Page 17 of Pistol Perfect

Maybe it was her conscience saying she misjudged James, or maybe she shouldn’t have judged him at all. Or that she was using him.

That didn’t sit right with her, and she shoved that thought aside as hard as she could.

“How about you go out on the porch, I’ll grab the box, and we’ll open it together.” Carol spoke as she finished up the last of the dishes, and Mabel took it from her, drying the dish carefully before she put it in the cupboard.

“That sounds good to me. I can’t wait to see what’s in it!” she said, the thoughts of marriage and the three girls somehow settling a little further from her brain.

She really did love everything about Annie Oakley, and she couldn’t wait to see what the box held. And there was a part of her that was feeling worse and worse about her decision to proposition James and didn’t mind procrastinating.

They walked through the house, with James holding the front door open while she stepped outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a bright blue sky, puffy white clouds, and North Dakota grasses stretching in all directions.

“This house is so close to town, yet so private. I just love it. I didn’t even realize it was here most of the time I’ve lived here,” she murmured as she walked to the banister and leaned against it.

James came over and stood beside her, a good two feet between them but his hands also leaning on the banister as he looked over the waving grasses. “I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. And I have to admit that it was not nearly as nice then as it is now.”

“You’ve owned it for years?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

“Yeah. I don’t even know how many...ten maybe? I just... It’s so big and beautiful, so welcoming. And I guess maybe I thought someday I’d have a farm. Not that I know anything about farming.” He laughed, a little self-effacing laugh. “I certainly don’t look like a farmer.”

She couldn’t deny that, with his soft white hands and his shiny leather shoes.

He wore some kind of shirt that looked expensive, and although the top button was unbuttoned, it looked like it could go with a tie without too much trouble.

His khaki pants went nicely with the deep blue of his shirt, and it brought out the deep blue of his eyes. She found herself happy that he wasn’t wearing a cowboy hat, which would have shaded his eyes and made it harder to see the pretty color.

What a silly thought.

She pulled her eyes away and looked back toward the barn. What was she thinking? She didn’t care about his eyes. She didn’t care about anyone’s eyes.

“I hadn’t known that. So did you renovate a lot of it?” She asked the first question that came to her mind.

“From top to bottom pretty much. I even put a foundation under it, since it didn’t have one, just a crawl space. That was probably the biggest change I made. That, and when I took the old windows out and replaced them with new, I made them bigger. That was a rather large expense, but the house was already so bright and cheerful, I thought bigger windows, while they aren’t economically smart, just seemed a lot nicer than small ones that keep the house dark.”

“I love the big windows. That’s probably my favorite thing about the house, other than the high ceilings, which again, probably make it very difficult to keep heated in the winter.”

“And the fall and spring, which are also cold here in North Dakota.”

“That’s true.”

He seemed like he was going to ask another question, but Carol walked out on the porch just then carrying the box, and he turned toward her.

“That looks expensive,” he murmured.

“And old,” Mabel added, walking beside him to reach Carol.

“It definitely makes it seem like whatever’s inside could be old and expensive,” Carol said with a smile.

“You want to sit down?” Mabel asked, knowing that Carol’s legs hurt if she was on them too long, and she’d already cooked lunch.

“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, walking over to the swing and settling down on it.

He jerked his chin and gave a wave with his hand, and she took that to mean that he wanted her to sit.

He moved to the banister, leaning against the post and crossing his arms over his chest, his face holding interest but giving them space.

She turned back to Carol who ran her finger over the top of the box.

She seemed to be stalling, and Mabel could understand why. Now that the moment was here, she wanted to drag it out a little too. Make it last. It was special, a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and she didn’t want it to be over too soon.