Miss Bubbles thanked her again and left. Josie waited until her garish wagon was out of sight before entering the office, where she found her father waiting for her.

  “Papa?”

  His eyes held a suspicious gleam as he looked her up and down. “I had to see for myself that you were all right.”

  “Oh, Papa.” She fell into his arms. “I’m fine.”

  After hugging her close, he held her at arm’s length. “I want you to move back home where I can keep my eye on you.”

  She studied his dear, craggy face. He drove her crazy at times with his old-fashioned ideas, but she loved him without measure. The thought was not without worry. What would he say if he knew she had fallen in love with the editor of the Lone Star Press? Would he be so willing to take her back into the house if he knew?

  “Papa—”

  “I know, I know.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. But can’t you just this once humor me? Hmm?”

  She heaved a sigh. Papa had a way of disarming her, and this was one of those times. “I missed you, Papa.”

  He nodded. “I know. I missed you too. So, what do you say?”

  “I say I’m coming home.”

  ***

  Josie arrived at her office early the following Friday morning and found her two sisters waiting on the doorstep. Surprised, she greeted them with a smile, but neither smiled back. Amanda stood with folded arms, and Meg looked fit to be tied.

  “It’s about time you got here,” Meg snapped.

  Josie studied their serious faces with alarm. “What’s wrong? The children—”

  “They’re fine,” Meg and Amanda answered in tandem.

  Josie’s gaze slid back and forth between them. “Then . . . what?”

  Meg shook a previously unnoticed newspaper in Josie’s face. “I take it you haven’t read your competitor’s newspaper.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sake. Is that all?” She placed a hand on her chest with a sigh of relief. “You two had me worried there for a minute.” Josie unlocked her office door and held it open to allow her sisters to stomp inside. Inside, she tossed her key on the desk. “What’s got you both so riled?”

  For answer Meg stabbed the newspaper with her finger and began reading aloud as if she was auditioning for a part in a Shakespeare play. “‘Could two people unable to see eye to eye on politics, civic matters, and the renaming of this fine town live happily ever after under the same roof?’” She glanced at Josie with a look of horror before reading the rest. “‘Could this poor, love-starved editor find happiness with the stubborn, albeit beautiful, owner of the Gazette?’”

  Josie’s mouth dropped open. “Let me see that!” She reached for the paper, but Meg pulled it away and kept reading.

  “‘Could matrimony squelch the fires of journalism, giving opinion the same bland consistency as overcooked porridge?’” Meg rolled her eyes and kept reading. “‘To keep peace in the family, would this tortured editor find himself agreeing with the Gazette’s laboriously wrong stance on—’”

  Josie laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. Brandon had boldly laid out his intentions to marry her for all the world to see. Apparently, he was counting on readers voting in his favor. The plan could easily backfire, of course. She’d given up trying to guess how readers would react to any given topic or opinion. Editorials she’d thought would earn nodding approval often received stinging criticism. Still, if readers could be convinced that it would be business as usual between the two rivals, the idea of marriage might not be so far-fetched.

  The feather on Amanda’s tall hat swayed like a woman about to faint. “I don’t see what’s so funny,” she said tersely. “The nerve of the man suggesting that you would consider marriage to the likes of him.”

  “Yes,” Meg agreed. “And you being a new widow and all.”

  “I’m not a new widow,” Josie said.

  Aware suddenly that both sisters were staring at her like she’d lost her mind, Josie tried to look contrite. “It’s been nearly two years,” she said.

  “Not quite,” Amanda said, much to Josie’s irritation. Since when did her suffragist sister concern herself with society’s dictates?

  “And what do you think Papa will say when he reads this?” Meg asked.

  Josie winced at the thought. What a pity that their recent truce was already doomed to failure.

  “It’s outrageous,” Meg agreed. “You should ask Grant about the possibility of filing a suit for libel.”

  “Oh, I think I’m quite capable of handling Brandon Wade without legal intervention,” Josie said with a mysterious air. After all the trouble and worry her sisters had caused her through the years, she enjoyed turning the tables on them for a change.

  “What are you going to do?” Meg asked, eyes rounded.

  Josie kept them hanging a moment in suspense before responding. “You’ll have to wait for next Friday’s Gazette to find out.”

  “You better put him in his place,” Meg said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

  Josie managed to hide her smile behind a well-placed hand, but could do nothing about her reddening cheeks. “I fully intend to,” she said. Oh, yes, indeed, she did.

  No sooner had her sisters left than Becky-Sue burst into the office, all smiles and wiggling fingers. It was hard to miss the sparkling diamond flashing from her ring finger.

  “Oh, my,” Josie said, rising to take hold of her friend’s hand. “It’s beautiful.” The solitaire diamond was centered on a gold band and accented with delicate engravings.

  “When’s the big day?”

  “Not until after the first of the year,” Becky-Sue said and giggled.

  Josie released her hand. “Does this mean I lose my star reporter?”

  Becky-Sue blushed. “I was hoping I could still write an occasional article for you even after I’m married. Scooter said he won’t mind if I do.”

  “I’d like that,” Josie said. She opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope. “Here,” she said, handing it over the desk.

