Whirlwind Baby. Debra Cowan

lawman looked at Emma. “When did you first notice it was gone?”

      “A few hours ago.” So, Mrs. Holt was a seamstress. The sheriff’s blue gaze was steady and probing, making Emma feel he might know she didn’t need these glasses, that her eyesight was just fine.

      The possibility that he might find out who she was, why she was in Whirlwind had her skin prickling. “I did the wash yesterday and left everything on the line to dry overnight.”

      Mr. Ross’s deep voice rumbled out, “Late last night, I heard a noise outside, but when I looked around, I couldn’t find any sign of anyone. Didn’t realize then that Miz York’s cors—” A dull flush colored his neck. “That anything had been taken off the line.”

      “What time was that?”

      “I’d say just after midnight.”

      “Was it one of your finer garments?” Josie asked Emma, her gaze lingering on the baby.

      “Yes.”

      Jake Ross didn’t look at Emma or do anything that might indicate he was thinking about their meeting half-dressed in the kitchen after midnight. But she felt a tension stretch between them and she knew he was thinking about it. Because she was.

      Josie Holt nodded. “Pearl said hers was taken after dark last night. She discovered it when she went to the clothesline before bed.”

      “Pearl Anderson owns the Pearl Restaurant,” Mr. Ross reminded Emma.

      “Did she hear anything?” the sheriff asked his wife.

      “She said no.”

      Sheriff Holt rose and moved behind his desk, opening a drawer in the middle and pulling out a leather-covered book. He flipped through a couple of pages then glanced at his sometime-deputy. “You made note when the last theft like this was reported.”

      “Yeah. It was Susannah’s.” Jake stepped around Emma to confer with the lawman. “If I recollect, it was just a little over a week ago.”

      As the men discussed dates of the other thefts, Josie eased up to Emma and said quietly, “Susannah is married to Davis Lee’s brother.”

      Emma nodded.

      “If you need another dress corset, I want you to come by my shop and get one.”

      Emma needed a corset, period. But she didn’t have the money to buy one.

      The seamstress seemed to sense why she hesitated and said kindly, “I want to give it to you. This is no kind of welcome to a new town.”

      Touched, Emma was speechless for a moment. The woman didn’t even know her. “I can’t, but thank you. Really.”

      “You can put it on account.”

      Emma couldn’t do that, either. What if she and Molly had to run in the middle of the night? Emma wouldn’t be able to pay on the account for a long while and that would be a reminder of her to these people. A reminder she couldn’t afford if her stepfather or his man came looking for her. “I can come in after I get my first wages.”

      Josie looked as if she might insist, then smiled warmly. “All right then.”

      Behind them, the door opened. Emma turned to see a tall, red-haired girl who looked to be a few years younger than her.

      “Mrs. Holt,” the newcomer said. “I locked up the shop and I’m taking lunch to Zeke, if that’s all right.”

      “Of course, Zoe. Thanks for letting me know.”

      “I won’t be long.”

      “All right.” Josie smiled. As the other woman backed out of the office and closed the door, Josie’s attention came back to Emma. “That’s Zoe Keeler. She works for me. Zeke is her younger brother.”

      Emma nodded.

      Closing the book, the sheriff said to the other man, “I’m gonna come out to the Circle R later on and look around.”

      “I figured you would.”

      Emma’s heartbeat sped up.

      “Can you think of anything else that might be helpful?”

      “No.” Her boss looked at Emma with the same question in his eyes.

      “I don’t think so,” she said. She hoped the sheriff wouldn’t ask for a description of the garment.

      “All right then.” Davis Lee looked thoughtful. “This is the first time this thief has struck twice in one night. I wonder why.”

      “I wish he or she would quit it!” his wife burst out. “People are going to stop buying clothing from me.”

      “Honey, they know it isn’t your fault.”

      “Oh, fiddle, people don’t give a fig about whose fault it is.” She paced in front of her husband, her skirts swooshing against the wood floor. “They just know that things I make are being stolen and they won’t buy anything because they’re afraid it’ll be stolen, too.”

      He chuckled, catching her hand and stilling her.

      “I hope you’re wrong, Miz Josie,” Jake said. “Because that’s just plain silly.”

      “Thank you.”

      He smiled as he turned to open the door. “We’ll be on our way, then. See you later, Davis Lee.”

      “Yeah.”

      Emma said goodbye then preceded Mr. Ross out the door, noticing how the baby watched him. Emma glanced back before starting down the steps and saw the sheriff pull his wife into his lap. Taken by the sight, Emma paused.

      Josie put her arms around her husband’s neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Davis Lee Holt was every bit as broad as Jake Ross and taller, but Josie Holt didn’t act one bit afraid of him. Emma wondered what it would be like to be that at ease with a man. Just one.

      About halfway down the steps, Mr. Ross stopped. “I forgot to tell Davis Lee something. I’ll be right back.”

      “All right.”

      As she waited, she talked to Molly, pointing out the livery across the way then a hotel just beyond that looked almost finished. A sign across the front of the two-story stone building said New Owners. Construction to Resume Soon.

      So far, the sheriff didn’t appear to have any information about a senator’s missing stepdaughter and daughter. The relief that moved through Emma was so strong it made her light-headed, as if she’d been out in the sun too long.

      The heavy thud of boots sounded on the steps behind her and Jake Ross joined her. As they stepped into the dusty street, she started for the wagon, but he halted.

      “Miz York, would you like something to drink before we head back?”

      She hesitated, wondering if he realized the baby would have to come, too.

      “Do you like lemonade? Pearl makes a good one.”

      “Lemonade?” she asked in surprise. She loved lemonade, thought longingly of her mother’s. “Yes, I like it.”

      “I’m thirsty and you probably are, too. Let’s have us a glass before we head back to the ranch.”

      She supposed she could refuse and wait for him in the wagon, but lemonade… “All right.”

      He gave a sharp nod and gestured to the right.

      As they walked to the Pearl Restaurant, Emma wondered what his feelings toward the baby really were. She didn’t think she’d misread him, but she needed to be sure. She was no good at coaxing information out of people, but she wanted—needed—to know if Jake Ross was the one who should raise Molly.

      As they stepped up on the plank walk in front of the