Page 4 of The Sheriff and the Outlaw

“Let’s eat!” Daxton announced when she finished.

They spent the next hour having breakfast together. No matter how busy he was, Daxton had always tried to have meals with the children, especially breakfast. He usually worked longhours in the evening, so breakfast had become their designated family time. This was the time when Daxton was most content. He had given up finding another woman to love a long time ago, but he had his children and that was enough.

“Thanks, Pa. That was good,” Andrew gushed, wiping the corners of his mouth. “I’ll do the dishes.” He started gathering his dishes, but Daxton stopped him.

“Son, it’s summertime.” He took the plate from his hand. “You need to get out and enjoy yourself. Why don’t you and Lillian go fishing?”

Andrew frowned, leaning back in his chair. “She always has me bait her hook for her.”

“Na, uh!” Lillian rose from her seat and planted her hands on the table, leaning toward her brother. “Not when we use dough balls!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Daxton announced, bringing their bickering to a stop.

Lillian started gathering her dishes, stacking them a bit too hard. “That’s okay. I’d like to go help Mrs. Hill today anyway. She’s going to teach me how to sew.” Then she froze and glanced over at her father. “After I finish my chores, of course.”

Daxton smiled. “Why don’t you both leave your chores and have fun today. I’ll do them before I go in.”

“Really, Pa?” Lillian and Andrew asked in unison.

Their father laughed. “Of course! Besides, I have time.” Daxton took one last sip of his coffee and set the cup in the sink. He looked outside, and the sun was just coming up. “Andrew, if you go to Whiskey River now, the fish might still be biting.”

Andrew hurried to place his dishes in the sink. “Thanks, Pa! Maybe Shawn can go, too!” Then he ran out the back door. Shawn O’Malley and Andrew had become fast friends ever since Shawn and his family moved to town.

“Make sure not to wake his family!” Daxton called after him as he stepped outside, watching his son go.

Andrew waved, already almost to the barn. “Don’t worry! I won’t!”

Daxton laughed as he headed back into the house and closed the door. Lillian was already in the kitchen, doing the dishes. “Lillian, go on and have some fun! Go… play with your dolls.”

Lillian scoffed. “Really, Pa? I set all of my dolls on the shelf last year.”

Daxton’s eyebrows pulled together in concern, pain filling his heart. “Really? But you’re only nine.”

“Yes.” She rinsed a dish, obviously trying to look grown up. “And I’m a woman now so I need to learn how to do ‘lady things’.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Daxton pulled the plate from her hand. He sighed as he looked into his daughter's big, brown eyes. “Lillian, enjoy your childhood while you can. You only have a few more years left before you’re an adult.” He offered her a towel. “Believe me, you’ll be an adult a whole lot longer than you’ll be a child, God willing. So, enjoy it.”

She wiped her hands on the towel, folded it, and laid it across the counter, just like a lady would. Watching her, Daxton realized that she was growing up way too fast. “I’ll tell you what. Go play in your room for a bit while I do this and then I’ll drive you over to see Mrs. Hill on my way to work. Okay?”

Lillian’s eyes lit up. “Really, Pa?”

He nodded, enjoying his daughter’s enthusiasm. He guessed that her days of playing with dolls and crawling into his lap were over. What she needed now was a woman to teach her the fine points of being a lady. “Yes, I’m sure. Now, go! I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

A broad smile spread across her face. “Thanks, Pa!” She raced into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Daxton pumped the water into metal buckets and placed them on the stovetop to heat. After the dishes were done and the kitchen clean, he announced, “Lillian! Ready to go?”

“Yes, Pa!” she called from the other room. “I’ll be right there!”

Unable to resist, Daxton crept over to her bedroom door, which was ajar, and peeked in. Lillian was sitting on the floor, playing with her doll, talking to it. Not wanting to invade her privacy, he backed quickly away and tiptoed back to the kitchen.

She walked out a moment later, smoothing her hands daintily over her dress.

“Ready?” Daxton asked casually. Lillian nodded, trying to look like a lady. “Aren’t you taking a sewing kit with you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have one.”

“Well, there’s your mother’s sewing kit,” he replied, broaching the subject carefully. “I guess it now belongs to you.”

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