Gerda's Lawman

by Dooley, Lena Nelson

  Lowell glanced up at the main house. “Besides, we wanted to give Mother and the sheriff a little privacy.”

  Frank looked from one brother to the other. “I wondered if you knew that they were interested in each other. I also wondered how you felt about it.”

  “Our father passed away awhile ago.” Lowell stopped to clear his throat. “The sheriff was helpful with the girls while all the trouble with their stepfather was going on, and he spent time out here at the farm. I guess you could say that this relationship is another blessing that came from all that happened.”

  Ollie smiled. “Lowell and I are so happy in our marriages that we want Mor to be happy, too.”

  ❧

  Just before he reached town, Frank’s horse threw a shoe. It was a good thing they were close to town, because Frank wouldn’t have wanted to walk too far. Although it was May, the days had started heating up a lot by midday. He didn’t want to ride the horse while the hoof wasn’t protected. He just hoped August wouldn’t be too busy to make a new shoe today.

  When Frank walked through the door of the smithy, August turned to greet him. “It’s good to see you again.” The burly man wiped his right hand on his apron then stuck it toward Frank.

  He shook the proffered hand. “I’m afraid this isn’t a social call. My horse threw a shoe just outside town. Do you think you could get to it today?”

  August turned and went out through the open doorway. “He’s a magnificent animal.” The big man crooned something into the horse’s ear and scratched his head. “Have you had him long?”

  Frank patted his animal’s neck. “We’ve been together quite awhile. He’s been more than just transportation for me. Sometimes he was my only companion.”

  August ran his hand down each leg until he came to the one the horse was favoring. He lifted the hoof and looked at it. “I can fix this right now, if you want to wait.”

  After following the blacksmith into the warm building, Frank leaned against a table by the wall. It was close enough to the door that he could feel a slight breeze. August was using some kind of aromatic wood in the forge today. It took away from the unpleasant smoky odor that Frank usually associated with smithies. He watched the other man look through a pile of horseshoes until he found the one he wanted. When he went back out and picked up the unshod hoof and measured it against the horseshoe he had chosen, it was almost a perfect fit. After taking the piece of formed iron to the forge, he held it in the flames with long tongs.

  “So have you found a business to invest in?” August looked at Frank, instead of the metal that was slowly heating.

  “Not yet.”

  “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but Hank over at the livery mentioned that he was thinking about selling. He hasn’t been the same since he was burned out last summer. Even though he built the stable back, his heart isn’t in it anymore. Would you like to talk to him about purchasing it?”

  Frank let his chin rest against his chest while he thought about it. After a moment, he raised his gaze toward the fire, where the horseshoe was beginning to glow. “I don’t think I’d be any good at running a livery stable either.”

  August pulled the horseshoe from the fire and took it to the anvil. He only had to pound it a few times to get it to the shape he wanted, but the loud noise prevented further conversation for a time. After the metal was the shape he wanted, he plunged it into a bucket of cold water. A loud hiss accompanied the steam that rose from the bucket.

  “I’ll keep an ear open when people are talking.” August turned to smile at him. “I sure wouldn’t want you to leave here now. We’re getting used to having you around.” With a chuckle, he lifted the horseshoe out of the water and tested the temperature of the metal. Then he went outside to where the horse was tied.

  “Thanks. I like it here, too.” Frank accompanied him outside. It was fascinating to watch the man. He was like an artist, knowing just where to put the nails to protect the horse and pounding them in with a minimum of strokes.

  When he was finished, Frank paid August, then rode his horse over to the livery. When he got back to the other side of the railroad tracks, Frank decided to make another visit to the Dress Emporium. It had been too long since he had seen Gerda. Even though she didn’t seem to be interested in him, he wasn’t going to give up. He still remembered the words that had burst from her lips the day she’d held the gun on him. They warmed his heart whenever he felt lonely.

