Mistletoe Courtship by Janet Tronstad Page A

said. He looked a little awkward and that melted Virginia’s heart. “But I’d be honored to call you my son.”
    Virginia blinked back a tear.
    Danny lifted his head and nodded shyly. “I’ll work hard.”
    â€œIt’s not about the working,” Colter said firmly. “You’re my son, no matter what.”
    Patricia furrowed up her face where she stood. “He doesn’t have to be my brother, does he?”
    â€œWell, now,” Colter said, his voice low and easy, “I’d say that’s up to the two of you. I figure you might like to be kin though. I never had a brother or a sister and there were many times I wished I had someone on my side who claimed me as family.”
    Neither Patricia or Danny said anything, but at least they weren’t scowling at each other.
    â€œI had a brother,” Virginia offered as she slid the bacon slices into a cast-iron skillet. “And I’d be happy if I could sit down and talk with him today. I never appreciated him as much as I should have when he was alive.”
    Virginia took the skillet over to the hot cookstove and set it down. “Now for some eggs.”
    Colter went out to the other room to put the plates on one of the tables for breakfast. Virginia had told him where to find the cloth she used to cover the table and he brought that out from behind the bar. He got it a little crooked because he just had the use of the one hand, but he knew it didn’t matter. She’d also suggested napkins and he pulled four of those out as well. If it had been growing season outside, he’d be half a mind to go pick a rose or two from the bushes that the last owner had planted behind the saloon.
    Colter liked setting the places for four people. His family.
    Before he knew it, Virginia was bringing a platter of fried eggs and bacon through the door. The two children followed her, one carrying a plate of biscuits and the other a crock of butter.
    â€œElizabeth Hargrove made the biscuits,” Virginia said as she set the eggs and bacon on the table. “And the butter, too.”
    â€œEverything smells good,” Colter said.
    They were all seated, faces scrubbed and hands clean, when Colter asked if everyone would bow their head so he could pray. “Our Father, thank You for these provisions and the hands who have prepared them. Protect us today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
    Colter didn’t think he could grow more contented. He felt like a true father when he could put food on the table and lead his children in a prayer of thanks for it.
    Â 
    Virginia dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. Her words had been going around in her mind since she’d spoken them earlier this morning. If one of the men next door did know something about the kerosene can, she needed to find out what it was. After all, she had been responsible for Colter’s building when the fire was set.
    â€œI can go get Petey when we’re finished,” Virginia said as she picked up her last piece of biscuit. “He said he’d help with the floor.”
    Colter nodded. “I’m happy to pay any of the men next door to come over and work—as long as they’re sober anyways.”
    â€œOf course, they’re sober,” Virginia rebuked him. “It’s not even nine o’clock.”
    Colter raised an eyebrow at her statement, but he didn’t contradict her. It reminded her that she knew better though. She hadn’t even considered that the man who had dragged the kerosene can out in back of Lester’s saloon might not have been sober when he did it. She knew she wouldn’t rest easy until she solved the mystery of the fire. She had told Colter that she was sure Lester would never do anything like that, but little things were coming to mind. Times when he wasn’t the man she thought he was. She knew he was worried about his sister so she didn’t want to judge his recent behavior