Page 11 of The Formation of Us

Faith heaved an exasperated sigh. “I meant that he wouldn’t want to marry a woman with my past.”

“None of us will get a marriage proposal if we don’t get some men in the door,” Dahlia said. “Believe me, Faith, they won’t come to buy herbs. The only way to get male patrons is to make them feel good.”

“And in turn,” Iris added, “they will make us feel good, which is my first requirement. The second is that the man is handsome. The third is that he’s—”

“Who cares about feeling good?” Aster asked. “I’d be happy with a man who has money and a comfortable home.”

Tansy hugged her arms to her waist. “I would love to hear a man sing again.”

“Bah.” Dahlia patted her buxom cleavage. “Give me a man who’s willing to put his money right here, and I’d spend an hour or two with him.”

Faith threw up her hands and stared at the women. “You are incorrigible! You’re all addicted to men.”

“Not addicted,” Aster said, “just in need. We need money, and we can only get it from the men in town. Without that bath, we’re going to starve.” Aster widened her stance and crossed her arms over her chest. “When was the last time we ate a decent meal?”

It had been at least a month. The week before they left Syracuse they had barely slept, much less eaten a decent meal. But their goal had been to stay alive and to get out of town before Judge Stone returned and stripped them of everything they owned. Faith and her aunts had pooled their money and hired a local livery owner to secretly transport the contents of their greenhouse to Fredonia. In addition to paying his enormous fee, Faith had to buy the grist mill and pay a carpenter to install the huge windows in the first floor. They were broke, out of food, and out of options.

“All right,” she said, heaving a defeated sigh. “I suppose we have no other choice. But you four must promise to be on your best behavior.”

“Fine,” Iris said, “but don’t you forget your part of our bargain. You promised to use your pretty face to get a marriage proposal from a man who can protect us from Judge Stone.”

“Surely you don’t expect me to marry one of those men who proposed to me?” Faith shuddered, remembering the rangy, leather-faced man who’d caught her in the yard while they were first moving plants into the greenhouse. He had kindly carried in several flats of herbs, but he was twice her age and dense as a brick. A young store owner had offered her credit if she would allow him to court her, but his intense interest in the bodice of her dress sent her from the store empty-handed.

“Dahlin’, I wouldn’t let you cross the street with either of those men,” Tansy said, “but I’d push you straight into the marriage bed with that handsome sheriff.”

“Are you insane? The last person I want snooping around here is a lawman.”

“But who better to have defending our lives than the sheriff?” Iris gave her a bold wink. “Can you imagine having a man like him in your bed?”

Yes, she could. In one short visit she’d noticed too much about the handsome sheriff. He was a take-charge man, a man in control of himself, a sharp-eyed investigator aware of everything around him. His dark eyes had sized her up within seconds of their introduction. His smile said he liked what he saw, but she sensed a fierce resolve in him that scared her to death.

Chapter 4

Adam was glad the sheriff had hooked up the gas line for them, but the man should have kept his big mouth shut: He should have put Adam in jail, or let him pay his debt privately instead of upsetting Faith.

As they headed toward Water Street, Adam stole glances at him. The sheriff’s hands were huge, with big knuckles that could knock a person’s teeth out with one punch. Adam’s own knobby, long-fingered hands would never be as big or strong as the sheriff’s. The man was a giant. His arms bulged with so much muscle they were bigger around than Adam’s legs.

“I’ll drop this at my office before we visit Mrs. Brown,” the sheriff said, lifting the jar of balm that Faith had given him.

Adam didn’t know if the sheriff might throw it out, but it had taken a long time and a lot of work for him and Faith to make that balm. If the sheriff was just going to waste it, he was going to ask for it back. “You should use it, sir.”

“You think it will help then?”

Adam nodded. “The salicin and herbs work good on sore muscles.”

“So you know a bit about herbs?”

“Yes, sir.” Adam lengthened his stride, but was unable to match the sheriff’s long gait. “I know almost as much as Faith does. She’s been teaching me since I was Cora’s age.”

“Did your mother grow herbs too?”

“No, sir. She grew roses.”

“How did Faith learn about herbs?”

“Books. She says that’s the best way to learn about things.”

The sheriff angled his Stetson to shade his eyes from the sun. “You enjoy reading?”