Page 69 of Taming Lady Temperance

She’d been approved to continue as a probational spinster? The nods coming from the ladies flanking Miss Lockwood seemed to indicate as much. Noreen’s eyes misted as she glanced at Martha and Jane. Both her friends beamed at the news, reassuring Noreen that she hadn’t misinterpreted the subtleties of the conversation.

Pulling her handkerchief from her skirt pocket, Noreen raised her arm to wipe away the accumulation of happy tears from her eyes, but someone jostled her forcibly from behind. She grabbed the railing at her side to keep from falling. Her handkerchief fluttered to the floor.

“Oh my goodness! So sorry, my dear. Here, let me help.” Her stepfather took hold of her arms and pulled her upward, then bent to retrieve her handkerchief. He whipped it open, then draped it over his arm in a gesture that was probably intended to appear courtly and chivalrous, but knowing his true opinion of her, it felt contrived and ridiculous.

All sentiment drained from her in an instant, leaving her eyes dry and no longer in need of a cloth. Taking hold of the plain white corner nearest her, she gave it a tug, but Arthur failed to let go of the opposite end.

“These embroidered flowers are quite lovely, Noreen. I’m glad to see your skill with a needle has improved.” He chuckled and looked to Miss Lockwood. “She had no patience for needlework when she was younger, always running off when her mother tried to teach her. Perhaps it is your influence that has motivated her improved domesticity. A woman of superior style, like yourself, would be an admirable model for a young woman with unruly tendencies.”

Miss Lockwood did not deign to reply to his blatant pandering with anything more than a raised eyebrow. The sisterhood between Noreen and Hortense Lockwood solidified in that moment. All previous differences of opinions were forgotten.

Take that, Arthur.

“Do you intend to keep your daughter from her belongings, Mr. Clevenger?” Miss Lockwood glanced pointedly at the handkerchief corner he continued to hold.

He released it at once. “Of course not.” A strained laugh bubbled from him, but no one joined in, so he lifted a hand to his mouth and morphed the sound into a cough instead. “In truth, I wished to offer Noreen a word of fatherly caution.” He turned his attention to Noreen. “I overheard Mr. Taggert commiserating with one of his cronies after the ruling, and I’m afraid he’s quite bitter about the mild sentence you received. I know how impassioned you are about your temperance work, my dear, but as I’ve warned you many times, it’s not safe for you to pit yourself against a man like Taggert. He’s sworn to have you prosecuted to the full extent of the law should you cause any further harm to his establishment, and I believe Judge Lynch will be much less sympathetic to a repeat offender. It will be difficult, but you must put your hatred of Mr. Taggert aside should you wish to recover from this scandal.”

Noreen’s brow furrowed. “I don’t hate Mr. Taggert. It’s the liquor I—”

“That’s the way.” Arthur patted her arm as he interrupted her with a condescending smile. “Keep repeating that claim to yourself. In time, it will no doubt become the truth.”

As if Arthur Clevenger knew anything about truth beyond how to twist it to suit his purposes.

“Ah well, I must be going.” His eyes widened slightly as if he saw an approaching predator and, as rats are wont to do, decided it was time to scurry away. “Your mother is anxious to hear news of the judge’s ruling.” Arthur lifted a hand in parting, then beat a hasty retreat toward the opposite door.

“Everything all right over here, Miss O’Sullivan?”

James.

So that’s what had Arthur fleeing. Noreen smiled, feeling lighter than she had in days. “Improving by the moment, Deputy Paxton. Thank you.”

His eyes danced with suppressed humor. “Glad to hear it, ma’am. Today’s a day for counting one’s blessings, to my way of thinking.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Especially when the man before her made about a hundred different blessings pop to mind.

Chapter

33

The jailhouse felt empty without her. James sat at the office table sipping coffee and pushing his sorry excuse for scrambled eggs around on his plate. Back to eating his own cooking on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Yet it wasn’t Noreen’s culinary talents he’d missed most this past week. It was her company.

Setting aside the half-finished plate of overcooked eggs and burnt toast, he hunched over his coffee mug and sighed like a lovesick polecat. Shoot. No like about it. He was a lovesick polecat. If Jethro and Josh could see him now, he’d never hear the end of their ribbing. Judith, though . . . Judith would tell him to quit moping and do something about it. Either get on with his courtship or pick a new project to pursue. No lollygagging in the middle. Decent advice. Just one problem—he wasn’t ready to pick a new project, and Noreen wasn’t ready to accept his courtship. Which left him stewing in the inescapable middle.

He’d helped Noreen move out of the jail last Friday, carting her things over to the boardinghouse after her sentencing, but the hug she’d offered him in appreciation of his friendship during her incarceration had felt an awful lot like a good-bye sort of hug. He’d told her straight out that he still intended to pay court to her, but she’d shook her head and said something ridiculous about not wanting to be the millstone around his neck that drowned his career.

The worst thing about it was that it was his own blasted fault. When she’d first come to him for assistance, he’d tried to put her off, reciting his goal of being sheriff and explaining how allying himself with her temperance mission would likely turn voters against him. Now that their relationship had taken an intimate turn, she was trying to give him what he’d said he’d wanted. But his goals had changed. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted that sheriff’s badge. A fact she refused to believe. Obstinate woman.

It didn’t help matters that finding time to talk to her had proven nearly impossible. Noreen had taken on extra shifts at the hotel to increase her earnings. Those extra shifts came mostly in the evenings as she filled the vacancy left by Luella Templeton. Working such long hours left her exhausted by the end of the day, so even when he paid a late call at the boardinghouse, she turned him away. He had half a mind to trump up a false charge so he’d have an excuse to arrest her again. Get her alone. Make her see the truth about his intentions. The situation might even call for some radical convincing techniques. He could think of a few he’d like to try. None of which involved talking, though lips would definitely be required.

Shaking his head at himself, James got up from the table, scraped his cold eggs into the scrap bin, then washed his dishes. Maybe tomorrow he’d buy dinner at the hotel and see if he could wrangle a conversation with a particular staff member. At least he wouldn’t be stuck eating his own cooking that way. He couldn’t afford to let her out-stubborn him. Not with something as important as their future on the line. He’d just have to find creative ways to circumvent her defenses. Not that different from laying siege to an outlaw den. With a much better reward waiting at the end of the operation.

Any ideas you’d like to offer would be much appreciated, Lord.

A Jericho walk around the boardinghouse. A parting of the millpond. A pair of stone tablets appearing on his doorstep with inspired instructions. He’d be open to any of it at this point.

Unfortunately, by the time he turned in for the night, he was no closer to finding a solution than he had been hours before. He fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of trying to find passage across an ever-widening chasm, until the clanging of a loud bell jerked him awake. He sprang from bed, threw on his pants and boots, and grabbed his gun belt on the way to the door.

The instant he stepped outside, his gut knotted. A dreadful glow lit the dark sky as the acrid smell of smoke filled his nostrils. Ducking back inside, he dumped the contents of his slop pail onto the floor, then grabbed the handles of both it and the water bucket in the corner. These weapons would serve him better against tonight’s enemy than his gun.