by C. J. Petit
“I’d be honored, Sara,” he said as he offered her his arm.
She took his arm, and they walked together to the mercantile. When they entered, there were two women finishing their shopping and walking out the door. They spied Sara and turned and walked back to the counter like they had forgotten something.
Gus glared at the two women who saw him looking at them. They weren’t happy.
Gus stayed glued to Sara as she went to the clothing area and chose two riding skirts and two blouses. Gus looked at her feet and walked over and bought a pair of riding boots and then a Stetson.
“That should do it, Gus.”
They walked up to the counter. Sara put the items on the counter. Gus waited a few seconds for the proprietor to give her a total.
Gus finally pulled out some cash and asked, “How much is the bill?”
He looked at Gus. “And who are you?”
“The man who is going to hit you so hard that you’ll be able to look out of your ass if you don’t start acting like a decent human being.”
“There is no reason to become violent.”
“And there is no reason for you to be rude. You have a customer. You can make your moral judgments in church or when you and your fellow gossips all get together when you have your crocheting circle. But if you want to stay in business, you’ll just tell Sara what her bill is.”
“Twenty-four dollars and forty-five cents.”
“Now, was that so difficult? Lord save us from those who insist on throwing the first stone.”
Gus counted out twenty-five dollars and handed it to the man.
He handed Gus his change and stood there.
Gus raised his eyebrows, and the man finally began packing her order into a large sack.
He handed it to Gus, and Gus waited again.
“Thank you for your business.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned to Sara. “Sara, if he ever treats you like this again, you remind him how I put that forty-four-caliber slug right between old Lou Feldman’s eyes. Let’s head back.”
Gus made a show of offering his arm to Sara, which she took while suppressing a grin.
They got outside, and Sara still held on. They made it as far as the midpoint between the saloon and the dry goods store when Sara started laughing. Gus joined her as they reached the saloon and went inside.
Gus was going to sit at a table, but Sara kept going, and they returned to her room. Sara closed the door behind them. She lay back on the bed, still laughing.
“Gus, that was the most fun I’ve had in years. I think he was ready to pee in his pants.”
“I’ve been known to cause that to happen.”
She sat up. “You’re a joy to have around, Gus. You really should stop by more often.”
“I’m still busy, Sara. Going up to Hendrick to register my new brand for the combined ranches. Then I’ll stop in the land office and get them combined into one ranch.”
“What did you decide on for a name?”
“The Double A. I named it for the two wonderful Aronsons that made it possible.”
“You really are a very special man, Gus.”
“Not really. I’ve just been lucky.”
“I don’t think so. Did you write my parents?”
“Several times already, including yesterday. I haven’t gotten a reply yet, but it takes a while sometimes.”
“You know, you’re hard on business, Gus.”
“Are you referring to the first time we met, Sara?”
“No, the other time. I’ve turned down customers thinking you might show up.”
“I’m sorry, Sara. You know the last thing I want to do is cause you a problem.”
“It’s not a problem, Gus.”
“Did you want me to put your gelding in the livery?”
“That would be good.”
“What are you going to name him?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to give him a good one.”
“You will. I’ve got to get to Hendrick before everybody closes down.”
“All right. Gus, can you stop by on the way back?”
“Absolutely. I should be here around six or so.”
“Wonderful.”
Gus stood up to leave, and Sara stepped up to him and gave him a gentle kiss.
“Thank you, Gus.”
“No, Sara, thank you for listening. You’re the only one.”
He opened the door and went down the stairs.
Sara sat and sighed, saying quietly, “Different circumstances.”
Gus led the gelding to the livery. He stepped down from Belle and walked inside. The liveryman was shoveling hay into a stall.
“Afternoon.”
“Howdy. What can I do for you?”
“I’ve got a long-term stabling job. He’s outside. I’ll go get him. Gus walked out front and untied the trail rope and led the gelding inside.
“He’s a beauty.”
“He is.”
“What I need you to do is keep him inside if you can, but still exercise him if he hasn’t been ridden every few days. Give him oats every day. I’ll also need you to saddle him and unsaddle him and brush him down when the owner shows up to take him for a ride. How much will that cost me a month?”
“How does fifteen dollars a month sound?”
“Sounds fair. Now, his owner is Sara Aronson. She should be able to just come in and ask to take him for a ride and bring him back. Sara is the daughter of two very dear friends.”
“I don’t know her.”
“You might know here as Susie.”
“You mean Susie at the OK?”
“Yes, Susie at the OK Saloon.”
“That might cost me some business.”
“How much business?”
“Maybe five dollars a month’s worth.”
