Chapter Seven
On Friday evening, the blizzard blew in. Shannon hurried to feed and water Plato. She found a horse blanket and covered him then gave him an extra measure of hay and feed.
She watched the snow from her parlor window. At first the sight was beautiful but then the snow increased until she couldn’t see the carriage house. The wind increased and rattled the windows.
She was grateful she had a warm place to take refuge. She worried about others in town who might not be as well off as she. Thank goodness, Mrs. Zimmerman was still staying with the Frasers to offer them her counsel.
Not a soul came to her door and she didn’t venture out except to feed Plato. She realized the true purpose of the line she’d believed to be a clothesline from the back door to the stable. Without it, she couldn’t have found her way to and from the carriage house.
On Tuesday, Riley came to check on her. Once he was inside, she started coffee while he took off his coat, hat, and gloves. He’d carried Sylvester with him.
“Did you carry him all the way here?”
“No, just after he got tired. He enjoyed jumping into the snow for a couple of blocks, but then he was through. I was afraid the pads of his feet would get too cold.”
Shannon patted a spot on the floor. “Look, Sylvester. I found this blanket especially for you.” She set a bowl of water and a dish of chopped meat down.
The dog wolfed down the food and drank half the water. Then, he rearranged the blanket and lay down.
Riley smiled at his pet. “He’s happy now. Pretty good treatment, eh, boy?”
“In case you’re jealous, I baked a pie. I didn’t have dried peaches, but I had canned ones.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Sounds great. Carrying Sylvester whipped up my appetite.”
She cut him a slice of the pie she’d baked in hopes he’d come by tonight. “Lucky for my waistline you’re here. I love to bake in cold weather. I’ve made two kinds of cookies during the storm.”
Good heavens, she had to control herself. She acted like a schoolgirl with her first beau. At least, she hoped Riley qualified as a beau.
Just because he’d kissed her didn’t mean he thought of her that way. Men put less importance on kisses than did women. Or so she’d heard. As much as she knew clinically about the human body, she hadn’t much romantic experience.
Face facts, she had no personal knowledge of dealing with men as anything other than patients. While technically Riley was one of her patients, that definitely was not how she pictured him now. Since she was the only doctor in the county, she wondered about the ethics of having a relationship with a patient.
As if anyone here would care. Mistletoe was a world away from most of the rules she learned in New York. How could she encourage Riley without seeming obvious—as if baking his favorite pie wasn’t evidence enough.
He took a bite of pie and closed his eyes. “Mmm. Delicious.”
“Thank you. Let me refill your coffee.” She couldn’t tamp down her licentious thoughts. The man was handsome and he genuinely cared about everyone in town.
“You keep busy this week?”
“Fortunately, I’d mailed my presents to my family in New York before the blizzard arrived. While I was snowed in, I finished my Christmas decorations. Has the cold kept the criminals indoors?”
“Yeah, worried about a few of the older people, but I check on them when I can. Old Mr. Igo needs help but he’s too stubborn to let anyone take care of him. Mr. Jensen is the same.”
She started to say that was like a man, but didn’t want to ruin the moment. “Would you like to help me decorate the house for Christmas?”
He pushed back from the table. “Why not. Where shall we start?”
“The parlor. I have the decorations divided into rooms.” She led the way to the so-called library where she’d sorted her creations.
Riley followed but Sylvester was asleep by the stove. Riley scanned the piles. “What goes in the parlor?”
“These.” She picked up a garland. “This goes on the fireplace.
“You gonna hang stockings?”
“Not this year. Maybe sometime in the future if I ever have children.”
He stopped and stared at her. “You mean you plan to marry and have a family and keep working as a doctor?”
“Yes. There’s no reason not to. I want a family. If I were allowed to remain here, I’d love to build on more bedrooms for children.”
He chuckled as he laid the garland along the mantel. “Sounds like you plan to match the Doans.”
“Maybe. Four might be a better number. In the meantime, I have this cozy home to live in. But, I’ll starve to death if I don’t have more patients soon.”
“Give people time.”
“That’s what Vennie Gibson says, but how much time?”
“Hard to say. Where are you going to have your Christmas tree?”
“I want two. I’d like a small one in the medical office and a larger one in the parlor. Is that crazy?”
“Not if that’s what you want. I guess I should put a wreath on the door of my office and one on my house.”
“Where do you live?”
“Across the alley from the jail and down a couple of doors. Not that great a house and it’s tiny with only one room, but the place is convenient to work.”
“I don’t think the size of a home is as important as feeling you belong there. My parents’ home is… well, maybe nine or ten times the size of this one. I feel more comfortable here than I’ve ever been anywhere.” Oh, my, why had she confessed that? Why let anyone know how uncomfortable she’d been with her home in New York?
“Did you go away to medical school?”
She shook her head as she hung a wreath inside the parlor window. “I lived at home. My father is one of the professors as well as a practicing physician. Our house was only a couple of blocks from the medical school. And the college I attended was no further.”
***
Riley tried to picture her as a student in medical school. She had to be way smarter than him or anyone he knew. “Frankly, I imagine most men are as intimidated by you as I am. You have a lot of education and skills not common for women.”
“You don’t act scared, Brave Sheriff McCallister. What made you decide to become a sheriff in the first place?”
He figured he might as well tell her. “Pure luck and my story is a shocking one. I’d been drifting from Georgia, through Texas, and then northwest to here. Made a living gambling, which is kind of the family trade.”
