Read Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) Online
Authors: Lori Wick
Tags: #Romance, #Christian, #Fiction, #Christian Fiction, #Western, #Historical, #INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE, #General, #Religious, #Texas, #Love Stories
all sorts of other thoughts. It was not a solid reason and
Liberty knew that, but she just kept justifying it by
reminding herself that all too soon it would be December,
with Christmas rushing up on the calendar.
S' *3r
"Do you know what happened to me on Sunday?" Tess
whispered to Griffin in the general store. She had been
shopping and turned to find him next to her, something
that never failed to delight her.
"What?"
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"A very wonderful man asked me to marry him."
"No kidding?" Griffin's eyes were impressively large.
"No kidding," Tess answered, her own eyes alight with
pleasure as she looked up at him. "I said yes."
"Did you?" Griffin smiled down at her. "When is the
big event?"
"Well," her brow dropped in the way he loved, "I'm
free tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Thanksgiving," he reminded her, feeling
intoxicated by her nearness.
"Friday then?" Tess asked hopefully, and Griffin had to
laugh.
Tess smiled complacently and then noticed the eyes
that watched them, mostly older women who should have
known better.
"I can tell this is going to be interesting," Tess said as
she turned to examine a row of shoes and belts.
"Why is that?" Griffin asked, studying her profile with
pleasure.
"You might be the most well-known person in town.
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It's like courting in a house made of glass."
Griffin had noticed the attention as well, but there was
little he could do or say. He opted for a lighter note.
Every Little Thing About You 141
"You sound as though you're changing your mind."
No longer caring who might be watching, Tess' eyes
met his.
"Not even close," she said softly.
Griffin reached for her hand, their fingers entwining for
several seconds.
Not long afterward, Griffin went back to work, comforted
by the fact that in two days he could see her almost
all day. Nevertheless, he asked God to help him concentrate
on the job. Remembering Tess' sweet smile and love
for him, he thought he might endanger someone if he even
touched his gun.
fy Q-%f
249
The
second week in December was cold. Slater had not
paid much attention to the weather so far, working with
Price and Hank no matter what. But today his head felt full,
and every time he bent over the hammer, his forehead and
cheeks pounded. He told himself he could make it all day/
but by midaf ternoon, he knew he had to get inside.
"I don't feel well," Slater wasted no words in telling his boss. "I'm going to head home. I'll try to work tomorrow."
Hank looked up, a frown on his face, but Slater's glassy
eyes and red face softened him a little.
"Just take off till it's gone, or you'll have us all sick.*
Slater did little more than wave as he turned away.
"Hey, Slater," Price stepped in, "Miss Amy carries some
medicine for colds. Stop by for some on your way home.
Doc Bergram's or something like that"
"Thanks, Price."
Slater hadn't really decided to stop, but since he hadn't
ridden Arrow to the job that day, he felt nearly frozen by
the time he reached downtown. He stepped into the general
store just to get his lungs out of the cold. Miss Amy
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happened to be standing right inside.
"May I help you?"
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Every Little Thing About You 143
"Oh." Slater tried to smile and be polite, his mind fuzzy
with the headache. "I'm looking for something for colds. I
think Price said it was Doc Berg's or some name like that."
"Doc Bergrin's?"
"Yeah, that must be it."
"Right this way."
Slater followed her in something of a daze. She had a
large selection of tonics and such. He watched as she
plucked one off the shelf and handed it to him.
"That one will take all pain away--if s pretty potent
This one," she said, handing him another bottle, "doesn't
have any alcohol in it at all, but it's still good stuff. Typically,
husbands buy the first one and wives buy the second
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one."
No contest in Slater's mind. He took the second bottle
and turned toward the counter, wanting nothing more than
to get home and climb into bed.
"Price sent you, didn't he?" Miss Amy asked quietly as
Slater was fishing for coins.
"Yes. He said you might have something,"
"He hasn't been in since he got back," she murmured.
A note in her voice got through to Slater Working to ignore
his own discomfort, he looked at the tall, well-built woman
behind the cash register. She didn't appear to be quite as
young as Price, but there was no mistaking the interest in
her eyes.
"Maybe he doesn't know you'd like him to come in,"
Slater offered.
"Well," Miss Amy's gaze dropped, "I hope someone
tells him." With that, she slid Slater's change across the
counter, shut the drawer, and turned away. Slater watched
her take a feather duster to shelves that looked immaculate,
his heart turning over in compassion. He felt simply awful,
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but that did not stop him from praying for Price and Miss
Amy and asking God to open the door if he should tell his
coworker what this woman had said.
