Catherine stood inside the darkened store, took a deep breath, and filled her senses with the rich aroma of coffee and molasses. With her hands at her sides, she clutched the smooth fabric of the new dress. Part of her longed to recapture the look Corbin’s eyes had held when he’d first seen her tonight—if only to relive the satisfaction it had brought. She’d seen the admiration briefly reflected in his gaze, until he’d turned around and walked away.
Which meant that the other part of her wanted to set the frivolous dress back on the store rack and retrieve the portion of her nest egg she’d foolishly squandered. She would do it, if it weren’t for the fact that Mrs. McBride and the other ladies who’d attended tonight’s party would notice its reappearance.
Moonlight spilled into the front of the store, reminding her she’d forgotten to pull down the shade that covered the front window. Stopping before the windowpanes, she stared down the deserted boardwalk. The store faced the brick facade of the hotel across the street that offered five rooms and some of Mrs. Peck’s homemade food for a decent price. Beside it sat the doctor’s office, then the sheriff’s…
The sheriff’s office.
Her stomach lurched as a light illuminated its front window. The silhouette of a figure stood within its wooden frame, broad shoulders, tall build…It was Corbin. He was talking to someone she could barely make out in the background. She watched the animated conversation progress until Corbin spun around to face the window. She jerked back her hand and let the shade fall into place, hoping he hadn’t seen her.
Securing a wisp of hair that had escaped her chignon, Catherine hurried to the back room of the store and lit the brass oil lamp on her desk. She had no desire to resurrect the past, but it was proving to be difficult when every time she turned around he was there. She pulled out the store’s accounting ledger. She had plenty of things to do besides reminisce about her life with Corbin Hunter. There was filling out next month’s stock order, ensuring that the store’s accounting was up to date, organizing the recent shipment of flour, sugar, and penny candies. As far as she was concerned, her past relationship with Corbin…Mr. Hunter…was a closed book.
Sliding into her chair, she picked up her pencil, brushed off the open page of the ledger, and went to work. Business would be significantly better if she lived in a larger town like Lancaster, but she still managed to do well for herself. After years of working, duties like settling the accounts and ordering stock had become routine and helped to clear her mind.
The door connecting the house and the store opened behind her, causing the lamp’s flame to flicker in the draft. Catherine looked up from the ledger. “Lily? I thought you’d gone to bed.”
“I wanted to talk to you first.” She pulled her dressing gown closer around her and sat down beside Catherine on an empty wooden chair. “I…I came to apologize.”
“To apologize? For what?”
“For inviting the sheriff to ride home with us. I saw how uncomfortable you were. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings instead of trying to get involved in something that clearly isn’t my affair.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Catherine shook her head and started doodling with the pencil she held, a habit she’d picked up years ago…before Corbin. “I simply wasn’t prepared for his return. I’m sure you don’t remember as you were too young, but Mr. Hunter and I were once engaged. Then Momma died, and I had the three of you to raise.” Catherine started doodling again, pressing down on the pencil. “When Corbin showed up, he arrived with memories I’d prefer not to dredge up.” The lead snapped.
“I know.”
Catherine sat back. “You know?”
“About the engagement, I mean. And that he walked out on you.”
Catherine had hoped it had been too long ago for her sisters to remember the details of that time. Apparently she’d been wrong. “How?”
Lily’s dark brows arched. “I didn’t think it was a secret. Everyone in town knows.”
“Everyone?”
“Well, maybe not everyone.”
Catherine closed her eyes. Who was she fooling? Of course everyone knew. People didn’t forget things like that. “So that’s what they whisper about me as I walk down the street.”
Lily gripped Catherine’s hand. “No. You’ve got it all wrong. And even if it were true, you’re the one who always taught me that who we are doesn’t depend on what people think about us. Or our profession. Or whether or not we might have a husband.”
