Read Online And Then Came Spring by Margaret Brownley - Free Book Online Page B

Bible.
    â€œJonah was mighty lucky to be saved by a fish,” she said.
    The sheriff frowned. “Luck had nothing to do with it. It was God’s grace that saved him.”
    Her cheeks flared with embarrassment and she quickly turned to Eddie. “Time for bed, young man.”
    By the time she finished tucking Eddie in bed and turned off his light, the sheriff had finished cleaning the kitchen. Where she came from, washing dishes was considered women’s work.
    She sat at the table, watching him. Domestic chores seemed as natural to him as sitting behind the sheriff’s desk. “Thank you.”
    He shrugged, then hung the flour sack towel on a hook and joined her. “Everything okay?”
    â€œI’m worried about Eddie,” she said. “He won’t talk about his pa and he hasn’t shed a single tear. That’s not good.”
    He rubbed his chin. “Give him time, Mary-Jo.”
    It was the first time he’d used her front name and it startled her. As if he thought things were more settled between them than they actually were.
    â€œSometimes it takes awhile to find the hurt,” he added.
    â€œHe’s going to need you when it happens,” she said.
    â€œI’m not good at things like that,” he admitted, then paused, adding quietly, “I hope you’ll help me.”
    His questioning eyes made her draw in her breath. “I don’t know that this is a good idea, my staying. I don’t want Eddie getting too attached to me should things not work out between us.”
    â€œYou don’t think this is working?” He sat back, his gaze prolonging the moment. “Is it . . . something I’ve done?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t think I have what it takes to be a sheriff’s wife.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think it takes anything special.”
    â€œYou have a dangerous job.” She’d already lost two men she promised to marry.
    â€œNot that dangerous,” he said. “Colton isn’t like other places you may have read about. Granted, we had a bunch of trouble with the railroad workers, but now that the track is laid they’re gone. The town’s not perfect, but the citizens here are mostly farmers and good churchgoing folks.”
    â€œAnd one of them killed Daniel.”
    His face turned dark. “It should never have happened. I knew Link was a hothead. I shouldn’t have left town until after the jury verdict.” He paused to shake his head. “I promise. Nothing like it will ever happen again. Trust me.”
    â€œI do trust you,” she said; it was others she didn’t trust. Last night she had a horrible nightmare and the memory of it still plagued her. In her dream she stood looking into a coffin, but it wasn’t Charles’s or even Daniel’s face she saw. It was Tom’s.
    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake away the fear of losing him.
    â€¢â€¢â€¢
    On the following Wednesday, Eddie sat at the kitchen table after school doing his homework while she prepared supper. Garrett was due at any time and she wanted everything to be perfect.
    Eddie looked up. “We’re having parents’ night in May and I want you and Uncle Tom to come.” He seemed to hold his breath waiting for an answer, all the while wiggling his pencil back and forth.
    May was still a couple of weeks away. She wiped her hands on her apron and sat on the chair opposite him. “I don’t know if I’ll still be here then,” she said.
    His pencil stilled. “Why not?”
    She sighed. So many reasons came to mind but none that an eight-year-old would understand.
    She finally settled on a noncommittal, “I might have to go home to Georgia.”
    He frowned. “Don’t you like my uncle?”
    The question surprised her. “We don’t know each other all that well, but yes, I like him just