Melissa was out in the field with the other women, talking and watching the children play. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a smile on her face. Knox was glad to see it.
Theresa spotted him first and tapped Melissa on the arm, gesturing toward him. She turned, and when her eyes settled on him, he saw a transformation on her face. He could see how much she cared about him as plain as day. She was delighted to see him, her eyes opening slightly wider, her smile getting just a bit larger.
She began to jog toward him, holding her skirt up a few inches.
“There you are,” she said as if he was terribly late.
He raised his eyebrows. “Was I supposed to be here sooner? I would have been, had I known.” He slid down from the saddle and welcomed her into a hug. “How are you feeling? Any better?”
“Some,” Melissa responded. He didn’t get the impression she was fully recovered from what she’d been through. It had only been a day. He couldn’t expect anything more of her.
“I wasn’t supposed to be here already, was I?” he asked. “You sounded like you’ve been waiting for me all day.”
Melissa laughed, a sound that made Knox’s heart pound. “I was waiting for you all day,” she confirmed. At first, he was dismayed, but then she continued, “but no, you aren’t late. I was just anxious to see you, that’s all.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
Melissa tilted her head to the side and lowered her eyelids to peer out from underneath them at him. “I don’t really need to explain, do I? Come. Let’s go to the river and take a walk before dinner. Give ourselves more of an appetite.”
That was exactly what Knox wanted to do. When she took his hand, he squeezed hers, enjoying the smooth softness of her skin against his. He was suddenly self-conscious about the callouses and the rough skin of his own hand.
She didn’t seem to notice, however, holding his hand as she led him down the path through the woods to the river. He could smell the water as they approached and was amazed when they came out to a shore. The water rippled in soft waves against the land, smacking against large rocks and crashing back down.
“The recent rains have filled up the river more than usual,” Melissa said, stepping out onto the sandy shore. He watched in surprised amusement as Melissa held on to his hand while she pulled her shoe off of one foot. She lifted the other leg and pulled that shoe off. Grinning at him, she turned to walk back through the sand in front of him, going toward the water. “Take your boots off, Knox. Come and enjoy the water with me. We’ll just go in ankle-deep. It’s so nice. You have to try it.”
There was a first for everything, Knox decided. He pulled his boots off and stuffed his socks down inside them. Carefully, he stepped into the soft sand. A smile came to his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever walked in sand this soft before,” he remarked, taking a few more steps.
“Just watch out for the rocks when you don’t have shoes on,” Melissa said enthusiastically, her green eyes sparkling with fun. “Come on. The water feels so good. You won’t believe it. I’ll bet you’ve never felt anything like it.”
Knox had taken spring baths on many trips from one town to another while transporting prisoners, but he didn’t want to tell Melissa that. She looked so excited to be showing him something she thought he’d never experienced before. There was one thing that was certain, though. The sand he felt between his toes was definitely a brand-new experience. It was an amazing feeling that he wanted to relish while he could. Maybe someday, he would be able to come to this river and swing on the rope and splash in the water whenever he wanted.
Knox made it a point to observe everything around him. He wanted to imprint the memory of this walk with Melissa in his mind and make it a treasure that he could pull out and remember any time he wanted.
After walking five minutes along the shoreline, Melissa did a turnaround and headed back to the main spot. During that time, she talked about various topics, the weather, her family, the children. She even told him a funny story involving the two little boys, Noah and Eddie, and how they had put on a play for the adults that had lots of dragons and swords in it.
Once they were back on the shoreline, Melissa pulled him down, so they were seated next to each other directly in front of the water, which licked at their toes when the waves rushed past too quickly.
“You seem to be doing a lot better now, Melissa,” Knox said, relief obvious in his voice. “I’m glad to see it. I was worried you would carry this weight around with you for the rest of your life. I don’t want you to feel guilty about what happened. You need to know that it isn’t your fault.”
Melissa didn’t say anything at first, which worried Knox. He leaned forward, looking at her profile closely, wondering what she was thinking.
“Melissa?” he said her name softly.
When she glanced at him, he was dismayed to see tears in her eyes.
“Maybe someday I’ll forget,” she said in a wobbly voice. “Right now, though…” She shook her head. “I can’t help it, Knox. I feel so guilty for Jonah’s death. If I had paid more attention, I would have seen Duncan before. I would have told Jonah. Warned him.”
Knox turned his upper body to face her. “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. What happened was not your fault.”
Melissa looked a little resentful, but Knox wasn’t going to let her think that way.
“Listen to me, Melissa,” he said gently. “You can’t make someone else do something any more than you can prevent them from doing it. You didn’t hit Jonah in the back of the head with that poker. It wasn’t you who took his life.”
“I should have seen him following me. That might have prevented what happened. I must have given Duncan the impression I needed to be saved. I may not have hit Jonah and killed him, but I’m just as responsible because I wasn’t paying attention.”
