Page 28 of A Groom for Heather
“There’s a lot of talk at the diner... I guess the pastor is organizing it. Someone named… Bear, Dog…”
“Wolfe?”
“That’s it. He’s going to make all the crosses. I guess it will take him a few weeks to get that done.”
“What did they say?”
“Just that the crosses will line the side of the cemetery.”
Heather put her finger to her lips and chewed on her nail. “I don’t want to go.”
“Why not?”
“Jackson’s dead. He’s not coming back. I don’t need a place to go and remember him. I remember him here.” She pounded on her chest. “And I don’t want to go to anything at that church.”
“Heather, be reasonable. Pastor Collins…”
“Is just trying to help. That is what everyone is saying. Well, he wasn’t helping when he didn’t allow anyone time to grieve before telling them they needed to find new husbands. He wasn’t helping when he was sneaking around in barns and forcing people to marry.”
“Sneaking around in barns?”
“He found Robert Taylor in Millie’s barn and forced them to get married.”
“Are they happy?”
“What?”
“I asked if they were happy.”
Heather bit her bottom lip. “I guess so. They are inseparable. I don’t know how she could marry so quickly after George died.”
“You need to let go of that anger, Heather.”
“You don’t know anything, Dalton.”
“I do. I was so consumed with my anger that I spent five years chasing someone. Five years wasted.”
“What happened?”
“Found him dead in New Mexico. He had killed my brother.”
Heather released a little gasp. “I’m so sorry.”
Dalton shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”
“Not that long.”
“I witnessed him shoot my brother and I vowed revenge. It was obsessed with finding the man and making him pay.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I was so angry I missed out on so much. I realized once my brother’s murderer was dead that I didn’t know what I was going to do next. That anger was eating me up like a poison.”
“And so, you looked for a farm.”
“I looked for ahome.”
“As interesting as all this is, I’m not prepared to let go of my anger right now.”