If only it were that simple. Catherine pulled her hand away and shut the ledger, no longer interested in the distraction. It seemed that she simply couldn’t escape Corbin Hunter’s reach. She grasped the handle of the lantern and headed into the small, three-bedroom house she’d lived in her entire life. “I know what they call me. That they see me as the town spinster.”
Lily followed right behind her. “Everyone in this town looks up to you and respects you. We all do, and anything we did tonight, any ‘match making,’ as you call it, was simply an effort to make sure that you’re happy.”
“Did you ever stop to consider that maybe I am happy?” Catherine trotted up the narrow stairway to the second floor, trying to decide if her own words were true. Of course they were. She was extremely happy. “And why shouldn’t I be happy? All my sisters are either married or soon to be married. The store is doing well enough for me to put aside a small nest egg each month, and—”
“Tell me about him.” Lily grasped Catherine’s arm at the threshold of her bedroom.
Catherine swallowed the lump in her throat, wishing she could push her sister away along with the memories.
“Why did he leave?”
Catherine frowned. Lily’s curiosity had always managed to get her into trouble, and apparently, tonight was no different. Catherine set the lantern down on the oak dresser and picked up her brush. Her hair tumbled halfway down her back as she let it down. “I thought you just apologized for interfering.”
“I did, but I saw something pass between the two of you when he first saw you across the room. I can’t help but wonder if it happened once, why it couldn’t happen again.”
“Life’s not that simple.” Catherine sat down on the thick quilt that her mother had stitched together from scraps of the girls’ clothes and continued brushing her hair. “You don’t always get second chances with love.”
“I don’t believe that.” Lily plopped down beside her and drew her legs against her chest. The girl simply wouldn’t give up.
But as much as Catherine wanted to believe in dime-novel endings when it came to love, she’d seen firsthand that those storybook endings didn’t happen in real life. She’d seen it in her momma’s eyes the day Isaiah Morgan had left, and again the day Momma had died without the presence of her husband at her side. Which made Catherine all the more determined to forget any past she’d once had with Corbin Hunter. She knew from experience that a man like him came with a peck of trouble.
Catherine fiddled with a strand of her hair. Jumping into those memories was as unpleasant as jumping into Clear Creek during wintertime. “I remember talking to Momma about him and telling her how tall and handsome he was. He came one Sunday afternoon to ask Daddy if he could court me.”
Lily’s eyes glowed in the lamplight. “That’s so romantic.”
“He told me it was my eyes that had first captured him. He couldn’t decide if they were green or blue, so he decided he wanted to find out. The following fall, he took me aside at one of the church picnics and asked me to marry him.”
Lily pressed her lips together as if suppressing the flow of questions that was about to spout.
“Then, everything changed.” Catherine crossed the worn rose-garland carpet and set the brush on the dresser beside her mother’s hand-carved jewelry box. “Father left for Alaska. I had to take more responsibility in the store, which meant there was much less time for Corbin. When Momma got sick, everything changed overnight. Being the oldest, I had to take care of Momma and the three of you. And then…like I said. Everything changed between us.”
“I’m sorry. I never realized you lost Corbin because of us.”
Lily’s gaze swept the floor as if pulled down by the weight of guilt. But Catherine had not, nor would she ever, blame her sisters for what had happened.
Instead, she forced the remaining fragments of resolve into her voice and moved to lift up her sister’s chin until Lily looked at her. “I never regretted my decision to take care of you. You, Audrey, and Emily are my family. Nothing comes between us.”
Not even Corbin Hunter.
Lily shook her head. “It just doesn’t seem fair.”
“No one ever promised me life would always be fair. And besides, I’ve still got you, don’t I?”
“I suppose, though I don’t know that I’d be so forgiving if I was forced to give up my one true love.”
“You’re far too romantic, Lily.” Catherine shot her sister a half smile to mask the familiar jab of pain. “Save the fairytale endings for your stack of dime novels and get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow with the new town telephone system coming.”
