Second Chance Bride (17 page)

“As you know, such a future is not possible, but Wilber is not the problem we need to discuss.”

“What is the problem?” She thought for a moment. “Certainly you can’t mean Miguel? You believe I shouldn’t teach Miguel?”

“Not at all. I wish every child in the county could afford to come to school. I’d like to have to build a bigger school and hire another teacher. My dream is to have this school overrun with the children of the community—all the children.”

“John, that’s wonderful. That’s my dream, too.”

“Farley and I are concerned about the children who can’t afford tuition, or who have to work to help their families. We’re discussing solutions.”

“I should have known you would do all that,” she said.

“I support your teaching Miguel, but I have to pass on some concerns of the community. There are those who believe Miguel should not be in school.”

“Why not? Because he’s Mexican?”

“A few people have complained.”

“I’m paid to teach from seven-thirty to two-thirty for two terms of three months each. Isn’t that correct?”

He nodded.

“Who I teach the other hours of the day is nobody else’s business.”

“You don’t have to argue with me.” He held his hand up as if deflecting her barely concealed anger. “But some members of the community would argue that you teach in a building owned by the board. As such it
is
the concern of the school board.”

She sat down, so sickened by the reminder of the prejudice she’d fought all her life that her stomach churned. She did not want Miguel to go through that. “Does the school board want me to stop teaching Miguel?” she asked calmly, wanting to avoid a confrontation if possible. “Do
you
expect me to stop teaching Miguel?” she asked, her voice soft as she reminded herself that she needed John’s support to keep her position.

“No. I’m just telling you what a few people have told me.”

She stood, leaning on the desk to steady herself. “John, I’m a teacher. I’m supposed to teach. It’s very much like a call from God.” She stopped, amazed at her words. She’d never considered that before, but it felt right and true. “It truly is a call from God. If I continue to teach Miguel, will I be fired?”

“No, I just felt you needed to know that there has been discussion.”

“Will the school board support me?”

“I’m not sure. But I do, after all, have some influence.”

“I must teach him, even if the school board threatens to fire me.” Those were the hardest words she’d ever spoken.

“Matilda, I will try to make sure the school board supports you. If there are consequences, I’ll do my best to shield you.”

“Thank you.” She put her hand on her chest and felt her heart beating. “I was so frightened,” she whispered.

“And yet you fought for Miguel.”

Yes, she had, and the fact astonished her. She’d never stood up for herself before, but she’d found the strength to stand up for Miguel. Where had it come from?

But she knew. The courage came from God, who wanted her to teach. How she’d arrived here at this school, she didn’t understand. She didn’t believe God killed one woman so another would become a teacher. She just knew that she’d found God and been able to use the twists and turns of life to discover where she could and should serve.

She sat down, her legs no longer able to support her after the confrontation.

“Matilda, are you ill?” John knelt next to her chair.

Although she felt cold all over, when she put her hand on her cheek, it was hot. The physical reaction overwhelmed her because conflict scared her, and yet she had done it.
Thank You, God.
After several deep breaths, her head had stopped spinning and her heart had calmed down.

“I’m fine.” And she was. “Discussing this with you wasn’t easy for me.”

“May I tell you how much I respect you for taking that stand?” He took her hand. “I can see that it was not easy for you.”

For a moment, his eyes caressed her face. “May I also explain why I have not come to see you?” He settled on a bench. “An emergency came up, one I thought I’d settled before. I had to go out of town again.” He shook his head. “There’s something strange going on with that parcel of land. A question of ownership. That’s why I had to go to Austin again.”

“Did it turn out as you wanted?”

“It took longer than I would have expected, but I hope this time it has been resolved.” He smiled. “And now I’m home.”

His voice and his words suggested she was an important part of his pleasure in being home.

“When I’m away, I miss you.” He shook his head. “I’ve never understood men who could not control their emotions, but now I do. I didn’t mean to care for you, Matilda—in fact, I fought it.” He gave an odd little laugh. “Now I find myself in an uncomfortable situation by wishing to spend time with you but not wanting to place your reputation in peril.”

