Luke felt the tension rise as everyone waited for someone to make a move and open the event. But the silence was interrupted when the girl stepped forward and smiled up at him. “Please excuse my brother. I am Sarah Felton. Would you like to come in? The noon meals should be ready soon.”
He smiled inside at the anger that flashed on the face of her older brothers.
“Thank you, Ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat. “But I won’t be bothering you. I’ve learned most of what I needed. Just one more thing. Why did you buy the farm? Mr. Felton I mean it ain’t like you needed the land.”
Felton froze as he stared up at Luke then said, “The beauty of this country is that I don’t have to explain myself to someone like you.”
Luke smiled but kept quiet, hoping for more.
Felton’s eyebrows rose as he tried to understand but Luke kept quiet. He’d learned long ago that talking just gave people ammunition.
“Even if you discover the killer,” Joshua Felton continued, “it won’t return Johnson’s property to his niece. It was purchased fair and square.”
Luke shrugged. “You know this country. They find out a young woman was cheated or mishandled and they get irate. I seen more than one vigilante group get started for less. And that’s the thing about hangings. You do enough of them and people start to reevaluate who owns what.”
The tall man didn’t blink as he stared back at Luke. The two of them held each other’s stare until Sarah Felton touched her brother’s arm. He broke contact and looked down at his sister.
Luke glanced at Mark Felton and Troy Cooper and realized that neither would do anything now. Not here. Not in front of Sarah Felton. Now was the time to make his exit. When there was an audience. He’d gained what he wanted. Upset men who might make a mistake.
“Ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat and turned his horse. Carver stared up at him and slowly shook his head as he passed. A cold shiver ran down Luke’s back as he waited for a gun to explode. But he was almost positive they would hold off. But almost sure wasn’t the same as completely sure.
Only when he was safely out of pistol range did his shoulders relax a little. He kicked the big roan and started for home. Again. It was strange. But it felt as if he was actually going home. All because Becky was there.
Chapter Nine
Rebecca jumped and spun around just as she did every time the restaurant’s front door opened. Her heart fell when Pap Wilkins stepped in.
“Ain’t you happy to see me?” he asked with a disappointed frown.
“She was hoping you was that Luke fellow,” someone called from across the room.
Pap frowned. “What does he have that I ain’t?”
Everyone laughed, but Rebecca couldn’t enjoy it. Her heart ached and refused to relax. Where was Luke? A gentle cough reminded her what she was supposed to be doing. Grabbing the coffee pot, she filled Pap’s cup. Then turned for the kitchen to tell Helen to put another steak on the stove.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to return to the dining room and start clearing dishes. She was bent over scrubbing a tabletop when the door opened behind her. Holding her breath, she glanced over her shoulder to find Luke standing there with a strange expression.
“What?” she demanded before she could remember that she was overjoyed with his return.
He shrugged. “Nothing much, but I got to tell you. You grew up to a right handsome woman. Hanna always said you would.”
Rebecca’s cheeks flashed with heat as she quickly looked away. Her world wobbled for a moment. She had been so worried all day and then he waltzes in and pretends as if walking into that snake pit known as the Circle B wasn’t significant. Then, to top it off, he says that he likes the way she looked. Of course, her world wobbled.
Her only recourse was to retreat. Turning, she hurried into the kitchen. A moment, that was what she needed. A moment to gather herself. The realization last night that she loved Luke Parker had shaken her to her very core. But it was the realization that he would never love her back that had really ruined her day.
“Was that Luke?” Helen asked. “Is he hungry?”
Rebecca swallowed hard and nodded as she gathered up Pap’s order.
Helen shot her a quizzical look then shook her head. “Really girl. You act like you ain’t never seen a man before.”
“Shush,” she hissed as she glanced over the batwing doors to the dining room to see if he heard. She was terrified that Luke might learn about how she truly felt. Thankfully, he had moved to the far corner where he could put his back to the wall and keep an eye on the door.
Helen scoffed as she dropped a steak into the frying pan. “Granted, Luke might be better than most. But he’s still a man. And you’re a pretty girl. It won’t be hard.”
“Helen, please be quiet,” Rebecca whispered as she felt her world spinning out of control.
“I don’t know,” Helen continued as she dipped a ladle full of beans onto a plate. “If I had what you had, there wouldn’t be a man I couldn’t get.”
Setting her feet wide, Rebecca put her hands on her hips and stared at her employer. “I swear, if you don’t stop, I’ll walk. You can deal with the customers yourself.”
Ignoring Rebecca’s icy stare, Helen continued, “That’s the problem. Youth is wasted on the ones who don’t know how to use it. Shame if you ask me.”
Rebecca continued to frown then slowly smiled. “If you don’t stop. I’ll tell Chester that you call out his name in your sleep.”
Helen’s face blanched as she spun to confront her friend. “I never.”
Smiling, Rebecca grabbed Pap’s order and backed through the batwing doors. Helen’s scowl making the world feel safe again.
As she placed his order down, Pap nodded to the far corner where Luke sat. Rebecca noticed that he’d poured his own coffee. “I see I got competition,” Pap said with a toothless smile. “But I ain’t sure he’d treat you as good as me.”
