Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota

by Tracey Bateman

  “I’ll make sure she’s asleep during the transfer.”

  “That’ll be for the best.”

  The doctor looked past her, and his brow creased. Curious, Rosemary turned and followed his gaze, just as the children began calling out, “Hi, Finn.” “Hi, Rolf.” “What are you doing?”

  Rosemary stepped onto the porch and Finn lifted a hand to her. “I’ll meet you at the boardinghouse when I’m finished,” he called.

  Watching him ride with Rolf, his horse slightly behind the young man’s, Rosemary couldn’t stop a feeling of dread from washing over her. The feeling amplified when they reined in their horses in front of the jail. Rolf had shown violence and anger a few times, but she couldn’t imagine what might have happened to cause them to go to the sheriff’s office. Everything in her wanted to rush over there and demand an explanation, but she had the children to attend, and she had arrangements yet to make for Agnes.

  She pressed her palm to her aching head and walked toward the wagon. What else could possibly go wrong?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ...........................

  Finn could picture Rosemary pacing inside Mrs. Franklin’s parlor, stewing as she awaited an explanation. He regretted that she had spotted him riding into town with Rolf in the first place. At first Rolf had kept quiet, confessing only to trying to steal the land-office receipt that proved Rosemary had filed a claim for her plot of land after the previous homesteader forfeited it.

  He wouldn’t say why he’d tried to steal the receipt, only that he thought a woman had no business owning land without a man to run things for her. At first Finn misunderstood and thought that Rolf had been rejected by Rosemary. Perhaps the act was the revenge of a spurned lover. But he quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Rolf resented Rosemary’s position, her wealth, and her generosity. He denounced everything from her land ownership to her bringing the Fischers into her home. As Rolf paced the cell, jumping angrily from one topic to another, he finally revealed the heart of the matter—he didn’t believe Rosemary was a good example of womanhood for Marta. “She has poisoned Marta’s mind against marrying me.”

  Finn chuckled at the ridiculous statement. “Rolf,” he’d said as calmly as possible, “from what I heard, you were unkind to Marta. What woman can love a man who doesn’t treat her with kindness?”

  Rolf stopped pacing long enough to twist his lips in contempt. “It is a woman’s place to obey, not to be treated with kindness.”

  The sheriff laughed. “Well, now we know why little Marta turned from you to your brother.”

  Finn agreed with Sheriff Mayfield but couldn’t help but feel that now wasn’t the time to bring up Peter’s name. Rolf was too angry as it was. Why add gunpowder to an already roaring fire?

  “Rolf,” Finn said, keeping his tone calm, “I believe you that you’re angry with Rosemary for Marta’s behavior. I believe that you don’t think a woman should own land. I believe all the things you’ve said here today. But I believe something you haven’t said, as well.”

  “And what is that?” Finn realized he’d hit on the truth when Rolf’s eyes narrowed, as though he was waiting to hear whether Finn truly knew the entire story.

  “Rosemary’s sheep went into my field when you were supposed to be watching over them last night.”

  He shrugged. “I was alone. They got away from me. The woman does not have enough intelligence to have a dog to herd the dumb sheep away from danger and your fields.”

  “She wouldn’t need a dog if her supposed right-hand man hadn’t sent away a couple of men who should have been out there in the first place.”

  Anger flared in Rolf’s eyes. “And who told you this?”

  The sheriff motioned to Finn. He closed the door to the room containing the cells and expelled a heavy breath.

  “Do you have any proof that Rolf did more than break into Miss Jackson’s home and try to steal a receipt?”

  “Only the word of his brother Peter and his uncle. But they won’t be much help.”

  Mayfield shook his head. “Then I can’t do much to him.”

  “What do you mean? He was in her house.”

  “Yes, but he works for her. You said it yourself—Rolf is her right-hand man.”

  “Not for long.”

  “All you have on this kid is that he was looking for a receipt. Whatever his motive, if he’s not willing to confess, no judge is going to convict him. There’s just no real crime.”

  “No crime? He broke into her house.”

