The Deputy's Duty

by Terri Reed

  “All this time,” he explained, “I have been searching for what has been here all along. My dream always has been and always will be the same. You.”

  They came to a stop. He realized that she had led him to the door of a small, narrow house. The windows were dark, the steps tilted to the left. He didn’t spare it a second glance. He only had eyes for her.

  He leaned close and closer still, watching her light eyes follow his. Joe’s pulse slowed and the world stopped. He brushed a kiss against the side of her cheek, feeling his emotions take one long last tumble in love with her.

  “Good night, Lanna.”

  “Good night, Joe.”

  All he wanted was forever with her.

  He took a step back and something brushed his cheek. It had started to snow. Perfect, heavenly flakes fell all around them like heaven’s blessing. With a wobbly smile and a bob of a curtsey, she slipped through the door and out of his sight.

  But never again out of his heart.

  SEVEN

  The next morning, Lanna headed off to work, though she felt as if her feet didn’t even touch the ground.

  Snow had fallen heavily through the night, frosting the world. Everywhere Lanna looked, it was flawless and perfect. Inches of white icing glimmered silently beneath the rising sun. But she didn’t mind the below-zero cold or the deep snow she was struggling through—not one bit, for she was carrying the happiness of last night with her like a treasure.

  My dream always has been and always will be the same. You. His words felt embedded in her soul, her deepest wish come true. Joy brightened within her like the sun in the aqua-blue sky and seemed equally as endless. Joe hadn’t said the words, but she had felt them in his sweet kiss. He loved her as she loved him.

  She felt as if she were still waltzing in her best slippers instead of wearing her sensible winter boots. As she passed houses with gray smoke curling from their chimneys, she relived the events of last night for the hundredth time. Every step of their waltzes. Every word of their talks. Every promise. Love is like faith, he’d said. When it’s true, it’s strong enough to hold you up, come what may.

  That is exactly how it felt, she thought, as she trailed up the back walk to the servant’s entrance. The Wolf home looked quiet this morning. Everyone inside was probably recovering from a very late night. She stopped outside the door. She knocked the snow from the hem of her skirt, cloak and boots, still thinking of Joe.

  Would she see him today? Her spirit brightened at the possibility. Maybe, with any luck, he could walk her home in the afternoon. They would have time to talk some more, maybe this time of more personal things and of their future.

  She turned the door handle and shivered into the entrance hall.

  “Lanna. There you are.” Geneva marched into view, arms crossed, imposing. “You’re late.”

  “Late? I don’t start until seven o’clock.”

  “I expected you at six.” Her mouth compressed into a thin, displeased line. “This is unacceptable.”

  “I—I—” She stammered, glancing around. Was it possible she had made a mistake? Was everyone else on the cleaning staff already here? She shrugged out of her cloak and quickly went to hang it up—and realized the closet was bare. There wasn’t a single jacket or muffler or glove inside. No one else was here.

  Take a deep breath, Lanna. She filled her lungs and deliberately hung up her cloak. Remember how important this job is to your family. You need to keep her happy. “I am sorry for the confusion. I’m here now and ready to work.”

  “Hmm.” Geneva did not budge. “After yesterday’s dismal performance, you and I need to talk. We must come to terms, Lanna.”

  “Terms?” She swallowed hard, bracing herself for a lecture.

  “Termination terms.” Geneva strutted closer and held out a small envelope. “Your final wages, less the hours I docked from yesterday’s inadequate work.”

  Inadequate? Lanna bit her tongue against the rising anger within her. The real problem had been with Geneva. Had she been left alone to do her work, the floor would have been finished an hour ahead of schedule. But what good would arguing do? Geneva might no longer be her employer, but she was Joe’s mother.

  “Here, take your pay and go.” Geneva thrust the envelope in Lanna’s direction.

  She took it, and as her hand closed over the packet, the consequences of it hit her. She had been fired. Her family had lost their income. She didn’t know how she was going to explain this to her parents. They were depending on her. They would understand, but understanding did not pay the rent.

  With a trembling hand, she slipped the envelope in her skirt pocket and reached back into the closet for her cloak. This was devastating and unfair.

  She turned to face Geneva, lifting her chin, determined to hold on to her dignity. “Goodbye, Geneva.”

  “A word of advice before you go.” There was a smile on her face, but it was cold and cruel.

  Lanna’s instincts told her to walk out the door quickly, but she hesitated. She knew whatever Geneva would say would be about Joe—and after last night she had to know.

  “My son is a very fine catch for a girl like you. Your family connections may have been…adequate before, but now? Ours have improved by far and yours, why, they are abysmal. Don’t get your hopes up, girl. Joe will not court you. I assure you, Lanna, there is no way I will allow Joe to associate our family name with you people.”

  Lanna’s heart sank. Her hopes shattered. So, Geneva was going to try and break them apart. But Joe had been clear about his feelings last night. Surely those feelings wouldn’t change because of his parents?

  She kept her head up and walked toward the door. Her hand quaked as she reached for the handle. She kept Joe’s sweetness last night close to her heart. She could not let Geneva take that from her with a few harsh words.

