“Not if you allow me—rather the town—to put you up in the hotel for a couple of days until you decide what you want to do.”
“Do you do that for all the people who come to Wickerton and get stranded?”
“No. But we haven’t had a whole lot of women coming as mail order brides, being left at the station.”
She reared back. “Oh!”
“I’m sorry.” He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I shouldn’t have said that. But I will tell you the town does allow money for a person in need to provide a place to stay and money for meals.”
A heated flush rose to her face. “I am not in ne
ed, and I don’t take charity.”
“All right. You can earn it.”
“How?”
“You can work at the jail.”
“Oh, so now instead of being arrested and tossed into a jail cell, I get to clean the place?”
“Yes. You can also organize my desk. I’m not too orderly.”
“I accept.” She wasn’t so stupid as to pass up the sheriff’s offer. She could work for him for a short time while she decided what she was going to do next. At least she wouldn’t be taking a handout.
He grinned, making her heart do funny little jumps in her chest. “Fine. I’ll walk you over to the hotel and get you settled. You can report to work first thing tomorrow morning.”
The walk to the hotel was only a couple of blocks, but they spent the time in silence. She studied the sheriff under lowered eyelashes. He was just as she imagined a small town sheriff would look. Deep blond hair, tall, broad shouldered, slim waist, and with a gun belt low on his hips. His strong features taken separately wouldn’t be considered handsome, but the overall combination put him into that category.
He tugged on the brim of his hat as they passed shoppers and business people. Wickerton was a nice place from what she could see. The stores were doing a fine business, and the sheriff kept a peaceful town.
Once they reached the front of the hotel, he stopped her by touching her arm. “Before we go in, I thought I would mention there is one solution to your problem that we hadn’t considered.”
She looked into two mesmerizing hazel eyes and tilted her head in question.
“Why don’t you marry me?”