Free Forever and Always by Leigh Greenwood

us knows. If Mr. Holstock can’t help me, I may have to sell the bank.”
    â€œYou can’t do that. You’ll never get a decent price when the other bank has taken so many customers. I can’t smile brightly enough to bring them back.”
    â€œI know. But even if I could get a decent price, I wouldn’t want to sell. I want to prove I can run this bank just as well as Norman did.”
    * * *
    Keeping his eyes closed, Logan leaned against the tree until he felt his strength begin to return. He didn’t care that he’d lost the little breakfast he had been able to eat. He was just thankful he hadn’t been sick in Sibyl Spencer’s office. He was aware of a growing attraction to this woman. It wasn’t just appreciation of her beauty or empathy over the loss of her husband. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something more that seemed to reach out to him, something that compelled him to think of her almost constantly, to compare her to every woman he’d ever known. It mortified him for anyone to see his weakness, especially Sibyl. It was useless vanity, but he’d always been in perfect health, immune to the ailments that plagued other people, and practically tireless. He supposed he’d taken pride in his good health, but mostly, he’d take it for granted. When you’ve always had something, it didn’t seem special. Losing it had shown him how badly mistaken he was.
    He didn’t know where he was. He’d run from the bank and headed for the first group of trees he saw. There wasn’t a lot of privacy—the desert being unlikely to produce a lot of growth even in the rainy season—but everyone was busy with their morning chores while it remained relatively cool. Before it got hot, he’d be back at his camp on the ridge, safely hidden among the trees and about two thousand feet above the town.
    â€œAre you all right, mister?”
    Logan opened his eyes to find a little girl staring up at him with concern in her eyes. She was a beautiful child—blue eyes, corn-silk blond hair, and skin that would shame a peach. Her dress was slightly dirty, but her face and hands were clean. He hadn’t heard her come up. He didn’t want to lie to the child, but he wanted to cause her to lose interest in him and go back to playing. “I’m just a little tired. I’ll be fine in a minute.”
    â€œYou don’t look fine to me. I think you look sick. Want me to take you to the doctor? I know the way.”
    So she wasn’t going to lose interest in him, and she wasn’t going away without a better explanation. “I don’t need a doctor. I just had a weak spell. It won’t last long.”
    â€œWhat is a weak spell?”
    He wasn’t in the mood for explanations. Why couldn’t she have been a grubby little boy he could have run off without a qualm? “It’s when you feel tired all of a sudden and have to sit down.”
    â€œAunt Naomi said she felt like that a lot before Annabelle was born.”
    Logan smothered a smile. “Well, I’m not going to have a baby.”
    â€œMen can’t have babies. Only ladies.”
    A serious girl who didn’t see the humor in Logan’s answer. “And it’s a very good thing. I don’t believe men would make very good mothers.”
    â€œMen can’t be mothers. They have to be fathers.”
    He was clearly out of his depth here. He had no idea what to say to a child this young. It was clear she didn’t like anything he’d said. “You’re a very smart little girl. I’m sure your mother is very proud of you.”
    â€œMama says she gives me all her love because she doesn’t have anybody else now.”
    Now he placed the child. She’d been sitting on the front bench at Norman Spencer’s funeral. He’d been too far back to get a good look at her. “I don’t have a mother. I