Emily had been right about the townspeople’s resistance when it came to the installation of the new town telephone, but Catherine hadn’t expected Emily to be the most outspoken of any of them. Or for Grady to be their first subscriber to the service. It was insurance well worth it, he told Catherine when he had his telephone installed in the house, to ensure that they were able to call the doctor when the time for the baby came. Emily, though, still wasn’t convinced of the necessity.
By the following week, some of the outlying farmers, as well as a number of businessmen in town, had been the next in line to pay the monthly subscription fee. But there were still plenty of people convinced that the telephone was nothing more than a passing fad that didn’t need anyone’s time or monetary investment, and most of them were quick to let her know their opinion.
Catherine worked to straighten several bolts of material Erma Potter had looked at while Lily sat in the adjoining room in her newly found job as the town telephone operator. Knowing how Lily spent half her time daydreaming of John Guild and life beyond Revenge, Catherine hoped the switchboard was what she needed to keep herself busy. Horace and Harold sat in their chairs in the center of the store, their inventions forgotten for the moment as they indulged in a lively game of chess.
The front door jingled, and Mrs. McBride bustled in. “I understand you received several new bolts of fabric.”
“I’ve just got them set out, Mrs. McBride.” Catherine slid into her selling tactics. “Mrs. Potter just bought four yards of the purple. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”
The older woman fingered the edge of the fabric and frowned. “The quality of fabric seems to deteriorate more every season.”
Catherine shook her head at the expected response. “This is all the way from back East, Mrs. McBride. The best you can buy.”
“I find that hard to believe.” The woman’s frown deepened, emphasizing the lines around her mouth. “Why, even the store in Lancaster has better quality than this.”
Catherine worked to hold her tongue. While Mrs. McBride exasperated her, she was also one of her best customers, so there was no profit in arguing with the woman. Besides, no matter what she said, Mrs. McBride would contradict her.
“Feel free to look all you want, Mrs. McBride. I’ll be at the counter if you decide you need anything.”
Catherine headed toward the front of the store then stopped at the sound of Lily’s voice.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mrs. Garrett,” Lily was saying. “I just heard Erma Potter leave the store a couple minutes ago. If you hurry, you might be able to catch her before she heads home.”
Catherine retreated to the back of the room, folded her arms across her chest, and leaned against the doorframe, wondering if restraining Lily’s inquisitive nature was possible. In the week the switchboard had been up and running, Lily’s enthusiasm over her job had only managed to increase. Especially when she knew each subscriber by name and was frequently called upon for morning wake-up calls, recipes, or simply a long chat.
“Lily.”
Lily held up her hand and motioned for Catherine to wait.
“Lily.” Catherine wrestled the headset from Lily’s hand and held it up. “This is a telephone switchboard, not a women’s quilting bee.”
“I was simply trying to save Mrs. Garrett a trip all the way out to the Potter farm when Mrs. Potter is still in town. She was just in, wasn’t she?”
“That is beside the point. You’re listening in on other people’s conversations. How do you justify that?”
“I—”
“We are already facing a sizable amount of resistance, and if people feel as if someone is listening in on everything they say, well, it simply isn’t professional.”
“People like the personal touch.”
Catherine blew out a quick breath. “And I’m tempted to treat you like the city operators who aren’t even allowed to use the necessity without permission.”
Lily shook her head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“The man who installed our switchboard told me that after only three weeks, the telephone has become a solid institution in Golden, Colorado, much like it’s becoming across the country. Do you think this is going to happen here if we continue to act like a backward, small town?”
“We’re not in the city.” Lily grabbed the headset out of Catherine’s hands and connected a call. “This is Revenge, where people like a bit of personal service. Which is exactly what I’m giving them.”
“Lily.”
“Wait a minute.” Lily held a finger to her lips. “I’ve heard these two men talking before.”
“What’s so strange about that?”
“They’re talking in some sort of code.”
“Maybe they’re speaking in code because someone is listening.”
