by DiAnn Mills
“I’ll try,” Bonnie said. “I want it all back the same, too.” She brushed away her tears, then held out her hand to Casey. “I’m afraid we have another problem.”
“What?” Morgan’s thoughts flew in a dozen directions.
“Ben’s asked me lots of questions about Casey. Where she came from. Her family, and does the reverend know anything about her. I’m afraid he might suspect the truth.”
Casey inhaled sharply. “I’ve wondered the same thing—nearly left town because of him.”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t see him anymore.”
“No. Bonnie, I won’t stand in the way of your happiness.” Casey spoke with the strength Morgan remembered in Vernal when she announced she was leaving him and Doc. “I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I won’t have it.”
“I could never forgive myself if he arrested you,” Bonnie said.
“If he does, it’s because of what I’ve done—not because of anything about you.”
“I think we all need to put ourselves in Morgan’s and Casey’s places,” Grant said in a way that was uncharacteristic of his manner. He normally resorted to silence in matters of emotion. Yet today he’d displayed traits so much like their father. “Who knows how we might have reacted in the same situation? We’ve always had each other to lean on. But Casey didn’t have anyone, and Morgan refused our help.” He jammed his hands inside his jeans pockets. “I believe the only part I can play in this family is to support my brother and Casey. We have too much at stake to risk splitting our family. Remember how Pa used to talk about the war? He said most folks were against the North and the South fighting and killing each other, but what he felt was important was the common goal of preserving the Union. Isn’t that what we have here? We’re a family, and if we don’t stick together through this, well, then we have nothing.”
Admiration, respect, and love for his brother seized Morgan. “If Pa were here today, he’d be so proud of you. And I’m honored to say you’re my brother. I hope I can make up for the past, because there are some lessons I need to learn from you.”
Long after the evening’s conversations ceased and silence ruled through the house, Morgan weighed the words, feelings, and reactions of those he loved.
One matter convicted his soul. Casey had to be cleared of the charges against her without delay, and that meant the information he’d started compiling for her case had to be put to use. With Ben calling on Bonnie and asking questions, this whole thing could explode. Tomorrow Ben would be there for dinner. Could his old friend be trusted, or would he see this as an opportunity to advance his reputation as a lawman?
The following morning, Morgan left the cabin at daylight for Kahlerville. He hated staying at his old home. Ghosts from the past still haunted him every second he was there. The idea of moving his things into the bunkhouse made sense.
Today he wanted to see about reopening his law office and continuing his work on clearing Casey. He planned to send a telegram to Doc in Vernal for more than one reason. Foremost, he had to talk to Ben. His old friend needed to be on Casey’s side.
When Ben wasn’t at his office or at the boardinghouse eating breakfast, Morgan sought out the owner of the newspaper. The sound of the printing press and the smell of the machine reminded him of the constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech.
“Mornin’, Thomas. I see you’re getting the news out.”
Thomas lifted his gaze from the typeset. A wide grin spread over the man’s face, and he reached out to shake Morgan’s hand. “Good to see you. What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to take up practicing law again,” he told the balding man. “Is my old office still available?”
“Everything’s just how you left it. Just a mite dusty.” He opened up a paper-laden desk and pulled out a key. “I’ve been looking for the day when you’d walk in here and ask for this.”
Morgan pulled out a wad of bills. “Here’s six months’ rent and a little more for all the trouble I’ve been. Can you mention what I’m doing in the paper? I plan to open in about a week.”
“Sure can. Folks will be mighty happy to know they have a lawyer again.” He handed Morgan the key. “You look good, Morgan. Real good.”
“Must be the clean living.”
Thomas laughed. “You forget your pa and I pulled you out of more trouble than I care to recall.”
“That’s why I ended up in law school.”
“Better there than jail.”
Ouch! The sound of that curdled his stomach. He’d waited too long to work on Casey’s problems. Once outside, the sun seemed to light a faint path through the center of town to the small building beside Kahlerville’s general store and post office. Hard to remember the last time he’d called the place his. He stuck the key in the door and stepped inside. A flood of memories rushed in, but they weren’t all bad as he had anticipated. A lot of good times and good things had happened here. Helping folks. That’s what he enjoyed doing the most. The ranch had its roots in what made him an Andrews, but his heart lay in practicing law.
He glanced around the office. Stale air met his nose, and dirt from the street covered the outside of the window. Beneath a thick layer of dust sat an oaken desk that the reverend had helped him build. A bookcase leaned against the wall on one side of the room, and two chairs sat against the opposite side. His law books and plaques were stored away at the ranch. Mama had taken care of packing up his office after he’d taken off after Jenkins. Immediately, he envisioned everything neat and clean. Somewhere at home was the sign he’d once hung above the outside door: MORGAN ANDREWS, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
A sense of pride and humility for how he could help Casey and the community rooted deep inside him. This afternoon he’d pull out the books and start compiling research. Tomorrow, providing Grant didn’t need him, he’d clean up the office. Casey might want to help.
The next item on this morning’s list, before trying to find Ben again, was to send a telegram to Doc. This time of day, the telegraph office was usually empty. He didn’t need folks listening in on his business. Furthermore, he had to be careful how he worded the message in case the clerk couldn’t be trusted.
