Cora was relieved when the last course had been served and at last the evening came to an end.
“Thank you, Mrs. Mills, for your hospitality and the delicious meal,” Cora said before her father could prompt her. At that point she was more willing to be agreeable now that the end was in sight. “And thank you, Alfred, for your courteous and chivalrous nature, as usual.” A smirk played on the corner of Cora’s lips, and she wondered if Alfred could tell that she was being facetious. She decided she didn’t care if he could.
Before she turned to leave, however, Alfred pulled her toward him, whispering in her ear, “Just four more weeks until you’re mine,” and kissed her wetly on the cheek. This time Cora didn’t bother waiting until he looked away to wipe the spit from her skin and transfer it once again to the folds of her dress. She decided that this dress would be getting several good washings before she wore it again.
As Cora and her father rode home in silence, tears began to sting her eyes. Despite her quips throughout the night that left her feeling momentarily triumphant, the fact was that there was no stopping the marriage that was going to take place. She couldn’t believe how far her life had spun out of her control.
But then her father broke the silence, surprising Cora with his words. “You did great tonight, Cora,” he said with sincerity. “I know this has all been hard on you, but tonight, you handled yourself like a mature, young lady. And I couldn’t be prouder.”
Despite her dread over the entire situation, Cora couldn’t help but smile, her heart swelling with pride at her father’s words.
He had never, not once, told her that he was proud of her. While finally hearing those words tonight was special in their own right, it wasn’t enough to ease the growing dread. In four weeks’ time, she would be wed to Alfred Mills, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next day, after that prayerful moment in church, Roy decided to throw himself into action to make his future as a ranch owner happen. His first stop was to visit the newspaper office for the Lakewood-Magnolia Grove Times. Since both towns were small and close together, they shared the same paper, but the office was located in Lakewood.
“Good afternoon!” said the man working the front desk. Roy wasn’t sure of his name, but he looked vaguely familiar and was about his age, so chances were good they went to school together. “Roy Burns, right?” the man asked, squinting at Roy as if confirming that he was seeing him correctly.
“That’s right,” Roy said, drumming his fingers on the counter with one hand and reaching into his pocket for his coins with the other.
“I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Philip Hawthorne. We went to school together. I remember you gave Alfred Mills what was coming to him!”
Now Roy understood why he looked familiar. He never had any close friends, as he was kind of a loner, but he remembered Philip telling Alfred in no uncertain terms that he needed to stop taunting Roy and let him be. When Roy finally lost his temper, Philip had come to him while he was sitting in isolation as punishment and told him that he was glad someone finally gave Alfred what he deserved. Roy had forgotten about that until just this moment, but now he remembered how much he appreciated having an ally.
“I did do that,” Roy said, chuckling a little bit in spite of himself. “Although I guess in hindsight, there were better ways I could have handled that.”
“Naw, I think you did good,” Philip insisted. Then he leaned forward like he was telling Roy a secret. “Have you heard what he’s up to now?”
Roy could only guess what he was about to tell him, but he didn’t want to let on how much he knew about the guy, so he just shook his head. Philip reached on the shelf behind him and pulled out a folded newspaper. He flipped to the page he was looking for and turned it so Roy could read it.
It was an announcement publicizing the official engagement between Alfred Mills and Cora Williams. A lump formed in Roy’s throat.
“Can you believe he’s going after the sheriff’s daughter?” Philip asked, shaking his head in disdain. “If you ask me, he’s doing it for one of two reasons: either to get on the good side of the sheriff so he and his henchmen can have more than just money on their side to get away with whatever they want, or because Cora’s beautiful and he wants to ensure some great-looking bloodline. Like he’s part of the English royal family or something.”
“Cora is beautiful,” Roy said under his breath, not intending anyone to hear.
“Exactly,” Philip said, feeling validated as Roy’s underlying point, thankfully, went right over his head. “But Alfred Mills is always going to get what he wants, right?”
Roy didn’t want to get into all that. He just wanted to finish what he came here to do.
“I was actually hoping to get something published in the next paper,” Roy changed the subject, pushing across the table the coins and the paper he had written on listing all the details of his father’s property.
“Sure thing,” Philip said, taking the coins and unfolding the paper. “Hey, you’re selling the pastor’s house?”
Roy nodded. “My dad left it to me, and after a lot of thought, I’ve decided to go all in and invest in a ranch of my own.”
Philip nodded, looking impressed. “That is a noble pursuit, Roy. I wish you the best of luck. And don’t hesitate to stop by anytime you need anything.”
Roy thanked him and left to return home and start packing. He anticipated that by the time tomorrow’s paper was published, he would start receiving serious inquiries pretty quickly. His father’s property, just near the town church and a good source of water, the creek, was a coveted piece of land.
As he made his way back to his house, Roy thought back to his expectations about returning to Wheats Ridge versus the realities. He had assumed that coming home, he would be shunned by the community, that they would have had five years to make up their minds about him in his absence, embellishing all the stories of his teenage antics and disputes with his father. He had assumed he would return a villain to the community.
But that hadn’t been the case. Quite the contrary, most people—Alfred Mills notwithstanding—had been pleasant. Well, Sheriff Williams had his issues with him, but he had another motive, keeping Cora protected, so Roy couldn’t hold that against him. Otherwise, Roy thought about Philip Hawthorne and Samuel Beck at the bank and how helpful and supportive they had been. He even thought about the crowd of people at the church in Magnolia Grove, who, while obnoxious and overwhelming, had seemed mostly happy to see him return to church.
Perhaps he had established himself as the community villain only in his own mind, and the reality was never as extreme as he assumed. Perhaps he hadn’t been a bad person in his last years in Lakewood, but only a teenager, and people were more willing to give the reckless immaturity of youth a little more grace than he thought. These realizations brought him a sense of relief, as if a yoke he had been carrying so long had been lifted.
Once Roy returned home, he decided to start packing the house in anticipation that it would be sold soon. Roy began sorting items into what to keep and what to bring to the local secondhand store, including much of his father’s clothes—with the exception of the blue shirt he wore the day Cora made him coffee in his father’s kitchen.