She tilted her head in an effort to understand where his thoughts had taken him.

“If I come down to the schoolhouse too often, even as isolated as it is, people will notice and talk.” He shook his head. “I need to consider your circumstances, both how to court you and how to protect you.”

“Can that be done?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll think about it. Please be assured that your reputation is safe with me, that I’ll do nothing—like that foolish visit the other evening when I could not stay away from you—without due consideration.”

He strode toward the door but turned when he got there. For a moment, he gazed at her as if he held her face tenderly in his hands and caressed it, as if he kissed her gently, as if he softly touched her lips with his finger.

And then he left, closing the door behind him. She heard him descend the steps, mount his horse and ride off, but even when she no longer heard the sound of hoofbeats, she still felt the phantom touch of his hand lightly stroking her face and the whisper of his breath against her cheek.

A
manda stood outside the door to the sheriff’s office feeling a little foolish.

If the sheriff did not fall at her feet, if he didn’t swear undying love—although she couldn’t imagine in a hundred years that he would—she’d stop chasing him. Taking a deep breath, Amanda opened the door and walked inside. The sheriff sat at his desk working on some papers. Although he barely even glanced up at her, his scowl showed he wasn’t pleased to see her.

Nevertheless, she squared her shoulders. “Good morning, Sheriff Bennett.”

“Mornin’, Miss Hanson.” He nodded.

Why was she doing this when she knew he’d reject her? For a moment, she considered turning around, going home and giving up. But he looked up at her and that rugged face and level stare made her heart flutter.

“How can I help you, Miss Hanson?” His voice was polite but disinterested.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She took off her cape to reveal a lacy white dress trimmed in pink feather hearts.

For a moment, his grim expression softened as he drank in the sight before him. His eyes moved from the pink roses twined in her hair all the way down the frilly dress to her white shoes tied with pink ribbons.

“Very, very pretty, Miss Hanson. I guess you’re looking to flirt with some handsome young man. Don’t have any here.”

“No, Sheriff, I’m here to charm you.”

He laughed and went back to reading the papers on the desk.

That’s exactly what she’d predicted he’d do, but if the man thought he could get away from her so easily, he didn’t know Amanda Hanson at all. As fast as dry lightning could start a blaze on the prairie, Amanda opened his desk drawer and pulled out his keys. Once she had her prize, she ran into a cell and slammed the door behind her. She put her hand through the bars and locked the door before she pranced to the hard bench next to the wall and sat down. Victory!

Stunned, the sheriff didn’t move at first. Then he stood and ambled toward the cell. “What do you think you’re doing, Miss Hanson?”

“Sheriff Bennett, you have ignored me since you came here a year ago.” She stood and walked to the cell door. “I have tried every flirtatious trick I know to get you to notice me. You refused.”

“You’re wrong. I noticed every one. I just didn’t fall for any of them.”

She stamped her foot. “Oh, you’re such a difficult man.” She threw herself on the bench again. “I decided to lock myself up in your jail until you give in and court me.”

“Is this the most romantic scheme you could come up with?” A smile tickled his lips.

“I’ve used up all the romantic schemes. I’m desperate now.”

“Because you have found the one man in Texas who refuses to fall in love with you.”

“You make me sound silly.”

He raised an eyebrow in response.

“I…” She turned away. “I’m not playing now. This started as a game, but I discover I like you, very much.”

“Why? Because I’m such a handsome man? Valiant and courageous.”

She stood, closed the space between them and placed each hand on a bar. “As sheriff, of course you are valiant and courageous, as well as tough and rugged, which I find—much to my surprise, I must tell you—very attractive.”

“I’m older than you, Miss Hanson, years older. I’ve lived a hard life and have nothing to offer a spoiled little girl.”

“Now, see, if you didn’t care about me, you wouldn’t call me a spoiled little girl. You use that to discourage me.” She smiled. “I don’t discourage easily, and, although my father has given me everything I want, that does not make me spoiled.”

