She clamped her lips shut at that and they rode along in silence for a little while. When she finally spoke again, she surprised him by changing the subject. “I’d like to ask your opinion on a matter I’ve been mulling over the past few days.”
So, she wanted his opinion on something, did she? And from her tone it was something of import to her. Best not to read anything into that, though. No doubt she turned to him because he was her boss and the town sheriff—an authority figure of sorts. Still, she deserved his full attention.
He sat up a bit straighter. “Ask away.”
“It’s a matter related to finances.”
Was she worried about owing him for the horse and wagon? Or the repairs that were still needed on the cottage? The woman did have more than her fair share of pride. “Go on.”
“I mentioned to you on Saturday that my sisters would like me to move in with one of them. Well, I’ve decided, much as I love my sisters, that I would definitely prefer to stay right where I am.”
That didn’t surprise him at all. In fact it was the decision he would have predicted she’d make.
“The thing is,” she said carefully, “in order to do so, I must prove to them, and to myself, that I can handle such a responsibility, both temperamentally and financially.”
“Do you doubt that you can?”
“I believe I have the temperament and skill to do it, of course. But I spent some time after services yesterday figuring out what monies I’ll need to provide for the basic needs of the four of us.”
So, she considered the Coulters part of her responsibility, did she? Nora might have an excess of pride but she also had an excess of heart to match. “Perhaps you won’t need quite as much as you think.”
She gave him that prim spinster-aunt look. “Oh, no, I’m quite good at figures. After Mother passed on, Da left me to handle the household finances.”
Another responsibility she’d shouldered. How old had she been when she’d taken that one on?
“Anyway, even being conservative,” she continued, “the figures were daunting. And I know that there’s not just food and everyday supplies to think about. I need to consider the repairs that still need to be done to the house and now to the barn.” She raised a hand. “Whatever you were planning to say, please don’t. I simply cannot let you continue to work at the cottage without pay.”
She shifted in her seat. “There will be the added expense of the—” she paused a moment and eyed him primly “—the wagon animal to see to.”
Still smarting over his insistence on a horse, was she?
“And while I am quite good at stretching provisions if I do say so myself,” she sat up straighter, a proud lift to her shoulders, “I need to make certain there is sufficient food on the table each and every day for four people.”
No doubt about it, in spite of her prickly exterior, Nora Murphy had a nurturing streak a mile wide. But where was she going with all of this? “If you don’t think I’m paying you enough—”
She shook her head vehemently. “Oh, no, I’ve no complaints on that account. The wage you pay me is more than generous, and, the Good Lord willing, I truly think I can make it stretch to cover most of our expenses.”
“So what is it that’s worrying you?”
“There’s something else I need to do to make the cottage truly a home for me and Grace as well as the Coulters.”
“And that is?”
She clasped her hands in her lap, squeezing them tightly together. “As Colleen Murphy’s daughters and heirs, the cottage belongs to all three of us. Since my sisters now have homes of their own, I would like to purchase their portions from them.”
Now that did surprise him. Not the idea that she wanted to stake her claim to independence, that was absolutely in character. But that she thought her sisters would require, or even accept, payment from her. He didn’t know Bridget and Maeve well, but he knew them well enough to know they’d be affronted at even the suggestion. “You really think they’d expect you to buy it from them?”
“Oh, I’m absolutely certain that they would simply give it to me if I asked them to, but that’s not what I want. I won’t feel like it is truly mine unless I do what’s right and proper.”
“And what’s to say that them giving you their portions is not exactly what is right and proper?”
“My conscience. So, I need to find another way to earn money in addition to the work I do for you.”
Stubborn woman. “I see. Then you want to cut down on the hours you spend working for me—is that it?”
“Not exactly. Actually, I think I have the perfect solution, but I wanted to get your thoughts on it.”
He was both intrigued and a bit flattered by her request for his counsel. “I’m listening.”
“I’d like to make pies and cakes to sell here in town.” She announced her plan as if it was the answer to all her problems. Then she looked at him expectantly.
He tried to wrap his mind around what she’d just said. “Start a bakery business you mean?”
“Yes, but on a very small scale.” She seemed less certain now. “You did say that folks seem to like my cakes and pies.”
“Absolutely. I can’t say as I ever tasted better.”
His answer seemed to buoy her confidence once more. She smiled up at him with the raindrops glistening on her long dark lashes, vividly brightening her blue eyes, and he had to blink to clear his suddenly muddled thoughts.
“And Will has asked me to consult with his chocolatiers on how to improve his chocolates,” she continued, “so perhaps I could somehow combine the two things.”
Did she really understand the amount of work that would be involved in such an undertaking? “You’d have to make an awful lot of baked goods to make any sort of profit at it.”
“I know. And I’m not afraid of hard work. But I would need your help.”
She’d managed to surprise him yet again. “You want me to help you do your baking?” His only foray into baking was biscuits and he wouldn’t exactly be bragging on his results.