$-*3r
-
"Oh!
Dakota!" Liberty said when the door was opened,
"I didn't know you were back."
Dakota had been called to work just after Thanksgiving
and hadn't been in town since.
"I'm just in," he explained. "Come on in."
"Well, I don't want to be in the way, but Mam thought
she saw Slater come in and wanted to send this soup for
him. Is he here?"
"I don't think so, but maybe he is. Come on through
and I'll check."
Dakota held the door wide, and Liberty took the pot of
warm soup straight through to the kitchen. Since her
brother had gained a housemate, she did not come and go
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as she pleased through his back door.
"Let me see if he's here now," Dakota said.
Liberty put the pot on the stove top and went ahead
and added a little wood to the fire in the oven. The house
felt chilly to her.
"He's sound asleep," Dakota announced when he
returned from upstairs.
Liberty nodded. "He mentioned on the weekend that
he thought he'd caught something. Well, tell him to rest,
and hopefully the soup will help."
"All right. Thanks."
Liberty started back toward the front door, Dakota on
her heels.
"Should I take this as a good sign?" Dakota suddenly
asked, causing Liberty to turn before she reached the doorknob.
"For what?"
"Well," Dakota smiled charmingly. "When a lady
brings a gentleman hot soup, I would say that means she
cares."
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Liberty's eyes lit with amusement. "My mother sent the
soup, and to answer your question, yes, she cares very
much."
"Come on, Libby," he coaxed now, "give a guy a
break."
"Dakota," Liberty replied, trying not to laugh at his
pleading look, "I don't know what you want."
His black eyes narrowed as they always did when he
was in thought.
"All right," he finally said, Til play my hand. How do
you feel about Slater?"
Liberty's look was remarkably calm. "That, Mr. Rawlngs,
is a question the gentleman himself will have to ask
me."
""But you could give me a hint."
"No, I couldn't," Liberty said on a laugh. She thought
he was so funny. "And while we're on the subject, what is
it to you?"
"I'll tell you what. He's going to let you get away if he
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isn't careful."
Liberty shook her head. "I don't think I've ever seen the
like."
"What's that?"
"A Texas Ranger with nothing better to do than play
matchmaker."
Dakota was opening his mouth in outrage when Liberty
slipped out the door. She didn't look back or even
wave, but she smiled to herself all the way back to her own
front door.
-S-"
"Did I hear Liberty's voice?" Slater asked when Dakota
checked on him about 20 minutes later.
"Yes. Are you going to marry that lady or not?"
"This afternoon," Slater said as he rolled over to go
back to sleep. "Didn't I tell you?"
Every Little Thing About You 145
256
Dakota took compassion when he heard Slater's rough
voice. Thinking his throat had to be sore, he took himself
from the room. It didn't look as though anything he could
say or do would induce Slater back to the Rangers, but
where Liberty Drake was concerned, he wasn't going to
leave things so up in the air. He decided that before he left
town he was going to wring a few promises out of his little
brother.
$
A high-noon bank robbery the day after Christmas was
not what Griffin and Liberty had been expecting, but that
was exactly what they got.
It was a Monday, and Liberty was due to go off duty
when a terrified Miss Amy came running to tell her what
she'd witnessed across the street. Liberty knew better than
to go alone. Thankfully, Griffin was in the mayor's office,
and within minutes the two of them were making their
257
way to the bank building. The only way in was through the
front door, so they started to inch their way down the
boardwalk. They had just gained positions at the window
when a shot was fired and at least two women screamed.
Wasting no more time, the Drakes rushed in.
"Don't do it!" a wild-eyed man screamed, his gun
pointed right at them. "Get your hands up. I swear I'll
shoot again."
Liberty and Griffin did exactly as they were told,
coming in and leaving the door wide open. The man kept
turning, moving around so fast that he gave them no time
to reach for their weapons. At the same time, he didn't
seem to notice their gun belts. Standing with her hands in
the air, helpless for die moment, Liberty took in the scene
and felt very sick.
Seven people stood against the tellers' windows. One
of them was three-year-old Josie Frank, who stood frozen
as she stared at her mother's body. What had compelled
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this man to shoot Desna Frank was unclear, but the pool of
blood underneath her and her motionless form did not
look good.
Liberty forced her mind back onto the robber just in