The Lawman's Noelle

by Stella Bagwell

  The brown-and-white shepherd that had been barking earlier was now sitting on his haunches at the door, a grin on his face and a friendly thump to his tail. A yellow tabby nuzzled the dog’s side, warily watching the strangers with unblinking green eyes.

  “The dog is Rusty and the cat is Ginger,” Evan informed Noelle. “And just in case you’re worried, neither bite. Go ahead, give them a pat.”

  “They must like each other,” Noelle observed as she reached down and gave both animals an affectionate rub on the head.

  “Rusty was just a little pup when we got him, and Ginger was a tiny kitten, so they grew up together. Now they’re inseparable,” Alice explained. “They sleep, eat, hunt, do everything together. They don’t know that one is a dog and the other is a cat. They just know they love each other.”

  As soon as the older woman opened the door, the animals shot inside. The three of them followed, and once they were all standing inside a small entryway, Noelle was met with the scents of baking cookies, fresh fruit and evergreen.

  “Where did Rusty and Ginger go? They must have made a dash for somewhere,” Noelle commented.

  Alice chuckled. “When the weather is warm, they prefer to be outdoors. But during the winter, they love the kitchen. I think they like being where the action is.”

  After Evan shut the door, Alice guided them out of the entryway and into a sunny living room. As Noelle looked around, she spotted the source of the evergreen fragrance. A tall blue spruce loaded with decorations stood in front of a pair of paned glass windows. Beneath the branches, several festively wrapped gifts were stacked on the hardwood floor, waiting to be opened on the special day.

  The remainder of the area was furnished with a long green couch and matching love seat, two stuffed armchairs in a dark rust color and polished tables covered with crocheted doilies. As they walked through the room, a sense of warmth enveloped Noelle, the same impression of homecoming she’d always gotten whenever she’d walked into her aunt and uncle’s home. The feeling was so unexpected and so nice that she was suddenly very glad she’d agreed to accompany Evan today.

  After taking their coats and Noelle’s handbag and storing them away in a closet, Alice ushered them on to the kitchen. When the three of them entered the room, the first thing Noelle noticed was the tall, dark-haired man with broad shoulders standing at a long work island in the middle of the room. A white apron was tied over his blue chambray shirt, long sleeves rolled back against burly forearms. Upon hearing them enter, he paused in the act of stuffing an orange into a small paper sack. He looked around at the doorway.

  Grinning with pleasure, he left the work island and strode over to meet them. “Well, well, darlin’, looks like you found us some company,” he said to his wife.

  “Evan wanted to surprise us, and he surely did. He’s brought a lovely young lady with him today,” Alice said to her husband. “This is Noelle. She saved our grandson’s life, you know. She’s a real-life heroine.”

  Embarrassed by the woman’s praise, Noelle shook her head. “That’s not the case at all,” she said. “All I did was help Evan back onto his horse.”

  Stepping forward, Tuck reached out to shake her hand. As his big paw closed around her fingers, she forgot that he was a man who’d spent years enforcing the law. Instead, she was simply hoping that he liked her.

  “That’s not the way Evan explained it all to me,” Tuck told her. “He said he was out cold, and you managed to wake him up. Said you found his horse and led Evan out of the gulch when he couldn’t see clear enough to find his way out of a paper sack.”

  “That’s right,” Evan said, his arm suddenly snaking around the back of Noelle’s waist. “Then she took me to the hospital and waited to make sure I was going to live.”

  Afterward, she’d taken him all the way to the Silver Horn, then deliberately insulted him before leaving him to make it on his own power to the big house, she thought ruefully. Noelle didn’t know why he’d been kind enough to spare his grandparents that part of the story. But the fact that he had, coupled with his arm wrapped snugly around her waist, was enough to warm her cheeks.

  “We’re embarrassing the girl with all this talk,” Alice spoke up. She gestured toward a long pine table on the west end of the room. “You two go sit while I take a batch of cookies from the oven. I think the timer is about to go off. Tuck, get them some coffee or something else to drink, won’t you, honey?”