But his question earned him a grin. “Nothing so challenging. I would, of course, do a lot of my baking at home. But I’d like to do some of it during the day, as well. Only, well, that would mean using your oven.” She fluttered a hand in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. “I promise not to do any less work for you than I already am.” The words were rushed, as if she was trying to forestall an objection. “I can continue to clean and wash and cook your meals while my baked goods are in the oven.”
He didn’t for a minute doubt that she would be conscientious about her work. “Where do you plan to sell these delicacies?”
The look she shot him let him know she realized he hadn’t answered her question. But she followed his lead. “I thought perhaps Mrs. James at the general store might be willing to sell some goods on commission for me and perhaps Rosie over at the boardinghouse would take some to serve to her boarders, as well.” She stared at him expectantly. “What do you think?”
She really had given this some serious thought. “I think it’s certainly worth a try. I might be able to drum up a few other customers for you, as well.” That earned him a grateful look. “In fact,” he added, “the workers over at the mill might be a good group to talk to.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll speak to Will when he and Bridget get back into town.” She eyed him uncertainly. “So you’re agreeable to my baking while I work for you?”
“On one condition.”
“And that is?”
“That you start small and don’t work yourself to exhaustion.”
She nodded. “I understand. I wouldn’t be very useful as a housekeeper if I didn’t have the energy to do my job.”
Cam didn’t comment. If she thought that was his reason then far be it from him to say otherwise.
Chapter Six
Nora shook her head over Cam’s insistence that he drop her off at the door to his office, but she was gratefu
l nevertheless. As he handed her down, she noticed that where the ends of his hair had gotten wet, the straw color had darkened to chocolate brown and had started to curl just the tiniest bit. She found her thoughts straying to what it might feel like to test the spring of that curl against her fingers.
Shaking off that totally inappropriate thought, she said a quick thank-you and bustled into the sheriff’s office. She greeted Ben and Gavin, both of whom were sipping cups of the thick liquid that passed for coffee inside these walls when she wasn’t around.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty sight on a dreary morning.” Ben’s smile changed to a frown. “Where’s Gracie? Nothing’s happened to her I hope.”
“No, no, Grace is just fine. But I didn’t think it would be wise to take her out in this weather so I left her with the Coulters today.”
He nodded. “I suppose that was the right thing to do. I’m sure going to miss having that little girl around today, though.”
Ben and Gavin had both warmed up to Grace quickly enough. They even helped watch her when Nora was particularly busy with some chore or other.
Nora turned back to Gavin. “Did you have a nice visit with your brothers and Mrs. Fitzwilliam after the wedding?”
Gavin nodded. “I sure did.” Then he grimaced. “If only Mrs. F would quit trying to talk me into returning to Boston with them.”
Nora raised a sympathetic brow. “She means well.”
He shrugged. “I know. And I’m grateful that she’s seeing that my brothers go to school. But that’s not for me—this is where I want to be.”
“Give her time. She’ll come around.” Nora untied her makeshift rain hat. “How goes her search for her granddaughter?”
Gavin shook his head. “No sign of her yet. I think Mrs. F is beginning to feel a bit discouraged.”
Nora’s heart ached for the older woman. “I will continue to pray for the two of them.”
As she hung the hat on a peg, Ben rejoined the conversation. “You’ll find a pair of freshly cleaned rabbits in there.” He nodded toward the kitchen. “Andy Dubberly brought me those yesterday evening in exchange for a favor I did for him. Thought they might be good for lunch.”
“How wonderful.” Nora was genuinely delighted. This being a coastal town, fish was plentiful and inexpensive, so that was what she usually purchased when she did the sheriff’s shopping. But red meat was a welcome change. “And I know just how to cook them.” She was already going over the list of supplies she’d need to make her da’s favorite rabbit stew. Carrots, onions, turnips—
“I have the stove already warmed up for you, Miss Nora.”
Nora smiled at Gavin’s not too subtle hint that he was ready for the morning meal. “Thank you. I’ll have breakfast ready quick as can be.”
She shook herself out of the borrowed raincoat. “And thank you for the use of your coat,” she said to Ben. “It was most welcome on the ride in this morning.” She hung it next to the hat. “It certainly kept me drier than I would have been without it.”
Ben shook his head. “It’s Cameron you should be thanking. The boy let himself into my place before dawn and grabbed my coat without so much as a knock or a may-I.” Then the older man smiled. “But I’m very pleased to see he put it to such good use.”
So it had been Cam’s idea, not Ben’s as he’d led her to believe. “Well, thank you anyway.” She moved toward the kitchen. “Now, I believe this is a three-egg morning for the lot of you.” She wagged a finger at the two deputies. “And no snatching the biscuits while my back is turned.”
Nora found herself humming as she moved to the room she had nicknamed her “galley.”
The sheriff and Ben had living quarters in a small two-story building behind the jailhouse. Ben lived on the lower floor and the sheriff on the upper. Both homes, if one could call them that, were quite small. They each had three very small rooms—a kitchen, a parlor and a bedroom.
Gavin, the newest member of the peacekeeping team, slept in one of the two cells at the jailhouse. He couldn’t afford to stay at the boardinghouse and there was nowhere else.
