"Will he let you come see us?" Molly asked. "After you're married?"

"Well, of course he will, silly. Mitch thinks all of you are like family. Just like I do."

Mollie glanced at Helena and then at Lily. They were all probably thinking that once Celeste moved out and became a part of the community, it would be better for her if she didn't look back here. She would be more accepted if she cut her ties.

"Ten minutes and we'll meet for base ball practice!" Lily called.

"I'm real pleased for you," Lily told Celeste when they had a few minutes alone on their way to the section of land Saul had mown for their practice field. "You deserve this, remember that. Any man who is smart enough to love and appreciate you is one hell of a man in my book."

Celeste hugged her, and Lily closed her eyes and held back tears. "I told him, of course. That I'm not a virgin." Celeste moved back and Lily noted the young woman had tears of her own in her eyes when she met Lily's gaze. "He said it didn't matter. That we're starting our lives together and the past doesn't count."

Lily nodded. "I always did like Mitch."

"I didn't think I'd ever be able to trust again," Celeste told her. "But I feel safe with him. Loved."

Lily's throat was too tight to speak, so she just squeezed her friend's hands and gave her a watery smile. Few women had come and gone in the years Lily had operated the Shady Lady, and none of them had been with her as long, nor been as dear to her, as Celeste.

This was what it was all about, she realized: seeing the girls gain confidence, helping them develop into women who could make good decisions and be in charge of their own lives.

"No more tears." Lily took a deep breath and exhaled. "We have a game to learn."

George joined them later that morning to go over the rules for the game and to help them measure their diamond-shaped field.

"This is like town ball," George explained, "but some of the rules are different. We use bats instead of paddles-Lily already bought those-and there are four flat bases instead of posts." He held up a book for them to read: Beadles Dime Base Ball Player. "Every team gets a copy of this."

"I've played this," Thomas called. The man had stayed with them all summer and never mentioned moving on. "There are base ball clubs in all the big cities back east."

"What's the first thing we have to learn to do?" Mollie asked.

"To hit the ball with the bat when it's pitched. That's the whole point."

"Okay, let's practice that. We can read the book at home."

"I'll explain as we go," George said. "Let's see who can pitch the ball."

Turned out Old Jess was the best pitcher. His wiry upper-body strength lent what he needed, and his aim was right on.

Lily laughed time after time as she watched the women swing the bat, miss the ball and spin in a corkscrew. But when it was her turn, she discovered it wasn't so easy. Big Saul took right to it, though, hitting that ball and sending it flying.

George whooped and waved his hat when the ball sailed across the field into tall grass. "That's what you're supposed to do!"

"He's our secret weapon!" Thomas shouted.

Determined now, the women lined up for their turns. Mollie hit the ball twice and Celeste managed to strike it once, too. Lily made up her mind that she wasn't going to let them show her up. When her turn came, she hammered the ball on the third try. The impact jolted her arm and shoulder and the ball flew into the sky.

Everyone cheered for her.

By then it was midmorning, and their arms were tired and sore. "Let's call it a day and practice again tomorrow," she suggested.

"None of the other teams have started practicing yet," George said with a grin.

"Who's our competition?" Lily asked.

"Bernie and Zeke formed a team of men from their places with a couple of miners. Howard got together a bunch with Wade and some ranchers. Peyton Gibbs asked the sheriff to be on his team, and they've recruited Amos's son, John, plus Spooner and Clive. I think there's a team entirely made up of miners, too."

Of course, the sheriff was playing on the mayor's team. He was courting the man's daughter.

Lily followed the others back to the Shady Lady, where they washed up and changed clothing and resumed their daily tasks.

Lily took paper and pencil to the bar and worked on a list to plan Celeste's wedding. There was a quiet card game underway in the far corner, and Old Jess was napping on a chair near the stove.

It was difficult to imagine Celeste leaving. Lily's was a home where the members were free to come and go as they pleased, but rarely did anyone leave. Lily was glad to offer refuge and work and support. It was only natural that some would grow and leave the nest. Celeste was making a good choice for herself. She deserved to be a wife. Maybe someday a mother.

Lily only hoped that if she and Mitch chose to stay in Thunder Canyon, the town would be accepting.

"Penny for your thoughts."

The familiar voice caught her unaware. She turned to find the sheriff moving to sit beside her.

She'd been able to avoid him most of the week. He never came by the Shady Lady in the afternoon.

"I was just thinking about Celeste and Mitch."