  ❧

  Gerda couldn’t believe that Frank Daggett was back in the Dress Emporium again. It seemed as though he was always underfoot. This time, he talked to Anna. Gerda tried to look disinterested, but his gaze kept straying toward her, even though he was talking to her friend. Picking up a bolt of fabric, Gerda made her way through the curtains into the workroom. There was no hurry to cut out the new outfit that Marja Braxton ordered today, but taking the fabric into the back room gave Gerda a good excuse to leave the area where Frank was. Unfortunately, even from the back room, Frank’s melodious voice penetrated Gerda’s heart.

  She sat on the padded chair in front of the sewing machine and leaned her elbows on the table. Gerda buried her face in her hands and prayed as hard as she could for the Lord to deliver her from the temptation that was Frank Daggett. When she finished and raised her head, she could still hear him discussing yesterday’s church service with Anna. The man had been attending services for several weeks. How could he listen to the powerful sermons without becoming a believer? Was he just making a show of being interested in church for some nefarious reason? Of course, he wasn’t anything like Pierre Le Blanc had been. When Pierre was in church, he didn’t even try to look interested. Frank listened intently to the sermons. He had even started trying to sing some of the songs, but as far as Gerda could tell, he still didn’t have his own Bible. He usually sat with Gustaf and Olina, and whoever was nearest to Frank shared a Bible with him.

  She got up and put the bolt of fabric on the cutting table. While she measured the amount needed to complete Marja’s new suit, her thoughts were filled with Frank. Since that day when he’d tried to arrest her and the twins, Gerda had never seen him dressed like a cowboy. He always wore nice clothes when he came by. His trousers and shirts looked as though they were tailored just for him. She wondered if he already owned them or if he had bought them at the mercantile. She would ask Marja, but Gerda knew that it would only cause Marja to ask questions she didn’t want to answer to herself, much less to anyone else.

  It was a wonder Gerda was able to cut the fabric straight. Those icy blue eyes, surrounded by long black lashes, twinkled as they looked at her in her mind’s eye. Her hands still itched to reach out and brush back the curls that often fell over his forehead. He’d had more than one haircut since he came to town, but nothing tamed those curls. Some men didn’t keep their hair especially clean, or else they put too much hair cream on it, so it looked greasy. Frank’s never did. Gerda wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers through those curly strands, especially where the hair in the back reached his collar and curled up slightly. She imagined that if she put her arms around his shoulders, she would be able to feel their texture.

  Disgusted with herself, Gerda slammed the scissors down on the cutting table. Then she realized that the voices in the next room had silenced. She turned and stared into the face of her best friend, who stood framed between the curtains that divided the room, a shocked expression on her face.

  “Gerda!” Anna came all the way into the workroom. “Are you going to tell me what’s the matter?”

  Gerda didn’t want to upset Anna, considering her condition, but what could she tell her?

  “I’ve noticed that you aren’t very nice to Mr. Daggett when he comes to the store.”

  “Just why would he be coming into a women’s clothing store, anyway?” Gerda knew her voice was harsh, but she couldn’t keep it from sounding that way. “It’s not as if he ever buys anything.”

  Anna patted Gerda on the a
rm. “I think he just needs friends. Why don’t you want to be his friend?”

  Unfortunately, “friends” was not what Gerda wanted to be with Frank Daggett. Much to her shame, she wanted more. She had carried this burden in her heart too long. Anna was one of her best friends as well as her sister-in-law, and Anna had taken Gerda into her confidence about the baby, long before she told anyone else. If Gerda could tell anyone about what was bothering her, it was Anna.

  She turned and looked at Anna. “Can I tell you something in confidence?”

  “Of course you can.” Anna sat in the chair by the windows. “I’m ready to listen. You have my full attention.”

  Gerda dropped into the chair by the sewing machine. “I’m not sure how to say this.”

  Anna leaned forward. “Just start at the beginning.”