She’d decided almost from the outset to do the cooking in Ben’s quarters instead of the sheriff’s since it was on the ground floor and meant easier access for everyone. She also insisted on feeding them at the same time so neither had to eat their meals cold. But when Gavin came on the scene it really made Ben’s tiny place seemed cramped and uncomfortable.
Especially since Cam wouldn’t hear of her excusing herself to work elsewhere while they ate. Instead, he insisted she share their meals with them and would not even listen to her very reasonable arguments on why it was inappropriate for the hired help to sit down to dine with her employer.
I need to make sure you’re keeping your strength up so you can handle these chores I hired you to take care of, he’d said. And, on another occasion he’d made the outrageous statement that I can’t have a cook who won’t eat her own cooking in front of me. So she’d finally given in.
Which meant four people sat down to eat two meals a day in Ben’s cramped quarters.
But when she’d returned to work the Monday after Gavin became a permanent resident, the men had had a surprise for her. She’d arrived at the sheriff’s office to find that they’d cleared out the jailhouse storeroom and set up a makeshift kitchen in its place. The sheriff had said it was so he could eat in the office where there was more room, but she suspected it was as much for her benefit as anything else.
Whatever the reason, Nora had been delighted with the new arrangement. There was a brand-new stove already stoked and ready for her to put to use. One wall was lined with shelves that now contained foodstuffs, cooking implements and rudimentary serving dishes. A small but sturdy table stood near the opposite wall. And the room even had a window that not only let in the sunlight but provided her with a view of Ben and Cam’s living quarters.
Water had to be hauled in, of course, but there was a small water barrel in the corner and Gavin, bless him, usually took care of keeping it filled for her.
She’d nicknamed the storage room-turned-kitchen her “galley” because it reminded her of the kitchen aboard the Annie McGee where she’d spent a good deal of her time on their voyage from Ireland. She’d worked as a helper to the ship’s cook.
So now she started her days in here, fixing up a hearty breakfast for everyone.
Nora continued humming as she cracked three eggs for each of the men and one for herself. The more she thought about her baking venture, the more excited she became. And now that she knew the sheriff wouldn’t be opposed to her combining her job here with her new business, the way seemed clear for her to give it a try. It was certainly a generous concession from him, and she was determined to make certain he didn’t regret it.
He was right about starting small, of course. Maybe two pies and a cake of some sort each day this week. Hopefully it would grow from there. And if things worked out well, perhaps one day she could have her own little bakery right here in Faith Glen.
By the time Cam came back in, Nora had the morning meal almost ready. “There’s a fresh pot of coffee here on the stove,” she called out to him. “You have just enough time to grab a cup before I serve breakfast.”
Cam joined her in the galley, his large presence filling the small space. “Something sure does smell delicious. That’s the kind of aroma a man likes to be greeted with on a day like today. I should have set up a kitchen in here ages ago.”
Just as she turned to retrieve a platter, he reached around her to grab the coffeepot from the warmer. The minor collision that ensued caught Nora completely by surprise.
His arms reflexively closed around her to keep her from falling and she pressed her hands on his chest in an effort to maintain her balance. For a frozen moment of time they were locked in an embrace that took her breath away and pushed everything else aside. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think straight. All she could do was feel—feel his arms around her, feel his heartbeat beneath her pa
lms, feel the warmth of his breath on her forehead.
Then everything came rushing back in, including her wits. Flustered, she took a hurried step back and he released her, dropping his hands to his sides. Unable to look at him directly, she cast a sideways glance his way, trying to figure out what he was thinking. But his expression was unreadable.
“I’m so sorry.” She was appalled by the stammer in her voice and swallowed, trying to get herself back under control. Where was that resolve she’d counted on?
Before she could say more, he spoke up. “My fault entirely. I shouldn’t crowd you here in what is indisputably your domain.” If his tone was any gauge, he’d been entirely unaffected by the momentary contact.
She mentally cringed at the implication behind that betraying thought. Of course he’d been unaffected. It had been nothing more than a little everyday mishap. Her own reaction was no doubt due to the fact that she’d been caught off guard. She wouldn’t allow it to be anything more.
His expression changed to one of concern. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
Mercy, did she look as rattled as all that? Nora attempted a reassuring smile. “No, no, I’m fine. Don’t think anything of it.” Please don’t think of it.
“Well, then, I’ll just leave you to your cooking. I can get that cup of coffee later.”
“Nonsense.” Glad of an excuse to turn away, Nora quickly poured him up a cup. She turned and handed it to him, careful to keep their hands from touching. Then she made shooing motions with her hands. “Now, if you’ll leave me to finish up in here, I’ll have breakfast ready to serve in just a moment.”
Raising the cup in a friendly salute, he left the galley and joined Ben and Gavin.
Nora turned back to the stove but had to force herself to concentrate on the task at hand.
Because she could still feel the beat of his heart under her palms. And she didn’t understand why that should make her feel so flustered.
* * *
Cam sipped his coffee without tasting it. Hang it all, what had just happened in there? It had been a simple accident, a reflexive response to a minor collision, nothing more. Yet it had affected him more than it should have, and from the expression on Nora’s face just now, it had affected her, as well.
A Baby Between Them Page 5