Return to Whispering Pines

by Scarlett Dunn

“Yeah. He never so much as said a word to us.” Davey had never warmed to Mr. Adler, and he knew the girls didn’t like him either.

  Jane nodded her agreement. “Claire loves the sheriff. You heard what she said tonight. I wish . . .”

  Davey interrupted her. “Don’t go wishing for things that will never happen.” He’d learned long ago that wishing for things didn’t do a bit of good. “It was nice of the sheriff not to tell Miss Addie what Claire said at dinner.”

  “Miss Addie just doesn’t want Claire to get too attached to the sheriff.” They sat in silence for a moment, then Jane said, “Davey, do you think we will be adopted here?”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t think most folks can take care of three kids. If we are adopted, I think we will be split up.”

  Jane tried not to cry. Davey always told her it didn’t do any good to cry. “I don’t want to be split up. Claire won’t talk if someone tries to adopt her. I don’t know how she thought of that on her own.”

  “I thought you told her not to talk,” Davey said.

  “No, I never thought of that.”

  “Well, it worked, but here everyone will know she can talk.” Davey always worried every family would want a cute little girl like Claire.

  “Yeah,” Jane agreed gloomily.

  “If one of us is adopted without the others, we’ll run away like we always planned,” Davey said.

  “Where will we go?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that. I heard the sheriff and Mr. LeMasters talking about all the abandoned homes out here. He said that’s where outlaws are hiding out. Maybe we could find one and stay there.”

  “Is that where Miss Addie’s brother is hiding out?”

  “That’s what the sheriff thinks,” Davey replied.

  “I can tell Miss Addie likes the sheriff. But the sheriff probably wouldn’t want to marry the sister of an outlaw.”

  “Yeah. I heard the sheriff tell Mr. LeMasters that he was going after Miss Addie’s brother.” Davey stood and said, “We better go to sleep, we have to get up early. But don’t forget our plan.”

  * * *

  Addie was lying in bed looking up at the ceiling. It was difficult adjusting to the new sounds around her. She’d assured Granny she wasn’t worried about staying alone with three children, but now that she was actually alone, she found herself on edge. She’d checked both doors twice to make sure they were securely bolted. Before Jack left, she’d noticed he’d ridden the perimeter of the property. She thought he was most likely doing it out of habit because he was a sheriff.

  The more she tossed and turned, the more she worried. She tried to reassure herself that Morgan’s ranch was just through the trees, it wouldn’t take long for someone to get there. But if she needed immediate help, how would she notify them? She didn’t even have a rifle to send an alert. Unlike in Boston, weapons were necessary out here. People taught their children to respect guns, but these children hadn’t been around guns before. Maybe I should get a dog. The children would love that, and a dog would alert her if someone was about.

  Addie thought she heard the children talking, but she didn’t intervene. Jane and Davey often talked when they couldn’t sleep. As long as they didn’t stay up too late, she wouldn’t say anything. It wasn’t long before she heard Davey walking back to his room.

  Her thoughts drifted to Jack. Each time she’d looked at him during dinner, holding Claire on his lap, she felt her heart might squeeze out of her chest. Every time Jack took a bite of food, he made sure Claire got a bite of food. She rarely heard Claire chatter as much as she did with Jack. They both smiled and laughed through the entire meal.

  Chapter Ten

  Unable to sleep, Jack crawled out of bed at three in the morning and made some coffee. Normally, he didn’t have trouble sleeping, but he hadn’t been able to stop worrying about Addie and the children being left alone at the farm. He was the last person to leave the farm after dinner, and while he’d made certain the house was locked and secure, he worried all the way back to town. He’d wanted to ask Addie if she had a rifle, but the children never left him alone with her. He didn’t want to scare Addie or the children, but the West was no place for a woman alone. After what Frank had done to his brother, Jack feared he might be crazy enough to try to hurt all of his siblings. Frank wasn’t his only concern. The town was growing and attracting some interesting characters. If men learned there was a woman alone, especially one as shapely as Addie, they might be tempted to make some unwanted visits. She had more curves than should be allowed on the female form, in his opinion, and she was certain to attract a lot of attention.