Knox put one hand around her shoulders and pulled her closer, enjoying the feel of her warm body against his. “Melissa, no. You didn’t make him do what he did. He’s responsible for his own actions. Even if you’d told him to do it, you wouldn’t be totally responsible. You would in some way. But a man has to want to do something for it to happen. Otherwise, he won’t do it at all. This was something he did to you and to Jonah. He took Jonah’s life. Don’t let guilt from that decision ruin the rest of yours.”
Melissa leaned against him more. The pressure felt nice against his side. He lowered his head, so his cheek was resting on hers. He almost told her he loved her, but he bit the words back.
28
Melissa had never felt safer in her life. With Knox’s arm around her, she was able to close her eyes and release her negative feelings, enjoying how he made her feel.
“You don’t think I’m being too forward,” he whispered against her hair. “Do you?”
“No. Not at all.” She murmured her answer, keeping her eyes closed, breathing in the musky scent that drifted from the man holding her.
A thought came to her mind, and she opened her eyes, sitting up abruptly. “That man that came to our Saturday dinner,” she said. “Who was he? Did you ever find out?”
Knox shook his head. “After Latimer confessed, I stopped looking into Jonah’s death. Never found out who that man was.”
“Must not have been important then,” Melissa remarked, thinking back to when the man had come storming in. She was surprised it was neither Luke nor Duncan and that a third mystery man had played a minor role in the situation they’d experienced. “I know I haven’t seen him since.”
“Maybe he knew Duncan had taken care of the problem.”
Melissa didn’t respond. She looked out over the water as it licked the top of the rocks flowing past them toward the outlet into the larger part of the river.
She turned to look up at him. “So, did you bring a new bottle of wine for us to try?” she asked in a bright voice.
He grinned. “No, I didn’t.”
She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting but laughed when he
continued, “I brought an old bottle of wine. I don’t usually have anything new if I’m honest with you.”
“I hope you’re honest with me. That’s the only way to have a relationship.”
Knox blinked at her for a moment. “Is that what we’re doing?”
“I think so, yes.” She studied his handsome face. “Don’t you think we are?”
He laughed. “I like the idea. What will your brothers say? Will they approve?”
Melissa thought of her brother coming in after the dinner party and telling her the family was supportive of her decisions. They must have been able to see how she was feeling even then.
“They do approve,” she confirmed in a firm voice. She jumped to her feet and pulled him up with her, holding onto one of his hands with both of hers. “Let’s get to the house and see what’s going on. I’m getting hungry after that long exhaustive walk.”
He grinned at her, making her heartbeat speed up. “Shall I carry you, my lady?”
Melissa laughed, running ahead of him, leaning to scoop up her shoes as she went. He came up behind her and chased her up the side of the shallow hill to the top. She stopped there, waiting the few seconds for him to catch up and grab her.
“You didn’t think you were going to get away from me, did you?” he asked menacingly.
She shrieked and wriggled out of his grasp, taking off again, wishing she’d taken the time to put her shoes on properly before she started running. Now the only way to do it was to slip them on while hopping quickly away from the man she had fallen in love with.
He pretended that even hopping she was too fast for him. She could tell what he was doing by the way he leaped from one side to the other as if blocking her from running past him. She continued laughing and hopping until both her shoes were on, and she dashed the rest of the way to the house.
The moment the door opened, she heard the sounds of her family in various rooms. One of her brothers laughed from the parlor, and Rich’s voice followed the sound. A loud thumping noise came from upstairs, following by the distinct rumble of small running feet. Annie yelled something in a dictatorial voice, something that was probably akin to “slow down” or “stop running.”
The smell of dinner cooking floated through the air toward her, making her stomach growl. She turned to see Knox had stopped directly behind her, not grabbing her, not running into her, just standing very close like a protective guard.
Melissa bit her bottom lip, gazing up at his handsome face. She could tell he was pretending not to notice her staring at him. His eyes were fixed on the stairs in front of them as if there was something fascinating about them. Finally, he dropped his chin to look down at her and said, “What? What do you see when you look at me?”
Melissa was taken aback by the question. She pulled in a soft breath and turned to face him, putting both hands flat against his chest. “I see you. A strong man. Charming. Funny. Caring. The sheriff of my town. The man I’d like to spend my days with. That’s what I see.” She dared to ask the question, hoping his response would be similar to hers. “And what do you see when you look at me?”
“I see a fiery woman with blazing eyes and an energy I can’t possibly hope to match. I’m only getting older, you know. I see beauty and grace. I see a woman I’d like to spend my days with.”
Melissa was more than satisfied with his response. She pushed her body closer to his, keeping her hands against his chest. She lifted up on her toes, tilting her head slightly. She closed her eyes, anticipating the kiss she knew was coming.
When his lips met hers, it was like a shock slipped through her body. His lips were softer than she thought they’d be. Her heart nearly came out of her chest as she returned the kiss with as much passion as she felt in her soul.
When they parted, she was breathless. Her body had heated up. She took his hand and led him to the parlor, where her brothers were sitting, both of them with their heads over the open newspaper in front of them.