  “And if you’d caught him with a handful of money, I could probably keep him and force him to go before a judge.” Leaning back in his chair, Mayfield stretched his long legs out in front of him and laced his fingers across his chest.

  “So that’s it?”

  Mayfield shrugged. “I can keep him locked up overnight just to scare him, but in the morning, I’ll have to let him go.”

  Finn scowled. “I should have known you’d be a worthless sheriff.”

  “Come on, Finn. You know I’m right. Don’t let your jealousy talk for you.” Mayfield grinned. “By the way, what kind of flowers does Miss Jackson like? I’m thinking I might pick her a bouquet for our outing tomorrow.”

  “What outing?”

  “Didn’t she tell you?” Mayfield’s smug grin was beginning to grate on Finn’s nerves. First he was a terrible officer of the law and now he was trying to take Rosemary? “I’m taking her on a picnic by Willow Lake.”

  Finn felt like he’d been punched in the face. Stunned by the news, he left the sheriff’s office without a word. He grabbed his horse and led him toward Mrs. Franklin’s boardinghouse, not bothering to ride. The walk helped him to burn off some of his frustration. He was upset that he’d been unable to obtain a confession from Rolf, and annoyed by Sheriff Mayfield’s lack of concern about the incident at Rosemary’s homestead, not to mention the sheriff’s admission—boasting was more like it—that he was having a picnic outing with Rosemary the next day.

  He blamed Rosemary for the latter. How could she share such an intimate kiss with him and the same day begin courting the new sheriff? She had never been this way back in Kansas.

  He tethered the horse to the hitching post in front of the boardinghouse and climbed the steps, but the door opened before he could knock. Rosemary stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her. She held Sarah in her arms, and the baby grinned as soon as she saw him.

  “Here, for mercy’s sake, take her. I’ve been holding her for thirty minutes waiting for you to get here.”

  Finn held out his arms and was thrilled when Sarah reached for him.

  “Gracious, Finn. Don’t keep me in suspense any longer.” Rosemary stomped her tiny foot, looking every bit the image of a petulant child. “What on earth happened with Rolf? Where is he? Is he in jail?”

  Finn’s anger melted away. “I caught him going through your desk.”

  Rosemary frowned. “But he does that all the time. It’s why I gave him a key to the desk.”

  “Yes, but he was holding a receipt behind his back when I caught him.”

  “A receipt? For what?”

  It bothered Finn that she seemed so completely unbothered by this news, as though it had never even occurred to her that Rolf might be up to no good.

  “The receipt you got when you filed your claim.”

  “I wonder why he’d be looking for that.”

  The day was beginning to warm up to a typical late-July day, with high sun and blue sky. Rosemary’s skin glistened as a sheen of perspiration began to appear on her forehead and neck.

  Finn sat down on the rocking chair and held Sarah on his lap. Rosemary took the chair next to him. “All right. You have to tell me what you’re not telling me, Finn. This is driving me mad.”

  “I guess you have the right to know.” He drew in a breath and told her everything, about finding her sheep in his field….

  She gasped. “I’ll repay any damage they caused.”

&nbs
p; “Let’s discuss that later. The point is that both Peter and Ian implicated Rolf. He deliberately got them out of the way so he could lead the sheep toward my field.”

  “Why would he do that?” She frowned and her blue eyes darkened as she tried to make sense of the revelation. “Is he upset with you for some reason?”

  “You should be asking yourself if he’s upset with you.”

  She laughed. “Why would he be upset with me? I’ve given him a position with a good salary. He’s free to do whatever he feels is right concerning the sheep—as long as he lets me know what he has planned, of course. I hired his brother Peter and their uncle Ian. I’ve literally done everything he’s suggested or requested.” She angled her head and stared into the sky. Then she shook her head. “No, I can’t think of anything. Unless…”

  Finn nodded and smiled. “Marta.”

  “You mean because I took up for her and made him stop being a bully?” She shuddered, and her eyebrows pushed together in a frown. “I can’t abide a man who believes a woman is his to possess! I don’t think the Lord ever meant for it to be that way.”