The front bell rang, giving Catherine an excuse to leave before she lost her temper. She swept into the store and marched halfway to the counter before she looked to see who had entered. It was Corbin. She let out a somber sigh then looked down at her dress. When she’d put the outfit on this morning, the brown flecks in the fabric seemed fine, but now the color suddenly looked plain and dowdy. So much for keeping up appearances. She took a deep breath and touched the fringes of her hair to make sure they were still in place. Maybe if she’d prayed a bit harder, Sheriff Lansing would have been miraculously healed by now, and Revenge wouldn’t need a temporary sheriff.
“Miss Morgan?”
She forced a smile. “Good morning, Sheriff.”
She’d been right. Sheriff definitely sounded less intimate than…Corbin. She busied herself behind the counter like she had a million things to organize, even though she’d finished long before the store had even opened.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and let his gaze rake the floor. Apparently his return was proving to be just as awkward for him as it was for her.
“How do you like being back in Revenge?” she finally asked.
“I’ve been able to catch up on a few old friends.”
“Really?”
“Had lunch with Philip and Beatrice Smith and saw their new son.”
Catherine nodded. “He’s number five.”
“I hear the Marshalls have seven.”
“Eight.”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “Wow. How do they keep up with eight?”
Catherine stifled a laugh. “I don’t know, though I’m certain I don’t care to find out. Not that I wouldn’t like children…someday…but eight…”
She felt a blush cross her cheeks at the too-intimate line of conversation. Why couldn’t she just stick to impersonal topics like coffee and sugar?
He leaned against the counter and popped a lemon drop into his mouth, a habit she remembered from years ago. “I heard you have a telephone.”
“A telephone?” Catherine worked to make the switch. “Yes. I felt it was about time the service was available to the people of Revenge.”
“It’s an intriguing concept. I think progress—in most areas—is necessary.”
She couldn’t read his expression. “But not in this case?”
“I didn’t say that.” He tapped his fingers against the wooden counter. “It must be nice that you don’t have the rivalry some of the larger towns have with more than one telephone system.”
“I already have eight subscribers.”
“Quite an accomplishment, I would say, after only a week.”
“It’s a much-needed service in my opinion. Of course, I’ve yet to convince Emily of that. She sees it as some newfangled fad that won’t last.”
“I’d say it’s already too late for that. There are hundreds of telephones across the state, so I’d say you made a wise business decision in getting this town involved.”
Catherine smiled at the compliment and felt her cheeks blush.
Corbin cleared his throat. “I’m here, in fact, because I need to make a phone call.”
“Oh?”
“And I was also thinking that the sheriff’s office probably should have a phone installed. In case of an emergency, you know.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea.” She pointed to the wooden box where customers who didn’t have their own phone could make outgoing calls for a small fee. “Who would you like to call? For now we are only hooked up to those with telephones in town, Lancaster, and a few other nearby towns.”
“The sheriff in Lancaster, please. It will save me time if I don’t have to ride out there.”
While Corbin talked on the phone, Catherine busied herself with Mrs. McBride’s purchase of five yards of the new sky blue cotton. Apparently the quality of the fabric wasn’t that bad after all.
“Catherine?” Lily stood in the doorway. “A call just came through for you. I’ll finish up for you in here if you’d like.”
Catherine glanced over at Corbin, who was still talking on the public phone. “Thanks.”
She sat down in the back room at the switchboard, hoping it was Emily deciding to take advantage of her own phone. “Hello?”
“Miss Morgan?”
“Yes.” Catherine searched her mind for the name that went with the familiar voice, but came up blank.
“This is Samuel Peterson. I’m not sure if you remember me or not, but I used to be a close friend of your parents.”
“Mr. Peterson, yes, I remember you. What can I do for you?”
“I wish I could talk to you in person, but when I found out you had a phone in your town, I decided that this was the quickest way to contact you.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes. It’s your father.”
“My father? I…I never expected to hear anything from him again.” Catherine fiddled with the long cord of the telephone and wondered if having a phone system in town was a good idea after all. It seemed as if all it had caused was trouble. “What happened, Mr. Peterson?”
“I’m sorry to have to be the one to inform you, but your father’s dead.”