  “What is this?” Becky-Sue asked.

  “It’s called pay,” Josie said and laughed at Becky-Sue’s astonished expression.

  Becky-Sue stared at the bills in the envelope. “But you said you couldn’t afford to pay me.”

  “That was before. But things have taken a turn for the better. And now I can.”

  Becky-Sue’s face lit up. “Oh, thank you. I’m now a professional reporter!” She practically danced out of the office.

  Josie was still smiling when she took pen in hand. Surprised to find herself envying Becky-Sue, she thought for a long moment before starting to write.

  The editor of the Lone Star Tribune, a misguided and sorry excuse for a newspaper, posed an interesting question. Could two people with opposite viewpoints find happiness under the same roof? The answer, of course, is no. How could anyone, let alone a wife, ignore Mr. Wade’s woefully outdated views on guns? Or his ridiculous insistence upon renaming the town after its unsavory founder. Then there’s Mr. Wade’s ponderous . . .

  She smiled at the words flowed from her pen. Inspiration had never been so sweet.

  ***

  “‘Ponderous’?” Brandon said aloud as he read Josie’s latest column. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Whenever he’d asked her what she’d thought about his editorial laying out his marriage plans, she’d smiled and said he would just have to wait for Friday’s paper to find out. For seven long days she’d kept him in suspense, and for what? To be rejected in the worse possible way!

  Not only had she turned down his proposal, she’d laid out in excruciating details every opposing viewpoint and conflicting opinion they’d shared.

  Pacing back and forth in his office like a hungry lion, he slapped the rolled newspaper against his hand.

  She was messing with him. No question. She had privately told him in no uncertain terms that she wanted to marry him and then publicly—very publicly—changed her mind. She’d kissed him silly and then turned around and stuck a knife in his back. What kind of woman would do such a thing? Certainly not the woman he’d fallen in love with.

  What was going on here? What was she thinking?

  The door swung open, and in walked his typesetter, Booker, his broad ebony face sporting a silly grin. “Good morning.”

  Brandon flung the newspaper into the wastepaper basket. “Nothing good about it.”

  Booker’s face crinkled into a frown. “Thought you’d be happy.”

  “Happy? Happy! Have you read this morning’s Gazette?”

  “’Course I read it. Everyone in town’s read it.”

  Brandon rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Don’t remind me.”

  “What’s wrong with you, Chief? I thought you’d be hopping with joy about now.”

  Brandon stared at him. “Do you understand what’s going on here? Josie Johnson turned down my proposal of marriage. But she couldn’t do it to my face. Oh, no! She had to do it in the most underhanded way possible. In print. Furthermore—”

  Booker’s laughter stopped him. “You didn’t read what she had to say, did you?”

  “I read it. Well, half of it. I got so disgusted I didn’t even finish.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Brandon frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Booker reached into the wastepaper basket for the newspaper and tossed it to him. “It means you better read to the end. “Cuz if you don’t, you’ll be sorry.”

  Chapter 28

  For sale: A used tombstone. It would be ideal for a man named Jacob Frederick Alderman.

  —Two-Time Gazette

  As predicted, Papa hit the roof and showed every sign of aiming for a celestial body or two. “In my day, a man asked the father’s permission before he blasted a proposal from a newspaper for all the world to see,” he bellowed. “And you, young lady! What could you possibly be thinking to play along with him?”

  Josie sat on the sofa in the parlor, feet together, eyes cast downward. Trying to reason with Papa when he was in this frame of mind was a waste of time. Better to wait till he wound down or the world ended—whichever came first.

  Papa streaked back and forth in front of her, arms beating the air with his every word. “And another thing—” He launched into another tirade.

  Mama sat silently knitting in her chair, her face pinched. It wasn’t until Papa stormed upstairs that she set her yarn aside and laid her hands on her lap.

  “Do you love this man?” she asked quietly.

  Josie lifted her gaze to her mother’s. “You never asked that question of me when I became engaged to Ralph.”

  “That was a different time. You were different.”

  Mama was right. When she’d married Ralph, she had been young and innocent. More than that, she’d believed in fairy-tale endings and love everlasting. Now she knew that the only thing she could count on was the present, and she meant to make the most of it.

  “Why would I marry Brandon if I didn’t love him?”

  Mama pursed her lips before answering. “Perhaps because . . . he can give you the one thing that Ralph never could.”

  Josie’s forehead creased. “What, Mama? What can Brandon give me that Ralph couldn’t?”

  “He can give you a child.”

  Josie stiffened. “You think that’s why I want to marry him?” she asked, her voice incredulous. “Because of Haley?”

  “I know how much you want children. Have always wanted children. I see it in your eyes whenever you look at your niece and nephews. Hear it in your voice each time you mention Haley’s name.”

  Josie couldn’t argue with her mother on that account. “I love Haley. I do.” The thought of being a part of her life and watching her grow into young womanhood would be a dream come true. “But that’s not why I want to marry Brandon. I want to marry him because he’s kind and funny and smart and . . .” She could go on and on. “He makes me feel alive again. Oh, Mama, you have no idea.”