  Sipping his coffee, Jack thought about the children at dinner. They hadn’t stopped smiling the entire time, and he’d never enjoyed a dinner more. If he could, he would have had them all on his lap, along with Addie. She was just the kind of woman a man wanted to snuggle up to. He wondered how serious her relationship was with Prescott Adler. The man was dumb enough to let her take off alone with three children, so Jack didn’t give him a whole lot of credit for having much common sense. In his estimation, Prescott Adler didn’t deserve her. He couldn’t imagine letting a woman he cared about make such a journey alone. He remembered Claire said Prescott kissed Addie. He wondered just how much kissing they’d done.

  * * *

  Addie wasn’t expecting Jack when he pulled up in the buckboard the next morning. “I thought one of Morgan’s men was taking us to school.”

  “I didn’t want to disappoint the children,” Jack said.

  “You have time for a cup of coffee, if you like,” Addie said, motioning him to come in.

  He followed her to the kitchen and something smelled so good it made his stomach growl. “I’ve had a few cups, but yours is better than mine.”

  “Did you eat breakfast?”

  “Did you hear my stomach growling? I didn’t cook this morning.”

  She did hear his stomach. She pointed to the same chair he’d sat in last night. “Sit down. I made some cinnamon rolls as a bribe to get the children going this morning.”

  Once he’d taken his first bite, he said, “Addie, you’re a fine cook. If some men in town find out how good you are, they’ll be lining up at your door.”

  “I may be a bit old for marriage, but I wouldn’t want a man simply because he liked my cooking.”

  “Old for marriage?” Jack repeated, thinking she’d expressed the same sentiment before.

  “I’m already twenty-six, and most men prefer younger women.”

  Jack shook his head. “You sure have funny notions about men and marriage.”

  “Well, you’re about Morgan’s age, and he married Rose. She’s eleven years younger.”

  “I’m a year older than Morgan.”

  “And you like younger women,” Addie said with finality.

  Jack didn’t wait until he swallowed his mouthful of cinnamon roll before he asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “Clarissa. I’d say she’s close to Rose’s age.”

  “I like Granny too. Does that mean I want to marry an older woman?” He thought that was a pretty good comeback.

  “You don’t court Granny,” Addie countered.

  “What makes you think I court Clarissa?”

  “You said she cooks you dinner.” Addie had to think if he’d actually said he courted Clarissa. It didn’t matter if he’d said as much or not. In her estimation if a woman cooked a man dinner, in her mind he was courting her.

  “Granny cooks me dinner, same as Clarissa. So by your definition that counts as courting?”

  Addie frowned at him, signaling that he knew what she meant.

  “Why is it you are always bringing up Clarissa?” Twice in two days, he thought. There had to be a reason.

  “I didn’t know I shouldn’t.” Addie knew the reason she brought up Clarissa. Clarissa was the kind of woman men wanted to marry. Men like Jack, in particular.

  “I’m not sure accepting a dinner invitation is t
he same as courting.” Jack took the last bite of his roll.

  “And I’m not sure Clarissa would feel the same way.” She needed to put an end to this conversation. “But be that as it may, your relationship with Clarissa is none of my business.”

  “You cooked me dinner, so am I courting you now?”

  Her eyes widened at him, and he smiled that smile that melted her heart. She’d walked right into that one. No wonder he was the sheriff—he certainly was adept at deductive reasoning. “That was a party. Not a private dinner.” Addie gathered the children’s plates from the table and carried them to the counter.

  Jack carried his plate to the counter. He took his last sip of coffee and when he placed the cup on the counter, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Maybe you should cook me a private dinner.”

  Addie’s skin felt like it might go up in flames when she looked into his silver eyes. Knowing he was teasing her didn’t make her any less susceptible to his charms.