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood. Last time someone tried to pull one on me, he wound up with a bullet hole between his eyes. And that’s not a story. I’ll give you twenty dollars, but if Sara says that you are anything but courteous to her, I’ll be back, and I won’t be happy.”
“Yes, sir. No, it’ll be fine.”
Gus handed him twenty dollars.
“Treat her and that horse well.”
He nodded as Gus turned and climbed on Belle and headed for Hendrick. He registered the brand and then combined the two holdings into one ranch with the sole owner being Gus Matthews. He also had ownership of the two saloons changed to his name. He was given a copy of the new deeds. He was amazed at what one piece of paper from a lawyer could do. He’d need to see the lawyer tomorrow.
Gus walked over to the sheriff’s office to see Rich Gannon. He wasn’t in, so Gus went to the café and had a quick dinner. He left Hendrick at 4:25.
An hour later he rode Belle up to the saloon and let her stand. He was early. He hoped Sara wasn’t with a customer. Suddenly the thought bothered him. He chastised himself for feeling that way. It was her job.
He pushed through the batwing doors and saw Sara sitting at a table with a well-dressed man standing over her, talking as he pulled on her arm. Sara was shaking her head. Gus felt the anger rise. He walked quickly across the floor. There were four other customers in the bar. None seemed to pay much attention.
Gus grabbed the man by the arm, and he didn’t do it gently.
“What the . . . ?” was the man’s shortened response.
“Now, mister, I’m just a plain old ornery saddle tramp, but I sure ain’t gonna watch the likes of you treatin’ a lady like that. So why don’t you just sit your pansy ass down and have a beer and leave the lady alone.”
“She’s not a lady, she’s a—”
Gus tossed him out of the bar and sent him staggering into the street.
He sat down.
“Are you all right, Sara?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine. I told him I wasn’t working, and he insisted.”
“Well, he can insist on a lot of things, but that isn’t on
e of them.”
“You slipped into your cowboy talk again.”
“That was intentional. Men like him think all cowboys are crazy. Who was he, anyway?”
“A whiskey drummer. He had been talking to Sam, the bartender, about buying his stuff.”
“Are you sure you’re okay, Sara? You’ve still got marks on your arm.”
“They’ll fade. I’m happy you made it back, Gus.”
“Me, too. Sara, I put the gelding up in the livery. He’s all set for a month. I also had a little chat with the liveryman. He’ll be very polite when you want to ride. You just show up, go for a ride, and bring him back. You won’t have to saddle him or anything else. If he doesn’t do it, tell me the next time I stop by.”
“Thank you again, Gus. Do you want to go upstairs?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
She hooked his arm, and they climbed the stairs to her room. Sara closed the door and sat on her bed.
“Did you take care of the brand and everything?”
“All done. Changed over the deeds to the two saloons, too.”
“Can I see them? Just for fun?”
“Sure.”
He handed the three deeds to Sara. She read them and handed them back.
“Surprised you, didn’t I? You thought I’d put your name on the saloons’ deeds.”
She smiled. “You read me correctly, Mr. Matthews.”
Gus looked down. “Sara. Tomorrow I’m going to see the lawyer. I want to tell you this, and don’t take it the wrong way, but I’m going to have him draw up my will. I’m going to leave everything to you.”
That dumbfounded Sara. She couldn’t say a word.
“Sara, I have no one. I have a horse, and I’ll have a hound. But I’ll be forty in a couple of years. I know it’s a burden to put on you. You can sell it all and be a very wealthy woman. You’re the only one I can talk to and trust, Sara.”
“Gus, you could meet someone tomorrow. You never know. You keep going on about how old you are, but you don’t look it. If you were to ask people just walking by how old you were, they’d be guessing thirty-two or thirty-three. Gus, I’m touched that you’d think of me, but it won’t work. I have some money saved. I’ll be fine.”
“All right. I understand, Sara. I’m really sorry. I’d better head back.”
“You don’t have to leave, Gus. It’s not about you. It’s about me. Don’t you see that? I can’t move about in normal society. You saw what it was like at the store, and then you had to threaten someone to be nice to me. I don’t care how much money I have, I’d still be what I am.”
Gus looked up, “You can call yourself anything you want, Sara. But you’re the warmest, kindest person I know. You said once that you weren’t Rachel, but you are. You both have such big hearts. You can’t control what narrow-minded people think of you any more than I can. I can’t tell you how important you’ve become to me. You’re the only one I can trust. You’ve never lied to me, Sara.”
“No, I haven’t, Gus. Did you want to talk about something else?”