  But Geneva wasn’t finished. “Let’s agree on one thing, Lanna.” Geneva’s footsteps knelled closer. “You are not worthy of my son. When he learns of my feelings, you are going to be the loser. Do you think he will choose a penniless cleaning woman? No, I will make sure he does not. My son is a good man and he honors his parents. Do you understand me?”

  Those hard words were like bullets to her heart. Geneva was going to fight this? The sweetness she held on to began to slip away. She stumbled forward, her lungs tightening. She couldn’t breathe. She had to get air. She felt as if she were drowning in sorrow.

  Letting Joe go had been the hardest thing she had ever done. If she stood up to Geneva now and lost, she would have to go through that pain again. How could she let her hopes get any higher and give more of her heart only to lose Joe in the end?

  She wanted to discount Geneva’s tirade, but reasonably she could not. She wanted to be able to ignore her heartless words and stride out the door. But she could not bring herself to twist the doorknob.

  Geneva would win. Family was the one thing that mattered most to Joe. That was why he had left her in the first place, to follow his parents and help his father with his new job.

  “You know I’m right, Lanna, don’t you?” Geneva’s harshness faded, leaving the bitter notes of pity. “I’m sorry for your situation, but family comes first. My son is my highest priority. I cannot allow him to marry someone so far beneath him. You have my word on that.”

  The conviction in Geneva’s voice was colder than the frigid morning air. Finally, Lanna opened the door and, head down, stepped out into the cruel wind.

  Then she stopped, remembering how Geneva had manipulated her before. Well she wasn’t a naive girl anymore. She steeled her spine and whirled to face the older woman. “You told me Joe would marry someone better once and that didn’t happen. It won’t happen. I know Joe.”

  “Yes, but he didn’t marry you, did he? And believe me, i
t will not happen now. Miss Beauchamp and her aunt will be visiting soon. My son will have a February wedding and it won’t be to you. I am his mother. Do you really think he would risk losing me over a little thing like you?”

  She hesitated. She thought of the letters she never wrote, believing Geneva. But then she thought of all that Geneva could do to keep them apart. She took a step back, her hopes taking a hard fall. There was nothing left for her to say. Her dreams felt as broken as the ice cracking beneath her boots. She would lose Joe. The moment Geneva delivered her ultimatum—Lanna or his family—it would be over for good, forever.

  But her own love would burn on, unstoppable and pure.

  Pain cut through her like tiny, razor-sharp shards. She blinked against the too-bright sun. Tears stung her eyes. She held tight to the handrail, blindly stumbling down the icy steps. Joe had chosen family over love—over her—before. Of course he would do so again. How had she ever let herself believe? How had she let Joe open her heart and think that it was safe to dream?

  “Lanna!” It was Joe’s voice this time.

  She turned toward him without thought and against all reason. Had he heard his mother’s words? He filled the doorway, stoic and stalwart and as distant as the faraway mountains. There was pity on his face and an unmistakable apology.

  Her heart stopped beating. Her soul dimmed.

  She knew without him saying a word. Their romance was over.

  EIGHT

  “Lanna, please don’t go.” His words followed her into the silent morning.

  What was he going to do? Explain how he was going to break her heart? No, that was the one thing she could not hear, not without breaking into tears. She fisted her hands, refusing to turn around as she stumbled blindly down the walkway.

  Geneva would make Joe choose between his love for her and for his family. She could not put him in that position. And she could not face losing him when he made the only decision he could.

  Still, it would not stop the love in her heart. No, nothing was powerful enough to do that.

  “Lanna! Wait.”

  She did not want to see the pity on his face. The look that said he was sorry. Once had been enough. The path in front of her blurred, but she kept going. She blinked hard, determined to make it home before the tears started flowing.

  She’d been right from the beginning. Why hadn’t she listened to reason? Loving Joe had only led to sorrow. She should have kept her expectations low. Time changed everything and, she feared, everyone.

  Then she heard his voice cut through the air. “I’m sorry, Mother, but excuse me.”

  Lanna stopped and turned around. She stared in disbelief as Joe pushed past his mother and hurried down the stairs toward her. He wore no coat, nothing to keep him warm over his wool shirt and denims, but he hardly seemed to notice the cold against his skin or the ice beneath his boots.

  “Joe, get back here,” Geneva commanded from the doorway. “Don’t you go after her!”

  He looked over his shoulder at his mother. “Sorry, Mother. I’m very sorry for you.”

  He kept coming toward Lanna, the pity on his face slipping away as his gaze focused on her. His brown eyes warmed to cinnamon. “I am not about to let you get away a second time, Lanna Gibson. What kind of fool do you think I am?”

  She could only stare at him. Her brain had stopped working. Every thought and her ability to reason stalled at the sight of him striding down the walk after her, heedless to the cold and snow, his gaze fixed on her. Was this real, or was she dreaming?

  “I was a fool the last time I let you go. But I learn from my mistakes.” He stopped before her and brought his hands up to cradle her face. His touch was tender and reverent.

  Definitely real and no dream. “You aren’t letting me go?”