  She didn’t reply, so he leaned closer. “Don’t you want to know how I court a woman?”

  She inched away from him. “As I said, I’m too old for you.”

  Jack chuckled. “Ah, yes, that’s what started this conversation. But you never made your point.”

  “Yes, I did. Men want young, beautiful women, like my sister. Morgan was the perfect example. I’m sure he had the same women chasing after him who are now chasing after you, but he didn’t ask one of them to marry. But when Rose came along, it was a different story.”

  “You don’t give your sister much credit. Don’t you think she has a lot more to offer besides a pretty face?”

  “I didn’t mean . . .” She stopped talking. Again, he had a good point. “Of course, she has a lot to offer.”

  “I asked Morgan how he knew Rose was the right one for him, and he said he thought God had a lot to do with it. He said when she stepped off that stagecoach, he knew his life had changed.” Jack took a step closer to her again. “Of course, he liked the way she looked, but I know Morgan, and it took a whole lot more than that to get him to the altar.” Actually, Morgan had told him he knew he had to marry Rose once he’d kissed her, because he didn’t want another man to find out how good she kissed. But he wisely kept that tidbit to himself.

  Addie hadn’t intended to insult her sister, but that was exactly how it sounded. “Rose is a wonderful person.”

  Jack reached out and picked up a lock of her hair. “Miss Addie, I think you have a lot to learn when it comes to matters of what men want. Maybe I should cook you dinner.”

  His comment left her speechless, and before she formed a response, she heard the children coming down the stairs.

  He leaned over and his lips touched her ear. “We aren’t finished with this conversation.”

  * * *

  Jack pulled the buckboard in front of the school and leaped out to help Addie to the ground.

  “Who is that man at the front door?” Addie asked.

  Jack saw the man when he pulled up, and wondered what he was doing at the school since he didn’t have children. “That’s Roy Coburn.”

  “I don’t remember meeting him at church. Does he have children who will be attending school?”

  “No.” Jack had a bad feeling that he didn’t really want to know why Coburn was there.

  The children said good-bye to Jack, and Claire insisted he pick her up so she could give him a kiss on the cheek before he left.

  “I’ll see you later, honey,” Jack said when she turned to wave.

  When the children ran through the door, Jack walked toward the man. “Roy, what are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to Miss Langtry,” Roy said.

  Addie cast a concerned look at Jack. “Why do you need to speak with me?”

  “I want to talk to you about adopting that boy,” Roy said.

  Addie heard the words she’d dreaded hearing. “Adopting . . .”

  “Yeah, I want to adopt that boy,” Roy repeated.

  “But you must have a wife,” Addie said.

  “I got a wife. We want to adopt him.”

  Jack saw the color drain from Addie’s face, and he thought she looked ready to faint. He placed his arm around her waist for support. “Addie, this is Roy Coburn. He and his wife, Sarah, own a farm a few miles from town. I don’t think they lived here when you were a girl.”

  “The pastor said I was to see you about adopting him,” Roy said.

  While Jack talked, Addie had time to regain her composure. “Yes, you need to speak with me. Are you interested in adopting all three children together?”

  “No, we just want the boy.”

  “We are trying to place them as a family,” Addie said.

  “Lady, are you supposed to put them up for adoption or not? We can’t afford no three extra mouths to feed.”

  “Roy, she was just saying what she hoped was best for the children. There’s no need to get riled up,” Jack said.

  “The pastor said to see her about adopting. He didn’t say nothing about adopting all three together.”

  “Mr. Coburn, now is not the time to discuss this. School is getting ready to start. I will need to come by your home and speak to you and your wife together. It’s my responsibility to ensure it is the right environment for a child.”

  “That sounds like a bunch of trouble, when I’m trying to help a boy,” Roy said.

  “You must understand it is incumbent on us to make the right decision for the welfare of the children. It wouldn’t do for us to place a child only to find that it wasn’t a good situation from the start.”

