Joe helped him down the dark steps, steadied him while he mounted his mule, and handed him the lantern. “Sarah’s lucky to have you for a friend, Rusty,” he said.
“And if you’re her friend, Joe Dollarhide, you’ll leave her alone. She doesn’t need your kind of heartbreak.”
With those parting words, Rusty nudged his mule to a walk and headed down the winding road. Joe stood watching as the light from the bobbing lantern vanished into the darkness. Rusty was right, he told himself. The kindest thing he could do for Sarah was to stay away from her.
But how could he turn his back on the only woman he’d ever truly loved—and on his son?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SARAH HAD LOVED THE NEW HOUSE ON SIGHT. BUILT SOLIDLY OF logs and attached to the school by a covered passageway, it was smaller than her old rental home in Ogallala, but there was a coziness about the place that she felt at once. The cookstove in the kitchen would warm the house in the coldest weather. The windows, cut high for privacy, could be opened to let in fresh air. There was a bedroom with a bed and dresser, and a loft, accessed by a ladder, that could be used for storage and to provide a place for a growing boy to sleep. A well and a privy out back would serve both the house and the school.
The attached single classroom had a potbellied stove, a desk for the teacher, a chalkboard on the wall, a bookshelf, and coat hooks next to the door. Two long plank tables, one low, and one higher, with benches, served as makeshift desks, until real desks could be purchased. Slates and readers were coming and would be here by the time school started in September.
Sarah had been prepared to move in and start unpacking on the spot. But at Lorna’s insistence, she and Blake had gone back to the elegant Calder home, shared dinner with the family, and slept in the guest bedroom. After hearing of Benteen Calder from Joe, Sarah had been uneasy about meeting him. But Benteen had put her at ease and had proven to be a gracious host. If he knew anything about her past connection to Joe, he’d shown no sign of it.
Their son Webb, a couple of years older than Blake, was to be one of Sarah’s pupils at the school. He struck her as bright but restless, the kind of student who was apt to become bored in the classroom. Keeping him interested would be a challenge—her challenge, she reminded herself.
Sarah had welcomed the distraction of a good meal and pleasant conversation. She’d welcomed anything that might blur the image lingering in her mind—Joe on his horse, with his beautiful young son in his arms. But that night, lying awake in the spacious bed, that image had come back to haunt her. Her eyes had met his for only an instant. But she’d recognized him at once, and she was certain he’d recognized her.
But that wasn’t the problem. She’d come here knowing Joe had a family. She could accept that, and even deal with meeting him if she had to. It was Blake she was worried about—her tenderhearted son who was at an age to start asking questions about his father. What could she tell him? How could she keep him from being hurt if—or more likely when—he learned the truth?
Maybe coming here had been a mistake.
The next morning, Lorna drove Sarah, Blake, and the dog to their new home. Sarah had been promised access to a horse and small buggy. The buggy was in the shed behind the house, along with a washtub, scrub board, a few tools, and other useful things. The use of a horse had yet to be arranged. Meanwhile, the weather was warm, and the general store was an easy walk, little more than a quarter mile from the school, just past the saloon.
While Blake romped with the dog outside, Sarah unpacked their things and did her best to settle into the new place. The cupboards had already been stocked with the basics—flour and other baking ingredients, oatmeal, eggs, a slab of bacon, and even a loaf of fresh bread, and a jar of cookies. There were dishes and utensils, soap and towels, as well as linens and warm quilts for the bed. Someone—most likely Lorna—had taken great pains to see that she and Blake would have