"Something's going on there, isn't it?"

"They're getting married."

"Well. Something's really going on there." He eyed her. "Are you unhappy about it?"

"Not at all. I'm very happy for them."

He stood up. "Mind if I help myself to a draw?"

"Go ahead."

He flipped over a mug and tipped it under the tap on the barrel. He flicked foam off into a pail by the keg and came back to sit. "You've been keepin' yourself scarce lately."

"I've been busy."

"Too busy for a swim?"

Had he looked for her? Waited for her? "Yes."

"Shame. Let me know if you want to borrow a horse."

"Wade told me he'd give me a horse anytime I wanted. No charge."

"You taking him up on it?"

"If I need one."

He studied the wall behind the bar where the portrait hung beside a huge bare expanse. "Looks mighty strange not to see that mirror up there, doesn't it?"

She agreed. She tried not to think about it.

"Did you make some kind of deal to get the damages paid for?"

"We did. He was able to pay half. The rest comes in installments over the next year. Meriel is earning part of it."

His eyebrows shot up. "How?"

"Turns out she was a seamstress before she came here and married Wade. She's taking in sewing."

"I'll be hanged." He sipped his beer. "I still don't have a good idea who started the fire. One of the women would seem most logical-Meriel especially, since the livery will cut into their business-but Wade swears she was home with him from the time they left the jail until he heard the shouts about the fire."

"You don't think he'd lie to protect her?"

"I don't know. He's sympathetic to her feelings and the fact that she feels like a fish out of water here, but I can't see him lying."

"Me, neither. And I've known him a long time."

"He has a lot of respect for you, Lily."

She didn't even understand words like respect or honor anymore.

"How much did the fire set you back?"

"Lumber, nails and shingles. Hiring the men. The supplies and stock hadn't arrived yet, so we got off easy there."

"Are Zeke and Bernie sharing the loss?"

"I'm paying for it. I think they'd have backed out if I'd let them, so this way everybody's happy."

"You ever read sonnets, Lily?"

She gave him a curious look. "You mean like poems?"

"Uh-huh."

"I read the catalogs at Howard's, the ledgers on my desk and the labels on the cans of coffee. Oh, and the stock invoices. Poems don't have much to do with my life, Sheriff."

He looked to be thinking.

"What made you ask that?"

"Just wonderin'."

Wondering how she compared to Evangeline, she'd bet. She gathered her papers in a stack and glanced to make sure nobody was within earshot. She met his eyes and took a breath.

"We're not going to be meeting for midnight swims anymore."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

"WEATHER'LL BE TURNING cooler," he agreed.

"The weather has nothing to do with it. We're not going to-to see each other anymore. Not in private."

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "If you say what happened was a mistake, I'm going to hit somethin'."

"I'm not saying that."

His quiet voice was angry when he said, "You told me you wouldn't be sorry. I asked ahead to make sure. I didn't want you to be sorry."

Lily could hardly speak around the lump that had formed in her throat. She lay awake every night thinking of the way he'd made her feel. She wasn't sorry that she'd experienced something beautiful with a man so considerate and unselfish.

What she regretted was being the means to satisfy his sexual appetites while sparing the lady he wanted to marry. What she hated was not being that woman.

She set down the papers. "Come with me, please."

He got up and followed her along the back hall into the house. Violet was seated at the kitchen table with a slate and a book. She glanced up, saw who'd entered and looked right back down at her studies.

Lily led him into the bathing chamber behind the kitchen where she closed the door, cocooning them in privacy. Violet would no doubt wonder what she was up to, but she wouldn't say anything.

Nate glanced around the room, his gaze taking in the tub, the stacks of white towels, the shelf of bath salts and various boxes and bottles.

"We've been honest with each other," Lily said straight-out.

"I've told you things I never told anyone," he said.

"I don't want to damage that. I don't want to take away from what we had together."

"What're you gettin' to?"

"I know about Evangeline," she said.

He blinked once, but he held her gaze. "What about her?"

"You've thought about marrying her, haven't you?"

"I thought about it. Yes."

"I won't take anything more away from her," Lily said. "You and I are not going to do again what we did. Ever. She is the marrying kind of lady, I'm not. She deserves your loyalty and devotion. You felt you were sparing her, but you weren't." Lily wanted to reach across the space between them and touch his face. Her palm burned with the desire, but she kept her hand clenched at her side. "Trust me, I know she'll appreciate you. And if she doesn't, she's crazy."