  “Well, don’t yell at me,” Finn said. “I don’t think a woman should be treated poorly either.”

  She cut her gaze toward him and sent him a guilty smile. “I’m sorry. I just get so riled up when I think about mean people.” She paused and then asked, “Finn, who is watching my sheep if Rolf isn’t there running things?”

  Finn shrugged. “As far as I know, Peter and Ian. Although I have to tell you, I don’t trust Ian. I never have. Once you get back home, I suggest you let him go.”

  “Honestly, Finn.” She stood and walked toward the door. “I can’t imagine Rolf being guilty of sabotage. And why would he want the receipt? It wouldn’t do him any good anyway.”

  “Maybe he didn’t want it for himself. What if someone paid him to steal it?”

  She laughed again, and this time Finn felt his pride take a hit.

  “Suit yourself, Rosemary. But I’m trying to keep you and your land and your sheep safe. According to Peter, Mr. Clayton isn’t giving up. He paid Rolf to sabotage my field.”

  “But that doesn’t make any sense. How would sabotaging you hurt my sheep?”

  “I think he means to use my field as an example of the harm that sheep can do to farms if they get loose.”

  “But they won’t get loose if they’re herded properly.”

  “They wouldn’t have gotten loose if you’d put a fence up.”

  “But I didn’t want there to be a fence between our properties.”

  “Why?” Finn smiled at her little pout. He knew she didn’t mean to look adorable, but she did just the same.

  “Because, Finn. What if Sarah wants to run back and forth between the properties when she’s a little older?”

  “There won’t be a fence in the road.”

  “But there’s something special about her cutting through your property and then cutting through mine on her way to my house. Or the other way, when she goes to your home.”

  Finn contained his disappointment. The reason he hadn’t put up a fence of his own, despite her insistence that there shouldn’t be one there, was because he believed she knew that eventually they would merge the two homesteads into one.

  Her reason was probably no less valid, wanting Sarah to be able to run between the properties and feel equally at home without a fence to keep her out. He looked at his daughter, who had learned to blow bubbles on her hands and was now doing so with wild abandon, drooling all over his sleeve.

  Rosemary reached for the door. “I’m going to let Dottie know I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to go and speak with Rolf. I can’t let myself believe he would deliberately try to hurt my land or my sheep, much less try to steal from me. There just has to be a reasonable explanation.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  To his chagrin, she shook her head. “I think your presence might make things worse since you’re the one who found him in my house and jumped to conclusions in the first place.”

  Anger burned inside him once more. He wished she would stop putting up a wall between the two of them. He hadn’t been able to reach her since the day of their walk together in Paddington. He had been telling himself that the reason was that Agnes had become ill and Rosemary had been busy taking care of the children—and that might have been part of it—but he had come to town every evening this week after the chores were finished and still she kept her distance from him. As a matter of fact, this conversation on the porch was the first of any real depth in days.

  Before he could do any more contemplating, Rosemary returned to the porch wearing her bonnet and carrying a Bible.

  “Are you planning to preach to him?”

  She smiled and her dimple flashed. “I might.”

  “He’d love that. He ranted that a woman should not have her own homestead. Imagine what he’d think of a woman wanting to preach the gospel.”

  “Don’t worry, I have no desire to deliver a sermon. The Bible is for Rolf in case he gets bored and wants something to bide his time. He couldn’t do better than to bide his time with God’s Word.” She bent over and pressed a kiss to Sarah’s head. “Bye, sweetie,” she said. “Auntie Rose will be back in a little while.”

  It was all he could do not to grab hold of her waist and pull her down to his lap next to Sarah. She was so tiny, there would be plenty of room for both. But she moved away before he had a chance to think it through. Then he realized he wouldn’t have anyway. He had no rights to her body. She wasn’t Rachel, and until she believed that he could truly care about her in a completely different way than he’d cared for Rachel, he would never have the right to draw her close, kiss her, marry her.

