently reminded himself.And she will see it one day.
“Look, Cora,” Roy said, his voice was soft but still firm. “You have the opportunity to marry someone who can give you everything. Things that I never can. I know you might not see it now, but Alfred Mills will be able to provide you with a good life, never wanting for anything. And the truth is that I can’t promise you those same things. I don’t know even know what my financial situation will look like six months or a year from now.”
“I don’t care about business and finances! And I will be wanting for things,” Cora said, her voice cracking. “I’ll be wanting for happiness… for love.”
Roy closed his eyes, afraid that he looked any longer at her blue eyes, so full of pain, he might crumble. But he had to do what was best for her.