“I’m forty years old. Double your age. More than twenty years of my life were spent as a hired gun. Not the kind of background a loving father would choose for his darling daughter’s husband.”

“Sheriff.” She held his glance in hers. “Your attempts to reason your way out of this tête-à-tête convince me even more that you do care about me.”

With that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring.

She blinked. “What is that?”

“This would be a pretty poor jail if we had only one set of keys, wouldn’t it?” He stuck the key in the lock and opened the door. “Miss Hanson, why don’t you go home so I can work?”

“No.” Haughtily, she sat down on the bench. “I don’t need to lock myself up. I’ll stay in here even with the door wide-open.”

“No, you cannot. This is my jail.” The sheriff strode into the cell, picked her up and attempted to carry her out. He had not considered the vast petticoats under her dress or her strength. Every time he started through the cell door, she used her hands or her legs to stay inside while her ruffles covered his face so he couldn’t see where he was going.

After a few minutes, sweat rolled down his body and pink feathers stuck to his neck and face. “You are harder to rope than an angry heifer and more trouble than an unbroken colt.”

He tried a few more times before admitting defeat. “All right,” he finally said. “You can stay here.” He dumped her on the bench, picked up both sets of keys, left the cell and locked it behind him.

“You’re locking me in?”

“Just until you father gets here.”

“My father.” She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. “Why do you have to bring my father into this?”

“Isn’t speaking to your father the proper action?” He wiped his face and hands with a towel.

With that, he left the office, leaving her locked inside the cell in her Valentine’s Day dress, feathers floating around and roses tumbling from her rumpled locks.

She sincerely hoped no hardened criminals wandered in.

Half an hour later, she heard horses pull up in front of the jail, followed by the opening of the door.

“You have a dangerous felon in your cell?” her father said. “What do you want me to do?”

“I believe when you see who that felon is, you’ll understand.”

She buried her face in the froth of white lace.

“Amanda, is that you?”

She looked up.

“My daughter is a felon?”

“Well, Mr. Hanson, one definition of a felony is breaking and entering. I don’t know if that covers stealing a set of keys from the sheriff’s desk and locking herself in a cell.”

Amanda’s father looked at the sheriff. “My daughter took your keys and locked herself in a cell?” He slowly turned to study Amanda, shaking his head. “I spoiled you. I gave you too much. Bennett,” he said, and turned back toward the sheriff, “on her deathbed, her mother made me promise to take care of Amanda.” He shook his head again. “I tried. I cannot account for this.”

“Father,” Amanda began, “I can explain.” But the more she thought about it, the more she decided she really couldn’t. She buried her head in her dress again.

“Sounds as if she may need another man to take over, one who is not daunted by the difficulties and dangers that life with her seems to promise.”

Amanda stood up and marched to the bars. “Another man to take over?”

“Miss Hanson has stated that she’d like to marry me.”

Her father fell onto a chair. “I never thought she’d be so forward. I do apologize.”

“What would your response be if I were to ask you permission to marry your daughter?”

Her father clutched his chest and seemed to be having a heart attack.

“Father, are you all right?”

After he took a few deep, shuddering breaths, he said, “You’d do that? You’d take my daughter off my hands? I warn you, as much as I love her, she’s a bothersome filly. She gets something in her mind and no one can change it.”

“Father!”

“Yes, sir. I’m aware she’s a bothersome, stubborn filly.”

“Sheriff!”

“But, Mr. Hanson, I have become one of those ideas that she won’t change her mind about.” He shrugged. “She’s made my life hard, but if she’s determined to marry me, we should probably just go ahead.”

Fanning himself with his handkerchief, her father stood and walked to the cell. “Is the sheriff right? Do you want to marry him?”

She flounced toward the bench and threw herself on it. “I don’t have the least desire to marry someone who says I am bothersome and stubborn.” Tears began to seep from her eyes.