“What are you two doing?” she asked, letting go of Knox’s hand as soon as she entered the room. She didn’t want them to tease Knox, as the brothers were fond of doing when it came to a man Melissa was with. They had spent the first six months of Melissa’s relationship with Jonah teasing him relentlessly, pretending they were going to fight him in her honor. It was all talk, though, and Melissa didn’t want a repeat six months when it came to Knox.
Her brothers stood up upon seeing her and then dropped back down in their seats. “Take a look at this article in the paper, Mell,” Rich said, pulling the paper from his brother’s grasp and handing it to Melissa. She gave him a curious glance before dropping her eyes to the article he’d gestured at. She felt Knox come up behind her and look over her shoulder.
Melissa read the article, a smile gradually crossing her face. When she twisted her head to look over her shoulder at Knox, he was grinning, too.
“Well, I’ll be.”
The article was accompanied by a picture. It was the man who had come storming in looking for Jonah that Saturday evening.
“Donald Crispin was looking for Jonah to give him money?” she asked ironically.
Her brothers both laughed. “That’s what the article says,” Nate exclaimed, laughter in his voice. “And now it all goes to Bea. How ironic is that?”
“It certainly is ironic,” Melissa said, losing some of her smile. “It wouldn’t have mattered, though.”
The men gave her curious glances. She shrugged. “Jonah wasn’t killed for his money. He was killed because someone was crazy.”
Her brothers both stood and came over to her, their faces now concerned. She shook her head, moving her eyes from one man to another, leaving her eyes on Knox.
“Don’t worry about me, boys. I will eventually believe it wasn’t my fault that Jonah lost his life. I’m working on it. I’m just glad I have the three of you to protect me from scoundrels like Duncan Latimer.”
“Hopefully, nothing like that will ever happen again,” Knox said, putting his arms around her neck and pulling her into a hug. She closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat, happiness pushing through the melancholy.
Epilogue
The Summer Festival was in full swing. Melissa was delighted with the reaction of the townspeople to her courtship with the sheriff. They’d gotten nothing but support from everyone, even Beatrice Bell. Melissa really wouldn’t have expected less from her.
It was the day that Melissa had been waiting for. She didn’t know it until it happened, but when it did, she knew it.
It was the last day of the festivities. There had been no incidents that had required Knox’s attention, so he was able to not only participate in the activities, he ran one of the game booths with Melissa. They’d reserved that last day to not do any helping. They wanted to enjoy the day together without interruption.
Melissa could only hope the peaceful time would last that one final day.
The two met up in front of the ice cream parlor where Melissa was helping Noah, while Annie, Theresa, and Aileen all cared for the other children. She bought him his ice cream and watched as he scarfed it down, wandering from one game booth to the next, his young eyes wide open, taking everything in.
Melissa didn’t need to walk with him, so she stayed where she was, waiting for Knox to show up.
She didn’t have to wait long. He was there next to her only a few minutes after she sat down at an outside table.
“Here you are,” she said. The phrase had become common with her, as it was how she’d greeted him that day four months ago, the day after they’d caught Duncan Latimer.
“Here I am,” Knox gave his typical response, sliding onto the bench next to her, eyeing her ice cream. “That sure looks good.”
“They have a lot of it in there if you want some,” she teased, pointing at the parlor behind her. “They’ll sell it to you for a penny, too.”
“Really?” Knox grinned, pretending he was hearing of this miracle for the first time. “I’ll h
ave to see if they can spare some for me.”
Melissa lifted a spoonful of ice cream from her bowl and held it out to him.
He looked down at it. “Haven’t been fed since I was a little baby,” he said.
“Well, enjoy it for once because I’m not gonna do this a lot.”
He laughed and opened his mouth to receive the delicious treat.
His eyes popped with excitement as he tasted the ice cream. “Oh, that’s mighty good. I’ll be right back.”
She laughed when Knox hopped off the bench and hurried to get his own bowl of ice cream.
He was back just a few minutes later, his eyes gazing at the ice cream lovingly, in a way that made Melissa laugh again.
“What?” he asked. “I really like this stuff.”
They were quiet for a moment while they ate, their eyes scanning the action going on around them.
“You know, I wonder what would have happened if you hadn’t come here to Shady Forks when you did,” Melissa remarked, glancing at him but returning her eyes to the children playing in the nearby field, running after each other and screaming. She didn’t see a pattern to the game they were playing, but apparently, they all knew the rules.
To her right, on the other side of the sheriff, people were playing games, talking loudly, calling out greetings to each other. There were bells and whistles adding to the noise. Melissa liked to hear it. It made her feel alive when there was a lot going on in town. Especially when everyone was having such a good time.
“You shouldn’t even think about it,” Knox said, lifting a spoonful of ice cream to his mouth, where he poised it and said before surrounding the spoon with his fork, “I’m here, and that’s what counts.”
Melissa nodded. “Oh, I know, and I’m really glad of that, of course. I’m just thinking. You didn’t really have time to settle in before you were right in the middle of things.”
“It brought me to you. I hope you think it was worth the trauma.”
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