do me a lot of good,” she said, thinking aloud, deciding then and there to take Jane up on her offer.
“I’m not suggesting a visit,” Jane said, interrupting Annie’s musings. “I think you should move here. You need a change, a fresh start—you know you do.” She hesitated. “It might sound odd, but I have this feeling that Promise needs you, too.”
* * *
Staring out the display window, Dovie Hennessey watched her husband hurrying along Promise’s main street. He was headed toward her shop, and judging by the look on his face, he had something he couldn’t wait to tell her.
“Dovie!” Frank barreled into the store a moment later, his eyes twinkling with amusement. At sixty-five, he remained muscular and fit, she noted with pride. Every time she saw him, he gave her heart a little thrill—even after three years of marriage. Their romance had begun more than a decade before they decided to “make it legal,” as Frank put it. He’d initially been reluctant, since he’d never been married before and was afraid of losing what he’d thought of as his freedom. Dovie, who’d been widowed for years, had desperately wanted the comfort and respectability of marriage. In the end Wade McMillen, the local pastor, had suggested the perfect compromise: marriage with separate residences. It hadn’t taken long, however, for Frank to move into Dovie’s house full-time.
“My goodness, Frank, what’s gotten into you?”
“Adam Jordan,” Frank told her, shaking his head. “I swear I’ve never seen anything so funny in my life. Just wait’ll you hear what that deputy did this time round.”
“Sheriff Jordan,” Dovie gently reminded him. Frank had retired five months earlier, and it had been an adjustment for both of them. After serving as the town’s sheriff for almost fifteen years, he’d found it difficult to hand over the reins to someone else.
Especially when that someone had been such an unpromising specimen as a teenager. Adam Jordan had gotten into one scrape after another and had nearly worried his parents sick before he enlisted with Uncle Sam. Somehow the army had straightened him out. To everyone’s amazement, Adam had thrived under the structure and discipline of military life. After basic training he’d applied and been accepted to Airborne Ranger School, and from there had gone on to serve a distinguished twelve years as a member of the elite outfit.
With the recent cutbacks in the military, Adam had returned to Promise. Much to the delight of his parents, who owned the local western-wear shop, he’d applied for a job with the sheriff’s department. Frank immediately saw that he’d found his replacement. Al Green, who’d served as deputy for almost twenty years, had no desire to assume the responsibilities of the sheriff’s position.
So Adam had arrived at precisely the right time. When Frank announced his retirement, the ex-Airborne Ranger had run for the office of sheriff and promptly been elected; that was almost six months ago now, in the November election. Frank continued to spend much of his time with Adam, helping, he claimed, with the transition. Dovie didn’t know who required more assistance, Adam or Frank.
“Boy’s made a fool of himself with that new teacher.” Frank chuckled. “Again. Locked her keys inside her car trying to show her the importance of security.”
Dovie groaned, embarrassed for Adam. Anyone could see he was infatuated with Jeannie French. Fresh out of college, the first-grade teacher had been hired the previous August, and Adam Jordan hadn’t been the same since. He’d done everything he could think of to attract her attention, but according to rumor, he hadn’t yet asked her out on a date. Some days, it was all Dovie could do to resist shaking some sense into the man.
“Naturally he had no way of knowing she always throws her car keys under the front seat,” Frank explained.
“Why in heaven’s name would she do something like that?” Dovie was exasperated with Jeannie, too. Surely the girl could figure out how Adam felt! She sighed; she could just imagine Adam’s face when he realized what he’d done.
Frank shrugged. “Why do women do anything?” he asked philosophically. “She had her purse with her, as well as the keys for the school. Apparently she picked up the habit from her father. He’s got a ranch a ways north of here. Not much concern about theft in a place like that. Or here, either.”
So Adam was smitten and the new schoolteacher ignored him. The two of them had become a running joke around town. Jeannie was sweet enough, and a dedicated teacher, determined to make a difference in her students’ lives. And Adam, for all his skills and talents, didn’t know a damn thing about letting a woman know he was interested. Now, after a series of embarrassments, Jeannie refused to respond to Adam’s overtures. Not that Dovie believed the girl should get involved in a relationship if she didn’t want to—but for heaven’s sake, she could give Adam a chance! The pair of them needed some guidance and good advice, but Dovie didn’t know who was going to provide it. At one time that role would have fallen to her, but these days, with her antique shop doing so well, and Frank’s retirement, she already had more than she could handle. Then, there was the situation with her friend Mary Patterson, only she didn’t want to think about Mary just now.
“How’d Jeannie take it?” Dovie asked.
“Not too well. You’d think poor Adam had done it on purpose.”
“He was able to unlock the car, wasn’t he?”
“Oh, eventually, but while he was fiddling with the door, Jeannie was giving him a piece of her mind.”
“Poor Adam,” Dovie said.
“Poor Adam, nothing. That boy got exactly what he deserved. He was showing off his authority, playing big man in town, and it backfired. Sure, his ego got dented, but it was a lesson he won’t soon forget.”
“And you loved it.”
Frank sobered. “I did,” he admitted, “but not for the reasons you think. That boy reminds me of myself thirty-five years ago. Cocky as a rooster and high on self-importance. He’ll learn the same way I did—and probably a whole lot faster.”
Dovie wrapped her arms around her husband. He was right—there were similarities between him and Adam. She just hoped it didn’t take Adam as long as it had Frank to marry and settle down.
“By the way,” he said, “I stopped at the travel agency. Gayla had our tickets.” Frank slid the airline packet out of his hip pocket and set it on the counter. This European vacation had been planned for months. It was going to be a combination of business and pleasure; Dovie and Frank would spend two weeks touring major cities on the continent, purchasing a few antiques, visiting a museum here and there. They considered the trip a honeymoon of sorts—although Frank was quick to insist that their entire marriage had been a honeymoon—plus a celebration of Frank’s retirement.
“Hey,” Frank said, tilting Dovie’s head up so their eyes could meet. “You should be showing more excitement than this!”
“I am excited,” she told him, and she was. They’d talked about this trip for years, dreamed about it, too. Dovie had assumed they’d take budget tours, but Frank had insisted they go first-class all the way. While he was willing to go to a couple of museums, shop for antiques and help her arrange shipping, he wanted to make sure they had ample opportunity to enjoy the sights. And each other.
“Dovie Hennessey, I know you too well to be fooled,” Frank said, holding her gaze. “Something’s troubling you.”
It
