Chapter Nineteen
Five days had passedsince Marian had told Cole she no longer wished to see him, and he’d taken her at her word. She’d only caught glimpses of him, once entering the courthouse, once at church where he’d sat in the very back, and a few times as he walked by the schoolhouse.
Out of the corner of her eye, she searched the road as she saw the children off for the afternoon. But Cole was nowhere to be seen. She sighed inwardly. Why she expected him to come by, she didn’t know. After all, she was the one who had asked him to stay away. The fact that he still felt obligated to walk by now and then to ensure all was well was far more than he owed her.
He’s only doing his job. It hurt to admit that, but it would be for the better if she could start believing it.
“Searching for someone?” Jessilyn appeared beside her.
Marian drew her gaze from the road. All of the children had gone, and she’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even noticed the last of them leaving.
“No,” Marian said quickly, although from the quirk in Jessilyn’s frown, she knew her sister knew better. She pinched her eyebrows together. “What are you doing here? We have no children staying later today.”
“I thought I’d come by to see if my favorite sister wanted to go by Vivian’s Tea Room with me. We could talk, have some tea, see who else might be there . . .” Jessilyn trailed off with a hopeful note to her voice.
“I think I’d just like to go home today,” Marian said as she opened the door to the schoolhouse.
Jessilyn followed her inside, stopping just inside the doorway. “All of this quiet and somberness isn’t good for you. I don’t pretend to understand why you sent Deputy Robertson packing, but anyone can see you aren’t yourself. You need some cheering up.”
Marian gripped the back of a desk as she drew in a deep breath. “I want to teach.”
“Of course you do. And I’m certain your beau knew that.”
“Well, then you understand why I made the decision to . . .” She couldn’t say it out loud. “To teach.”
Jessilyn gave a dry laugh. “Did you even discuss this with the deputy, or did you simply inform him?”
“I . . .” Marian trailed off. “There was nothing to discuss.”
Jessilyn threw up her hands. “You could haveaskedhim how he felt. You could have told him about your dilemma. Perhaps he would have surprised you by being a modern sort of man. Perhaps he wouldn’t have minded if you continued to teach while married.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Marian dropped her hands from the desk and went to fetch the broom.
“And why not?” Jessilyn persisted.
“Because.” Marian stilled the broom. “The rest of the town wouldn’t be so modern in their thinking. And besides, he didn’t want to marry me anyway.”
Jessilyn’s eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. “How do you know that if you never discussed it with him?”
“Iknow. That’s all.” Marian’s heart hammered at the partial truth. She didn’t know for certain, of course. But how could a man who made light of marriage want to pursue it? He wouldn’t have said such a thing if he didn’t want her to understand his feelings on the matter.
“Well. I think you’re being quite foolish.”
