"So Ms. Molly O'Rouke. Are you at Four Corners by way of Ireland?" Mr. Kay asked from the other side of the room. He'd made himself comfortable against the wall by the stove. His legs were crossed and Molly was only slightly surprised to note he still had his shoes on.
"No. Baltimore," she answered.
"It's warmer over on this side of the room," he said. Molly stood from where she'd been sitting at her desk for the past quarter hour and paced to the window. The view hadn't changed and hopefully it was just in her imagination that the show was coming down even heavier.
"And did you teach in Baltimore?" Mr. Kay asked. "Perhaps on the art of conversation?"
"You're mocking me," Molly said from her spot at the window.
"I'm trying to distract you from our current situation. Though there are are much more interesting ways we could be distracting to each other."
"I am not interested in revisiting that subject with you, Mr. Kay," Molly said.
"So who is he?" Mr. Kay asked.
"He?" Molly repeated.
"The man that is lucky enough to have claimed you?" Molly wanted to scold that she'd not be 'claimed' by anyone as so much a piece of property but had not the energy to engage Mr. Kay.
"His name is Buck Wilmington. He is employed on behalf of His Honor, Judge Orin Travis as one of seven to protect Four Corners."
"So noted," Mr. Kay responded.
"One can only hope," Molly muttered, pacing back to her desk.
"So, Baltimore. Not many Irish there. Most go to New York or Chicago."
"I was a governess," Molly replied.
"Why not stay?" he asked. "You can't tell me being a teacher in the middle of nowhere had appeal?"
"What about you, Mr. Kay? What brings you to Four Corners?" Molly asked.
"I had a business proposition for Lily," he responded. "And you're dodging my question."
Molly paced back to the desk, pulling her coat tight around her. The temperature in the school was dropping. She glanced over to the basket by the stove to see there were only a few pieces of wood left in it.
Mr. Kay glanced over at the basket. Shifting his weight he stood, rolling down his sleeves and walked over to the basket, picking up a piece of the wood and putting it in the stove, stoking the fire a bit higher. Molly walked into the library and retrieved his jacket and overcoat and firmly closed the door behind her hoping to keep as much of the warmth in the school as possible.
The rest of the night passed restlessly for Molly. Mr. Kay had convinced her to sit next to him nearest the stove. She'd dozed, waking up to see that his overcoat was covering her legs. A faint light was coming in through the windows. But it wasn't the light that had woken her, it was something else. A noise, a sound. Molly sat up and brushed the overcoat off her legs. There it was again.
'Oh please, please don't let that be my imagination,' Molly thought, gathering her skirts up enough so she could kneel and then stand.
"Is it too much to hope that you've now changed your mind?" Mr. Kay's voice thick with sleep came next to her. Forget her ankles, he'd seen the better part of her legs as she'd scrambled to stand.
"Oh do hush, Mr. Kay," Molly said. "Listen." There it was again. Her name being shouted by Buck. Molly opened the door letting in snow that had drifted against it and Buck. Without a word he pulled her into his arms and Molly took in a breath. Even in winter he smelled like sweet grass. Lifting her head up she met his lips with her own. The clearing of a throat broke them apart.
"Later," Buck murmured to her. For the first time in hours, warmth filled Molly's body.
