Page 82 of A Forgotten Heart
The shadows in his expression had cleared. “I’ve got some things to work out too, but I’d like to come courting, if you’re willing. Do things the right way this time. Out in the open.”
Elsie smiled. “No more sneaking around?”
“No more sneaking around,” he whispered back.
“And no more stolen kisses?” she whispered again.
This time, a rakish glint shone in his eyes. “Well, maybe one more.” The words were barely spoken he was so close.
His lips brushed hers. This kiss was real. Nick and Elsie.
Distantly, she registered the back door opening and muffled voices in the kitchen.
Elsie should step back but couldn’t take her eyes off Nick. He watched her with that crooked grin she’d always loved.
“I don’t know how long it’s gonna take, but I’ll come to you as soon as I can.” There was a promise in Nick’s words.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter 16
Elsie stood behind her teacher desk piled with pine branches, absently tying the boughs together to drape around her classroom.
It was Christmas Eve. The school term might be over, but she and Merritt had only had a few hours to prepare for the town’s Christmas social, which the schoolhouse hosted every year. The midday sun shone into the room, warming away the winter chill.
And she couldn’t focus. Not since Rebekah had visited earlier with news that Nick should be arriving sometime that evening.
Quade was still at large, and Elsie was aware of the deputy standing on guard outside, his tall silhouette just outside the window.
“Is this wreath centered?”
Elsie glanced up at Merritt, who stood on a ladder, holding a wreath above the chalkboard.
“Close enough,” Elsie answered.
Merritt must’ve agreed, because she started to tap a nail into the wall.
Elsie couldn’t wait to see Nick. Hearing he could arrive that evening made her heart soar. And pinched her stomach into a tight coil.
It had been four long, grueling days since she’d last seen Nick.
What had he been doing? What was he thinking?
She missed him.
And she still questioned how things would work between them. They’d agreed to start over, but he’d made no promises.
And she hadn’t forgotten he’d asked Merritt to find him a wife.
The ladder rattled as Merritt stepped down. “There’ll be a school board meeting in the first part of January.”
Elsie swallowed a groan. Why had Merritt brought that up? It only made Elsie recall the lecture on propriety she’d received from Mr. Jamison the whole way to town the night of the fire.
Merritt unrolled a spool of ribbon. “Should I suggest to the school board to start looking for a new schoolmarm for next year?”
Elsie stilled. “What? Why?”
Merritt raised an eyebrow as she formed the ribbon into a bow.