  He had wrestled with his own thoughts and feelings about his motives. He believed that he loved Rosemary for herself, but if he were honest, there were nights when his dream-self begged Rachel to come back. She always stood in her white nightgown, looking like an angel. And then Rosemary would walk in. At first he would think Rachel had returned to human form, but his heart would sink as he realized it couldn’t be Rachel. The woman who looked just like her was, in fact, Rosemary. And Rosemary would look at him with disappointment and say, “You can’t have both of us in one body. I want a man who sees me and loves me.”

  Finn watched the real Rosemary until she disappeared inside the jailhouse. He wasn’t sure why he wanted Rosemary. He only knew that he did. And the thought of Sheriff Mayfield, on the other side of that door with her, tightened his gut.

  It took every ounce of discipline he had to keep himself on that porch, holding his daughter and minding his own business.

  * * * * *

  Rosemary smiled at Sheriff Mayfield as she walked into the sheriff’s office. “Hello,” she said, “I’m here to see Rolf.”

  “Well,” he said, sitting up straight in his chair, “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I’d hoped you were here to see me.”

  “I’m sorry.” Rosemary’s heart always felt lighter around the sheriff. He made her laugh. And she liked that about him. “I am truly here to see Rolf.”

  He stood and walked around to the front of his desk, leaned back, and folded his arms. “I’m sorry, Miss Jackson. He isn’t feeling well.”

  Rosemary frowned. “He seemed fine when Finn brought him in this morning. Maybe I should take a look at him.” She hurried to the door of the room with the cells, but as she reached out to grasp the latch, Sheriff Mayfield’s hand grabbed onto hers. She glanced down and noted fresh cuts and bruises on his knuckles. “What on earth?” Shaking loose from his grasp, she quickly swung open the door and went inside. Rolf lay curled on the floor of his cell. Rosemary knelt on the floor. “Rolf,” she said softly, “it’s Miss Jackson. Can you hear me?”

  A groan of pain answered her. She stood up and swung around. “What gave you the right to harm him? You had no right to accuse, convict, and punish him. No right at all.”

  The sheriff’s face fill
ed with shame. “I apologize, Miss Jackson. I admit I got angry.”

  “Well, you should learn to control that particular emotion then. ‘Be ye angry, and sin not.’ ”

  “You’re right, of course.” He reached out slowly and cupped her cheek. “But when he confessed to me that he was working for Bart Clayton and the man wants to run you and your sheep off your property, I overreacted.”

  Rosemary felt the weight of the words he’d spoken. “H–he confessed to sabotaging me? Turning my herd into Finn’s field?”

  Sheriff nodded. “I’m afraid so, Miss Jackson. I’m so sorry. I know how much you trusted him. But he isn’t to be trusted. He has been working for Clayton all along.”

  “And the receipt? What was the point of that?” Rosemary couldn’t stop asking questions, though she knew it wasn’t right to obtain her information through violence any more than it had been for the sheriff. But she had to know.

  “That’s still a little sketchy. I’m guessing that if Clayton has your receipt, he can claim you gave up the homestead the way the other fella gave it up to you.”

  Rosemary looked down at Rolf. His face was beginning to swell and bruise. “I’m going to get Doc Richards to take a look at him.”

  “Even after he sold you out?”

  Rosemary smiled. “He didn’t sell me out. He tried to, but I’m still here. My sheep are fine. The boys are watching the herd.” She walked toward the door. “Get him on the cot, please. And don’t hurt him anymore. If you do, I’ll speak to the mayor about having you removed.”

  “I give you my word, I won’t hurt him anymore.”

  Something in his tone didn’t sit right with Rosemary. “On second thought, I’ll stay here with Rolf. Will you please go after the doctor?”

  “You don’t trust me even after I gave you my word?”

  “I don’t know you well enough to trust you yet, Sheriff.”

  “But I just defended your honor.”

  Rosemary leveled her gaze at him, and he drew in a sharp breath, keeping his eyes locked on her. “The fact that you thought I needed my honor defended is sweet, and I appreciate the gesture, but that you could beat up a boy in such a fashion and call it defending my honor proves that you don’t know me at all.”