  “Never again, sweetheart. Do you know what I did last night before I went to sleep? I prayed.”

  He had? Happiness surged through her, buoying her up so that she felt like she was floating.

  “I prayed that you and I would not waste any more time.” Joe looked so serious, so true. “The Lord knows we have let too much time pass us by already. Last night I prayed that you and I would be happy together. I prayed that your hard times would be over. I prayed that you would love me as endlessly as I love you.”

  He loved her? She leaned against the strength of his hands, savoring his gentle touch. She was thankful, infinitely thankful. “That’s one prayer the Lord doesn’t need to answer. I do love you endlessly, Joe. There is no reason or rhyme to it, it just is. Every moment I’m with you, I love you even more.”

  “Real love endures through all things. Against time, class and even misguided families. What you and I have is real love, Lanna. The kind that lasts forever. I hope last night meant to you what it did to me. That we can start where we left off. Our love never died. It is right here alive in our hearts. All I want is you, Lanna. I want to be with you forever.”

  “But your mother—”

  “She’ll get used to the idea of us getting married.” His dimples flashed and he looked as happy as she felt.

  Her dear Joe. Love was like a miracle in the heart, and the power of it could change everything into something wonderful. She laid her hands against his face, too. “Mister, you are making a very big assumption.”

  “I am?” He arched one brow, his dimples deepening.

  “It’s huge. Enormous.” He was right, she realized, love was strong enough. You just had to believe. “Someone has not properly proposed to me.”

  “I wondered when you were going to get to that.” Joe laughed, rich and deep, and the sound tugged at all the happy strings of her heart. “I wanted to do it right with flowers and at a special moment, maybe in the moonlight and not with my mother glowering at us from the steps.”

  “She doesn’t like me, Joe. She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.” She said the words gently. “I don’t want to come between you and your family.”

  “You are my family now. My parents will have to learn to respect that. It may take a while, but maybe a grandchild might soften their hearts—”

  “A grandchild?” Now there wasn’t something she had thought about.

  But as their gazes locked and she saw all of him, his heart and soul and his boundless love for her, she saw their future, too. A happy wedding and a happier marriage. Their first home. Children one day—maybe two boys and two girls. So many more dreams to come true.

  “Marry me, Lanna.” Joe went down on both knees in the snow, beaming with hope. “Please do me the honor of becoming my wife.”

  “Yes, I will marry you, but the honor is mine.” Since her knees were wobbling anyway and her vision blurring with tears, she sank to the snow, too, full of joy and dreams.

  Their kiss was perfection and full of promise, like the first crisp morning of the New Year. It was the right time for beginnings. Lanna thanked the Lord for bringing her here, to perfect peace and an enduring love, blessed by His grace.

  EPILOGUE

  Three years later.

  Lanna could not take her gaze away from the newborn cradled in her arms. Not yet an hour old, the little girl looked like perfection with a round cherub’s face, a tiny rosebud mouth, a cute button nose and—when she wasn’t sleeping—big blue eyes.

  The past three years of marriage to Joe had been the happiest of Lanna’s life, so it surprised her that more happiness was even possible to attain. But as the mother of Joe’s child she discovered that it was.

  He eased onto the bed beside her, careful not to disturb her. Pride shone on his face, but more than that, love. Their beautiful, deepening love.

  “She’s incredible.” He slipped his arm around Lanna’s shoulders, his movements gentle and his voice tender. “She’s just like you.” />
  “She’s her own little person.” Tears burned her eyes and she had to blink to contain them. “I love her so much. I love you so much.”

  “Funny, that’s just how I feel about both my girls.” Joy layered his baritone. “She was worth the wait.”

  “Yes, she was.” Lanna sighed adoringly. It had seemed she was never going to be a mother and just when she had started to give up hope, it had happened. God had blessed them with the most precious gift of all. They were now a family.

  “There are two sets of grandparents who are anxious to see their first granddaughter,” Joe said in that calm, confidence-inspiring way of his. “My mother is not used to waiting, but I reminded her that this isn’t her house. That you are the boss here and that for once, she could be a little late to her New Years’ Eve ball. She’s trying to behave.”

  “She has tried very hard for your sake.” It hadn’t always been easy, but things were improving between them and Joe’s mother, Geneva.

  Looking down at the infant in her arms, so fragile and endearing, Lanna understood Geneva a little better. She would move heaven and earth to make sure this child was safe and happy. A mother’s love was a powerful thing.

  Joe understood that, too, which is why he had built a house on the back of the property after they purchased this fine home in town. Her beloved parents no longer had to worry about making ends meet, and they were always near.

  “Shall I let in the grandparents?” Joe asked.

  “I think we’ve kept them waiting long enough.” Lanna brushed her fingertip down the slope of the baby’s nose. Contentment filled her—happiness could do that to a girl.

  Joe eased off the feather tick and crossed the room. She couldn’t help from admiring her husband, the strong decent goodness of him. He was the most wonderful man, always dependable, always there for her and the best friend she could ever want. Impossibly, her heart swelled with more love for him. For her Joe.