Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1)
his
    father, who made it the greatest outing of the entire
    summer.
    "I'm sorry about this gravy," Liberty apologized as she
    returned with the dark blue gravy boat and set it on the
    table. "I'm going to start parroting you, Mam, about my
    head falling off."
    "Did you help Griff today?" Zach suddenly asked.
    "Yes, I did. I was there for a few hours."
    "Did you put someone in jail?" This came from Laura,
    and Liberty nodded.
    "Did you need your gun?"
    Every Little Thing About You 19
    "Yes. The man waited a little too long to do as I asked,
    and I couldn't take any chances."
    "Is Griff with him now?"
    Again Liberty nodded. "That was the plan."
    Kate was thankful that the subject was dropped after
    28
    that. They finished the meal on another topic, and she
    wasn't forced to keep her feelings hidden. Thoughts of Liberty
    helping Griffin played in her mind the entire evening,
    but she prayed and worked to give her two oldest children
    to the Lord. It was a huge relief, however, when it was time
    for her younger children to go to bed. She kissed Liberty
    goodnight and finally gained the privacy of her bedroom.
    Duffy wasn't far behind her. He found his wife sitting on
    the edge of the bed, facing away from the door. Duffy
    slipped his shoes off and climbed onto the mattress. With
    gentle fingers he unbuttoned the back of her dress and then
    softly kissed her neck.
    "Are you all right?"
    "I think so," Kate answered honestly as she slipped
    from her cotton dress and sat back down in her petticoat
    and chemise, turning a little so she could look at her husband.
    "She's so calm, Duffy."
    "She has to be, Kate. You don't want her carrying her
    emotions on her sleeve when she has to pull that gun."
    Kate's breath caught in her throat, and Duffy pulled her
    29
    into his arms and held her close. Kate clung to him. She
    didn't want to cry, but she felt a desperate need to be held.
    Duffy was only too happy to oblige.
    He hadn't seen her coming. He hadn't known she was
    going to walk into his life when she did. They had known
    each other for years, lived in the same town, and gone to
    the same church, but he hadn't noticed her until almost a
    year after Thomas Drake died. Kate had been teaching
    school in those days--the town's sheriff had not been able
    to leave a huge legacy behind--and still trying to do her job
    as a mother to Griffin and Liberty, the only two of her five
    children to make it past infancy. Then she had taken ill.
    20 lori wick
    Duffy would never forget Liberty's pale face as she came to
    his office.
    "Mam is sick/' the slim 12-year-old had said.
    "Who is sick?" Duffy questioned her.
    "Mam. She's hot and quiet."
    Duffy had finally figured out that Liberty was referring
    30
    to her mother. He had hung a sign on his door and followed
    her home. And Kate had been sick--very sick. Duffy
    still remembered asking God if He would take the children's
    mother as well as their father.
    Some days passed before he felt she was out of the
    woods, and even then she wasn't back in the schoolhouse
    for more than two weeks. And that first day when school
    dismissed, Duffy was there. He used her health as an
    excuse for a long time but eventually gained the courage to
    ask if he could court her. He thought his heart would burst
    when she said yes.
    "I was married to Thomas and had two babies by the
    time I was Libby's age," Kate said suddenly; Liberty was
    not long past her twenty-first birthday. "I don't want Libby
    to marry for anything but love, Duffy, but I find myself
    wishing she would show more interest in some of the
    young men who like her."
    "Kate," Duffy said seriously, waiting for her to look at
    him, "you're trying to change circumstances that are out of
    your control rather than serving God in the midst of them.
    31
    And you're worrying."
    Kate looked up into his wonderful face. Older than she
    was by ten years, he'd never planned to marry. But he had
    suddenly found himself in love with her, and in time, Kate
    had loved him

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