by Linda Bridey
“Hello, brother,” Black Fox said as he dismounted. He and Joe shook hands and the crowd began to relax.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming to help me out,” Joe said.
“You are welcome,” Black Fox said. “What do you want us to do?”
Orders were given to hitch horses to ropes and pulleys that were fixed to beams and other large pieces and to pull them off the piles. All through the day, buckets of water were poured over the charred remains of the barn. It was a good thing that there was a creek nearby. Workers sifted through the wreckage and pulled out whatever equipment seemed salvageable.
Others worked on digging five large graves for the horses that hadn’t made it out. At one point, Joe had to be physically restrained in the house while the horses were pulled out and buried. No one wanted him to see his beloved animals that way. Eddie had identified each of the horses and wept the whole time he and the other grooms lay them to rest. All of the grooms felt the loss of their equine friends. They knew each of their charges’ unique personalities and remembered all of the good times with them.
Once Luke received word that the burials were done, he let Joe leave the house. No one thought any less of Joe when he raced to the graves and sank down on the ground to mourn the horses he had raised and loved. Lacey stayed with him the whole time.
Joe had just gotten up off the ground and pulled Lacey with him when Seth came walking towards him. Joe didn’t like the furious expression on Seth’s face.
“What is it?” Joe asked.
“Arson. This was a deliberate fire, Joe,” Seth said. “Come with me.”
Lacey’s heart sank for the hundredth time that day. She looked at Joe. How much more could he take, she wondered. She and Joe followed Seth as he led them to the huge burned out foundation of the barn that had burned first.
“The four outer corners of the barn are the most damaged areas,” Seth said as he pointed to them. He walked over cinders and other smaller debris until he reached the center of what had been the barn floor. “We knocked a lot of the walls and stuff over, as you know. The whole time we were doing it, I kept looking at the walls, which weren’t nearly as charred. Then I’d look at the corners. I was hoping I was wrong. Gus over there has seen his share of barn fires, though, and he’s seen arson before. He confirmed it. It’s one thing for one corner to be the worst, but all four? I’m sorry, Joe.”
Joe said, “I know who did this and I won’t stop until he’s dead.”
Luke had come over at the tail end of the conversation with Seth. Joe’s quiet fury set off warning bells in his head. Luke knew from personal experience when Joe became that quiet about something, it meant big trouble. Joe meant what he’d said and Luke had a horrible feeling about what lengths Joe might go to in order to exact his revenge.
“I have things to take care of now, but when he least expects it, I’ll strike and then he won’t be able to hurt anyone else ever again,” Joe said, and walked away.
Chapter Twelve
Lacey didn’t see much of Joe during the day over the next month. He was closeted in what had been his father’s office with his financial advisors much of the time. Since she had no household duties other than overseeing what meals were served and such, Lacey spent many hours with the horses or watching the rebuilding of the larger barn. The town had rallied around the young Dwyer couple. There were many who helped them rebuild and they wouldn’t take any money from them.
Luke was relieved from his duties at the Samuels ranch so he could help out full-time. Jake Henderson kept the Watering Hole closed until later in the day than usual and worked along with whomever else was there each day. Even some of the Lakota men came every day. Joe gave Black Fox one of his two Morgan mares that were due to foal in a few months as a gesture of gratitude to the whole tribe. Black Fox knew that such a valuable horse could help breed better horses for his people and thought that it was a fine repayment.
Despite a lot of people’s efforts, Joe wouldn’t go out at night. He was terrified that something else would happen and he was too weighed down by guilt over not being there to get Lance out the night of the fire. Lacey tried to assure him that everything would be fine, but she couldn’t budge him. She was there for Joe in every way possible, but there was a place in Joe that no one seemed to be able to touch.
Joe was forced to do something he’d never had to do before; spend a lot less money. Once everything was said and done, he’d had enough to rebuild one of the barns, and pay off all of the feed and hay bills. There had also been adequate funds to buy new tack, a few buggies, and a couple of wagons. He had to pick and choose which horses to keep. Those that would bring him the most money would be kept and the other ones were sold.
There was one expense that he was prepared to make and sacrifice somewhere else to make up the cost. He made Barney an offer for Lance’s foal that his mare was due to have the following year. Joe wasn’t too proud to beg and appealed to Barney’s emotions as a horse lover. Barney agreed and the deal was struck.