Inside the small establishment, Morgan greeted a young man barely old enough to shave. After a few pleasantries, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Can you send a message for me?”
The clerk took the paper and read through it before tapping out the words.
Doc. Need a referral letter for our friend. I’m taking the case. Back to practicing law. Time crucial.
Morgan waited until the clerk finished, then tucked the piece of paper back into his pocket. He’d follow up with a letter. Someday the price of a telegram wouldn’t be ten times the cost of sending a letter. But in this case, time ticked away. The door behind him creaked and captured his attention.
“Mornin’, Morgan.” The cold, hard look on Ben’s face spoke fathoms.
“Mornin’. I’ve been looking for you.”
“That’s what I heard.” Ben nodded at the clerk and then turned back to Morgan. “You finished here?”
“Yes. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
“I’d rather talk in quiet.”
Morgan followed him out of the telegraph office and down the empty street. “What’s wrong? Do you need to talk about Bonnie?”
Ben threw him a hard stare. “I’m through being a fool, Morgan. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on between you and Miss Shawne Flanagan?” He spat the name like it was venom.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Little late, don’t you think?”
“Not for old friends.”
“You’ve got some tall explaining to do on this one. Outlaws won’t be taking over my town. I have a reputation here. You of all people should know that.”
“It’s not your town. It’s everyone’s town.”
“I’m not in the mood for your lawyer-twisting words.”
“And I’m
not in the mood for you sending an innocent woman to her death.”
“You of all people should see what this woman has done to you. Doesn’t Kathleen mean anything to you anymore? What about your family and the people in this community? And the reverend? Maybe I already know. Prostitution has been linked with Casey O’Hare a time or two. I imagine she has her ways.”
Morgan fought to keep from slamming a fist into Ben’s face. He took a few deep breaths and formed his words. “Do you honestly think I’d be involved with anything that would desecrate the Kathleen’s memory? Or for that matter desecrate God?”
“I don’t know.” Ben’s words softened. “You’ve been gone a long time, and nothing I’ve learned makes sense. Have you forgotten that I’ve sworn to uphold the law?”
“Would you hear me out first? I need your help.”
“Need my help? Do you think I’d sacrifice the safety of this town over some lovesick, half-crazed lawyer and a wanted killer?”
“I think you’d give me a chance to state the truth.”
Ben fumed. His face had long since reddened. “Guess I owe you that much.”
Chapter 23
Casey trembled the moment she saw Morgan ride into view with Ben Kahler. She wanted to believe the two of them together meant something good. Then again, it could mean nothing at all. A coincidence.?Morgan had left early this morning, according to Grant. He hadn’t said a word to anyone about where he was going.
How can he stay at the cabin where Kathleen was killed? She shrugged and massaged her arms.
“I’ve been praying all day,” Jocelyn said. “I’ve made Ben’s favorite fried chicken and creamed potatoes, hoping it will make a difference.”
“And I baked his favorite peach cobbler,” Bonnie added.
“So you two think Morgan is going to tell Ben everything tonight?” Casey said.
Jocelyn wrapped her arm around Casey’s shoulders. “Morgan’s a good lawyer, and he thinks things through. I bet he stayed up all night working on your case.”
“If this doesn’t work—”
“Hush.” Jocelyn squeezed her shoulders. “Who is in control here?”
“I know. But I can’t help but feel the day of reckoning is coming much too fast.” Casey watched the two men make their way from the barn toward the house. “Remember to call me Shawne until this matter is settled, probably forever.” She couldn’t think clearly when her mind was muddied with emotion.
The men’s boots pounded on the steps and onto the porch, shaking Casey’s resolve to relax. Read Ben’s eyes. Remember who’s in control. She snatched up a glass vase full of the wildflowers Bonnie had picked earlier and set it on the table. A few deep breaths and she transformed herself back to another day: Jenkins had ridden back from a job gone bad and was drunk. He called out for her, then cursed. Back then she depended on her wits and her weapons. Now she depended on God.
“Good to see you,” Jocelyn called to Ben. She hugged him and wagged her finger at Morgan. “You took off this morning, and I had extra breakfast on the stove.”
He kissed his mother’s cheek. “Sorry. Had business to tend to.”
Ben stole a look around Jocelyn. “Evenin’, Bonnie, Miss Shawne.”
Bonnie’s dimpled grin would have melted ice. “Glad you came, Ben.”
He doesn’t know. Casey nodded a silent greeting and caught the grit in his stare. Yes, he did know. “Did you and Morgan spend the day together?”
“Fishing?” Bonnie laughed.
“Yes and no.” Ben couldn’t have disguised his love for Bonnie if he had to. His eyes held a certain light that she’d seen in Morgan’s. “Hmm, something sure smells good, and I’m starved.”
“We’re putting it on the table right now,” Jocelyn said. “It’s just us tonight. We took the hands their dinner before you rode up. But someone needs to round up Grant.”
“I’ll get him.” Morgan glanced at Casey with a grin. “I could use a little company.”