  “Sure,” the older man boomed happily, then slanted a sly grin at Noelle. “A friend just gave me a neat little bottle of apricot brandy for Christmas. Let’s have a dose in our coffee. What do you say?”

  “I’d say Noelle is going to think you’re a naughty old man,” Evan teased him.

  “It sounds nice and warming,” Noelle told him. “I’d like some. But I don’t need to sit.” She walked over to the work island, with Evan following behind her. “Let me help you two do something. What are all the paper bags for?”

  “Oh, I’m filling them with cookies and fruit and homemade toffee,” Tuck said. “Alice and I always take the bags to the folks at the local nursing home. Some of them don’t get visitors or gifts for Christmas. It’s just a little something to let them know they’re not forgotten.”

  “How thoughtful,” Noelle murmured.

  “While I get the coffee, try the toffee,” he urged her. “Alice makes the best. You and Evan can help with the bags after we take our break.”

  The retired sheriff went over to a long row of white cabinets and began to pull down cups. Evan piled a few pieces of toffee on a plate and motioned for Noelle to join him at the table.

  “Isn’t that toffee going to ruin your appetite for lunch?” she asked him.

  He held out a chair for her. As she eased onto the seat, she noticed the dog and cat were curled together on a pet bed on the floor near a glass patio door. Clearly, the Reeves opened their home to more than friends and family, and Noelle couldn’t help but be endeared by the sight of the happy animals.

  Laughing, he took a seat to her left, then scooted his chair closer to hers. “This is just an appetizer. Try it.”

  He held up the piece of toffee, leaving her little option but to lean forward and take a bite without touching her lips to his fingers. Being fed by a handsome man was hardly an everyday occurrence for Noelle, and though she tried to pretend it was nothing, the whole thing felt incredibly intimate to her.

  He eagerly watched her crunch the buttery treat. “Good, huh?”

  “I’d be in serious trouble if I stayed around here for very long,” she replied. “Alice should be running a sweetshop in town.”

  Evan grinned. “Did you hear that, Grandmother? Noelle says you should open a sweetshop in town.”

  “Everybody tells her that,” Tuck spoke up as he carried a tray filled with red coffee cups over to the table. “But she doesn’t have time for that. She’s got to stick around here and take care of me.”

  “Ha,” Evan joked. “You mean stick around here and spoil you rotten.”

  Across the room, Alice placed the cookie sheet on a cooling rack, then joined them at the table. “Once the girls married and moved away, the idea of putting in a bakery did cross my mind,” she told Noelle. “But it didn’t take me long to decide that getting up at three in the morning would be a bit too early for me.”

  “I don’t think I could handle that, either,” Noelle admitted. “Five is early enough for me.”

  Taking a seat next to her husband, the older woman glanced her way. “You have to be at your job at an early hour?”

  “Noelle has a ranch with a nice little herd of cattle. She runs it by herself,” Evan said before she had a chance to answer.

  “Well, now, that would be a tough job for a big strong man. I’m impressed that you can do it,” Tuck told her.

  “So am I,” Alice added. “C
ows terrify me. I’m always afraid they’re going to charge at me. And horses are even scarier.”

  Evan gave his grandmother a playful look. “That’s because you never could stay on one. You flop around in the saddle like a rag doll.”

  Alice rolled her eyes. “I never said I was a bronco buster.”

  Laughing, Tuck leaned over and gave his wife a peck on the cheek. “No, but if you were, you’d be the prettiest one in Storey County.”

  Evan chuckled. “I’ll bet she’d be the only granny bronco buster in Storey County.”

  Still grinning, Tuck passed the cups of coffee laced with brandy around the table. “Let’s make a toast,” he suggested.

  “Yes, let’s,” Alice agreed. “This is a special occasion, to have Evan and Noelle surprise us with a visit.”