To save money, the guest house was gutted and remodeled as a storage building for whatever equipment wouldn’t fit in the barn. Joe also sold off a small piece of land to a young farmer. Joe did all of this without much complaint, but what hurt him the most was that he had to lay off a number of his employees and friends. Randall had come back and he had been devastated, especially by the change in Joe.
He demanded a pay cut since Joe wouldn’t lay him off. Joe saw that he couldn’t talk Randall out of it and acquiesced on the condition that once things improved again, his pay would go back up. Joe helped his other employees find jobs elsewhere. Dean even hired one of his younger hands named Cam Vernon to train for driving cattle, since Seth no longer wanted to go on the longer drives.
Dawson felt the effects of Joe’s lack of cash flow into the community. The restaurants, hotel, and Watering Hole were just a few of the establishments that felt the crunch from Joe’s lack of patronage. The Dwyer estate had bought all of its feed from Thompson’s Feed Mill and since Joe had had to sell off a third of their horses, the mill lost revenue as well. It was only then that the residents of Dawson realized that while Joe was a huge playboy, he’d also contributed greatly to the town’s economy.
*****
Lacey’s concern for Joe grew. One day when she was visiting Jamie, Lacey told her how worried she was about Joe. They sat at Tessa and Dean’s kitchen table while the twins were down for a nap and Dean had taken Mikey with him to town.
“He needs to do something to distract himself a little, but he won’t go out. The ranch is all he cares about,” Lacey said. “I know how traumatic this has been for him, but he needs to have some fun again.”
Jamie thought about it and then inspiration hit her. “If he won’t come to the party, we’ll take the party to him!”
Lacey’s eyes lit up. “Yes! We won’t say a word to him. It’ll be a surprise and he won’t be able to say no then.”
“I’ll talk to Jake tomorrow and have him help spread the word,” Jamie said.
“I’m so excited about this,” Lacey said. “It’s just what he needs.”
“I think it’s what the both of you need,” Jamie said. “I know this has been hard for you, too.”
“Yeah, just for different reasons,” Lacey said with a sigh. “I fell in love with him, Jamie. I can’t believe it, but I did. He’s not the same man I first met and yet he is. I told him once that people just didn’t see the real Joe underneath what he chose to show them. I could see it because you and he are so much alike that way.”
Jamie put her hand over Lacey’s and said, “You’ve changed him, or at least made him feel comfortable with showing more of his real self. It was different for me because this is the real me, but only better because I have Luke. He keeps me grounded and I keep him from being too serious.”
Lacey nodded. “You found the perfect man for you. Luke is such a good guy.”
“Does Joe know how you feel about him?” Jamie asked.
“No. I’m too scared to tell him because I don’t know if he feels the same way about me. What if he doesn’t? I know that he wasn’t looking for a real marriage. We were basically business partners, I guess you could say. We both needed something from each other and that was it,” Lacey said. “I don’t want to ruin what we have now.”
Jamie sighed. “I understand, but how long are you going to be able to not tell him? It’s better that you tell him now and at least you’ll know. Luke said it was hard for him when he told me he loved me and I didn’t say it back to him right away. But he was willing to wait for me to say it to him and was glad that he did.”
“I’ll think about it,” Lacey said.
Jamie let the subject drop, instead focusing on the surprise party.
Chapter Thirteen
Jake did a great job of getting the word out to the community about the surprise party Lacey and Jamie wanted to throw at the Dwyer estate. He, Lacey, Jamie, and Luke worked at organizing people to make food and Jake ordered a huge quantity of booze. Marcus told Black Fox about the party and the Lakota warrior promised to bring plenty of Lakota moonshine.
It was amazing that no one let anything slip about the party when they saw Joe in Dawson, but he was none the wiser. The plan was for everyone to meet at sundown about a mile down the road from his ranch. Once everyone was amassed, they would swarm the property and get things set up. There would be no way for Joe to turn all of the people away.
Seth had told them to leave the musical entertainment up to him. He knew some people that would be glad to play and sing that night, including himself. Dean offered to use both of their teams to haul whatever needed hauling and had even decided to allow Jack to go to the party since he and Tessa would be there to watch him.
The day of the party, Lacey could barely keep still. Joe noticed it.
“What’s the matter with you? You got ants in your pants or what?” he asked.
Lacey said, “I don’t know. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Are you bored?” Joe asked. “Why don’t you go see Jamie?”
