“Being here’s good for him. All the activity with the other boys takes his mind off his mother,” Dani said, drawing the thread through the fabric again. This sewing task called for tiny stitches, hundreds of them, but it was therapeutic. If only she could stitch her own life together as neatly as Molly’s wedding gown. “We’ll need to have another fitting today, as soon as I’m done altering this seam.”
“Okay,” Molly said. “Though I haven’t eaten much the past two weeks.”
“Babies don’t stop growing just because the mother’s lost her appetite from being kidnapped and having morning sickness.” Dani squinted critically at the tiny row of stitches.
“Steven’s returning the blanket to Luther Makes Elk when he picks him up tomorrow to bring him here for the wedding. I’m looking forward to the big barbecue and dancing into the night. Everyone needs to party after what we’ve been through,” Molly said. She sighed again and gazed toward the corrals. “Joseph’s been so quiet. That’s not like him. I know he’s been through so much, but Marconi’s dead. He should be relieved that it’s over, but something’s still bothering him.”
“Give him time, Molly,” Dani said. “It’s been a rough week.”
“Is he going back east after the wedding?”
“I don’t know.”
“You haven’t talked about it?”
“No.” Tiny stitches, neatly done, one after the other. She concentrated on the task.
“Ask him to stay, Dani. Tell him he needs to raise his son out here, where he can breathe fresh air and ride horses.”
“It’s his decision. You know that.”
Molly made a frustrated sound. “It’s obvious you’re crazy about each other. You’re buying a ranch and you need a partner. You don’t want to tackle that project alone. And Joseph needs to settle down, get a boring job and stop getting shot at. Fergie needs a full-time father and he adores Joseph. Joseph has to stay. It would be foolish for him to go back east. You have to tell him that. That’s what he needs to hear right now. It’s probably what’s bothering him—he doesn’t know what direction to go in.”
“I suppose this is legal advice that you’ll be charging me for?”
“I just want you and Joseph to be happy,” Molly said. “Here he comes. Tell him how you feel,” she urged. “He’s a man, and men can be so thickheaded. They need to be prodded, especially the ones like Joseph.”
Dani shifted her gaze to watch the man and the boy walking toward her and felt a sudden, painful wrench to her heartstrings that brought the sting of tears to her eyes. She was remembering the night Joe had spent with her in Helena, how she’d fixed him supper and how they’d sat late into the night, talking through all the traumas of the past week until Joe had fallen asleep on the couch, his arm around her shoulders.
Then the next day, how Ferg had spotted Joe at the airport gate, how he’d cried out, “Daddy!” as he pulled away from Joe’s parents, running toward his father with his little arms outstretched. How Joe had swept him up into a big bear hug. And most of all, she remembered the look on Joe’s face as he held his son in his arms, all the doubts he’d harbored banished forever by the love he felt for that little boy. She looked back down at the sewing and concentrated hard, blinking to clear her vision. She didn’t look up again until he was standing at the foot of the porch steps.
“Walk with me,” he said.
Molly gathered the gown from Dani and stood. “C’mon, Fergie,” she said to the adorable little boy wearing a felt Stetson that was a bit too large for him. “Come hang out with your aunt Molly. I’ll show you the prettiest little filly down in the barn—it’s Dani’s horse. Just let me put this gown inside and we’ll go down and see her. She’s a tiny thing, all legs and ears and big eyes, cuter than a speckled pup, so Badger says. Dani helped her all the way down the mountain, can you imagine? We’re all trying to come up with the perfect name for her, maybe you can help. C’mon.”
“Daddy?” Ferg said.
“It’s okay, Ferg. Go with Molly.”
Ferg followed Molly inside the kitchen, and when the screen door banged shut after them, Dani met Joe’s eyes. She rose to her feet and took his extended hand as she descended the steps.
Hand in hand they walked toward the creek in the hazy diaphanous light of a late-spring afternoon. He led her down beside the creek and they sat on a bench hewn from one big log, listening to the rushing water. Joe bent his head and examined the way their fingers intertwined. “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me these past few days. For taking me home with you after I got out of the hospital, for making me feel like everything would be okay and for sticking around when I picked Ferg up at the airport.
“You were right,” he said. “No matter what’s happened, Ferg’s still my son and he always will be. When he was a baby I changed his diapers, fed him, burped him, sat up nights with him when he was sick. I knew all along he wasn’t my biological kid, but I loved him as if he was. I was there when he took his first step, right into my arms. Daddy was his first word. I stuck it out with Alison for five years because I loved that kid.” He looked at her. “I still do, and I always will.”
