Chapter 4 #3
He couldn’t help it. He frowned. “So you’ve traveled all the way down from the Dakotas and you haven’t found a town anywhere in between that meets your fancy?”
She gave another small shrug. “No, but when I find what I’m looking for, I’ll know it.”
“How?”
She hardly met his gaze. “I don’t know, I’ll just feel it, I suppose.”
He couldn’t deny his curiosity and an odd and unwelcome attraction. He’d never felt anything like it and wasn’t sure he liked it. Not at all. He stood. “Well, I’ll let you finish your breakfast in peace. I’ve got rounds to make.”
With that he left the room, leaving the door half-open.
As he strode down the hallway and then the stairs, he couldn’t help but wonder at his interest in her.
It went beyond simple curiosity. At the same time, he couldn’t deny he sensed something about her that raised the very suspicions his mother had denied.
He was determined to find out more about the lovely Chloe Whitfield, come what may.
Stepping outside the house he almost bumped into twenty-five-year-old Thomas Hale, a relative newcomer in town.
He’d arrived six months ago from Oklahoma, after his mother and sister had both passed away from smallpox they’d contracted while helping another family afflicted by the same illness.
Thomas had been away at the time, but he’d never mentioned where.
“Morning, Sheriff,” he greeted.
“Morning, Thomas,” Nathaniel said, continuing his walk along Main Street and heading back to his office. “What’d you find out?”
Thomas was a quiet and polite young man with black hair and brown eyes, a square jaw, and wide cheekbones. Nathaniel knew the man liked his sister and the feeling was mutual, or at least he thought so.
It’s not like they sat next to each other in church or anything, but he saw glances passing back-and-forth between the two on occasion. Lilly hadn’t mentioned anything to him about it yet, and he wasn’t sure if his mother knew, but chances were she did. She didn’t miss much.
After arriving in town, Thomas had tried a variety of jobs, looking for one that suited his temperament.
As Amos Shepherd, the town blacksmith and Thomas both found out, he wasn’t very adept with the tools of that trade.
Nor had Thomas found his calling working in the mercantile with Spencer and Mattie Talbot.
It was Nathaniel who had suggested the young man try his hand as an apprentice deputy of sorts.
For now, he occasionally took Thomas with him on his rounds here in town and through the county.
He’d come in handy a time or two when Nathaniel had needed a little help getting a recalcitrant and drunken cowhand or two out of the saloon and into the jail to sleep it off.
The variety entailed in the life of a deputy seemed to appeal to Thomas’ personality more than the other jobs he’d tried, but at the present moment, Nathaniel was in no position to offer him a job, at least not a full paying one.
“Hey Thomas, you get any information out at the Baskin ranch on those missing cows?”
The Baskin outfit was one of the larger cattle ranches in the county. A couple days ago one of the ranch hands had come into town to inform Nathaniel that half a dozen cows from their herd had disappeared.
Thomas pulled his hat from his head and swiped his forearm across his brow.
The morning was warming up quickly, the air humid.
“Just got back, Sheriff,” he said. “Tate showed me the general area where they disappeared and I found a gully where I also discovered both horse and cattle prints. Looks like they headed north.”
Nathaniel frowned. “Think it could be some young bucks from the Wichita reservation?”
Thomas shrugged. “Could be, but they don’t typically ride shoed horses. And the horses left the gully about a mile further on and headed west.”
“Great,” Nathaniel sighed. “Last thing we need to deal with right now is rustlers.”
Thomas didn’t say anything but looked off toward the west end of town.
Nathaniel figured he knew why. “Lillian’s at home for the moment, Thomas, but she’s going to spend the day at the orphanage.”
He held back a grin. Why those two didn’t just admit their feelings for one another, he didn’t know, but then again, he was no expert on relationships.
In fact, he hadn’t had a relationship in longer than he could remember.
The thought gave him pause. Unbidden images of Chloe appeared in his mind, prompting another frown. “Well, thanks for riding out there.”
“Anything else you want me to do?”
“No,” Nathaniel said, removing his hat and brushing his fingers through his hair before replacing his hat on his head. “Tomorrow maybe I’ll ride out there see if I can pick up a trail.” Before Thomas could ask, he continued. “You can ride out there with me if you want, unless you have other plans.”
Thomas grinned. “Nope, no other plans, Sheriff, thanks.”
Nathaniel turned away and continued on his rounds, trying to push thoughts of Chloe Whitfield from his mind, with varying degrees of success.