And that was an understatement. His family were con men, gamblers, and worse. He peered at her and waited for her to condemn him. When she waited for him to continue, he did.
“I rode into Mistletoe while a robbery was in place. Three men held up the mercantile and killed the previous sheriff. I caught them off guard, I guess, and captured them. After I locked them in the jail, the townspeople offered me the job.”
Memories of that day always left him stunned. The town’s misfortune was the luckiest day of his life—his chance at redemption. His father and brothers would laugh their heads off if they knew.
“I don’t blame them. You saved the town. Were the Murphys the owners of the mercantile then?”
He nodded, needed a few moments to regain his voice. “They were and big supporters. I never claimed to have any qualifications for the job, Shannon. In fact, I don’t have. If they knew my past, many of the people here would have considered me a bad sort, close to a criminal myself. But, I do my best to keep the peace and look out for people in town and as many nearby as I can.”
“I know you take your job seriously and you’re amazingly good at it. People in Mistletoe are lucky to have you as their sheriff. No wonder they look to you to solve their problems.”
“There’s not anyone else in charge—no mayor or councilman of any kind. Amherst would like to be mayor, but no one likes the man.”
“He’s no friendlier than his wife, so I don’t wonder.” She hung a wreath on the inside of the back door.
He scanned the kitchen and parlor. “These rooms looks festive. Where to next?”
She struggled with a long garland. “This goes on the banister. I suppose you’ll think I’m too sentimental, but I plan to decorate each room.”
He held out his arms. “Just load me with decorations and point me.”
She completed the banister and tied a large red bow around the newel post. “Grab that pile nearest the door and follow me.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Even though I’m the only one who’ll see these rooms, I want them to look merry. I didn’t go overboard for up here.”
At the top of the stairs, she tacked a tiny nail through a ribbon on the fabric wreath. “Inviting you upstairs isn’t really proper. I hope you won’t think badly of me.”
She’d be horrified if she knew his thoughts while this close to her bedroom. To reassure her, he lied. “I’m just helping you decorate. Nothing improper about that.”
“That little wreath is for my bedroom door. Then the garland is for the top of my bureau.”
He draped the decoration across the bureau while she hammered another tiny nail through the hanger for the door wreath. She stood back and judged the décor.
“If I stay here, I’m changing the colors in this room.”
He peered at the navy walls and mahogany furniture. “Kind of dark, isn’t it? Not something I’d picture you choosing.”
“Well, we’re through upstairs. Shall we tackle the medical rooms?”
He loosely caged her with his arms. “I think we should pause here for a while. There’s something I’ve been thinking about since the last time I saw you.”
***
Shannon’s breath quickened at the passion in his dark eyes. Her heart pounded in her ears. She ached to touch him, to caress his strong jaw and sift her fingers through his dark hair. Wasn’t she crazy to invite him to her bedroom?
When he tightened the embrace she raised her face to meet his kiss. He didn’t disappoint her. His kiss revealed yearning, pent up emotion he’d stored. She hoped the longing was for her and not just for any woman.
She had dreamed of having his arms around her again. All week she’d needed him near her. Perhaps subconsciously she maneuvered him up here with the hope he’d respond to her. She didn’t regret her actions.
When his kiss grew more fervent and he inserted his tongue into her mouth, she gasped. Under his coaxing, she responded. He tightened his hold on her and his pelvis pushed against her.
Instead of repulsing her, the action encouraged her to hold on to his shoulders and get closer to him. She sensed his fingers on the buttons of her dress and set to work on his shirt fastenings. He lifted her and laid her on the bed and shrugged out of his shirt.
His muscles rippled with each movement, proving he was as strong as she’d imagined. “I dream of you every night, Shannon. I’ve burned for your touch.”
She finished opening her dress. “I seem to have lost my inhibitions. Good thing you placed me on the bed because your kisses melted my bones.”
He released her chemise to reveal her breasts. “Even more beautiful than I imagined. I have to taste you.”
His mouth on her breast sent her into a flight of ecstasy. “I had no idea anything could be this wonderful. Don’t stop, Riley.”
Barking interrupted their lovemaking. Pounding on the door pierced her infatuated brain.
“Good heavens, someone’s at the office door.”
He slid from the bed and grabbed his shirt. “I’ll go down while you straighten your dress and your hair.”
She wondered what the time was. When she’d buttoned her dress, she checked her lapel watch. Eleven o’clock. No excuse in the world would cover this. Her reputation, what there was of one, was ruined.
Leaving her hair pulled back and tied with a ribbon at her nape, she hurried downstairs. In her office, Riley was calming Tobias Doan.
“Mary said the doctor warned her. We didn’t know things could be this bad. Every one of them has the spots.”
Shannon had her coat and hat on and pulled on her gloves. “I’ll go with you, Mr. Doan. Since you said all the children are ill, let me add a few things to my medical bag.”
“You got to hurry, Ma’am. Joey and Polly are plumb out of their head with fever.”
She sent Riley a longing glance. “Let’s go, Mr. Doan. Oh, and let me take a tin of cookies for the children who aren’t quite so ill.” She raced to the pantry and grabbed one of the tins she’d filled this week.
Riley followed her. “I’m sorry, Shannon, this will ruin your reputation.”
“Please stay as long as you wish but close up when you and Sylvester leave. Or, leave him here so his feet won’t be frozen.”
He gave her a quick kiss then she hurried to go with Mr. Doan.