Rebecca once again felt her cheeks flush. What was it about people in this town? Why couldn’t they just mind their own business? Couldn’t they see that Luke didn’t think of her like that?
Bending over she whispered, “Pap, I’d be careful or I might forget to bring you any cobbler.”
He laughed, but she noticed that he stopped teasing her.
Taking a deep breath, she ran her hands down over her apron then stepped over to Luke’s table. It was upsetting that he’d gotten his own coffee. She would have preferred to have something for her hands.
“How did it go?” she asked, desperately curious.
“Fine,” he said with a shrug of those wide shoulders. “Pretty much as I expected.”
Her brow creased with confusion. “Did you learn anything?”
“No, not really. Got a sense of the lay of the land. But mostly I just poked at the bee’s hive.”
Rebecca cringed inside. She was tempted to once again ask him to let the matter drop but she knew it would be fruitless. She was about to ask more when Helen called out that his order was ready.
She returned quickly with his meal then pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. “What next?”
He started to cut into his steak then shrugged. “I’ll ask around. Maybe ride out to your ranch.”
She frowned, “When you go, can you let me know. I’ll give you some flowers to take for my uncle’s grave. I can’t leave Helen alone, we’re too busy.”
He blanched for a moment then laughed out loud. She noticed it was the first time he had laughed since his arrival. Suddenly she realized that the war might have changed him more than she had known. He should laugh more.
“I don’t know Becky,” he said after taking a sip of his coffee. “Riding across the range with a bundle of flowers ain’t exactly a way to put fear in people’s hearts.”
“Is that important. Having people being afraid of you?”
“It helps,” he said before taking another bite.
“That is a shame,”
she said as she looked off in the distance. “It seems like a lonely life.”
An awkward silence fell over them until the door opened and three miners stepped inside. Soon, Rebecca found herself too busy to focus on Luke. Between a rush of new customers and washing dishes in the back, it was a good hour before she could take a moment to return to Luke. Her heart fell when she found his chair empty and a quarter next to his plate.
He’d left without saying goodbye. Why? Did he really think so little about her that it hadn’t even occurred to him? No, she thought, that wasn’t fair. The man had crossed a continent to come help her. But still, deep inside a bitter disappointment began to build.
Would it always be like this? she wondered. Her wanting any little bit of his attention and him oblivious to her. It seemed like such a miserable life. The only thing worse would be a life with no Luke at all.
.o0o.
After the meal, Luke made his way to the Red House Saloon. As he walked, he remembered Becky and tried to shake the heart aching impact she had on him. He’d stepped into the restaurant to find her bent over a table clearing dishes. It had sent a bolt of need shooting through him. A need that he had to ignore.
Putting it aside, he focused on the task before him.
When he stepped into the Red House Saloon he paused to let his eyes adjust. Pretty much like any saloon within five hundred miles. A long bar to the left with a gold-framed mirror up on the wall. He wondered if it had come in from San Francisco or Saint Louis. Tables and chairs. Sawdust covering the floor to soak up the spilled beer and occasional blood.
Behind the bar, a small man cleaned a glass with a grungy towel. A handlebar mustache and garters on his sleeves gave the appearance of a man who worried about how he looked. A half dozen cowboys. Three of them around a table playing poker. Three more off in the corner staring at him with narrowed eyes.
Two bar girls stood off to the side, leaning against the bar, slowly studying him as a potential customer.
Luke stepped up to the bar, resting his foot on the brass rail, purposely turning his back on the other customers, silently letting them know that he wasn’t worried about them. The fact that the mirror behind the bar gave him a perfect vantage was beside the point.
“Whiskey,” he said to the bartender.
The man plopped down a glass, pulled a cork, and poured a quick glop.
Luke spread his fingers, silently asking for more. Then threw it back and cocked an eyebrow. “You Bill Frost?”
The man nodded as he raised the bottle asking if he wanted another.
Luke pointed at the glass then asked, “You were here the night Tom Johnson sold his ranch to Travers?”
The bartender shot the three cowboys in the corner a quick look.
“Don’t be worrying about the Circle B riders,” Luke said in a voice loud enough to be heard at the far end of the room. “Me and their boss have an agreement, we’re going to hang the man who killed old Tom.”
Frost swallowed, then placed another glass on the bar and poured himself a drink.
“Yeah, I was here,” he said after finishing his drink. “But like I told the sheriff, it was all square. Tom knew what he was doing and he wasn’t drunk.”
“He say why he was selling out?”
“No,” the tender said as he shook his head. “Not where I heard.”
“Wasn’t you curious? I mean, the man’s built that place up over the last eleven years. One of the first in this valley.”
The man scoffed. “I’m a bartender. I learned a long time ago not to get into other people’s business.”
Once again Luke felt that sense of disappointment. He hadn’t expected much, but this constant running into walls was getting frustrating. He was thinking of leaving when one of the bar girls approached and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Buy a girl a drink?” she asked in a sultry voice. Luke stopped from pulling away too quickly as he turned and studied her. A pretty brunette with too much wear on too few years. But she wasn’t here against her will he’d wager.
