his hat off his forehead. “That is odd. Mrs. Dunnigan makes such a fuss about going anywhere.”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to pay Daisy a visit,” Adele said, more to herself than him. Daisy Davenport, one of her best friends, worked at the saloon, which was really more a restaurant than a public house. It gave her a good excuse to go inside and find out what was going on. As far she knew, Liam didn’t know Daisy’s husband Asa well, so unless he wanted a meal he had no reason to go inside.
“I suppose you could,” he mused, looking at her. “Can I ask you something?”
She slowly turned to face him. “I suppose it depends on what.”
Was he smiling? Or smirking? “Don’t be so high and mighty. I was just wondering if you miss Daisy.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He picked at an unseen thread on his trousers. “I remember how close you two were. Then Asa swept into town and, well, everything changed. She married him, and you’re …” He stopped, as if he’d made a mistake bringing it up.
He had. “Still unmarried,” Adele finished flatly. “No, it doesn’t bother me. I’m accepting my lot in life. Just like you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean, just like me?”
Adele primly rested her hands in her lap. “Liam White. I’m surprised at you. Everyone knows you’re a …”
“A what?” he interrupted.
“A perpetual bachelor. You’ll never marry.”
His jaw dropped. “Adele Cooke, get your nose out of the air! Who are you to tell me if I’m going to marry or not?”
“Well, you’ve been old enough to for years. You have a home. You have money. So why are you still single?”
He took a deep breath as if preparing to launch into a tirade. He flustered easily, and she knew it. “I am waiting for the right girl, that’s all. Just like you’re waiting for … oh, forgive me. You’ve apparently ‘accepted your lot’.”
She frowned. “I’m in my position through no fault of my own!”
He laughed. “Oh, really? Not because of your list?”
Her cheeks heated. “What’s wrong with having expectations? I imagine you have some.”
“And what expectations do you imagine I have?” he asked with a smirk.
“Does your future wife need a head of hair, for one?” There – that ought to get him.
“That’s a standard expectation as far as women go,” he snarled, “though if a suitable woman came along without one, I think I could adjust. But I suppose you insist a man have hair. What if you find the love of your life and he’s bald as a billiard ball?”
“If he’s the love of my life, it won’t matter.”
“Precisely.” He sighed in frustration. “How did we get on this subject?”
She laughed. “You introduced it.”
“So.” He adjusted his hat. “If your mother’s in there, what are you going to do about getting home?”
“We’ll still ride home together. We planned on having morning tea with Mrs. Riley and Mrs. Quinn. I’m sure that as soon as they’re done with their business it will be almost teatime. I just wish Mother would’ve said something about this meeting.”
“Or invited you to it.”
“Or that.” She looked at her feet and clicked her heels together a few times. She was bored and, though Liam could be entertaining once in a while, she was growing tired of this conversation. Or any conversation about being single. At thirty, Liam White was the oldest bachelor in town. Also educated, not hard to look at, and generally sensible according to her father. There were other bachelors in Clear Creek too. Unfortunately, none of them could tick every box on her list.
She developed “the list” when C.J. Branson came to town in ‘79 to work for Mr. Van Cleet and wound up turning the annual town picnic upside down. Some of the Weavers from Nowhere were visiting and C.J. wound up marrying one. Not a Weaver, exactly – a Cucinotta, a younger sister of Calvin Weaver’s wife Bella. A Weaver-in-law. C.J. and Rufina had a wonderful romance. He wanted to marry for love and made sure his future bride did too. It turned out he was extremely wealthy, an heir to a conglomerate of companies, but Rufina didn’t find out until after she accepted his proposal.
Later that same year, a strange young woman named Lorelei Carson came to town and ended up marrying Adele’s older brother Jefferson. Lorelei was surrounded by secrets, including a big one that only her family was privy to. They married too and went to live