“Mr. Hanson, before I attempt to persuade your daughter to marry me, would you be agreeable to such a match?” the sheriff asked.

“Sheriff, I’ve waited years to find a man to marry her. She’s turned down every single one. My daughter is my only family. There’s no one to inherit the ranch. As long as I’ve known you, I’ve been impressed by your hard work and honesty. I’d be very happy if you would marry her and take over the ranch when I’m gone. Hold it in trust for your children.”

She reached her hand through the bars. “Father, you’re not dying soon.”

“No, but it’s going to happen someday.” He extended his hand to the sheriff and glanced at his daughter. “She doesn’t look happy with you now, but if you can persuade her, she’s yours and so is the ranch.”

Amanda watched in amazement as they sealed the deal. A handshake between men, that’s what she’d become. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the hem of her dress, only to discover lace did not absorb tears well at all.

“Good day and good luck, Sheriff Bennett.” Her father closed the door behind him, leaving her in the cell while the sheriff watched from a few feet away.

“Please let me out,” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry I’ve bothered you. I’ll never bother you again. I promise.”

“Does that mean we won’t be getting married?”

“That’s exactly what it means.” Suddenly angry at his teasing, she leaped to her feet, took two steps to the door and grasped the bars. “Let me out of here now,” she shouted.

He unlocked the door but pushed her back inside and then locked the cell behind him, and tossed both sets of keys out between the bars.

“Why did you do that?” Her head snapped up to study his face.

“I thought you might need a few minutes to cool off, and I didn’t want you getting away before we came to an agreement.”

She took a few steps back until she ran into the bars on the other side of the cell. “An agreement about what?”

“Our wedding.”

“But you don’t want to marry me.”

“I’ve wanted to marry you ever since the first time we met, but I told myself I didn’t have the right.” He took a step closer to her.

“I never…” She couldn’t move any farther.

He took another step.

“What changed your mind?” she asked in a breathy voice.

“Well, you seem absolutely determined to marry me, and I would hate to disappoint you.”

She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn’t. Instead, she allowed him to lean closer, dizzy with the nearness of him.

“That kind of determination deserves a reward. Besides, I’ve always had a weakness for a forward little flirt. I just never thought your father would agree to my courting you. When you locked yourself in my jail, I decided that would show him the peril my life was in and he’d agree, if only to avoid the scandal.” He put his arms around her and searched her face. “Do you truly love me or has this all been a game?”

“I love you,” she whispered. “I’ve never said that before, to any man.”

He nodded. “Will you marry me?”

She narrowed her eyes. “So that you can have the ranch?”

“Now that you mention it—”

She kicked him in the shin. He smiled at her.

“Because I love you more than I thought possible,” he whispered.

“Oh.”

“I don’t want the ranch for myself. Your father wants it held in trust for our—” he paused to clear his throat “—for
our
children, Amanda.” He studied her face for a moment, his eyes full of yearning. “Will you please marry me?”

She nodded and he finally kissed her. Kissing was something the sheriff did very well, which didn’t surprise her one bit.

Then he pulled out another key ring and opened the door.

“Where did you get that?”

“You don’t think I’d enter a cell with a very angry woman and not have a means of escape, did you?”

“Well.” She took his arm and held it firmly. “I’d hoped, perhaps, we could spend a little more time here.” She gave him the smile she’d learned he could not resist. “To discuss the wedding, you know.”

“Hello, hello!” Amanda shouted from outside. Annie heard her phaeton stop and the jingle of the harness as her friend tossed the reins onto the seat.

It was Saturday morning. Did Amanda have more to tell her about her campaign to win the sheriff?

“Matilda?” Amanda called from the door.

“I’m right here.” Annie stacked the slates and stood, wondering what had sparked such excitement in her friend’s eyes. Indeed, Amanda almost flew around the classroom with the grace and splendor of a butterfly.

“Tell me. What is it?”

Amanda stopped and put her hands to her mouth for a moment as tears came to her eyes. “I’m getting married.”