The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,9

hollyhock, sweet peas, and asters circled the house from front to back, broken only by the cobblestone walk that Nardin had carefully laid to keep Sophie’s feet dry during the rains.

In Savannah, where Sophie had been raised, the small white house would have been nothing to talk about. In Lizard Flats, where she and Nardin had settled, it was elegance at its finest.

Sighing with satisfaction that all was well in her world, she gave her parasol a quick spin and walked out the gate. Nardin Hollis might have died and left Sophie in heat, but he had not left her penniless. She owned half of Lizard Flats and the connecting stage lines to seven other towns in the territory. But while Sophie owned one thing, she wanted another. All the way to the store, she kept thinking of what she’d lost when Nardin had died.

Moments later, with the territory dust swirling around her head and the parasol threatening to take flight, she turned the corner toward Main Street and stepped onto the uneven planks of the sidewalk. The bell-like skirt of her new yellow dress swayed vigorously with each step that she took. She was a bright flower of womanhood on the verge of shedding.

Inside the Territorial Bank of Lizard Flats, Alfonso Worthy kicked back in his chair, contemplating his worldly goods. It was true that he had accomplished more in his forty-two years than he would ever have believed. As the seventh and last child of a widowed Kentucky dirt farmer, his future had been uncertain until the day his daddy had unexpectedly died. After the bank had reclaimed the land on unpaid debts, the offspring of Conrad Worthy were suddenly homeless and began scattering to the four winds.

At the age of seventeen, Alfonso hired out as a driver to a sickly couple who were leaving with a wagon train heading West. They died in mid-trip, leaving Alfonso with a wagon full of dry goods. It would amount to the beginnings of a small store that would be his grubstake.

After that, it seemed as if his good fortune continued to rise. It had taken him several years and several territory towns to get where he was today, but as the only banker in Lizard Flats, he had the world by the tail. Only now and then did he ever wonder what had become of his six brothers and sisters, but the thought never stayed with him long enough to pursue it. Except for the absence of a woman in his life, Alfonso was as satisfied with himself as he knew how to be. He had steak when he wanted it, a bath every other night, and could afford the pleasures of Letty Murphy, the only easy woman within two day’s riding distance. But life wasn’t perfect. What he wanted but had yet to achieve, was his heart’s desire. He was in love with a woman who barely acknowledged his existence.

In the midst of that thought, a flash of yellow caught his eye. He turned to look and then jumped to his feet. He didn’t have to look twice to know who he’d seen. Sophie Hollis stirred his blood. The fact that she begrudged him so much as the time of day hardly mattered. When he thought back to where he’d been and how far he’d come, changing an unwilling widow’s mind had become his next and, hopefully last, challenge. Determined not to let the opportunity to speak to her go to waste, he took his hat from the hat rack.

“Greeley, I’ll be out for a bit,” he told the teller, and hurried out to the street.

He admired Sophie’s attributes greatly; those long, blonde curls and that sweet baby-face, her wide, blue eyes, and the way she filled out a dress. He smiled as he called out.

“Sophie! I say… Sophie Hollis!”

Sophie stopped in mid-step, wondering if it would be possible to ignore him, yet when she heard the rapid beat of his footsteps behind her, she sighed. She knew who it was. She recognized the voice, but ignoring Alfonso Worthy was like trying to ignore a tick stuck fast to your skin. No matter how small and unsightly, the little thing would persist, sucking and chewing and drinking you dry. She stifled a sigh and turned around.

Alfonso swallowed twice in rapid succession as their gazes connected. Hers wavered as she found herself staring at his Adam’s apple. It was bobbing up and down on the inside of his neck like