Andthatlapse of memory was always his downfall.
It was a good thing Miss Scott had turned him down flat, even if it ate at his confidence. Perhaps it was God’s intervention, a message to Cole to keep his mind on himself and not on the ladies.
“I couldn’t get much out of him aside from a name, but I think he’s the same one who’s been bothering a few of the other ladies for the past week.” Sheriff Granger had returned to the office after bringing the thief upstairs to the town jail. “You said it was Miss Scott he accosted?”
Cole nodded. “Near the edge of town. I heard a shout from the road and found them in an open area behind some houses.”
“She must have been on her way home. Her family lives nearby,” the sheriff said as he grabbed a pencil and began scratching something onto a scrap of paper. “Now, which Miss Scott? I’ll need to pay her a call tomorrow.”
There was more than one of them? “I’m not certain, Sheriff. I only just arrived here. She had dark hair, blue eyes, and she didn’t think very highly of me.” Cole smiled a little at the memory of Miss Scott’s utter fury at his request for her company.
Sheriff Granger laughed. “That would be the elder of the two sisters.”
He didn’t supply a name, and Cole had to hide his disappointment.
The sheriff pushed his notes aside and perched on the edge of his desk. “You planning to stay in town long, Robertson?”
Cole’s gaze moved toward the window. Last Chance had caught his attention. It was as good a place as any to stay for a while. “I might, provided I can find work.”
Sheriff Granger studied him a moment. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever worked as a lawman?”
“I was a deputy for the marshal back in Riggs, South Dakota. And in a few other places before that.” No need to detail to Sheriff Granger how many towns he found himself fleeing from.
“Do you like the work?”
“I do, most of the time.” Cole cocked his head. “Are you offering me a job, Sheriff?”
“I suppose I am. Last Chance is growing enough that I need assistance. I’d like to let our former sheriff live out his retirement in peace without me calling on him for help. We’re seeing more and more men like that one you brought in. I’ve just recently gotten the funding to hire a deputy—I was only waiting on the right man. And you seem more than capable. What do you say?”
Cole couldn’t keep the grin from his face. Things were falling into place perfectly. Maybe Last Chance would finally be the town he could call home. “It seems a far sight better than hiring on to muck out stalls at the livery. I accept.”
Sheriff Granger held out his hand and Cole shook it. “If you need a place to stay, Mrs. Shomburg runs a fine boarding house over what used to be the saloon. You get settled in, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
Cole thanked him. And as he stepped out onto the street, he decided he truly was thankful for the fresh start. A new town, a new job—and this time he wouldn’t throw it all away by breaking another woman’s heart.
No, he was done with the ladies. Even ones with eyes as pretty as Miss Scott’s wouldn’t derail him this time around.
*****
Cole stepped out ofTalley’s General Store two days later, his optimism about Last Chance undiminished. He lifted a hand in greeting to Beau Landry, who ran the post and telegraph office with his wife. Everyone he’d met in town so far had been welcoming and grateful for an additional set of hands to help the sheriff.
The bright sun warmed the late winter chill as Cole ambled slowly down the board sidewalk. It was growing later in the morning, and he was considering taking the midday meal again at Dawson’s Diner. His stomach rumbled at the thought. He figured he ought to stop in at a couple more businesses first, though.
He was just about to step inside one of the newer shops on Main Street when he spied someone.
Miss Scott.
Cole couldn’t keep the grin from his face. He hadn’t seen her since the afternoon he’d rescued her reticule. But—against all his better judgment—that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about her.
She was carrying a stack of books, so tall that she used her chin to keep the top book in place. The woman must like to read, he thought as he watched her weave her way past a couple strolling arm-in-arm.
“Miss Scott,” he called as she grew closer.
She jerked her chin up, coming to a stop. The top book slid, and before Miss Scott could do anything about it, it tumbled to the ground, with several more books following in quick succession.
“Oh, no!” she cried as she bent down to retrieve them.
Cole hurried toward her, catching a couple more books that slid from the stack she’d moved to one hand as she tried to pick up the fallen tomes.