Dani smiled. “He lights up like a Christmas tree when you’re around, and I know just how he feels. This has been one crazy week, Joe Ferguson, and I wouldn’t want to repeat it, but I’ll be sorry when you leave.” She felt sick with longing and didn’t want to make a fool of herself, but maybe Molly was right. Maybe she just needed to say how she felt.
“Funny you should mention leaving,” Joe said. “I got two calls this morning. First was from my boss back in Providence. Wanted me to know he was recommending me for promotion. Said I’d be getting a pay raise.”
Dani felt her hopes for the future plummet into a dark abyss. She forced a smile. “That’s great news. Congratulations, Joe, you deserve it.”
“I told him thanks, but I didn’t think I’d be going back east.”
Dani’s heart skipped a beat. Had she heard him right?
“Right after that chat with my boss, Sheriff Conroy called. Told me Kurt had unexpectedly quit as deputy sheriff and taken a job at a used-car dealership.”
“Did you mention our visit to Kurt and Josie’s place?”
“No, I thought discretion was the better part of valor. I did call Ben Comstock and filled him in. I thought it was best to stay out of the whole mess, but I’m pretty sure Kurt’s our shooter. Trying to get back at Josie for leaving him. Comstock said he would talk to both Josie and Kurt, and he was going to follow up with Sheriff Conroy. Let him handle it from here.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Dani said.
“Anyhow, Conroy told me I am overqualified for the deputy sheriff’s position, the pay is lousy, the hours long and there is a lot of territory to cover, but if I sign on with his department, there’s a chance I could pick up his job when he retires in the fall.”
Dani stared, incredulous. “You mean, he called to offer you a job? Are you thinking of taking it?”
“Yeah, actually, I am. See, I was told if you stayed out here long enough to wear out a pair of shoes, you’d never want to leave, and this morning I noticed the stitching in my left shoe was blown. That was a sure sign. The other thing is, Ferg wants to be a cowboy when he grows up, and this is where all the cowboy action is,” Joe said. “But those aren’t the only reasons. I want to see what you do with Shep’s ranch. I want to watch you create your mustang refuge. I don’t know what the future holds, but I want to be a part of your life, Dani. I’m not a rancher or a cowboy, but I can learn.”
Dani looked at him straight on. “What about wanting to stay unbranded? Untamed like those wild mustangs? What about wanting your freedom?”
Joe looked down at their intertwined fingers again. “While I was driving out here with Ferg they played a song on the radio by the Eag
les. ‘Desperado.’ I was listening to the lyrics and thinking they paralleled my life. Maybe it’s time I came down from my fences and opened the gate.”
Dani could scarcely breathe. “You’re sure?”
“Sure as I’ve ever been,” he said. “I don’t want to go through life alone. And I want to help you out with Shep’s place. I’m used to lousy pay and long hours, and once my arm heals a little more, I can haul a lot of junk and help you clean up the place. Just don’t ask me to ride those wild horses of yours! And if there ever comes a time when you don’t want me hanging around anymore, just say so.”
Dani didn’t answer, but her actions left no doubt in Joe’s mind that she definitely wanted him to stick around. When they finally came up for air, he gently smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’ve been crazy about you since the first time I saw you.”
“I was so afraid you didn’t feel the same way,” Dani said.
“We have about three hours until Ramalda rings the dinner bell.”
“Three whole hours. Whatever shall we do?”
“I can think of a few things.”
“What about your arm?”
“My arm wasn’t one of the things I was thinking about,” Joe said. He took her hand and they rose to their feet. “C’mon. Let’s take a walk and see if we can find something wild.”
EPILOGUE
“STOP YOUR FIDGETING, Molly, I’m almost done,” Dani pleaded as her fingers deftly fastened the endless row of pearl buttons that ascended Molly’s back from waist to shoulder blades. “And hold your breath. Please don’t breathe.”
“Easy for you to say,” Molly said. “This dress is way too tight. I’ll never make it through the ceremony without fainting.”
“I told you we should have had another fitting yesterday.”
“You disappeared with Joseph,” Molly returned. “You almost missed supper you were gone so long. Where’d you go, by the way?”
“Hold your arms up a little more. Higher... Okay, that’s good. Two more buttons and I’m done. There!” Dani stepped back.
“You’re glowing,” Molly said. “You’ve been glowing since last night.”
“Turn around slowly,” Dani ordered, giving the gown a critical appraisal as Molly followed orders. Through the open window came the sounds of a Bow and Arrow gathering. People talking, dogs barking, a horse whinnying. A car door slammed and Dani glanced out the window. “Luther Makes Elk just arrived with Steven. Don’t you dare look! If Steven sees you before the ceremony, it’s bad luck.”
“Is he wearing the black tuxedo?”