  “I haven’t told anyone, but the first time I saw Frank Daggett was the day August and I had dinner with Gustaf and Olina.”

  “I didn’t know that.” Anna leaned back and smiled.

  “He was coming down the stairs in the hotel lobby while we were waiting for Gustaf and Olina to arrive. I glanced up,” Gerda said as a blush moved up her cheeks, “and when our eyes met, it was as if everything within me connected with everything in him. I don’t know how to explain it. For a moment, I felt as if we were the only two people in the room.”

  Anna looked as if she were holding back a chuckle. “That’s interesting.”

  Gerda got up and walked to the window nearest the sewing machine. She held back the curtain and gazed at nothing in particular. “Don’t you see? All these years I’ve waited for God to bring me someone to love, and the only person I’ve felt anything special for is a man who isn’t a Christian. I’ve been praying for God to take the temptation from me. I just can’t get too close to him, because. . .”

  After a moment, Anna asked, “Because what?”

  Gerda turned away and crossed her arms. “I’m afraid I could fall in love with him very easily. I can’t risk that.”

  ❧

  When Anna arrived the next morning, she was carrying her Bible. Gerda watched her sit in the chair by the windows and open the book.

  “I prayed about you last night. When I started reading the Bible, I found this verse, and it spoke to me about Frank Daggett. Do you want to hear it?”

  When Gerda nodded, Anna opened the book to where she had a bookmark. “ ‘And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?’ That verse describes Frank.”

  “Read it to me again.” Gerda wanted to be sure she heard it right.

  Anna read it another time. “That’s how Mr. Daggett is. He is an upright man, and he has fought evil all of his life.”

  “I don’t know about that part about him fearing God. I haven’t seen any indication of that.”

  Anna closed her Bible and laid it on the small table that sat near the chair she was using. “He listens to every word the preacher says. If he doesn’t know God yet, I’m sure he will soon. You know, Gerda, maybe Frank is the man God brought to you.”

  This statement startled Gerda. She paced across the room. That was something she hadn’t even considered. Why would God bring that man to her when there were so many other godly men around? But none of them had ever caused her pulse to race the way it did around Frank Daggett.

  Gerda turned back toward her friend. “I saw him coming out of the saloon one day.”

  “When was that?”

  “Soon after he came to town.”

  “But have you seen him go into the saloon since he started coming to church?”

  Gerda thought about it a moment. She had only seen him at the saloon that one time. Could she be wrong about him?

  Nine

  Frank was sure he would never make any headway with Gerda. Every time he went to the Dress Emporium, she wasn’t very friendly. Anna Nilsson always made him feel welcome, but Gerda was either almost rude to him, or she hid in the back room. Not only had he scared and insulted her when he tried to arrest her, he’d unknowingly bought her dream house. What did a man have to do to make up for the mistakes he inadvertently made? He never meant to hurt her.

  Frank was walking toward the bank when the sheriff joined him. “I’d really like to talk to you. Would you join me in my office for a cup of coffee? Or should we go to the restaurant in the hotel?”

  “Your coffee is fine with me.” Frank followed his friend into the building.

  After pouring each of them a mugful of the brew, Sheriff Bartlett dropped into his chair behind the desk. He gathered the papers scattered across the top, formed them into a neat stack, and placed them to the side. Then he leaned his forearms on the smooth surface of the desk.

  “I’m thinking about retiring.”

  Frank knew that wasn’t the whole story, so he waited to let the man tell it in his own good time. Frank dropped into the other chair and propped one booted foot on his other knee.

  “I’m thinking about buying a small farm that’s for sale outside town. It wouldn’t be too much for me to take care of, and it has a nice little house on it.”

  Frank crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the older man. “Sounds good, if that’s what you want to do.”

  “There’s more to it than that.” The sheriff leaned back and gazed off into the distance. “I’m thinking about getting married.”

  “Mrs. Jenson?”