  No one could possibly know how it felt to lose a husband without going through it firsthand. There was no way to describe the pain, the loneliness, the utter desolation she’d felt in those first early weeks and months. To feel this hopeful for the future following such a loss was nothing short of a miracle.

  “After Ralph died, it was all I could do to get through each day. I was just going through the motions. Brandon changed all that. He made life worth living again.”

  “That’s good, Josie,” Mama said. “I just wish . . .”

  “What, Mama? What do you wish?”

  “I just wish the two of you were more alike in your thinking. He’s so different than Ralph.”

  Josie frowned. “Is that such a bad thing, Mama?”

  “Not bad, but marriage is hard under the best of circumstances. When two people have no common ground, it can’t possibly work out well.”

  “Brandon and I are newspaper people. That’s common ground. We’ve also both lost someone we loved.”

  Mama sighed. “That’s what I’m worried about. Loss and loneliness can sometimes make people jump into situations they’re not ready for”

  Josie knew her mother was concerned for her welfare, but why couldn’t she at least pretend to be happy for her? “I know what I’m doing, Mama.”

  Her mother studied her. “In matters of the heart, I don’t know that any of us know what we’re doing.”

  “I’m not some silly schoolgirl infatuated with love,” Josie said. “Both my feet are squarely on the ground.”

  “I read his paper, Josie. I read what he writes. What he’s written about you.”

  Josie drew in her breath. What would Mama say if she knew that she and Brandon had written each other’s editorials? At least most of them. “That’s for public show. Privately, he’s a completely different person.”

  Mama’s hands fluttered to her chest, but the stubborn look remained. “All I ask is that you take your time. Make sure that you’re getting married for the right reasons.”

  When Josie failed to reply, Mama silently gathered up her knitting and left the room, leaving Josie to ponder the depths of her heart.

  What if Mama was right? What if the real reason she wanted to marry Brandon was because of his daughter? Despite six years of marriage, she had never borne a child. She had no way of knowing if she or Ralph had been at fault, but it was entirely possible that Haley might be her very last chance at motherhood.

  Once her thoughts took off in that direction, questions kept popping in her head. Questions for which she had no answers.

  Would she be so eager to marry Brandon had she not felt so lonely? Or didn’t miss the security and companionship of marriage. Or wasn’t so desperate to experience the thrill of motherhood? They were questions for which she had no answers.

  ***

  Josie stared in dismay at the diamond engagement ring Brandon had slipped on her finger and didn’t know what to say. Her conversation with her mother had kept her twisting and turning the night before, leaving her utterly confused and unsure of her own mind. Her own heart.

  Now she stood with Brandon in the middle of the street halfway between their offices at their usual meeting spot. She had expected to receive Friday’s column from him. Instead, he’d surprised her with a ring.

  He studied her face with knitted brow. The flickering gas streetlight cast a yellow pool around them, turning his probing eyes into gold. “I expected a little more in the way of excitement from my future bride.”

  “I . . .” She pulled her hand from his.

  Her gesture confounded him, maybe even hurt him. She could see it in the rigid set of his jaw, hear it in his ragged breath. “If you don’t like the ring, we can change it,”

  “Oh, no. It’s beautiful.”

  It was in fact the most beautiful ring she had ever laid eyes on. Even in the dim light the gold ring looked perfect in every way. A large sparkling diamond stood out like a bold headline, surrounded by two smaller stones that matched the exact color of her eyes. It was just the kind of thing she would expect from him.

  “It’s exquisite. It’s just . . .” Mama was right; Brandon was completely different from Ralph. Ralph would never have done anything so impulsive.

  “I should have waited to give it to you,” he said with an apologetic shrug. “I should have taken you for a ride in the country. Planned something special. But the ring came today, and I couldn’t wait to put it on your finger.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “You can add impatience to my list of flaws.”

  She shook her head. None of this was his fault. “I kind of think of this place as ours,” she said. She loved standing in the deserted street with him beneath the starlit sky, the whole town to themselves. A circle of light marking their spot. “It’s just . . . I didn’t expect things to move so quickly.”

  “If it’s our readers you’re worried about, you needn’t be,” he said. “People seem to like the idea of two battling publishers living under the same roof. I’ve heard no objections.” When she failed to respond, a cloud of uncertainty darkened his face. He cupped her chin and tilted her head up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I thought it was settled, Josie.”

  She blinked back tears. How she hated feeling so utterly confused. It wasn’t like her not to know her own mind. “I’m sorry, Brandon. I really did believe I was ready to move on and start a new life. I now know I need more time.”

  “I’m not rushing you.” He ran a knuckle from her cheek to her earlobe. “We don’t have to set the wedding date right now. The church is probably booked anyway. You can take all the time you need. I just want to give you a proper courting.” He tilted his head to the side. “Tell me what I can do to make this right.”

  She opened her mouth to say something but the voice in her head was not her own. “He can give you the one thing that Ralph never could . . . He can give you a child.”

  She drew in her breath. Dare she tell him about the doubts her mother had instilled in her? The doubts that made her wonder if she could ever truly love him as he should be loved?