Outside, she waited until they were clear of listening ears. “You told him.”
Morgan wrapped an arm around her waist. “Didn’t have to.”
“Are you giving me an opportunity to ride out of here?”
“No, not yet, anyway. Tonight I want you to tell Ben everything.”
She shivered and watched the sun slowly make its way beneath the horizon. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wanted to leave Kahlerville? But I’m so sick of running that it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“If Ben is on our side, we’re a step ahead of Jenkins and able to move ahead on your case.”
“So now Sheriff Kahler is going to protect an outlaw from an outlaw? And make her look lily white in the process?” Had Morgan been drinking?
“Trust me, I believe in your innocence, and I think he will too.”
Casey didn’t have any more appetite for supper than she’d had for breakfast. More than once over the last few weeks, she’d called herself stupid. Now the word rang in her ear. Bonnie and Jocelyn did their best to keep the talk light, but heaviness clouded them all.
“That’s it.” Ben pushed back his plate. “I can’t eat another bite. Can’t think of a better way to end a meal of fried chicken and potatoes than peach cobbler and cream. In fact, I could use a walk.” He smiled at Bonnie. “If you don’t mind, I need to talk to your friend.”
Bonnie paled. “Of course, Ben.”
Casey patted her hand and rose from the table. She caught Ben’s scrutiny, but then again, she’d felt it all evening. Without a glance at the rest of the family, she made her way to the door. This was between her and Ben.
With the sounds of night and the rapid beating of her heart, Casey breathed a quick prayer. “When did you figure it all out?”
“Yesterday. I’d suspected it for a long time, but I couldn’t imagine Morgan with—”
“Jenkins’s woman?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Are you arresting me?”
“No. Morgan told me a strange tale today. I want to see if your story matches his.”
“And if it does?”
“Then I promise to help him clear your name and protect you from those who want you dead.”
She heard the respect in Ben’s deep voice. “I know this has to be hard. Morgan’s your friend, and I see how you care for Bonnie.”
“I’d do anything for this family but sacrifice my principles.”
“I understand, and I respect that.”
“You’re a strange woman, Casey O’Hare.”
“I’ve been called a lot worse.”
He laughed. “Morgan is like a brother to me, and he loves you very much.”
“And I love him, but I want you to know this—I’m more concerned about risking the lives of the dear people of Kahlerville—the reverend and Sarah, all of them—than I am about saving my neck. Today I realized without a doubt that God brought me here to this place to settle up with the law. I can’t run anymore.”
“I have all night to listen. It wouldn’t be the first time I rode back to town in the dark.”
“Do you need an armed escort?”
Ben laughed, and that eased the tension between them for her to start at the beginning, when she and Tim had left their drunken pa and eventually fell into company with Jenkins and his gang . . .
“I know my story doesn’t fit with the newspapers or wanted posters, but it’s the truth.”
He shook his head and stared up at a full moon. “What I find rather odd is that Morgan’s story matches yours exactly.”
Her pulse quickened. “Then you believe me?”
“Guess I do. I’ll keep what I know to myself and give Morgan a hand in clearing your name. But if Jenkins rides anywhere near my town, I’m calling for help. The good people of Kahlerville will not be put in the middle of this.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
*****
After Ben left, Morgan spent another sleepless night. Living at the cabin was l
ike living inside a nightmare. Morgan thought he could conquer his fears, but they were winning. Thankfully, Grant had made it a habit to stop by each morning.
“Move into the bunkhouse until Casey leaves,” Grant said at the cabin door. He touched the worn curtains over the kitchen window—the ones Kathleen had made. “Staying here is crazy.”
“Maybe I’ll take a room at the boardinghouse. I’m reopening the law office. Haven’t told Casey yet, but, little brother, you don’t need me here.”
“An extra hand is always good, but you do what you feel is right.” He drew out a long breath. “If Pa hadn’t built this place, I’d help you set it on fire.”
“I’ve thought about it, but destroying a sound cabin won’t change the past.” Morgan stepped out into the morning air, a little cooler than the torrid days of summer. “I thought I had to prove something by living here. All I’m doing is reliving it again and again.”
“This is not a home.” His brother’s gaze swept back inside the cabin. “I don’t think you need the past staring you in the face.”
Morgan didn’t say it, but at times he could hear Kathleen’s voice asking him where he’d been when Jenkins attacked her. “You’re right. I want a permanent place with Casey.”
Grant said nothing. Morgan knew he had to clear the uneasiness between them. “I know you care about her.”
“She’s your girl. Told you that before.” He scuffed the toe of his boot into a knothole on the floor. “I just looked out for her until you came to your senses.”
Morgan chuckled. “More truth there than you might think.”
“Take good care of her.”
Morgan heard the conviction. A different man would have called it a threat. “I will. If and when she decides to have me, I’ll need a best man.”
Grant grinned. “I know a fella who might be interested.”
“Thanks. You know, when I’m with Casey, I forget about Kathleen. They are two different women. Kathleen accepted me just as I am with all my faults. Sort of put me on a mountaintop.” He paused. “Casey challenges me to be a better man. She’s strong, like Mama in a lot of ways.”