Kissing in the Dark by Wendy Lindstrom

Faith hesitated to accept their gifts not knowing the ladies’ motives.
    “Of course you can eat a cookie.”
    Iris pulled the heavy pot from Faith’s hands and lifted it to her nose. “Smells divine,” she said, then winked at Faith. “Let’s not wait for supper. Let’s eat it right now.”
    Her teasing made the three women laugh. “Thank you, ladies,” Faith said, striving to appear as relaxed as the Grayson women even as worry flooded her mind. “This is my aunt, Iris . . . Wilde,” she said, silently cursing Iris for blabbing the name in front of the sheriff and locking them into using it.
    “There are four of us here with that last name, so call me Iris.”
    The younger ladies nodded politely, but Nancy took a bold, sweeping look around the greenhouse. “What is all this?”
    “Let me put this on the counter,” Iris said, “then Faith and I will show you what we’re growing here.”
    “I’ll show ‘em!” Cora declared, rushing up with a half-eaten cookie in her hand. She looked up at Evelyn Grayson. “You make good cookies.”
    The simple, sincere statement filled the brunette’s eyes with tenderness. She opened her hand to Cora. “What should we see first?” she asked.
    Cora led Evelyn to a flat of chives that were poking through the soil. “We’re gonna eat those when they get bigger,” she said.
    Faith followed, feeling proud of Cora’s knowledge, but she gently took over, wanting the Grayson ladies to see how much her greenhouse had to offer. While Cora charmed them, Faith and Iris answered Nancy’s questions about their business. Iris’s good behavior relieved Faith, but Nancy’s avid curiosity made her stomach queasy.
    “Quite impressive,” the woman said, touching and sniffing everything until Cora scolded her and warned her she could go blind. Nancy chuckled, but she continued asking questions in a forthright manner that convinced Faith the sheriff had sent his mother to snoop.
    Faith showed them the herbs, vegetables, and flowers, then guided the ladies to the front counter where she kept her jars, bags, and tins of herbs and balms.
    Aster and Tansy were working near the counter, preparing a flat of baby tomato plants for transplanting to their garden. Faith wasn’t sure she could trust her aunts to behave, but they had to begin settling into their new town. “Come meet these lovely ladies,” she suggested.
    The pair washed their hands in a bucket of water, then dried them on their aprons as they walked to the counter.
    “This is Evelyn and Claire Grayson, the sheriff’s sisters-in-law,” Faith introduced. “And his mother, Nancy.”
    Cora puffed up with importance. “Aunt Iris says Mama’s going to marry the sheriff.”
    Faith nearly choked, but Nancy Grayson laughed.
    “Who brought those delicious cookies?” Aster asked.
    It allowed Faith a moment to recover. Living her life behind a brothel and learning everything from books had filled her head with knowledge of trees and herbs and flowers. She could name every muscle in the body, but she didn’t know how to navigate through an ordinary conversation.
    “Evelyn baked them,” Nancy said. “Claire made the stew. You’ll soon see why I’m glad my sons married these gals.”
    Aster nudged Faith’s arm. “Marry the sheriff so we can claim our place at this woman’s supper table.”
    Faith wanted to clap her hand over her aunt’s mouth, but the Grayson women laughed. Nancy and Aster exchanged a look of frank appreciation. Aster had a harder, grittier edge than Nancy, but they were two of a kind with their plainspoken manner.
    Iris handed Nancy a small jar of lavender oil. “Let us return your gifts by giving you a peek at the other side of our business.”
    Faith shook her head, but Iris ignored her and upended an empty metal pail. “Tansy, round up a couple more buckets for the ladies.”
    Tansy hurried off in a swish of skirts.
    “Iris, we’ve kept the ladies too long already,” Faith said, warning Iris