first place. “Morning, Lavinia.”
Lavinia pulled a cake out of her basket. “Jake, I brought you a brown sugar cake since you missed Sunday dinner.”
“You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, but we appreciate it, don’t we, Sheriff Carter?” Lavinia was a passable cook, but he didn’t want to encourage her. Including the sheriff just might get him off the hook.
“We sure do, Miss Lavinia.” Sheriff Carter bent down and sniffed the cake. “Hmm-mmm. That sure does smell good. Thank you kindly, ma’am.”
“You’re welcome.” Her gaze swung between the two of them, then settled on Jake like a hawk eyeing its prey. “I’d better run. I’ll drop by later and pick up the plate.”
She left, closing the door with a firm click.
“That woman’s sweet on you.”
Jake cringed and tossed an out-of-date wanted poster into the potbellied stove.
“That’s why she turned those orphans out of school. And the fact that Billy’s her nephew and her sister ain’t got the sense God gave a goat is beside the point.”
If Sheriff Carter didn’t shut his trap, he’d have the whole town convinced Lavinia MacKinnion wanted to marry Jake. Jake shuddered. He’d gone to school with her, and no way on God’s green earth would he be saddled with that woman. Half the time she looked like a mule eating persimmons. She wasn’t plain-out unattractive, but the way she acted made her seem that way.
“I’m telling you, she wants to get her hooks into you like nobody’s business. She’s got her eye on your farm, especially since Johansen’s land butts up against yours. That would make her and Martha neighbors, and nothing would suit her better.”
Jake groaned. Bad enough he knew Lavinia’s intentions, but for Sheriff Carter to put into words what Jake had only suspected turned his stomach, souring the coffee he’d been choking down all morning.
“What I can’t figure out is why she became a schoolteacher.” Sheriff Carter grabbed a mop and a bucket and headed to the jail cells. “She don’t even like young’uns, near’s I can tell.”
Jake wadded another poster and tossed it into the stove. “I’m sure she enjoys teaching a lot better than you realize, Sheriff. She’s been at it three years now.”
“Well, it’s still a mystery to me.”
The door opened, and a blast of cold air swept into the room. Mrs. Brooks, bundled head to foot in scarves and a woolen cloak, hurried in. Snow flurries followed in her wake.
“Morning, ma’am.”
“Good morning, Deputy.”
“Call me Jake.” He pulled up a chair for her. “Would you like a seat?”
“Thank you.”
Sheriff Carter bumbled out of the back, a once-white apron tied around his waist. His eyes widened. “Mrs. Brooks. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I just arrived.”
The sheriff turned red as a beet, then made an about-face, retreating. Jake frowned in the man’s direction, hoping he didn’t have another weak spell coming on. He glanced at Mrs. Brooks. “Uh, ma’am, would you like some coffee?”
“No thank you. I’m here to see Sheriff Carter. I’ll wait.” She sat ramrod straight, her gloves clasped in her ample lap, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Sheriff Carter returned, minus the apron and looking more composed than moments before. “Mrs. Brooks. What can I do for you?”
She held up a slip of paper. “Miss MacKinnion has suspended Georgie and Seth for fighting and suspended the rest of the children ‘by association.’ My boys didn’t do anything but defend Mary’s good name, and I demand they all be allowed back in school.”
Sheriff Carter rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Brooks. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do.”
“You are on the school board, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jake lifted his coffee cup to hide the grin spreading across his face. The woman had the sheriff dancing faster than a drunk outlaw with a six-shooter full of bullets.
“Then I suggest the school board have a meeting and resolve this immediately, or I’ll be forced to take drastic measures.”
“Drastic measures, ma’am?”
“If the board doesn’t reinstate the children’s rights to attend school, I’ll bring them here to the jail for instruction every day. If they’re unfit for public school, maybe tutelage at the hand of the law will teach them some manners.”
The color drained from Sheriff Carter’s face. “Ma’am, you can’t do that.”
“I can and I will.” Mrs. Brooks stood and looked him right in the eye. “I’ll expect a verdict from the school board by the end of the week.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Brooks, but that’s impossible. Two of the five board members live out