“What’s going on here?” he asked, jogging to where the men were fighting. He wasn’t alone, some of the other men in Comstock were already pulling the fighting men apart.
Three of the men started yelling at once, just as the sheriff rode up on his horse and jumped out of his saddle. He was followed by two deputies who were on the ground as quickly as he was.
Bobby helped the lawmen pull the men apart, but he stepped back when the scuffling stopped to let the sheriff handle it. He watched as the two strangers talked to the sheriff. They looked a little familiar, and he wondered if he’d seen them at a horse auction. But as he listened to their voices as they spoke, he realized they were from upper east, probably New York or somewhere around there.
In the back of his mind, he wondered if they knew Sarah. She was from New York.
Once the men were calm, Bobby stepped a little closer to listen to what they were saying.
“These men robbed me.” Tom Sinclair was angry. Bobby knew him; he was the one the strangers had been holding back. He jabbed a thick finger at the one who’d had his arms. “This guy… just reached into my pocket and took out my money.”
“That is wholly untrue!” the man he was accusing spat back at him. “I would never do something like that. You were playing cards, you lost, so you have to give your money to the person who won. That was me.”
“You cheated!” Tom yelled back. “I know you did! I never lose!”
Jeers ran through the crowd that had gathered as several men called out what a falsehood that was.
Sheriff Cooper narrowed his eyes at Tom. “We all know you don’t win every time, Tom. You’re mad at these strangers because they won. You know full well I’m not gonna make them give you that money back. You lost it fair and square.”
“But he cheated!”
Bobby could tell Tom had enjoyed a few beers while playing. Or it could have been whiskey he was drinking. Either way, his eyes were red and the more upset he got, the ruddier his face got.
“I didn’t cheat,” the stranger said calmly, shaking his head. “You lost, buddy. Over and done.”
“I’ll kill you!” Tom jumped at the man and the sheriff stepped in the way. Sheriff Cooper was a large man with a huge, broad chest. Tom slammed into him and didn’t even push the bigger man back a step.
“You ain’t killin’ nobody today, Tom Sinclair,” Sheriff Cooper said in a cold voice. “Jim! Jim, come get this fella and escort him home. He don’t need to be out here in public any more today. Tom, you go home and sleep this off. Tell Margie you’re gonna have to work extra hard for the money you blew today.”
“I want to win it back!” Tom said, huffing in the sheriff’s face. Sheriff Cooper turned his head to the side, grimacing.
He placed one large hand on Tom’s chest and shoved him back. “Get out of my face, Tom. Jim!”
The deputy the sheriff was calling was already behind Tom, ready to take him away. He set one hand on Tom’s shoulder and looked closely at him.
“Come on, Tom,” Jim said. “Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be.”
Tom seemed to deflate in front of the group of men. Bobby looked around, noticing that most of the men who’d been mixed up in the fight had dispersed. There were only a few bystanders now, watching to see what happened. And they were probably only there because the men Tom had been fighting with were strangers. They were curious to know who had come into their midst.
Tom lowered his head and began to weep. Bobby’s eyebrows shot up. He’d never seen Tom in such a state.
“I should never have done this today,” he moaned into his hands, which were covering his face. “That money wasn’t even mine, it was Margie’s. She’s gonna kill me for losing her money.”
Bobby tried not to feel sorry for Tom. He was a good man and had never caused trouble with anyone. He’d never been in the jail for anything or in a fight with the other residents of Comstock. Not that Bobby knew of, anyway. He stepped up to the small circle of men, resting his hand on Tom’s free shoulder.
“Tom,” he said quietly. “What’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this. What’s happened?”
Tom lifted his head and looked into Bobby’s green eyes with tremendous sorrow on his face. “Margie… her momma died. Left her a little money. She don’t even know I took it. She’s had her eye on a new baking oven and I wanted to get more so I could buy it for her. I just… I just thought I’d only need to win a couple hands. But I didn’t win…” His voice cracked. “And now I have to tell her I lost her money.”
He began to sob again, lowering his head to his hands.
“Hey, fella.” The man who’d been holding him back stepped up to Tom, one hand digging in his pocket. “I got money. I ain’t desperate. You take it back. But don’t think this is usual, because I don’t give back my winnings. Ever.”
Tom’s crying ceased and he turned tear-filled eyes to the stranger. He looked like he didn’t believe the man and expected to be shot in the head instead. “I… I… what?”
“I don’t need it.” The man shook his head, pulling a small wad of cash from his pocket and holding it out to Tom. “This is more than I won from you. Maybe it will be enough for that… oven ya wanted to buy for your woman.”