  After everyone picked up the cups, Tuck looked at Noelle and smiled. “To you, Noelle, for rescuing our grandson. May you have a blessed Christmas this year and every year.”

  “Hear, hear,” Evan agreed.

  Stunned by the simple tribute, Noelle glanced at Evan, who must have read the dismay on her face.

  “You can’t change Granddad’s toast. So don’t try,” he told her.

  “I’m not used to this kind of attention,” she murmured. “I don’t know what to say. Except thank you all.”

  “That’s enough,” Tuck assured her.

  The four of them brought their cups together. As Noelle sipped the hot brew, she hoped the splash of brandy would burn away the lump in her throat. She wasn’t used to getting this emotional over anything. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time anyone or anything had touched her this much.

  For the next few minutes, the four of them munched on the toffee and sipped the coffee while Tuck and Alice related all the local events and gossip that had been going on in the Virginia City area. But then Tuck turned the conversation to Evan’s job.

  “So tell me, has Sheriff Wainwright been keeping everyone in the office in line?” he asked his grandson.

  Before Evan could answer, Alice rose to her feet and reached for Noelle’s arm. “Come on, honey,” she invited her. “Wyatt Earp here just has to talk law and order for a while or it would kill him. Let me show you what else I’ve been baking.”

  Relieved that she didn’t have to endure the shoptalk between the two men, Noelle left the table and followed Alice over to the counter, where she’d been filling round tins with cookies and candy.

  “I’ve been making the cookies and the candy all this past week. The rest is out on the back porch. Come on and I’ll show you.”

  At the opposite end of the room, Alice opened a door that led to a long screened-in porch. The space was filled with lawn furniture, an outdoor grill and a wide metal cabinet with double doors.

  “I ran out of room in the refrigerator, so I put every­thing out here to stay nice and cool.” Alice opened the cabinet doors. The shelves were filled with baked goods covered in clear cellophane wrap.

  “Oh, my! Surely you and Tuck aren’t planning to eat all this!” Noelle exclaimed.

  Alice chuckled. “Tuck would like to try, but I make him watch his weight—for health reasons, you understand. But I’ll keep a few pieces to serve family and friends during Christmas. The rest we’ll give out for gifts. There’s banana and pumpkin bread. Fruitcake, not the cardboard-tasting kind but the delicious-tasting kind. And then there are fig rolls and prune and apple cakes.”

  “I can’t imagine all the work and expense you’ve gone to,” Noelle told her.

  “I enjoy doing it. And giving something personal means more at Christmas, I think.” She collected two loaves off the shelf and handed them to Noelle. “Here’s a banana bread for you and a pumpkin for Evan. It’s his favorite.”

  “Thank you very much, Alice. I’ll enjoy every bite of this.”

  “Do you do much cooking?” Alice asked as the two of them reentered the kitchen.

  “Some. Whenever I have the extra time. I’m not all that good at it, but I try.”

  Noelle followed Alice over to the counter and placed the two loaves of sweet bread in an out-of-the-way spot.

  “What about your mother?” Alice asked as she removed cookies from the cooled metal sheet. “Is she doing a lot of baking for Christmas?”

  Noelle had to bite her tongue to keep from letting out a harsh laugh. The idea of Maxine Barnes wearing an apron over her designer clothing and getting flour on her hands was hilarious, yet at the same time very sad.

  “My mother doesn’t cook,” Noelle said frankly. “I’m not even sure she knows how.”

  Instead of appearing shocked, Alice merely smiled. “Not everyone is born to like cooking. I just happen to love it. So do your parents live around Carson City?”

  Noelle realized Alice wasn’t being nosy. She was simply asking normal questions and making polite conversation. She had no way of knowing that Noelle had been estranged from her parents for several years now. Still, it was awkward to explain that sort of thing to a family-oriented woman like Alice.

