LITMIR.BIZ

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the prettiest schoolmarm it had been his privilege to know. Her figure in that soft, white dress was admirable. Her hair was a warm sunny brown, combed back from a face that could only be called sweet. The eyes gazing at him from less than six inches below his own were liberally lashed, clear and open and a whimsical color that wasn’t quite brown and wasn’t really green but made him want to lean closer.

      And presence? Oh, but she had that. She moved like a dancer he’d seen at one of Mr. Yesler’s cultural events—fluid and controlled at the same time. She spoke with an authority even the renowned Reverend Bagley would have envied. She was poised, she was polished, and she was exactly the sort of teacher they needed. And he’d managed to convince her to come to Wallin Landing.

      Even as his chest swelled with pride, she took a step back as if already regretting her decision. “Pack? Nonsense. I cannot possibly be ready on such short notice.”

      “We’ve only the things we brought with us on the ship,” Maddie pointed out. James had nearly forgotten she was there, so focused had he been on Miss Fosgrave. “It can’t take all that long to pack. I’ll lend a hand if you like.”

      “No,” she said, then quickly softened the word with “thank you. I prefer to pack my own things.”

      She certainly knew her own mind. Very likely that had been a requisite for joining the Mercer expedition. It couldn’t have been easy traveling all the way around the country and starting over. He was willing to grant her anything, so long as she came.

      James glanced at the sky, where the sun was trying to burn through the remaining clouds. “I’ve a few commissions to complete while I’m in town, but I’ll need to start back in the next hour or so to reach home before dark. Will that give you enough time?”

      “I suppose it must suffice,” she said. “I shall endeavor to be ready when you return, Mr. Wallin.” She inclined her head and turned to precede them through the door with ladylike tread.

      Maddie, who had been watching Miss Fosgrave, shook her head. “Sure-n she has finer manners than the queen of England. But sometimes, if you catch her unawares, she’ll be having the saddest look in her eyes. Someone’s hurt her, that’s certain sure.” She shook a finger at James. “Don’t you be going and adding to her troubles.”

      James held up his hands. “Me? I wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

      “A fly, maybe,” Maddie acknowledged. “But I’m thinking you’ve broken a few hearts in your time.”

      “Not intentionally,” he assured her, lowering his hands. “I’ve never promised undying devotion to any woman.”

      “Yet,” Maddie said with her usual twinkle.

      “Ever,” James corrected her. “Life can change in a heartbeat, Maddie. Best not to take it too seriously.”

      “So you say,” Maddie replied, heading for the door. “But I say you’ll be changing your tune for the right woman, James Wallin.”

      James shook his head as she left. He’d liked Maddie from the first moment he’d met her at Catherine’s marriage to his oldest brother Drew. The feisty redhead generally gave as good as she got. Like him, she’d laughed off Catherine and Drew’s threat to match them all up with sweethearts.

      Oh, he knew most men reached a point in their lives where marriage seemed the best course. But those men hadn’t watched their father die. He’d seen the light fade from Pa’s eyes, and then he’d seen the pain flare in Ma’s when Drew had delivered the news. And he’d known it was all his fault.

      That was why he’d jumped at the chance to do his family a service when Catherine had entrusted him with this commission. His sister-in-law had been firm in her expectations.

      “The women of the Mercer expedition are a determined lot,” the lovely blonde had explained over coffee that morning at the main house of Wallin Landing, the forested area to the north end of Lake Union where James’s family had staked their claims. “Many of them have already secured positions, and the remaining ones may balk at settling so far out.”

      “Fear not, fair maiden,” James had assured her. “I will overcome every objection.”

      Catherine’s cool blue eyes could look remarkably warm when she was set on a goal. “See that you do and that you don’t raise any reason to object in the first place. We must have a schoolteacher if we’re to achieve your father’s dream.”

      James had nodded. Ever since marrying Drew a month ago, Catherine had been obsessed with honoring Pa’s dream of building his own town along the lakeshore. James wasn’t sure why she was so determined. She had never met Pa; he’d been dead more than ten years now.

      His father’s accident—felled by a widow-maker from a tree they were clearing—had affected everyone in the family. James was fairly sure Drew’s overprotective nature stemmed from the fact that Pa had entrusted the family to his care. And sometimes he wondered whether the cool detachment of his next oldest brother, Simon, wasn’t a result of watching Pa die. He was glad neither had berated him for his role in the tragedy. He’d been only fourteen at the time, and it had been his job to look out for potential problems. He hadn’t noticed the loose branch then, but he could see problems aplenty with the town they were trying to build.

      Catherine, Drew and Simon knew the challenge, but they were undaunted. They’d drawn up plots, laying out the streets and placing key buildings. Drew had wanted to construct a hospital first because many people needed Catherine’s skills as a nurse, but she’d insisted that the school was more important.

      “A hospital tends their bodies for the moment,” she’d said. “A school tends their minds for the future.”

      None of them could argue with that. Even now his family, including his younger brothers John and Levi, were back putting the finishing touches on a schoolhouse and attached room for the teacher.

      And it was James’s job to convince a teacher to fill it.

      He took that commission as seriously as Miss Fosgrave apparently took her profession. This was his chance to make a difference in the family. Nothing would bring Pa back, but building the town he’d always dreamed of was the next best thing. And it had been a long time since his family has asked him to undertake something so important.

      So, James had done all he could to make a good impression on the schoolteacher. He’d dressed in his best suit, tailored by a fellow from San Francisco no less. He’d shaved and washed his hair with the lavender-scented soap his sister Beth enthused about, making his hair look almost gold. More than one lady had glanced his way as he’d driven first to the territorial university to consult with Asa Mercer, its president, and then to the boardinghouse.

      But who would have thought his horses would be the thing to convince Miss Fosgrave to take a chance on him? He’d seen the way she’d looked at the team, as if they were somehow an answer to a prayer.

      “Always said you boys were the finest animals in the territory,” he told them as they turned the corner for the merchant his mother favored. The flick of their ears and the height of their steps told him they agreed.

      But as he finished his commissions in town—picking up a paper of needles for Ma and a new sketchpad for Beth, checking at the post office for any mail—he felt unaccountably fidgety. Did he doubt the outcome of his task? He might not have Drew’s brawn, Simon’s brain, John’s knowledge or Levi’s determination, but he knew how to turn a phrase to his will.

       That’s one skill You gave me, Lord. The least I can do is to put it to good use. You’ve given me a chance to atone. I won’t let You down.

      He took a deep breath as he guided the horses back toward the boardinghouse. Miss Fosgrave might have reservations about the position, but he had none about her. Her presence was her best quality. It would win the day at the school Catherine had planned. So, like it or not, that schoolmarm had an engagement with the frontier.

      She just didn’t know it yet.

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