Marshaling Her Heart by Mary Connealy

Author:Mary Connealy [Connealy, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance;Christian fiction;Romance fiction;Western fiction;Novels;FIC042110;FIC042030;FIC027100
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2023-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

17

Mariah met Nell at high noon for a conference.

They had a plan, but it needed polishing.

The town courthouse was closed over the noon hour. Town courthouse was a highfalutin name for the abandoned building next to Nell’s dress shop. An abandoned building she’d bought, cleaned out, and now used for her justice-of-the-peace work. Nell had locked up, and they’d met at Clint’s Diner. It was a little crowded, but they could speak quietly under the usual steady chatter of the men who frequented the place.

“Did you see any spark between them?” Nell asked.

“No.” Mariah took a bite of Clint’s delicious beef stew. He insisted on calling it blanquette de veau. He’d even told Mariah in confidence that he wasn’t using veal. Since Mariah didn’t know what veal was, and he was clearly using beef, she decided to humor him. It was a delicious beef stew, different from the one he called beef bourguignon, and he’d confessed that he changed his beef bourguignon recipe, too. It called for wine, only he didn’t have any. Instead, he’d seasoned up beef broth. Mariah had told him to start calling both Clint’s beef stew.

She thought he might just do it. Both recipes were Clint’s own, so he should just call them beef stew. That way folks had some idea as to what they were being served. It was only fair to be informed.

But since Clint made one thing and one thing only for each meal, it didn’t really matter what he called it. People ate whatever they were served. And they were grateful because Clint was indeed a brilliant cook.

“What do we do now?” Nell ate her beef stew with gusto, as did everyone else in the place, while she waited for Mariah to come up with something.

The visit, inviting Nate to join them, was Nell’s idea to get Becky and Nate to spend time together but not while working. It’d been a nice visit, though it didn’t seem to change much.

Now it was Mariah’s turn to think of something.

“We can invite them over for dinner after church on Sunday.”

Parson Blodgett had moved back to Nebraska, so the Sunday service was simply prayer, hymn singing, Bible reading, and occasionally some talk of how God had made life better the previous week.

Still, even without a parson, they gathered for church. And yes, there was usually a meal afterward for their small group of friends, cooked by Clint, who seemed to enjoy preparing it. Mariah sometimes wondered if they shouldn’t take turns.

“Come out to my place this Sunday,” Nell said between bites. “I’ll put a roast on before we leave for church. Then I’ll make potatoes when we get home. Our corn is ripe now, so we can eat that. I’ll check in the general store. If I can find fruit, I’ll bake a pie.”

Clint chose that moment to bring out a custard he often made as a dessert. It was so delicious that Mariah liked to eat it in tiny bites just to make it last.

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