Page 7 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
Rose glanced up when Violet stepped back into the store and took one look at her before saying, “Oh, no.What did you do?”
Violet sighed.“I created a whole mess of trouble.”
“How so?”
She ran a hand over the counter underneath a rack of homemade pastries, leaving a trail in the dust she had failed to wipe away the day before.She dusted her hands off and said, “I told Edwin I already had a fiancé.”
Rose didn’t respond at first, but eventually said, “Well, did it work?”
“Not exactly.”She rounded the counter and leaned against it, bending at the waist to lay her forehead on the weathered wood.“He thinks he can win my hand away from my fiancé, so he went to Mabel's to get a room.”
“And who does he think he’s taking you away from?”
She rolled her head to the side and looked at Rose through her hair.“Josiah.”
Rose stared for a long moment, then threw her head back and laughed.
“It’s not that funny.”
Rose ignored her.“Does Josiah know you did that?”
“Yes.”She thumped her forehead on the counter.“And he wasn’t too happy about it.”
“I’d imagine he wasn’t.”
“What am I going to do?”
“Well, lying to get out of a sticky situation is never a good idea.It always comes back to haunt you, but what’s done is done.The only thing you can do now is persuade Edwin to go home and hope Josiah goes along with the lie you told.”
“He didn’t out me when Edwin confronted him.”
“Well, that’s something, at least.”
Violet straightened and looked out of the window.She could just see the jail from where she stood.The window she knew Josiah was sitting beside of was dark enough she couldn’t see him, but she knew he was there.He always was.
The day he’d rode into town to take the position of town marshal, she’d been love-struck.Her heart had stopped beating for a second and even though she’d never believed in love at first sight, she had that day.And all the days that followed.
She’d sneaked around town stealing glances at him for months but wasn’t ever brave enough to actually walk up to him and say anything.
When he’d come into the store, she’d run the other way, but she wasn’t the same shy girl she had been then.She’d matured over the last year and a half and in that time, as heartbreaking as it was, she realized Josiah wasn’t the least bit interested in her.He couldn’t be.He didn’t go out of his way to talk to her, nor did he seek her out, so she’d eventually let her dream die.
That didn’t mean she didn’t still like fantasizing about him or looking at him.How could she not?He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and she’d gone to Elkin every month for years until they started paying Tanner to go pick up their supplies, so she’d seen plenty of men.
Josiah Lincoln had them all beat.He was tall with wide shoulders and his forearms were corded with muscles.She knew because she’d held on to his arm earlier and could feel them bunching underneath his skin.He smelled nice, too.Like sun-dried linens and sandalwood with the slightest hint of gun oil.
In a word—he was perfect.
She sighed and grabbed the towel she used to dust with and wiped the counter down, paying particular attention to the pastry rack she’d seen dust under earlier.
“You could just marry him.”
Rose’s voice was soft, but the words seemed to scream through her head.She threw her a look as if to ask if she was crazy, then did just that.“Are you crazy?”
Rose shrugged.“You’re twenty-three, Violet.Twenty-four in less than five months.”
“So?”
“So, do you want to live at home taking care of gramps until you’re old and gray?”She leaned her hip against the counter before crossing her arms under her breasts.“There aren’t many men in this town, Violet, and of the ones that are here—now don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, holding up a hand, “but none are interested in marrying you, or they would have already asked for your hand.”