  “Well, come on out after school. I don’t have a lot of time to run back and forth. The pastor said there would be legal papers for me to sign, so bring those with you and we can get this done.”

  “We’ll see how it goes when I come to your home. I’ll need to speak with your wife also,” Addie said.

  “My wife don’t have to sign nothing, it’s all up to me,” Roy said adamantly.

  “All the same, I’ll need to speak with her,” Addie countered. “Now, I will say good morning. I have students waiting for me.”

  Roy jumped in his buckboard and rode away.

  Addie watched him leave with a sinking heart. “Do you know him?”

  Jack heard the misery in her question. “Not well. I see his wife in church every now and then. I’ve never heard her say more than two words at one time. I see Roy in town picking up supplies, but I’ve never seen him in the saloon. I guess I should talk to Clay. He probably knows them better than anyone.”

  Addie nodded. It had been a wonderful morning riding to town with Jack, and the children had been so excited he’d been the one taking them to school on their first day. Now, their whole world was about to be turned upside down.

  “I’ll stop by and talk to Clay to see what he can tell me about them.”

  “I can’t take the children with me when I go see him tonight,” Addie said.

  “We’ll drop the children off at Morgan’s and I’ll take you,” Jack said.

  “Thank you.”

  It broke Jack’s heart to see how sad she looked as she walked inside the school. He didn’t like the thought of the children being separated either, but he didn’t know what choice Addie would have if Coburn only wanted Davey.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I guess I have no valid reason to deny Mr. Coburn’s request, assuming his wife is in agreement,” Addie said. Jack had told her the pastor said they seemed like good people, and Sarah was a God-fearing woman. Roy had never been in trouble with the law. Instead of enjoying the first day of school, Addie had been miserable knowing what she was going to be forced to do that night. She knew Davey didn’t want to leave his siblings, but she’d been instructed she had to allow them to be adopted individually. “It may be a good opportunity for Davey.”

  Jack didn’t want to sound discouraging, since she was trying to find the silver lining in the dreadful situation, but he didn’t think t
he children would ever be happy without each other. All day, he’d been tempted to ride out to the Coburns’ and tell them they should drop their request. No matter what he wanted to do, he knew it wasn’t his place to interfere. As he’d learned early on in life, he didn’t always understand the greater plan, and sometimes it was best not to meddle. Yet, he couldn’t deny his inner voice was sounding an alarm. He tried to think Addie had the right attitude, believing it was possible this would be a good opportunity for Davey. Didn’t he just tell Davey to keep trusting and believing? Maybe he should follow his own advice.

  * * *

  “Mrs. Coburn, your husband said you only want to adopt Davey. Had you thought about adopting the other two children?” Addie asked.

  Sarah’s eyes slid to her husband. “We can’t afford that many children. We’ve wanted a child in the worst way.” She sent Addie a pleading look, and whispered, “It’s my fault I couldn’t conceive.”

  Addie could see the visible anguish on the woman’s face. “It’s not our place to assign fault. Perhaps the Lord just had different plans for you.”

  “It’s not that we wouldn’t take more if we could,” Sarah hastened to add.

  “It was my desire not to separate them. You understand that they are very devoted to each other,” Addie told her.

  Roy Coburn stood, his jaw set, and his words were filled with annoyance, “Lady, we already talked about this. We want to adopt the one boy, and if you say we aren’t able, then I reckon we need to talk to a judge.”

  “I didn’t say you couldn’t adopt. I just wanted your wife to understand what we prayed for. It was what we felt was in their best interest.”

  “Okay then, if we can adopt, where’s the papers we are supposed to sign?” Roy asked.

  “I’ll have them at the sheriff’s office tomorrow after school.”

  “We’ll take the boy tomorrow,” Roy said.

  “I will bring him after school on Friday,” Addie said in her best schoolteacher’s no-nonsense tone. “That will give me time to prepare him for the move. We will have his belongings to pack, and there is no sense disrupting his first week at school. He will have the weekend to adjust to his new home.”