Rance gave her a look that said he thought she might have lost her mind.
She nodded to him to take it. “Trust me. It sounds strange but my housekeeper swore by it and I tried it. It works. Or you could continue to stand there and have tears streaming down your face.”
“They aren’t tears.” He set her straight on that point. She continued to stand there, waiting.
“I never heard of anything like this,” he said, “but you won’t leave it, I’m sure, until I do it.” He took the match and did as instructed. He went back to chopping the juicy onion. She watched.
The onion was soon completed and put inside a plastic container with a tight lid. And the match went into the trash underneath the island.
“You’re welcome,” she said with a true ‘I told you so’ tone in her voice and a knowing smile since he chose to remain silent…and tear-free. She went back to her own items.
“So, is this housekeeper you mention the one who taught you to cook?”
“Yes. And sometimes I would go into the kitchen when I couldn’t sleep or needed to pour over a point of law in my head in a tough case…and I found that taking a recipe out of one of her books, and working with it, helped me to figure out what was bothering me. If I had more time, I would really like to try even more difficult dishes. The problem is that I tend to cook too much and then I have to find people to eat it. The clerks in the courthouse enjoy it when I can’t sleep.”
“I bet they do. Okay so what’s next, Chef?”
He listened and she taught. And all the while, Rance kept adjusting his first impressions of the jurist turned fisherman turned chef. What would be the next revelation?
*
The next two days of her confinement fit into a routine. Coffee on the deck, breakfast, light lunch, dinner, followed by one of the board or card games. And there was conversation. And then awaiting the phone calls that always had the same message…no news was good news. Rance would fish for a while but never out of sight of her. She would do work at the table on the deck, and she could feel his eyes on her from a stance inside the house. The fourth day was Sunday. And she was beginning to feel at odds with the routine and no action to change the circumstance. Something had to change, and it seemed that he had known it also. Just after the breakfast dishes had been washed and put away and the day loomed ahead, he made an announcement.
“If you don’t have any other plans, we do have that invitation to my sister-in-law’s birthday barbecue. We could go with some rules in place.”
“Are you trying to be a comedian? Stick to being a lawman. I do believe I could fit it into my social calendar. But what rules are you thinking of first?”
“Change your look up a bit…hair, sunglasses, jeans…whatever you can. We’ll be driving through Destiny’s River, and we won’t stop until we get to Primrose. And you will stay on that property…no wandering off like you did yesterday along the riverbank and out of my sight.”
That had not been pleasant as she recalled. But she had been daydreaming and following the river, and then he had caught up to her and she saw a side of him that was probably best reserved for lawbreakers that he had to track down. She apologized and the usual Rance Parker came back in place of Marshal Parker. She wouldn’t want to meet him on a bad day as a lawbreaker.
“I apologized for that, and I will not do it again. But who am I when introduced to your family?”
“My siblings have a lot of experience in and around the law. They know that silence is lifesaving more often than not. My brother and sisters know your story. No one else who is there knows it. They think you’re a special friend who is visiting me. You leave tomorrow to go back to Dallas where you work for an attorney. That is how we met…short and sweet.”
“We are dating?”
“Why do you sound so incredulous? You work in an attorney’s office…you aren’t the high-flying big judge that you are, so we’re both just normal working people who are dating. Period. They will understand when we break up.”
“Wow. You have a very high opinion of me. I think. Easy for people to see why we couldn’t possibly be taken seriously as a couple. I’m just a rich snob otherwise.” She turned and left him standing bewildered by her reaction. The bedroom door shut with a little more force this time.
*
“We’re so glad you could come.” Tori smiled as she met them on the broad porch of the three-story Victorian house known originally as the Primrose Inn.
“This is a lovely house. I’m partial to old Victorians that have been restored so perfectly, and this certainly has. Did you do all of this work?” Erin admired the wide porch, so welcoming with the white wooden rocking chairs with bright colored cushions in patterns of lime green with huge pink flowers embroidered on them interspersed with others in patterns in reverse order of hot pink with lime-green and yellow flowers and white daisies. Potted plants adorned the porch along with hanging baskets with huge ferns adding their own greenery.
“I’m glad that you like it. But it isn’t all mine. I was the first to find it and buy it. And for a while, I continued to run it as a bed-and-breakfast. The changes were minor simply because the sweet lady I bought it from had lovingly made a few changes in it herself. My husband and I and the rest of the siblings have supplied manpower and elbow grease whenever needed. It is a gathering place now for the family and friends. Please come in and meet the rest of the gang,” she said, holding the door open for Erin and Rance to enter.
“It’s about time,” said another young woman joining them in the entryway, stepping up and giving Rance a huge hug, “and you appear to be on time. It must be someone’s better influence on you?” Her gaze fell next to Erin. Her hand shot out in greeting. “My brother is a little slow on introductions, but I’m Cassie…his youngest sister, but still older and wiser than he is. Welcome.”
Erin returned the handshake with a laugh. “Thank you! It seems he has two wiser sisters. I’m Erin and glad to meet you.”
“My daughter, Emmie, is outside beating her uncles at cornhole. Do you play?”
“Watch out—” Rance spoke up as he stood next to Erin “—Emmie’s not the only one good at games—Cassie taught her what she knows.” He gave his sister a shake of the head. “I imagine Erin is a novice. I doubt she’s in your league so stop hunting for victims.”
“I might be a novice, but I’m game to learn something new and fun.”
