Page 12 of A Groom for Heather
Heather turned to the man who was just a few years older than her. “I do. I did. I mean I do, but I need some time to get everything sorted and head East.”
“All you need to do is put your belongings in a trunk, get a ticket and you can be on the first train out of here. The man is willing to purchase all the furnishings as well.”
“Hmmm. I guess I’ll have to think about it since we received an offer.” Heather turned and continued walking. “Is he going to pay the asking price?”
“He paid five hundred dollars more.”
Heather’s eyebrows shot up. “Five hundred dollars?” Mr. Cairn nodded. “Well, he is either rich or doesn’t care about money.” She pretended to pick a piece of invisible lint from her jacket and then smoothed the fabric sleeve.
The blue outfit was one of her favorites. A tailored jacket that fanned out like a duck’s tail in the back. Several pleats were carefully folded and sewn together. The full skirt had a bit of lace at the bottom hem. Well, it used to.
Until she ran into that cowboy.
Heather tried to put such unpleasant thoughts out of her mind. Yet, they still lingered.
The man was handsome enough. He was tall, even taller than Jackson. His brown hair was a bit long, and his beard was scruffy. Not even his chocolate brown eyes could make him appealing.
Heather sighed. She knew it was a lie. The man was incredibly handsome. Broad shoulders, leather enrobed wool pants, long legs, and scruffy boots. He wasn’t a gentleman, but there was something about him that intrigued Heather.
“Mrs. Barnes,” Mr. Cairn said, interrupting her thoughts.
Heather snapped her eyes back to Mr. Cairn. “I apologize, I was lost in my thoughts.”
“I said, the bank in New Mexico wired the money this morning.”
“Already?”
Mr. Cairn nodded. “It appears that Mr. James wants to settle matters as quickly as possible. In fact, he is arriving in town this week.”
Heather lifted her fingers to her lips. “My goodness. I guess that is good news.”
If it was such good news, why did Heather feel ill to her stomach?
“I was hoping that you could stop by the office tomorrow morning and we can go over the paperwork.”
“What about the adoption?”
“Well, adopting is an informal matter.”
“I want to make sure that those children are truly mine before I leave town. They are my children now. Just as if I birthed them.”
Mr. Cairn raised his hands. “I have no doubt, Mrs. Barnes.”
“Well let’s just make sure it gets done.”
“Yes. Yes. I’ll do everything I can.”
Heather stopped walking and turned towards the attorney. “I sense hesitation in your voice.”
Mr. Cairn shoved his hands in his pockets. “It would go a lot smoother if you were married.”
“Married?” Heather shrieked. Several women stopped what they were doing and turned to stare. “You are worse than that… that...preacher!”
“Mrs. Barnes. Please.”
Heather held up her hand. “I will be there tomorrow morning, Mr. Cairn. Please excuse me as I go find my children before they gobble up all of Mrs. Talley’s sweets.” Mrs. Talley wouldn’t allow any child to leave the store without a treat from one of the large glass jars she kept on the counter.
Heather quickly moved towards the mercantile. As she opened the door, Millie and three children with sticky faces walked out.
