In The Sheriff's Protection. Lauri Robinson

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      “Morning,” he shouted from the open barn door.

      “Morning, Tom!” Billy called back. “Ma said if I see ya to say breakfast will be ready shortly! It’s biscuits and gravy! My favorite!”

      “Sounds good! I’ll be right there.” Tom turned about to finish packing his gear in his saddlebags. During his sleepless night, he’d determined what he had to do. Leave. He’d told Clara that the work would be done this afternoon, and it would be. In fact, if he got right down to it, it would be done before noon, giving him a good start on getting back to tracking Hugh.

      Mind set and gear stored, he headed toward the house, only to stop dead in his tracks at the doorway when he saw Clara.

      * * *

      The aching in her leg had awoken her early, only because it had been stiff from being used yesterday after lying around for so long. She’d known what would help, and it had. Long before the sun rose, she’d heated water and filled the washtub she used to bathe herself and Billy, and to wash clothes. It wasn’t large enough for her to completely sit in, but it was deep enough for her to soak her leg. Afterward, she’d given herself a thorough scrubbing, and before the water had completely cooled, washed her hair.

      It felt good to be clean and to no longer smell like a saloon from the whiskey dousing Tom had used to bring down her fever. She hadn’t taken a bath in a real bathtub since before moving out here, before Billy had been born. It was just one of many things she wanted to do again, but she also knew that most of those things were little more than pipe dreams. This was her life, like it or not.

      Tom was the reason she’d even thought about some of those things. Watching him with Billy, talking with him last night, had made her wish harder than ever that there was a small iota of hope that someday things could be different for her and for Billy.

      She had put on one of her nicest dresses. A yellow one that she never wore because it would show the dirt too easily, which was silly because there was no one but her and Billy to notice if she got it dirty or not.

      Furthermore, she always wore an apron to prevent stains.

      Turning, because she’d heard Tom’s footsteps on the porch but had yet to hear him enter the house, she frowned at how he stood in the doorway as if scared to enter.

      For a split second she was afraid to have him enter. He must have just gotten done shaving. His face was glistening, as was his hair that still showed the comb marks smoothing it back off his forehead. Even if she hadn’t already witnessed what a good man he was inside, she’d have to admit he was handsome. Maybe that was what took her breath away, knowing he wasn’t just good on the outside, but on the inside where it mattered, yet a person couldn’t see. How different her life would be if she was married to a man like that. Good on the inside. Then she’d have something to be proud of.

      Tossing her head slightly to catch her wits, she said, “Good morning, Mr. Baniff. Please sit down. Everything will be ready shortly.”

      He stepped forward, twirling his hat with his hands. “It smells good.”

      “It’s just biscuits and gravy and some fried potatoes. I’m sorry I don’t have any bacon or ham, but with my injury I haven’t made it over to the Ryan place to pick up a smoked pig lately. I usually do that every few months, and will need to go get one soon. Oh, let me get you a cup of coffee.”

      “I can get it,” he said while hanging his hat on the hook by the door.

      “No, I’ll get it. You sit down.” Her insides were splattering about like water tossed in hot grease. She was talking as much as Billy usually did, too. It was all because she wasn’t used to a man like Tom. One who didn’t expect to be waited on. One who didn’t bark orders or snarl like a rabid dog just waiting for the chance to bite.

      She poured him a cup of coffee and set it on the table. “Sit down. I’ll have your plate ready in a second.”

      “What can I do to help? How’s the leg this morning?”

      “Nothing, and the leg is fine. You really know a lot about doctoring. I hardly know it had been injured.”

      She quickly filled a plate for him and set it on the table, then filled one for Billy, and walked back to the stove. With the coffeepot in one hand, she returned to the table.

      “My cup is still full.” Glancing at the table, he frowned at Billy already eating before asking, “Aren’t you going to join us?”

      When it was just she and Billy, she did sit at the table, but when Hugh was home, he expected her to be at the stove, ready to bring him a second helping.

      “Oh, I’ll wait until you’ve had your fill.”

      “This will be more than enough,” he said. “And if I want more, I’m perfectly capable of getting it.” He pushed his chair away from the table. “Actually, you’ve been on that leg long enough already. Sit down while I fix you a plate.”

      Taken aback, she found it was a moment before her heart slowed down enough for her brain to function. He was already at the stove, piling food onto a plate. Hurrying toward the stove, she said, “I can do that.”

      “So can I,” he said, taking the coffeepot from her hand. “While you sit down.”

      He set the pot on the stove and with an expectant look, said, “Go on. Sit down.”

      She did so and smiled, though it felt wobbly, at Billy, who was grinning from ear to ear. When a plate was set before her, as well as a cup of coffee, she thanked him, and withheld the need to insist this wasn’t necessary. Although it truly wasn’t. She’d never been waited on and wasn’t sure how to react to it. Or him. Merely looking his way made her stomach fill with butterflies. Lots and lots of precious little butterflies. She’d never felt anything even close to that and had to press a hand against her stomach.

      “Where do you usually get the smoked pig?”

      Her heart sank. “You don’t like it.” Pushing away from the table, she stood. “I’ll make you something else.”

      “No, sit down. This is good. Very good, actually. I was just wondering where you get the pig from.”

      “The Ryans are our neighbors,” Billy said. “It’s a long walk, but they have two kids. They’re girls, but still fun to play with.”

      “How far is it?”

      Clara had sat back down, and noted he was eating the meal as if it tasted good. She sincerely hoped it wasn’t just for show. “They live about ten miles from here.”

      “And you walk? Carrying a smoked pig?”

      The look of shock on his face almost made her sputter her coffee. Swallowing, and wiping her lips, she shook her head. “Mr. Ryan often gives us a ride home, or if busy, will deliver the pig later.”

      “Oh, well, that’s better.” Looking over at Billy’s empty plate, Tom then asked, “You need more?”

      Billy nodded.

      She pushed away from the table again, but Tom shook his head as he stood. “Bring your plate, Billy. I’ll fill it while filling my own.” He then asked her, “How about you? You need more while I’m up?”

      “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

      “How about coffee?”

      “Good there, too.”

      She couldn’t pull her eyes away as the two walked to the stove, and couldn’t stop a smile that formed when Tom asked Billy if he wanted one or two biscuits.

      “Two,” Billy answered.

      “Me, too. They are the best I’ve ever had.”

      Her smile gradually slipped away when she realized she only had the supplies to make the biscuits because of money that Hugh had brought last winter, during his last visit. That was going