Page 28 of The Formation of Us

Everyone began speaking at once, filling the Common with enough noise to startle the birds out of the maple trees.

“He did it with one hand,” Adam continued with awe. “Those men didn’t even have to help him.”

Faith was trembling so badly she couldn’t bear Cora’s weight another moment. She set the child down on the bright green lawn, then led her and Adam to where their aunts and the sheriff’s sisters-in-law were gathered around Nancy.

“Of course these things terrify me,” Nancy was saying. “Duke says it’s senseless for me to worry about him, but a mother will worry to her grave.”

“Surely his brothers or one of those other men could have helped him,” Tansy insisted, apparently as appalled over their lack of action as Faith was.

“They know Duke can do his job, and they respected him by not getting in his way.”

“But that man was beating him!” Faith said, her outrage revealing two things she did not want to know: The sheriff’s job was too dangerous, and she was far too concerned about him for her own good.

“I know,” Nancy said, the tremor in her voice belying her brave front. “Believe me, if the situation had turned ugly, his brothers were right there ready to step in.”

Ifit turned ugly? Faith’s heart was still banging in her chest. How much uglier would it need to get before the man’s own brothers would step in and help?

Chapter 9

It took Duke two hours to get Covey settled and the horse owner calmed down, and by the time his deputy Sam Wade arrived to guard the prisoner, Duke’s shoulder hurt like hell, the pain almost beyond bearing. And doubt tormented him.

If he hadn’t yanked Covey to the ground and stunned the man, Covey would have thrown him off like a bothersome blanket. When he’d broken loose and bolted into the crowd, Duke feared his brothers and the townsmen would have to bring down the horse thief. This was his responsibility, damn it. He’d taken an oath to protect the area residents, and he couldn’t do that with only one healthy arm.

Sick with worry and pain, he struggled to greet people cordially as he made his way to Faith’s greenhouse. When he found the door unlocked and Faith inside alone, he sagged with relief.

“I know it’s Sunday, and that you’re obviously closed for business,” he said, startling a gasp from her, “but I’m prepared to pay any price you ask if you’ll fix my shoulder.”

She pressed her hand to her chest and leaned against a flat of leafy green plants. “Why didn’t those men help you in that fight?” she asked, her face pale. “Your own brother kept a man from helping.”

“I didn’t need help,” he said. Thank God. But next time . . .

“Surely they could have saved you from getting kicked and . . . and oh Lord, did Covey cut you with his spurs? You must be in terrible pain.”

“I’m not cut, but I was hoping for a massage with some of that balm you gave me.”

“It should give you some relief,” she agreed. She crossed to the shelves and retrieved a jar of balm.

“Where is everybody?” Duke asked, joining her at the counter.

“Adam’s playing out back. Cora’s napping, and my aunts are in the house. I just came in to pick some herbs to make soup for lunch.”

“Should I come back later?” he asked, praying she wouldn’t ask him to. His back was cramping, and his neck muscles were growing so tight he could barely turn his head.

“I’d rather do it now while Cora is sleeping.”

“Thank you,” he said, then clamped his teeth against another back spasm.

She eyed him closely. “I think you need more than a massage, Sheriff.” She gathered an armful of linens and headed toward the back of the greenhouse. “I have a bold suggestion, but you have to promise not to arrest me for making it.”

He smiled, appreciating a bit of lightness in an otherwise dark morning. “I promise not to arrest you.”

“All right, then. I’m going to mix a tea that will relax you.”

“I can’t see why I would arrest you unless you add some of those poisonous herbs you grow.”

“If I did that, you’d be dead, and I’d get off scot-free,” she said with an easy laugh that soothed him.

He lowered his aching shoulders and followed her to the small stone room at the back of the greenhouse where he’d hooked up the gas line for her tub. She set the linens on a chair beside the tub which was large enough for six adults. Then she uncapped a jar and poured purplish liquid into the tub. The scent of lavender wafted through the room.