A Convenient Christmas Bride. Rhonda Gibson

into the raging blizzard. He’d been in enough storms in his lifetime to know that this one was going to be long and hard.

      His gaze moved back to the window, which offered light and comfort. What on earth was he going to do about the woman resting on his couch?

      * * *

      For the first time since her arrival at the farm, Anna Mae sat at the kitchen table with the Miller family. It had been all she could do to walk the short distance from the bedroom where she’d been for over a week.

      The day before, her fever had finally broken, and she’d awakened and explained to the sheriff that she’d been lured out into the storm by Bart, her ten-year-old student. She’d told him it was probably just a prank but still hoped he’d check on the boy. Josiah assured her that the boy was probably home before the storm ever hit. She latched on to that small ray of hope, trying hard to be very thankful.

      But now she had other problems. She traced the outline of a knot in the wooden table. “What am I going to do? As soon as word gets out that I’ve been here throughout the entire storm, the school board will fire me for sure.” She rested her arms on the tabletop and dropped her head on them. Weakness overwhelmed her. Her throat still hurt, but not like it had.

      “Here, drink this.” Josiah placed a hot cup in front of her.

      She raised her head. Rose and Ruby, the sheriff’s two-year-old twins, sat on their side of the table motionless, watching the adults. Each held a handful of eggs and a piece of bread.

      Josiah dished scrambled eggs onto a plate and set it before her. “I don’t see what the fuss is about, Annie. We’ll just explain what happened and everything will be fine.” He returned to the stove.

      “Eat?” Rose asked hopefully.

      “Not yet. Let me get my plate and we’ll be ready,” Josiah answered, pouring coffee into another mug and bringing it and his plate to the table.

      Anna Mae tried to think of the children as chaperones, but didn’t believe the school board would go for that. No, she was doomed.

      “Please don’t call me Annie, Sheriff Miller. And I really don’t think they are going to care what my excuse is. They aren’t going to approve of my staying here with you for so long.” Anna Mae sighed. She’d asked him not to call her Annie before but it didn’t do much good. He seemed to enjoy teasing her.

      The big sheriff shrugged his shoulders and sat down at the table, his plate heaped with eggs, bacon and bread. “I believe you are wrong. All they have to do is take one look at you and know you’ve been sick.”

      Did she look that bad? Anna Mae tucked a stringy hank of hair behind her ear. Sadly, he was right. She knew without looking into a mirror that she was a sight.

      “Now don’t go fussin’. All I meant was that you’ve lost weight and the luster in your eyes hasn’t quite come back. If you add that to your scratchy sounding voice, well there’s no mistaken you’ve been under the weather.”

      “Eat now?” Rose pleaded, looking from one adult to the other.

      Josiah’s gaze moved to the girls. They sat poised at the table just as they’d been moments ago. “We best pray before these two get tired of waiting and start throwing those eggs at us to get our attention.” A wide grin spread over his face just before he bowed his head to pray.

      Anna Mae couldn’t concentrate on his prayer. Just like before, she was out of a job and it wasn’t even her fault. If Bart hadn’t lured her out into the storm, she would be home in her room at the boardinghouse.

      As soon as he said amen, Anna Mae asked, “Did you go check on Bart?”

      Josiah laid his fork down. “Haven’t had a chance to but I’m sure the boy is fine. If he weren’t they would have sent out a search party for him, and I’d have been the first one they came to for help. Why don’t you tell me how that happened again?”

      Anna Mae sighed. “I was at the school grading papers when Bart came running inside. He asked me to go with him into the woods. He said Miles Carter, one of the smaller boys in my class, was hurt and I was the closest adult who could help him.” She took a sip of her coffee.

      “Go on.” Josiah helped the girls with their meals and ate his breakfast at the same time. Her heart went out to him. She would have been dead now if he hadn’t helped her. He already had so much to do and he’d stayed with her during the worst of her illness. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles, showing his lack of sleep since her arrival.

      She focused on her story. “He’d already brought the little mule to the front of the school so we left almost immediately. At first I believed him, but the deeper we went into the woods the more I began to doubt his story. I knew Bart was still sore that he had to stay in at lunch and sweep up the school, but I really hadn’t thought he’d do spite work.”

      “Spite work?” The sheriff turned quizzical eyes on her.

      “That he’d leave me alone.” A deep sigh slipped from between her lips. “I was wrong.” Anna Mae set her cup down and reached for her fork.

      He looked up and smiled. “Well, no matter what brought you here, it’s nice to see you up and sitting at my table, Annie.” A wicked twinkle entered his eyes.

      She almost corrected him again, but he’d saved her life so she decided he could call her whatever he wanted to. “It’s nice to be here, Sheriff Miller.”

      He bent over to pick up the bread Rose had dropped. When he straightened he asked, “Then what happened?”

      “Bart distracted me by saying he thought Miles was directly in front of us. While I focused on the spot where he pointed, Bart took off, leaving me alone in the woods. I never even saw him go.” Anna Mae felt foolish, but continued on. “The sky had become overcast and I couldn’t get my bearings. I think I wandered around at least an hour before it started to rain, and then the rain quickly turned to snow. It got so bad I couldn’t see two feet in front of me, so I decided to give the mule her lead, praying she’d take me back to the schoolhouse.” Anna Mae shivered. “I was so cold and wet.” Just the memory of the sharp pain in her chest as she breathed in the icy air sent another shiver down her spine.

      “It’s a good thing your mule found my place. I hate to think what would have become of you,” Josiah stated, before dishing more food into his mouth.

      “Thank you for saving my life.”

      He held her gaze as he swallowed and then said, “That mule out there saved your life. All I did was keep the fever down and get a little water in ya. Now eat up.” He waved his fork toward the plate in front of her. “You tell the school board what you just told me and I’m sure everything will be fine.”

      The eggs scratched as they went down, and Anna Mae turned her head to cough. The cough seemed to come and go, but at least her chest no longer burned from the pain of it.

      Once the coughing subsided, she asked, “Do you think it’s safe to go to town today?”

      He shook his head, gently wiping eggs off the side of Ruby’s mouth. “Not with a wagon. That rainstorm we got right before the snow turned into a layer of ice. Besides, it’s best to stay out of the cold air and let that cough heal.”

      “But the longer I stay here...” She left the words hanging in the air.

      “Nothin’ to do for it. I can’t have you and the girls out in this weather.” He sipped his coffee.

      He was right. If it were just her safety, Anna Mae felt sure she’d risk going out. But it wasn’t just hers, it was the twins’, too. She sighed.

      “If you need something, I can take Roy and go out.”

      “Roy?”

      A grin split the sheriff’s face. “Yeah, my horse.”

      “You named him Roy?” Anna Mae felt a chuckle rise in her sore throat.