“Sure,” he said to the bartender. He noticed that Frost used a different bottle for the girl’s drink. Weak tea he’d bet. How many cowboys thought they were buying her whiskey?
“What’s your name?” she asked as she once again gently touched his shoulder. “I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me Scarlet”.”
He laughed inside, there was absolutely no way this woman didn’t know who he was. “Luke Parker.”
She smiled before taking a sip of her drink. He noticed she didn’t wince. Unusual as the rotgut they’d served him had tasted like it’d come from the depths of a borax mine and been mixed with snake venom.
“Were you here the night Tom Johnson sold his ranch?” he asked her. “They say he counted out his money right here on the bar? All silver.”
She frowned then glanced at Frost who had moved to the far end of the bar. Then dropped her hand and nodded.
Luke felt his insides jump with hope. “Any idea why he was selling out? Did he mention something?”
Again, the woman looked around the room to see who was listening. She shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, we talked a bit. I mean, all that money. I thought … But, no, he said it was all for his niece.”
Luke sighed, it was as he suspected. Tom had really sold the ranch. But why now? Because the price was so good?
“Did you see anyone follow him out?”
“He didn’t leave. Got a room upstairs. Alone,” she emphasized. “Said he was feeling poorly and would leave in the morning. But he stayed two days. Both Jenna and I checked on him, you know, just to make sure. But he shooed us away. Telling us to leave him alone.”
Frowning, Luke asked, “You tell the sheriff this?”
She shook her head. “He never asked. … He don’t like talking to us girls. I think he wants to pretend girls like us ain’t around.”
Luke waved the bartender back over. “Two more,” he told him. “From the same bottle.”
This time Scarlet did wince when she sipped her drink then shot him a quick smile letting him know she knew he realized the scam.
“I heard Troy Cooper was here that night. How about Mark Felton?”
The young woman gently placed her hand over his. “Do we really want to talk about this?”
He simply stared at her until she sighed and removed her hand. “No. I didn’t see Mark Felton. And Troy left that night. Right after Mr. Johnson went upstairs.”
“And Tom didn’t leave during those two days. Didn’t go to the bank?”
“Bank was closed. The sale happened on a Friday night. I remember because it wasn’t busy like normal. Just Mr. Johnson. Troy, that Travers man. And Doc Weaver.”
Luke nodded as he processed what he’d been told. “Where does the Doc hang his shingle?”
Scarlet smiled. “He ain’t that kind of doctor. He’s one of those book doctors. Philosophy or something like it. If you’re looking for him. He stays over at the hotel. But he spends most nights here behind that poker table. I heard him say he used to teach at an Eastern College. I got the sense he left in a hurry if you know what I mean.”
Like a lot of people out here, Luke thought to himself. The west was filled with people leaving something and hoping for better.
“Thanks,” he said to her as he tossed money on the bar for their drinks, then a silver dollar across to her.
She frowned down at the dollar then back at him. “So, you’re sweet on Rebecca Johnson then?”
“Why do you say that?” he said as his stomach clenched up tight. Was it that obvious?
She laughed. “Call it a woman’s intuition. I’ve tried every trick in the trade and you ain’t even blinked. Only a man in love acts that way.”
Luke tipped his hat then turned to leave. The sooner he was away the sooner he could push those thoughts out of his head. It was impossible for him to be in love with Rebecca. The war had burned that out of him. No, it was impossible.
Chapter
Ten
Luke spent the next two days snooping around. He rode out to Becky’s ranch, making sure no one saw him with a handful of flowers for her uncle’s grave. But the trip didn’t show him anything useful. This had been Becky’s home he thought with sadness. Was she happy here? Sighing to himself he nodded to old Tom’s grave then held a hand up to shade his eyes as he looked out over the flat desert to the distant mountains.
Turning slowly, he examined the farm and grimaced. The cornfield had been allowed to go fallow. A shutter on the house hung from a leather hinge. An abandoned farm in the middle of nowhere. He shook his head, again, why pay for land that you didn’t need?
When he got back to town it was late and the restaurant was already closed up tight. A touch of shame flashed through him. He should have pushed it and gotten back sooner. He didn’t like the idea of Becky walking through town alone.
Later that night he tracked down Doc Weaver at the poker table but learned even less. A quick examination told Luke all he needed to know. A well-built man in his thirties. Sharp dressed with fine hands. Clean-shaven and new boots. But most of all, a well-worn holster for his gun. This was a man who practiced. Something to know.
Weaver’s story matched up with everyone else’s. For a moment, he wondered if the man was hiding something, but his story was too much like the others and the whole town couldn’t be lying. Not without someone giving it away.
He thanked the gambler and made his way back to the hotel. The next day he hit every merchant and business in town. Asking if anyone knew anything about Tom’s death. Again, coming up with nothing.
Finally, he stopped by the bank. He had saved it for last hoping to have more information to check with the banker. When he was shown into the Bank President’s small office the man behind the desk stood and held out his hand. Luke made an instant judgment. Conservative to the point of stupid.
Three-piece suit in a hot office. A derby hat on the hat rack. A man who thought he was in one of them New York buildings, not some hick western town.
Silver Creek (The Parker Family Saga) Page 6