…”
“She goes a long time between them now. When she was younger, they were more frequent.”
“Daily,” Liam said under his breath.
Adele eyed him but said nothing. It was true. “My great-aunt has a temper. I’m sorry something set it off.”
“So am I,” Leona said. “Well, there’s no help for it now. All I can do is comfort Betsy and talk them into a truce.”
“Did my aunt really try to rearrange Mrs. Quinn’s displays in her mercantile?”
“Try? She did, from what I understand. Matthew, Betsy’s son, was minding the store at the time and when he and Betsy went to the back of the building for something, Irene redid a half dozen of them.”
Liam snorted, then composed himself while scanning the jars of candy on the shelves behind Adele.
She turned, grabbed one full of peppermints and offered it to him. He took one with a smile and popped it in his mouth. At least now he’d be less likely to laugh.
She offered one to Leona next. “Was he upset?”
“Oh, yes, I can tell you.” Leona took a peppermint. “He told Betsy he felt …” She looked around, leaned in and whispered, “… violated.”
Liam snorted again.
“Laugh if you will, young man, but how would you like it if a stranger came to your home and rearranged your furniture because they didn’t like the way it was?”
He sobered at that. “Ma would be most vexed.”
“Well, that’s the case here,” Leona said. “I have two friends, one of whom is very dear to me and they can’t stop meddling in each other’s affairs – or their stores.”
“I’m sure they’ll make up,” Adele stated. “Great-Aunt Irene can get herself worked up like today, then tomorrow be right as rain.”
“I hope so dear, or Betsy will want to go home early. She was looking forward to this trip, too. We have so much work to do.” Leona turned and headed for the doors. “Thank you, dear, for the candy.”
As soon as she was gone, Adele sighed. “Dear me, I haven’t seen my aunt in such a state in a long time.”
“Me neither.” Liam sucked on his candy. “I can hang the first banner if you like.”
For some reason, she didn’t want him to go. “Would you mind staying here with me?”
His eyes filled with concern again. She was beginning to like that. It wasn’t often a man besides her father or uncles gave her such a look. “I can stay. Is there anything I can do? Tidy up, maybe?”
She laughed nervously. “Heavens, no, not that!”
“No, I don’t suppose so.” He scratched the back of his head and surveyed the store. “My parents remember the old mercantile before it burned down. They say this one’s bigger.”
“That’s what my parents told me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck now. Was he nervous? “I guess that was something to see, the night it caught fire.”
She knew the story well. Grandpa Jefferson had been upset over the death of his second wife, Adele’s grandmother Honoria Cooke. His own sons Jack and Sam kept the man in his cups for months after she died of influenza, and he grew bitter and angry. One night in a drunken rage, he threw a whiskey bottle through the second-story window of the mercantile, knocking over a lamp and setting the building on fire. Great-Aunt Irene and Mother barely made it out alive, both rescued by the townsfolk. Jefferson had changed his ways after that, thank Heaven.
She noticed Liam watching her. “I’m all right.”
He smiled. “I’m glad. It’s a hard thing, worrying about a loved one.”
Adele met his gaze. “Yes, it is.”
“Your aunt will be all right, you’ll see.”
“And your father?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I’ll speak to Doc Drake before I head home, then try to bring Pa into town tomorrow to see him.”
She nodded. She didn’t like to think of her great-aunt and uncle no longer being here one day, but it was inevitable. One couldn’t avoid death forever. The best anyone could hope for was to die of old age after a long and happy life.
“I’d better get started,” he said. “I’m thinking the other end of town would be best.”
“Between the saloon and the jail?”
“Yes, like we discussed.”
They gazed at each other in silence for a moment. It … said something, something she wasn’t sure she wanted to say. But she couldn’t stop herself. She was looking at a handsome man she’d never noticed before. He was kind, hard-working, concerned for others, and at the moment for her. She’d