Page 16 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
The most exciting thing to happen in Silver Falls was the annual Founder’s Day celebration.Everyone who lived in and around town gathered at the creek every year and spread out picnic blankets to spend the day gossiping and talking to people they haven’t seen in a while.And on occasion, finding a special someone to spend the rest of their life with.
There were games and music, and most everyone gorged themselves on food the womenfolk brought before a few began sneaking off to sample the variety of moonshine some of the men made, and Josiah had never participated.Not once in all the time he’d lived here.Someone had to stay behind and watch over the town.Any number of things could happen if no one was there, so it always seemed to fall on him to do it.He was the marshal, after all.It was his duty to keep the town and the people who lived there safe.
But this year would be different.
He sat on his horse, looking down the hill at everyone gathered.The morning sun glinted off the creek and the small waterfalls created by the rocks.There were so many people gathered, he wondered where most of them had come from.He knew there were a number of people who lived outside of town in the valley, but he hadn’t realized it was this many.There was close to eighty people down there, if not more.
He clicked his tongue to get Jake moving.He didn’t get a chance to ride him much, so he’d given him free rein to cut loose on the way out here and the horse was dancing around as if he wasn’t done running.
A few people threw their hands up when they saw him, surprise lighting their faces.He waved back before guiding Jake over to where the other horses and buggies and wagons were parked.
Ewan Campbell was the first to reach him.Josiah smiled at him as he approached.As always, he was wearing his kilt and boots, his knobby knees shining as he hurried his way.One of his hands was on the hilt of an old sword he kept strapped to his hip, but he’d been reassured by Rose that it wasn’t sharp enough to cut butter.
“Weel,” the old man said when he reached him, “how did ye manage to get away from town?Did something happen?Is that why yer here?”
He smiled and shook Ewan’s hand when the old man held it out to him.“Nah, everything in town is fine.Rufus volunteered to watch over things so I could come.”
“Weel, the lad did right.Yer always missin’ these get-togethers.”
They headed toward the bulk of people gathered, and it seemed as if everyone wanted to talk to him.Graham and Gideon Hart were the first, and he hadn’t been there ten minutes before someone handed him a plate full of so much food he knew he’d never be able to eat it all.
He leaned back against one of the large willow trees lining the creek bank and ate while listing to the men standing around him talk.He’d nod and answer when they asked him something, but for the most part, he ate and watched everyone else.
Kids were running amongst the many trees that lined the creek bank, their happy voices joining that of the multitude of them filling the air.Hoots of laughter and the cheerful cacophony of sound gave him the first bit of pleasure he’d had in ages.For once, he wouldn’t spend his day bored out of his mind.
His gaze roamed from left to right, then back again, but he stopped when he spotted Violet.She was wearing green today, the dress a bit fancier than what he usually saw her in.The material looked—gauzy.The wind blew it away from her body as it was caught on a breeze and gave him a glimpse of her lush figure underneath all that material.Her hair was down, those dark auburn curls shining in the noonday sun as they brushed her rounded bottom.
She was smiling at something someone in the group of ladies she was with was saying, and she was by far the prettiest woman in attendance.
He watched her for long minutes, memorizing every line on her face, and when she pushed her hair from her neck, his attention got stuck there.
The day she’d leaned over him inside the jail as she looked out the window at Edwin was still fresh on his mind.For some reason, he wasn’t able to forget about that particular moment.She’d smelled of jasmine that day, and he could still feel the softness of her hair as it had brushed across his face.He wasn’t sure why, but it was as if being so close to her that day had tripped something inside his brain and everywhere he looked, there she was.
As if he’d said her name aloud, she turned her head and looked right at him.He nodded in her direction and felt his pulse thump when she gave him a wide smile.She stared at him for long minutes, his pulse ticking up a notch as she watched him, and he straightened to his full height, staring right back at her as she brushed her hair from her face again.
She certainly is a pretty little thing.
He looked away the moment the thought popped into his head.He was doing it again.Thinking of her as more than just a woman who lived in the same town he did and he needed to stop.
He turned back to his food.Regardless of how attractive he found Violet Campbell, she was something he could never have.
Finding Josiah staring at her made her pulse do crazy things.How long had he been watching her?
He gave her a nod of his head and went back to eating.She watched him as he leaned against one of the many trees lining the creek bank.He struck a casual pose, one leg bent, his foot resting against the tree he was leaning against, a plate of food balanced in his left hand.
As always, he was too handsome for his own good and knowing he’d been staring at her made her foolish heart start wanting things she knew she couldn’t have.Things she’d not thought about in years.
She turned away when she heard Daisy make a small sound.Her sister was staring at something across the clearing.Violet tilted her head to see what had caught her attention and stilled when she saw Clay Baxter.He was standing by the creek, hands in his pockets, smiling at the young girl whose mother was opening the dress shop beside the store.
She’d not met either of them yet, but had heard rumors.The girl was sixteen, was nearly as accomplished a seamstress as her mother was, and it looked as if she’d set her eye on Clay if the wide smile and the way she kept touching his arm as she talked to him were any indication.
Daisy watched them with a frown on her face.Her baby sister always denied liking Clay whenever she asked her about him and his obvious infatuation with her, but seeing that look on her face now, she had to wonder if Daisy’s feelings were a bit deeper than she wanted anyone to believe.
Violet tapped Daisy’s arm so she’d look at her and spoke slowly so Daisy could read her lips properly.“Hazel said her name was Veronica.She’s sixteen.”
Daisy’s cheeks turned pink before shrugging her shoulders as if she didn’t care, but when her gaze fell on Veronica and Clay again, Violet knew she did.
She tapped Daisy’s arm again.“Want me to go snatch her away from him by her hair?”