“Yes.”
“Is he handsome?”
“How could that man of yours be anything other than handsome?”
Molly closed her eyes and heaved a deep sigh, rapturous enough to create a ripping noise in the back of the gown. Tiny pearl buttons scattered over the floor like buckshot. She froze, eyes wide-open. “Did I just...?”
“Yes, you did,” Dani said.
Molly looked over her shoulder into the door-length mirror with an expression of horror. “Oh, no!”
“I told you not to breathe.”
“Do something. I can’t get married with my gown hanging wide-open in the back!”
Dani leaned her palms on the window ledge and looked down at the gathering. The caterers had set up their barbecue in the traditional spot; a three-piece country-western band was out of sight below her on the porch but she could hear them tuning their guitars in preparation for their strummed version of the “Wedding March.” She saw the entire population of Katy Junction, approximately thirty people, gathered in small groups, socializing. She saw the boys standing with Charlie and Badger, young and old fidgeting visibly in their best clothing. She saw Joe, with his parents and Ferg, talking to Pony and Caleb. Joe spotted her leaning out the window. He nodded and grinned. She grinned back, blushing furiously. She spotted Steven, the bridegroom, handsome in his tuxedo, and Luther Makes Elk standing at his side, dressed in his ceremonial attire with the folded red-and-black wool blanket draped over his arm.
“Something borrowed...” Dani said softly to herself. She moved away from the window and toward the door. “Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said to Molly.
She raced down the back stairs into the kitchen, where Ramalda was scrubbing the counters and grumbling about not having anything to do because the caterers had put her out of a job. Pushing out the kitchen door with a squeak and a bang, she dodged past the plucking and strumming band members and trotted down the porch steps to where Steven and Luther Makes Elk solemnly watched her approach. She came to a stop in front of them, a little out of breath. “Molly’s almost ready, but there’s a small problem.”
Luther nodded his head and held out the blanket. “I thought she might need this.”
Dani accepted it with a grateful nod. “Thank you.”
Back upstairs in the bedroom she draped the blanket over Molly’s shoulders, then picked up the bridal bouquet of wildflowers that Pony had made and placed it in Molly’s hands. “You look beautiful,” she said as the band started playing what sounded like a mariachi wedding march.
“Tell me what happened between you and Joseph yesterday.”
Dani shook her head. “Today’s your day, Molly, and Steven’s waiting.”
“Give me a hint.”
“Okay, just one. Joe’s not going back east. He and Ferg are staying. I’ll tell you the rest after the ceremony. Right now it’s time for you to marry the man you adore.”
Molly flung her arms around Dani with a cry of delight, oblivious to the sound of ripping fabric as the ruched panel Dani had worked so hard on the day before gave way. “I knew the two of you were made for each other! And I’m so glad Joseph’s staying. This is the best wedding present ever. Thank you!”
There was a tap at the door. Molly’s father poked his head in and gave his daughter a proud, paternal smile. “Sorry to intrude, but the maid of honor’s being requested to make her appearance,” he said to Dani. To his daughter he said, “It’s time.” If he noticed the red-and-black-striped blanket draped, cape-like, over his daughter’s wedding gown, the pearl buttons scattered on the floor or the tears streaking his daughter’s carefully applied makeup, he gave no sign. Dani swiftly repaired Molly’s face, adjusted her gown, straightened the blanket over her shoulders, then edged around him and descended the kitchen stairs in a breathless rush, coming face-to-face with Joe on the bottom step.
“I was just coming to get you,” he said.
Dani stepped into his embrace with a smile. “You got me, cowboy. I’m all yours.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from BREAKUP IN A SMALL TOWN by Kristina Knight.
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Breakup in a Small Town
by Kristina Knight
PROLOGUE
Three months ago
THE TORNADO SIRENS began blaring through the downtown area of Slippery Rock as Adam Buchanan raced around the corner of Franklin and Mariner. He glanced behind to see a waterspout out over the lake, visible just over the roof of the Buchanan Cabinetry warehouse. The spout seemed stuck, and he prayed it would stay stuck. Just stay in the lake, away from town, away from people. The wind could still damage property, but strong winds were better than a full-blown tornado any day of the week. A block down Mariner, he rounded the corner to Main Street, and could see the old church, now renovated and housing the day care where his kids spent most summer afternoons.
At the courthouse square, Sheriff Calhoun was urging people into the police station, out of harm’s way. A few residents got into their trucks or cars and sped away from the area.
Adam glanced back again as the wind seemed to increase around him. It was as if time stopped for everything except the waterspout.
The spout moved, becoming bigger as he watched, and the wind roared even louder in his ears. Move, Adam, he ordered himself.
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