Rose Red_an Everland Ever After Tale by Caroline Lee

Author:Caroline Lee [Lee, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Good morning, Miss White!”

Rose waved back to the smiling man who carried an ax down Andersen Avenue, but hurried on, afraid to admit that she didn’t remember—or had never known—his name. She knew that the townspeople were friendly, and she knew that she was known for her and her sister’s beauty…but that didn’t make her feel like she belonged here.

No, she was beginning to think she belonged someplace else altogether. With someone else altogether.

Still, she couldn’t deny that Everland was beautiful today. The town’s Christmas celebrations were always her favorite, and this year’s was no exception. There was colorful red-and-green bunting hanging from many of the railings, and firs woven into garlands and wreaths on every door. Even the Gingerbread House—the den of iniquity Mama was always raving against—was festooned in cheerful red bows and clumps of greenery. And over everything was a nice, fresh sprinkling of fluffy snow. It had been coming down in flurries since the afternoon a few days ago that she’d spent with Bear, and it just seemed to make the whole place that much lovelier.

Or maybe it was that she was feeling a little lovelier than usual.

Being with him, sitting beside him next to the hogs…had changed her, somehow. Had confused her, certainly. She’d taken time away from him, to think about what Snow had said about leaving Everland. And after those days away, she had decided that she couldn’t leave with him, couldn’t spend time with him, because he was a criminal.

If she’d met him under any other circumstances, if she hadn’t known that he was an outlaw on the run from the Law, she would have thought that he was a good man. One of the good guys. But he wasn’t, and she wasn’t sure what to do. Should she continue her original plan, of learning all that she could from him, and then turning him into Sheriff Cutter when he and his posse returned from Granger?

No.

Maybe she could’ve, when they’d first met , but now that she knew him better…? Even if he was a bandit, she couldn’t be responsible for harming him, causing him pain. Because at some point, she’d lost her heart to him, and that made her the biggest fool in the west.

Because, even though he was a bad guy, she’d realized he was a good man. And oh goodness, hadn’t that dichotomy kept her up fretting the last few nights? Even Snow had commented on how tired she’d looked. Of course, Mama hadn’t been so kind, berating Rose for looking “sallow” and “wan” right before the big Christmas celebration. After all, everyone knew that gatherings like these were the best chance to catch the eye of a visiting, worthy man.

Rose’s stomach had roiled at her mother’s words, because she knew that no matter his past escapades, the worthiest man she knew was lying in her barn at that moment.

There were plenty of people bustling around Everland today, and Rose imagined them taking care of their last-minute Christmas errands.

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