“You are amazing, Miss Cochran.” They reached her doorstep. He turned her and took her into his arms. “I hate to say this out loud, but I’m beginning to believe you do mean to stay.”
“Even after my tears?”
He leaned in, his forehead resting against hers. “Even after your tears.”
Her breathing grew rapid and her heart began to pound. Despite the cold air, she felt warm, parts of her body even warmer. Mitch slid his palms up her arms until he reached her shoulders then drew her close. His head shifted and he took her mouth in a searing kiss. Again her toes curled, and she had the desire to fling off her coat. Heck, even her dress and undergarments. She’d seen enough of her parents kissing, and her cousins and their spouses, to know where something like this would lead.
Mitch pulled away and kissed her jaw. “So sweet.”
Her knees started to buckle, and he wrapped a strong arm around her waist to hold her up, taking her lips once more. His tongue nudged her lips until she gasped and he slid in, again touching all the spots in her mouth that set her on fire. She slid her palms up his chest and circled his neck, playing with the hair at his nape.
He released her mouth and closed his eyes. “You better go inside.”
“Yes. I don’t believe it’s proper for the new teacher to be standing at her front door kissing her student’s father.”
He grinned and pulled back. “I agree.” He turned and headed down the path, then looked back. “I’ll pick you up for church Sunday. Don’t work too hard tomorrow.”
With a slight salute, he was gone, disappearing into the shadows until he was half a block away and under a streetlight. Now that she’d lost his warmth, she shivered with the cold and let herself into the house.
What was that all about? She shrugged out of her coat, untied her bonnet, and placed them both on the hook by the door. She unhooked her half boots and, tucking her feet under her bottom, sat on the sofa. Spying the whiskey bottle on the table, she poured a tiny bit into one of the glasses still sitting there. She swirled the brown liquid around then held the glass up. “Here’s to you, Papa. Your little girl is all grown up.”
She gulped the whiskey down in one swallow and began to cough and sputter as the liquid burned all the way down her throat to her stomach.
“Maybe not so grown up, after all,” she rasped, trying to catch her breath.
Chapter Eight
It was well into the second week of December and, according to the newspaper that now came directly from Denver every day instead of on the mail coach three days a week, snow had been predicted by evening.
Priscilla looked at the threatening sky and hoped she and Mitch could get to the Beekers’ house and back before the snow began to fall. She really didn’t want to miss seeing Mrs. Beeker. Little Emily had been having some issues in class over the last couple of weeks and when she showed up in the same dress three days in a row with no lunch, Priscilla decided to make the trip to their small farm outside of Dogtown.
With no means of transportation, Mitch had offered to drive her when she presented him with her problem. They had gotten closer since Thanksgiving. She’d often thought his uncle had something to do with Mitch’s change of attitude toward her. She still wasn’t too sure of her own feelings where he was concerned. She liked him, felt a very strong attraction to him, but she had no interest in a relationship or the confinements that would bring with it. For as much as Ellie loved teaching, Max had been forced by the Board of Education to fire her when they’d married.
Priscilla was dressed for the weather and waiting outside her door when Mitch pulled up. He hopped out of the buggy and helped her up onto the seat. “Do you think we can make it out to the Beeker farm and back before the snow?”
Mitch slapped the reins on the horses’s backsides and the two animals trotted off in rhythm. “I think so. The newspaper said evening, and it’s only two o’clock. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Who’s watching the store?”
“Ian’s there, thank goodness, because someone needs to keep an eye on Ernest. The man is blind as a bat.”
“It’s really nice of you to let him still work there.”
“My father started that back when he bought the store from Ernest. The man was lost without having a place to go each day, so Père let him hang around and it turned into a sort of part-time job.”
Priscilla pulled up the collar of her coat. “Brr. The air is much colder here than in Oklahoma. We get pretty low temperatures in the winter, but not usually this soon.”
Mitch reached behind him and grabbed a blanket that he tossed at her. “Here, wrap yourself in that.”
She snuggled into it, covering up all the way to her nose. Despite the cold weather and threat of snow, she was enjoying the ride. The air was very clear in Colorado, and the pine trees and aspens gave it a very different look from Oklahoma. She thought of Papa’s automobile and how, with the windows rolled up, it kept the cold air from blowing in your face. As much as she begged, he wouldn’t allow her to drive it. Yet he’d bought the automobile because Mama wanted to learn to drive. But then, she’d never known her papa to deny Mama anything.
Mitch pointed up the road. “We’re almost there. I’m surprised there’s no smoke coming from the chimney. I hope everything is all right there.”
“That’s why I wanted to make this trip. I’m afraid everything is not all right.”
Little Emily came to the door as they pulled up. “Miss Cochran! What are you doing here? Am I in trouble?”
Her little face was pinched with anxiety, and Priscilla was sure things were not going well in her home. “No, sweetie. Mr. Beaumont and I just wanted to stop by and say hello to your mama and papa. Are they inside?”