“People, please! There is nothing left to do here tonight, so it’s best if everyone makes their way back home. First thing in the morning we will launch a thorough investigation and make sure the person or persons responsible are brought to justice.”
His words appeased the masses, and the crowd began to disperse. Soon it was just the three of them standing near the ruins of what was once Pastor Burns’ beloved church. The only thing that remained standing was the sign in front of the building.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Sheriff Williams asked Roy, his arms crossed in front of his chest as they all three stared at the wreckage.
Roy made eye contact with the sheriff and silently nodded, his jaw too tense with infuriation to speak.
There was no doubt in Roy’s mind that Alfred Mills and his henchmen were behind this, and the message they had sent was as loud as the crashing of the church walls: this was a declaration of war.
Chapter Thirty-One
Cora was not able to fall back asleep when she returned home with her father. The wooden, floral-painted wall clock in her bedroom showed that it was already 6:00 a.m., which meant that whoever set the fire likely did it somewhere around 3:00 a.m.—the witching hour, which Cora believed could not be a coincidence.
The sheriff had gone to bed, as he required at least a few hours of rest before beginning the investigation. It was clear to Cora, Roy, and her father that the culprit was Alfred Mills, but given his high standing in the society, proving his involvement would be near impossible.
Cora sat up in her bed with her knees pressed up against her chest, shivering not from cold but from fear. If Alfred had Pastor Burns’ church set on fire mere hours after their broken engagement, who was to say what lengths he was willing to go to next to enact his revenge?
For the first time in her life, Cora was pleased that her father was the sheriff. Knowing that he was just in the room next door with his gun loaded and ready in the holster gave her some sense of comfort. She only wished that Roy was here. She worried about him being all alone in his father’s house, so close to the scene of the crime. What if Pastor Burns’ house was next?
After sitting in bed and staring blankly out the window for about an hour, Cora got up and began to prepare coffee and breakfast for her father. Then she left a note that she was going to check on Roy, and she left at the first sign of daylight.
Not surprisingly, Roy was also awake when Cora arrived, sitting on the front porch and staring into the distance with a blank stare. Cora sat down in the chair beside him and reached for his hand. They sat there like that for a long time as the sun peaked over the treetops. Finally, Roy spoke.
“I don’t know if you remember, but that rope hanging from the tree right there? It used to be a swing. My father had built it for me.”
“I do remember,” Cora said. “It was so big. I remember being jealous of it when I was little and would see it when we were walking to church. It looked like so much fun.”
Roy looked over at Cora and gave her a small smile. “You should have come over to swing. I would have shared.”
“I was such a shy kid, I could never have,” Cora paused and bit her lip. “But I wish we could have known each other better back then.”
Roy squeezed her hand. “We’re together now. That’s all that matters. The present. Remember, you said that to your father—right here on this lawn.”
“Goodness, that already seems like a lifetime ago.” Cora paused. “What made you think of your old swing, anyway?”
“I was thinking about the reason it’s just a rope hanging from the tree and not a swing anymore. I was being a stupid, reckless teenager, and I wanted to know what wood looked like up close when it burned. I hadn’t actually used the swing for its intended purpose in years, so I thought ‘why not?’,” Roy said, his eyes distant, as if he were seeing a series of photographs in his head of the memory. “Now I don’t ever want to see another piece of wood burn for as long as I live.”
Cora’s heart broke at his words and the pain that they revealed. He had already lost his father, and now he had lost the thing that was closest to his father’s heart.
“Can I make you some coffee?” Cora asked, not knowing what else to offer. Roy grinned. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, he wasn’t there yet, but it was a start.
“You know I willneverturn down your coffee.”
Cora got up and kissed Roy on the cheek before going into the house and preparing his coffee just the way he liked it. She also began to prepare him some scrambled eggs and pan-fried ham from a slab she found in the fridge. Roy must have gone shopping recently.
As she cooked his breakfast, she found joy in this simple task despite the trying circumstances surrounding them. She felt like she was already training to be his wife, and she couldn’t wait for the day that she was the one who went shopping for their family. She thought about waking up next to his handsome face every morning, complete with the jagged scar under his left eye that told a story from his adventurous life, and then getting up and cooking breakfast for him—and one day, for their children.
The image in her head of a life with Roy on his new ranch and raising a family with him filled her with so much joy that she started singing, albeit off-key, as she worked so that she didn’t hear when the front door opened, and Roy walked in with her father.
For a split second, Cora feared that she would be in trouble for being caught at Roy’s house this early in the morning, but then she remembered that reaction was leftover worries from a past time, not all that long ago, when her father would have been angry. Had it really only been two weeks since her father had angrily forbidden her from seeing Roy? And now here he was, in his kitchen as his ally rather than his adversary, and giving his unspoken but evident support of their eventual marriage.
The hand of God was surely involved in this transformation, Cora thought,and His timing was indeed perfect.
“Good morning, Pa,” Cora said cheerfully, hoping that her tone could lift the understandably depressing mood that still hung over both of the men. “Did you see the note I left you this morning?”
Sheriff Williams nodded, taking off his hat and setting it on the table before taking a seat. “I got up just shortly after you left, believe it or not. I couldn’t sleep so well myself. I also saw the coffee and breakfast that you left for me. That was nice of you to do. I hope Roy knows how good he has it.”
“I sure do,” Roy said, smiling at Cora as he sat down in front of the coffee and plate of breakfast Cora had placed on the table for him. “For more reasons than just this.”