Gus nodded. “I’m going to head down to Texas tomorrow to see if I can get those Herefords you were talking about. My old outfit, the Rocking C, had almost three thousand head of them and I’ll see if I can buy some. We’ve already started moving the old cattle out and will have the ranch totally cleaned out in a few weeks. If I can get the Herefords, we’ll build up an entirely new herd with better animals. That was your idea, Sara.”
Sara brightened. “That sounds great, Gus. How long will you be down in Texas?”
“Three or four days, I would think. It’s a one-day ride, and it’ll take me one or two days to get a contract done.”
“When can you come back and see me?”
“How about a week from today?”
“I’ll be waiting, Gus.”
Gus told her of the two puppies, Ralph and Marge, and how he felt that the name Gus would have been a better fit, but it would have caused confusion to him and the dog both. He described the basset puppies, with their giant ears, and how they’d step on their own ears and fall on their big noses. He had Sara laughing so hard she was crying.
“I should ride down and see them sometime.”
“You’re always welcome, Sara. But they’re growing fast. When I went to the barn to pick them out, there were eleven of them, all squirming in big piles as they grabbed each other’s ears and rolled around on each other. Sara, they were the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I should take you out there and show you. Looking at them makes you smile from the inside out.”
“I may take you up on that, Gus.”
He launched into a discussion of chickens and the annoying wake-up crowing of the roosters. Of the constant need to eat eggs, which was offset by the whittling down of the flock with chicken dinners.
Sara just smiled at the stories, knowing that her stories would have nothing happy or humorous in them at all.
“Sara, I honestly wish I could stay with you and talk to you all night, but I need to get back and prepare for my trip to Texas tomorrow.”
“I wish you could stay, too, Gus.”
Gus stood up and again, Sara stepped forward and kissed him gently. This time, Gus just hugged her before kissing her on the forehead.
“Thank you, Sara.”
She smiled and nodded as he left.
Sara lay back and tried to fight back tears.
Gus stopped at the bar and called over Sam.
He pulled out the deed and showed him.
“Yes, sir.”
“Sam, tell that whiskey drummer to leave if he returns. And Sam, if anyone ever gives Sara a hard time, you show them that persuader you have under the bar. All right?”
“Yes, sir. I can do that.”
“You’re a good man, Sam.”
He waved and went out to Belle in the dark. He put his deeds in his hidden saddle pocket. It was more like a saddle bank now.
He headed back to the newly named Double A ranch. It was seven o’clock, and a light rain had started. Gus pulled out his slick and put it on, wishing he had a heavier jacket. He had Belle up to a fast trot and arrived at the house by seven forty. He rode to the barn and put up Belle.
He was hungry when he went into the house. He had moved into Joe’s old room and had given all the clothes he couldn’t use to the secondhand store. He found that he and Joe also wore the same size shoes. This was good, because Joe had six pair of very nice and almost-new boots. He also had a drawer full of socks. Another drawer had a large number of underpants that were much better than the union suits Gus had used before.
He went out to the kitchen to fix himself something and found a lidded pot that was still warm. It had boned chicken and boiled potatoes inside. It smelled great. He spooned out a hefty batch and put it on a plate. He got some butter from the cold room and got a glass of water. He sprinkled some salt and pepper on the chicken and dug in. He finished his dinner and put his plate in the sink. He was glad for the thoughtfulness of the cook. Then he saw a note off to the side of the table. He looked at it and smiled. It hadn’t been the cook at all; dinner was from Emma Powers. She added that an apple pie was in the cold room as well. He decided to put on some coffee. While it was heating up, he went into the library and looked for a book to read. Nothing serious tonight. He chose Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. He took it with him and went out to the kitchen. He made his coffee and went into the cold room and found the apple pie. He brought it out and cut a piece. It was a perfect ending for a good day. It was a great pie. He put it back in the cold room and finished his coffee. He turned down the lamp, went back to the front rooms and turned the lamps down. He guessed that Emma had turned them on.
He went up the dark stairs and went to his room. He lit a lamp and undressed to his new underpants. He lay on the bed. It was chilly, but he didn’t want to get a fire started. He started to read and noticed that there were scrawls along the margins and on the blank pages of the front and the back.
He wondered who had written the notes. It didn’t take long to figure out it was Mary. Why had she used this book? Maybe because it was one of only a few light-reading choices. He began to read her writing. It seemed to be a list of her conquests. The first thing that struck him was how she could have been as active as she was without getting pregnant. Some extra little notes were about quirks or performance. Others described the tricks she used to hide from her father. He decided he’d have to go through the library and check each book and burn those with notes like this. He’d order a bunch of better books. He rolled over and turned down the lamp.