Roy wrapped her tighter in his arms as he bent his head down to kiss the top of her head. They didn’t speak for a long time as they held each other. Over the top of her head, he looked up the moon and the stars painted across the Colorado sky, and he thanked the God who put them there for this moment.
When the clatter of hooves sounded in the distance, Roy squeezed his eyes shut. He knew what they meant, but he wasn’t ready to let this moment go—he wasn’t ready to lethergo.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cora didn’t turn around when she heard the horse behind her. Instead, she tightened her hold around Roy’s chest, her fingers gripping the back of his shirt. She inhaled deeply into his chest, his natural, woodsy scent relaxing her muscles. How could she go back to the hostile environment that was currently her father’s house when the safety of Roy’s arms felt like home?
“Cora, come back home with me. Now.” Cora couldn’t help but notice that her father sounded more exhausted than angry.
Finally, Cora released her hold on Roy and turned to face her father, who was releasing the reins on the horse and stepping down from the wagon. He wasn’t wearing his sheriff’s hat, and it was rare for him to go out without it. It made his hair look tousled and his overall appearance seem exhausted.
“No,” Cora said, her voice firm and her feet planted firmly on the Burns’ porch.
By the look on the sheriff’s face, Cora might as well have poured water over the top of his head. “Excuse me?”
“I won’t go back home if Alfred Mills, or his horrid mother, are still there. I will wait right here until they leave.”
“For goodness’ sake, Cora!” Her father did sound angry now, raising his voice and silencing the night birds. He placed his lantern on the back of the buggy and pointed his finger past Cora’s shoulder.
“That boy has been a bad influence on you since the day he arrived, and this stops now—”
“No!” Cora interrupted, stepping down the porch and away from Roy, who was rubbing the back of his neck as if he were unsure of his place in this conversation. “Even if Roy had never come back from Wheats Ridge, I still wouldn’t want to marry Alfred. I don’t care how much money he has. He’s an awful, godless man! His father walked out on his mother, left and went to London where he probably has another family, and by his mother’s own admission, Alfred is following in the same direction. He only wants me for my looks, to make pretty babies to secure his family line, while leaving me all alone and unloved. Is that really the life you want for me, Pa? A life without love?”
Cora was moving toward her father. Her entire body was shaking, and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. Even though she had in the past not shied away from expressing her feelings to her father, she had never before lashed out to this extreme. Her furor gave her a newfound courage, and she continued her candid appeal.
“And if Roy is to blame for anything, it is for showing me the characteristics of a good man. Someone who is selfless and honorable. Someone who makes me feel safe. That’s what I want in a future husband, and I refuse to settle for anything less.”
Cora turned back to Roy after this declaration and found him watching her with a soft, tender look in his eyes, his body still.
Sheriff Williams shook his head and scoffed. His hands were on his hips, and he was stared at the ground for a long moment before gesturing toward Roy.
“A good man, huh? Selfless? Tell me, Cora, does a good, selfless man run away from home? Does he leave his family in a lurch? Answer this, Cora. You want to hold Alfred’s father’s mistakes against him and claim that he will leave you… how do you know Roy won’t walk away from you just like he walked away from his own father?”
“I would never—” Roy started to interject, moving swiftly down the porch steps, but Cora cut him off. This battle was between her and her father, and it had been a long time coming. She had to do this herself.
“Don’t you dare bring his family business into this! What happened between Pastor Burns and Roy was complicated. I didn’t see that before, but I see it now because I’ve actually taken the time to listen to what he has to say and to hear both sides of the story. Unlike you, who decided what you thought about Roy a long time ago and refuse to accept any other narrative.” Cora was shouting into the night, and she was glad that Roy didn’t have any neighbors nearby, because they would surely hear every word of this argument.
“Roy’s own father said himself that—” Sheriff Williams started again, but Cora was not letting anyone get a word in.
“Pastor Burns said that Roy was a good man! That’s what he told me on his deathbed. Anything he said out of emotion in the early days after Roy’s leaving doesn’t matter—what he said at the end is what matters. And you know what? We shouldn’t even be talking about this. Because what happened was between the two of them and God, and it’s in the past. The only thing that matters now is the present. I love Roy for who he is today, and not who he was then.”
“Love?” Sheriff Williams scoffed. “You don’t know as much as you think you do about love.”
Cora crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, Pa, you’re not entirely wrong. There’s a lot that I still don’t know about love, and I have a lot to learn. But I do know one thing for certain, and that is that there isnothingthat Alfred Mills can ever teach me about love.”
Sheriff Williams threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “Cora, I am your father, and I know what is best for you. So I need you to get into this wagon right now and come home to apologize to your future husband for storming out of the house and causing a scene.”
The dam that had been holding back Cora’s despair began to give way, letting through tears of frustration. Her voice quivered.
“You really think you know me? If you really knew me, you wouldn’t be trying to marry me off to that man. You wouldknowhe’s not the right person for me. Why would you think that I need a big fancy house and everything else that comes with his wealth? When has that ever been important to me? You and I have done just fine, and we have not wanted for anything.”
Sheriff Williams just shook his head, his lips a firm line.
“But that’s not what this is really about, is it? Because you’ve never cared about wealth or status, either. No, you just want me to have a husband who you can trust to reign me in and keep me under this watchful eye.”
“Which is for your own good!” Sheriff Williams exploded. “You are just like your mother, stubbornly independent, and it’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.”
Cora pursed her lips and nodded slowly.