  “No. They live in Phoenix. That is, when they’re not traveling. Actually, I don’t have much contact with them. We…uh…don’t see eye to eye on most things.”

  Alice’s expression turned to one of concern. “Oh. I’m sorry. So you won’t be spending Christmas with them?”

  “No. My parents are usually out of the country during the holidays, anyway. And since my grandparents are scattered on both coasts, it’s too difficult for me to leave the ranch and travel for long distances. So I’ll be staying home alone at Christmas.”

  “I can’t imagine Evan allowing that to happen,” Alice said with a gentle smile.

  From the remark, Noelle could see that Alice was making a romantic connection between Evan and her. Which was only natural. He’d brought her here to his grandparents’ home as though she was special. Alice didn’t know that he’d merely offered her the outing today as payback for helping him out of the gulch. And Noelle didn’t have the heart to tell her.

  Smiling faintly, Noelle said, “I’m sure Evan will be very busy during the holidays.”

  Alice let out a regretful sigh. “Unfortunately, Evan is always busy. When Tuck was still in office, I used to wish crime would stop for at least a week and give him a break. He’d shake his head and remind me that crime never stops. It’s a sobering reality.”

  Suddenly Noelle was seeing the other side of a lawman’s life through this woman’s eyes and that was a sobering fact to her.

  “Alice, did you worry about Tuck’s safety back when he was sheriff? That someone might hurt him, shoot him?”

  Smiling more to herself than Noelle, Alice pushed a decorative tin down the countertop. “If you don’t mind, you can fill that for me. Half cookies and half candy. As for worrying about Tuck, I tried not to, but it was impossible. The badge on his chest made him a target. Still does, even though he’s retired. Down through the years, he made enemies of quite a few criminals. You never know when one might return to get revenge. But when you choose to serve the people, you take that risk. I don’t allow myself to dwell on that part of our lives, though. Life is too short to live it in fear.”

  As Noelle methodically placed decorated sugar cookies into the metal container, she wondered whether that was what she’d been doing. Living her life in fear. Afraid to love. Afraid to face the reality of what really happened to her brother. And what if, by some wild chance, something special did develop between her and Evan? Would she constantly worry that he’d be injured or killed on the job?

  Not wanting to ruin her day by contemplating such somber questions, Noelle looked at the other woman. “You’re brave, Alice.”

  Pushing another tin down the counter, Alice gave Noelle a pointed smile. “One of these days, you’ll realize just how brave you are, too.”

 
* * *

  For the next hour, Noelle helped Alice finish packing the cookie tins while Evan and Tuck completed the gift bags. Afterward, for lunch the four of them ate bowls of chicken and dumplings accompanied by corn-bread muffins.

  As they sat around the kitchen table, enjoying the good food, the Reeves related stories of when Evan and his brothers were small boys and came to visit their grandparents.

  “Evan and Clancy rarely ever broke a rule,” Tuck told Noelle, “and the few times they did, they were very apologetic. But Rafe and Finn were another matter. Those two were wild little rascals. And Bowie did his best to keep up with them.”

  Evan chuckled. “Now Bowie has more discipline than any of us, thanks to the marine corps.”

  Tuck said, “I had a long visit with him at Clancy and Olivia’s wedding reception. He says he’ll be coming home to stay in the next few months. I asked him if he was going to help his brothers work the ranch, but he danced around the question.”

  “I don’t think young Bowie has figured out what he wants to do for the rest of his life,” Alice said thoughtfully. “For years now, he’s had someone telling him what to do. It’ll be a big change for him to be his own boss.”

  Tuck glanced across the table at Noelle. “We’ve been going on and on about Evan’s brothers and sister. We need to hear about you for a while. Do you have any siblings?”

  Noelle fought hard not to let everything inside her go cold. Even before she’d set out on this journey with Evan today, she’d expected to be asked the question. It was only natural. Tuck Reeves had no way of knowing that Andy had senselessly lost his life because of a trigger-happy policeman.