“Lest you think you have somehow gotten the last word, just know that you haven’t heard the end of this.”
And then she was gone. The pain in Roy’s hand where he had punched Alfred suddenly became evident as he looked over his shoulder at Sheriff Williams. He expected to see relief at their departure, but instead the sheriff sat down on the slowly on the edge of the couch, his eyebrows knitted together and both palms clasped together over his nose and mouth—a sign that if even the town sheriff was concerned, something bad was sure to be around the corner.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cora was still shaken as she reached inside the pine wood ice box in the corner of the kitchen and filled a cloth with chunks of ice. She was thankful that at least the ice delivery service had arrived that morning, so the box had recently been restocked.
She cradled the ice-filled cloth and twisted the top into a tight knot before bringing it to the kitchen table, where Roy sat with his wounded hand laid out. It was already beginning to bruise. As she carefully took Roy’s hand in hers and placed the ice cloth on top of the injury, her mind flickered by to their first encounter in Wheats Ridge, when she had sprained her ankle and Roy had taken care of her. Now it was her turn to do the same for him.
“I’m sorry,” Cora said softly as she held the ice to Roy’s hand. “You shouldn’t have had to injure your hand on my account.”
Roy placed his good hand on Cora’s arm. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he said firmly. “He shoved you. He could have hurt you. I was never going to let that stand.”
Cora could feel her face flush and her stomach fluttered as she looked into Roy’s eyes and saw the sincerity. Despite the high emotions of the evening’s events, knowing that Roy deeply cared about her was the best feeling in the world.
Sheriff Williams, who had been preparing hot tea, set down a cup in front of each of them and then took his own seat at the table.
“As the town sheriff, I don’t condone the practice of brawling,” he said slowly. “But as someone who was once a husband, I would have done the same thing for my wife.”
Cora watched as her father took a sip of his tea. She felt like she had grown to know her father more in the past few hours than in the rest of her life combined.
“It’s important to me that you know, Cora, that your mother and I did love each other,” the sheriff said. “She may not have been ‘in love’ with me when we first married. It was a marriage of convenience for her sake. But over time our bond deepened, especially when she was pregnant with you. Those were some of the happiest months of my life.” He smiled fondly, his eyes distant. “I’ll never forget the moment she realized that the pains she was feeling was the onset of labor and that you would be arriving soon. Her face lit up in a smile that reached her eyes, and she told me she loved me. I believe with all my heart that she was sincere. I had succeeded in winning her heart.”
Cora didn’t think she had anymore tears to spare until her eyes filled with more of them as she listened to her father’s memory. She got up from her seat at the table and sat in the seat next to his, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I believe you, Pa,” Cora whispered into his neck. “And I’m sorry that I doubted the love that you and Ma shared.”
Sheriff Williams squeezed her tight. “Not every love story is the same, Cora. God is the author of love, and He has more ways of writing love stories than there are romance novels in this world. They are all beautiful when they are written by Him.”
Cora listened to her father speak with awe. She had always known him to be a man of quiet faith. He lived a godly life and raised her to know the Lord, but he didn’t speak deeply on spiritual matters. Unlike Pastor Burns, he wasn’t a man known for his way with words. That’s how she knew that God was helping him, giving him the words to speak what was on his heart.
“But your story doesn’t have to be mine,” Sheriff Williams continued. “And that was my mistake. When I left you at Roy’s tonight, I took my time coming back here so I could do some praying. And I came to the realization that when you told me that you wanted to wait for the person you love, and that you didn’t love Alfred, I should have listened. I think I knew that all along, but it took some time with the Lord to get me to admit it.” He suddenly chuckled just slightly. “Maybe not all of your stubbornness comes from your mother. You must get some of it from me, too.”
Cora felt the warm rush of thanksgiving as she put together the fact that while she was praying at Roy’s house, her father had been praying at that very same time. She reached across the table and clasped one of his hands with both of his.
“It’s okay, Pa,” Cora said, although she knew she didn’t need to forgive her father. They had both made mistakes and were equally in need of each other’s understanding.
Sheriff Williams finished his tea and chuckled a little bit, his eyes crinkling in the corners when he smiled, something she hadn’t seen since she was a little girl.
“With regard to your wanting to find love? Well, if you ask me, God is answering your prayer as we speak.” And with that he gave Cora a wink, kissed her on the forehead, and stood up from the table, patting Roy on the shoulder on his way out of the kitchen.
“You two take all the time you need to finish your tea. I’m going to be just over in the next room. But when you’re done, Roy, I’d like to talk to you alone. Man to man.”
Cora and Roy sat in the quiet for a few moments after her father had left the room.
“Are you all right, Roy?” she finally asked. He looked up at her and gave her a crooked, off-kilter smile.
“I’m more than all right,” he said, brushing the side of her face with the knuckles of his good hand. “Don’t worry about me.”
“I am worried, though,” Cora said, biting her lip. “I’m worried about all of us—you, me, and Pa. You heard what Violet said when she was leaving: ‘you haven’t heard the end of this.’ What do you think she meant by that?”
“I don’t know,” Roy admitted. “Probably nothing. Folks like them are all talk. But you don’t have anything to worry about it either way. I willneverlet anything bad happen to you.”
Roy placed his hand over Cora’s where she held the ice pack to his other hand, and warmth traveled throughout her entire body, from the tips of ears to her toes. She believed Roy when he said he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. She never felt safer than when she was with him.
Cora suddenly giggled. “I was just thinking about your father. How he sent me to Wheats Ridge to bring you home. Do you think he ever suspected we would wind up like this, sitting at my kitchen table holding hands?”
Roy grinned. “I have a feeling that he and God are up there right now having a good laugh. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all part of his plan to begin with.”