“Danny, you sure you want to do that?” The other stranger narrowed his eyes at his friend. “Ya don’t have to feel sorry for this guy.”
“I know,” Danny said, looking back at his companion. “But I don’t need it and you know it.”
The other man shook his head. “Up to you, my brother.”
Tom stared down at the money, hesitating for a moment before he took it from Danny. “That’s… real generous of you, mister. I… I don’t know what to say except… thank you. Thank you. Margie would thank you, too, but I can’t tell her about this or she’ll never let me out of the house again.”
This made both the strangers and the sheriff grin.
Sheriff Cooper looked at Danny and said, “He’s right, you know. She’d hit him with a frying pan.”
Tom joined the rest of them in quiet laughter.
“Go on now, Tom,” Sheriff Cooper said. “You still need to get some rest and sober up. Go tell Margie about your good luck.”
Tom shook the money in front of him. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Danny nodded. “You’re welcome. Make better choices next time.”
Tom smiled at him, then turned and went to his horse just a few feet away, tied to the pole in front of the saloon.
As soon as Tom was gone, the strangers turned to go back in the bar without so much as a word to the sheriff, the deputies or Bobby.
Bobby watched them go in, wondering why they looked familiar to him and wishing he’d introduced himself.
Chapter 20
Sarah lifted the basket. It was heavier than she was used to. She’d decided to wash all the large quilts in the house and now had to take them out to hang on the line.
It was all right with her. She didn’t mind doing the laundry when it was beautiful outside. The light breeze blowing through her freshly clean quilts made up for the strength it took to get the blankets up and hanging correctly.
Bobby was in town buying supplies with Steven, and she was anxious for Sammy to come home from school. The little girl always had fascinating and fun stories to tell about her classmates and teacher. She was never cruel or rude in her comments.
She noticed when a girl’s braid was coming loose and offered to re-do it for her, only to end up telling the girl she was too small and didn’t really know how to do a braid. After finding that out, the little girl had offered to teach her, and several other girls joined in.
Sammy had made friends.
Sarah was so proud of the girl. She was pleased that her anonymous gift to Bobby had gone over so well. She wasn’t as worried about telling Bobby the truth anymore. It had been several days since she left the can on the front porch and though Bobby had mentioned it, he was sure it was a neighbor or benefactor who didn’t
want his generous act to be known.
Sarah hummed a quiet tune as she threw the first quilt over the line. It took a few minutes before she could get it hanging straight. She continued on to the next one, thinking about Bobby and Sammy and how pleased she was to have her own family. She wouldn’t think about her brothers or her father ever again. She didn’t want to, anyway. But she knew eventually she would have to face up to the fact that she had to tell Bobby.
A feeling of dread swept through her and she immediately pushed it away, struggling with the third quilt and throwing it over the line as hard as she could. She imagined she was throwing away all the bad feelings her brothers and father had instilled in her.
She allowed herself some happy thoughts, remembering the fun the three of them had at dinner for the past several days. Since the day of the tornado and her gift to Bobby, everything seemed calm, peaceful, and happy. Even the clean-up and construction around the ranch didn’t bother her or Bobby.
Sammy was just pleased there were so many people around again. She loved to be social and could often be found outside with the men, dragging tree limbs that were almost as big as she was to a big pile that would later be made into a bonfire.
Sarah couldn’t wait for the bonfire. It was going to be huge. Bobby told all the ranch hands to come and enjoy it when they lit it up. They’d started a raffle on who would get to light the first match.
The sound of Sandy barking urgently interrupted her happy thoughts.
She’d noticed the dog sleeping on the front porch when she’d brought out the quilts. She had to step to the end of the line and look around the quilts to see him. He was up on all fours, his face pointed toward the road from town.
Sandy had barked before, when Sammy came home from school. But this was a different bark. Typically, he would have already been off the porch by the time he saw her, running to tackle her and lick her with many kisses.
But he didn’t look like he wanted to lick anyone. He looked like he wanted to bite.
A tingle of apprehension slid through Sarah’s chest. She almost didn’t want to turn her eyes and look in the direction Sandy was glaring. But she did. And when she did, the feeling of apprehension turned to dread and fear.
Sammy was indeed walking toward home. But she wasn’t alone.
Sarah swallowed, her breath caught in her throat. She was already walking toward Sandy.
Sammy broke away from Sarah’s father and began to run. She had a big smile on her face and held up a sucker Bruce had apparently bought for her.
