Merry Christmas, My Love

“The reason I chose Dogtown was twofold.” She began to draw little circles on the red-and-white checked tablecloth. “I love my family.” She looked up. “I truly do. But I needed to put some space between them and me. As I told you, I have four brothers, but also four cousins whom my parents raised, their spouses and children, and they all live within blocks of us and each other.”

“To my way of thinking, it sounds like a wonderful way to raise a child. I often wished Ian had more family around.”

They both looked up as the waitress approached. “Good afternoon, folks. Would you like the special today?”

“What is it?” Mitch asked.

“Liver and onions.”

Mitch and Miss Cochran both shook their heads. Something he apparently had in common with the

new teacher. “I’ll have a ham sandwich.” He turned to his companion. “Miss Cochran?”

“A ham sandwich sounds good to me, too.”

The waitress left them with their coffee cups filled and returned to the kitchen.

Miss Cochran shook out her napkin and placed it on her lap. “In response to your observation, I must agree it was a wonderful way to grow up. But when you have that many people ‘loving’ you, it gets smothering at times.”

He took a sip of his coffee. “So we were your escape. Why Dogtown?”

“Would you laugh if I told you I loved the name?”

He laughed. And found himself actually enjoying Miss Cochran’s company. While she’d been anxious to get away from those who loved her, he’d been feeling a lack of connection to other people. For years it had been just him and Ian. He’d made plenty of friends, but with his gun shop, parental duties, and time spent working on the town council, he’d had no time for courting.

Not that he was anxious to marry again, but it did a man good to occasionally spend time with a person owning a female voice, engaging laugh, and strong, womanly curves. All the things the town’s new teacher possessed.

Best to get his thoughts away from that direction. Even if she did stay in Dogtown—which he doubted—she was so far above him as to make any thought of them courting ridiculous. But he had to admit she sure was certainly easy on the eyes.

“See, you laugh, but I do love the name Dogtown. It appealed to me right way.” Her eyes sparkled and she waved her hands around, excitement in all her movements. “And it’s exactly as I pictured it. Small, but friendly. Growing. Parents anxious for their children to learn. Nothing is more discouraging to a teacher than to have parents who are only sending their children to school because the government requires it.”

“And is that what you have in the schools in Guthrie?”

“Not enough to discourage a teacher, but when you advertised for a teacher to come to Dogtown, I heard the passion in your words, how you wanted the children of your town to have a good education.” She stopped and gave him a piercing look. “I can provide that.”

“If you stay.”

She raised her determined chin. “I will.”

Priscilla thanked the waitress as she placed the sandwich in front of her. She still had a hard time believing Mr. Beaumont had spent the entire morning helping her set up her schoolroom. She still sensed suspicion and disapproval in his comments, but she had to admit he’d been a great help. And that didn’t even count him chasing the bear away and getting her off the roof.

Instead of climbing back down the tree, he’d had her slide to the edge of the roof and drop into his arms. Once she landed, they’d stared at each other, leaving her wondering if she looked as surprised as he had. His eyes had widened when she licked her dry lips before he quickly placed her on her feet.

The last thing she wanted was to be attracted to a man who practically held her in contempt. He was only waiting for her to pack up and leave. Well, she had no intention of doing that and would love to have him apologize five years from now when she was still in Dogtown.

“What does Ian do all day with no school?”

He leaned back in his chair. “He has chores, and I assign him schoolwork. He helps out in my store a few hours a day, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday he delivers the Denver newspapers from the mail coach to the stores and homes.”

“It’s good that you assign him schoolwork. I’m anxious to see where the students are in their education. I imagine with the sketchy learning they’ve had so far, I will have a lot of work to get them caught up.”

Mr. Beaumont cleared his throat. “Miss Cochran—”

“Perhaps we can do away with the formalities? You may call me Priscilla.”

He tilted his head. “Priscilla suits you, you know.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”