  The lawman nodded. “I knew you probably had that one figured out. I don’t want to ask Margreta to marry me while I’m still a lawman. I’m getting too old for this, and I want to enjoy a life with less danger.”

  “Just how much danger is there here in Litchfield?” Frank hadn’t seen much since he’d arrived. Even the men who frequented the saloon didn’t cause much of a disturbance.

  “Not a lot.” Sheriff Bartlett wiped his hand across his clean-shaven jaw. “The worse that has happened since I’ve been here was the Le Blanc incident. It could have turned ugly and anything could have gone wrong, but it didn’t.”

  Frank mulled over what the man had said. “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “Well, I’ve watched you as you’ve considered businesses to invest in. Nothing has appealed to you. I think it’s because you’re still a lawman at heart. Besides, you’re a lot younger than I am.”

  Frank placed his foot back on the floor and laughed. “Some days I feel younger, but some days I feel older.”

  “I know what you mean. You sure do see the hard side of life when you’re a lawman, but I don’t think that’s a problem here. Litchfield is a nice, quiet town, and since you want to settle here, it might be a good opportunity for both of us to get what we want. I can’t retire until there’s someone to take my place, and I won’t ask her to share that life with me. She’s already lost one husband.”

  “What about your deputy?”

  “Clarence isn’t interested in being sheriff. He says being deputy is enough for him.”

  Frank got up and rubbed one finger across his mustache. “Can you give me a little time to think about it?”

  “Sure.” The sheriff smiled. “Just don’t take too long. I’m not getting any younger.”

  ❧

  Business in the Dress Emporium grew almost every week. Gerda liked to keep busy. That way she didn’t have too much time to think about Frank Daggett. But she still couldn’t get the man out of her mind. No wonder. Every time she turned around, there he was—at church, in the shop, or with her close friends. It wasn’t enough that he had taken away the house she had dreamed of buying, now he seemed to be taking all her friends, too.

  Anna was a little late coming in on Wednesday. She had started trying to work every day to help Gerda with the added business. “I’m sorry I’m late.” Anna breezed through the door. “I had another bout of sickness this morning. I finally was able to keep some toast down.”

  Gerda looked up from st
raightening the things that were in disarray under the counter. “If you don’t feel like working, I’ll understand.”

  Anna stopped at the end of the counter and peered down at what Gerda was doing. “I’m fine now, and we have so much to do. I want to finish the suit for Mother. I wish she would just let me make things for her at home instead of coming in and insisting on paying for them like any other customer.”

  Gerda lifted the cash box and placed it on the counter. Using the key attached to the inside of her belt, she opened it. “I need to go to the bank. I didn’t have time last week. Now the box is almost overflowing. I don’t like keeping this much cash in the store.”

  “Why don’t you go while I work on the suit?”

  Gerda had a special, larger reticule in which she carried money to the bank. She didn’t want it to look like a moneybag and tempt someone to try to steal it from her on the way. She went into the back room and took the special handbag off the shelf. Then she stuffed the bills into the bottom of the bag and added a handkerchief on top of the money.

  “I’ll be back soon,” she called to Anna, who was now in the workroom.

  It was a pretty day. May was still spring, but it felt more like summer. The trees were covered with leaves, and flowers were blooming in several flower beds around town. Gerda loved spring. All the fresh, new growth reminded her that life could be renewed, too. So what if she couldn’t buy her dream house. God probably had something else just as wonderful in mind for her. Because she had a lot of money saved, she decided to start looking at other houses that were for sale. Maybe one of them would be just right for her. Anyway, the one Frank bought would have been too large for a single woman living alone.

  When she went into the bank, there was a short line at the teller’s window. Gerda didn’t want anyone to figure out that she was carrying the cash from the store, so she patiently waited until no one else was in line. She glanced around the room and noticed a stranger standing near the door. His hat was pulled low over his brow, so she couldn’t tell too much about him. She wondered if he was someone new moving to town. Litchfield did seem to be growing a lot lately.