“Look! Look what the nice man gave me!” Sammy called out happily. She got to Sarah and the dog long before Bruce and wrapped her small arms around Sarah’s waist. “I had a good time at school today, Sarry,” the girl said, using her new pet name for Sarah. “I made new friends again, and him, too!”
Sarah turned narrowed eyes to her father, doing her best to hold in a sneer. She didn’t want Sammy to see her reaction to her father’s presence. Her chest was tight, anger filling her from head to toe. How dare he come find her? How dare he invade her life and ruin it once more? Hadn’t he done enough?
Enraged but holding it in the best she could, Sarah bent to look Sammy in the eyes. “Honey, I’m gonna need you to go on in and start your evening chores. I’ll be in after a minute. I need to talk to the… nice man. All right?”
Sammy looked confused. She turned her big blue eyes to Bruce, who was standing at the bottom of the porch steps, smiling up at her.
“It’s all right, Sammy,” Bruce said in a gentle, kind voice that made Sarah want to get her gun and shoot him in the face. “I know you’re grateful for the candy. I’ll get you more again sometime. You go on and do what your… momma tells you to do.”
Sarah wondered just what her father was trying to do. When he called her Sammy’s momma, his evil eyes flicked to her and then back to the child. He was probably waiting to hear Sammy deny that Sarah was her mother.
Sarah’s heart was temporarily filled with warmth when Sammy didn’t do that. She smiled up at Sarah and said, “Okay. I’ll be inside… Momma.”
If her father hadn’t been standing at the bottom of the steps, Sarah would have cried. She’d never expected Sammy to get to that point. Especially so soon. But they had been bonding recently, something Sarah was proud of.
“Go on, now,” Sarah said, lovingly, patting the little girl on the bottom to scoot her toward the front door. Sammy giggled and stuck the candy in her mouth as she ran to the door. “Don’t trip with that in your mouth, dear. Be careful.”
Sammy turned to give her another quick smile before dashing through the front door, Sandy at her heels.
Sarah noticed when the dog gave Bruce an angry glare before chasing Sammy into the house.
Once the door was closed, she pulled in a deep breath and turned back to her father, crossing her arms over her chest to protect herself. She tried not to shake.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice low and cold.
She hated the smug look on his face as he came up the steps. “You left behind those letters. I found them. Stupid of you to leave them behind. I see you’re living in the lap of luxury now. I want some of that. You’re gonna give it to me.”
Sarah swallowed. She was finding it very hard not to tremble. It wasn’t as much from fear now, though, and she was grateful for that. She glanced at the barn, wondering where the dogs were. Now would be a great time for them to come around the corner, see this bad man, and chase him off the property.
But she didn’t want Bobby and Steven to come back while Bruce was there.
“I don’t have any money to give you, Bruce,” she said, deciding he wasn’t her father, after all. At least, she wouldn’t treat him as one.
She noticed when he reacted slightly to the sound of his name coming from her mouth.
He looked up and around them. “It looks like you do to me. You’re my daughter. You’re gonna give me what I want.”
Sarah shook her head. “All this you see here isn’t mine. It belongs to my husband. I have no rights to any of it. And as you can see,” she went on, sweeping her hand around to indicate the wrecked courtyard around them. “We just had a tornado. It destroyed a lot of his property. All of his money is going into repairs.”
She couldn’t help thinking about the money Mr. Rochester had given her. If she still had that, she could give it to Bruce and tell him to be on his way.
But she was happy with what she’d done with it and didn’t want her father to have it. She was sure Mr. Rochester would be mad if he knew she’d given it to Bruce, should he ever find out. There was no way she wanted to make him upset. He had been so kind to her—really, the first person who had been, other than her mother.
“You will give me money, Sarah,” Bruce said in the coldest voice Sarah had ever heard. He came closer to her and she backed up to stay a few feet away from him.
“I have no money to give you,” she replied in an equally freezing tone. “And if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you. If I scream loud enough, a ranch hand and the dogs will come running and you will be in a lot of trouble.”
Bruce snickered, his face set in a constant sneer. She could see his hatred for her in his eyes and wondered what she’d ever done to make him feel that way. It hurt that she couldn’t have the love of her father. Without her mother, she was left wanting.
But now, she had Bobby. She was going to have to come clean about her lie to him now that Bruce was in town. She knew her husband would find out. Bruce wasn’t about to keep her secret. Had he read her letters, or just taken the address from the outside envelope?
Daring to Start Again: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Page 18