“She’s busy working,” Lacey said. “I need a job, I think.”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Joe said. “You are to be a lady of leisure.”
Lacey looked at him. “Joe, there’s only so much leisure a person can take. At least if I had a job I would have something to do when you’re doing business all day.”
Joe decided to play along. “So what kind of job would you get?”
“I don’t know. Training horses for someone,” Lacey said.
“Like who?”
“I could ask around town and see who needs someone to do that,” Lacey said. She was just saying whatever came to mind to keep him occupied.
“Lacey, you’ve got a lot of talent, but you’re unproven. There’s no horse here that you’ve trained. People aren’t going to just hire you when you don’t have any proof you can do the job,” Joe said.
“True, but you have the experience and they know you,” Lacey said. “Joe! That’s another way to make money! You could train horses for people! We could train them together!”
She jumped up from her chair and plopped down on his lap, making him grunt.
“Whoa! Careful where you’re sittin’ there,” he said with a laugh. His hazel eyes were a little greener as he thought about what she’d said. His horses were well known throughout a large portion of the Midwest for their fine lineages, but his horses were also famous for being well trained. He had the expertise to train horses for a wide variety of uses, too. “Lacey, I think you’re on to something. Let’s do some research about it and see what kind of fees we could get.” He rose with her in his arms and took her down the hall to their favorite room.
*****
By six o’clock that night, the road leading to the Dwyer place was backed up for at least a mile with wagons, buggies, and horses. Jamie and Luke led the group forward and turned down into the ranch. They were quiet and let Jamie and Luke pull up in front of the house. The others gathered around the storage building.
Luke rang the doorbell. He and Jamie were having a hard time not laughing with excitement. Randall answered the door. He and all of the employees were in on the surprise. Jamie noticed that he even had a hard time staying sober and that was saying something for the handsome Brit.
“Come right in. Master Joe and Madam Lacey are in the parlor,” he said, and motioned them past him. He peeked out the door and saw the wagons and people down by the storage building. Randall allowed a quick grin to cross his face before turning to go announce Luke and Jamie.
Jamie and Luke had brought a bottle of whiskey in the house with them, intending to loosen Joe up a little.
Jamie poured a round and said, “Let’s drink to bright futures and big fortunes!”
Joe said, “Yeah, I could use some of both right now, so I’ll drink to that.” He tossed the liquor back and Jamie immediately refilled his glass.
About a half hour later, the doorbell rang. Randall answered the door and people started pouring into the house. Jake led the group.
Joe saw all the people coming and stood up. “What the hell is this?” he asked Jake.
“Well, you won’t come to us, so we came to you,” Jake said with a grin. “We’ve been missing you at the Watering Hole.”
Joe smiled and said, “I’ve been missing all y’all, too. I can’t believe y’all did this.”
Jake said, “You have Lacey, Jamie, and Luke to thank for that.”
Joe turned to his wife and closest friends. “Is that true?”
Lacey said, “There’s been so much grief and trouble that I thought you needed to have some fun. We couldn’t get you to go out so we thought you would enjoy something like this.”
Joe embraced her and said, “You’re full of surprises.” He kissed her and then said to the crowd, “All right, y’all, let’s have a party!”
Cheers broke out and the sound rang off the walls. Food was brought in and assembled buffet style in the kitchen and dining room. Beer, whiskey, and moonshine lined the large sideboard in the dining room and Jake oversaw the bartending. The storage facility was reorganized and turned into a dance hall.
Seth and his musician buddies set up their instruments there. They’d even brought the piano from the Watering Hole and Wendell was ready to tickle the ivories. Luke and Seth would play fiddle while other musicians would play the washboard and jugs. Sheriff Allen was a terrific banjo player and he had agreed to play. Jamie was also going to sing some songs and was hoping to get Joe to sing a couple, too. Marcus was bashful about singing in front of that many people and wasn’t sure if he would or not.
Joe was stunned once again by the outpouring of love from the community. He hadn’t realized how many people he had touched. They all came to talk with Joe and Lacey and tell them how much they were missed. While people ate and drank, Joe was brought up to speed on all that was happening in town. As the evening progressed, Joe began to heal inside and the pieces of his heart began to mend.
When the band started playing, he danced with Lacey and laughed like he hadn’t laughed in a long time. It felt good and Joe was grateful to Lacey and his friends for organizing the party. At one point, Jamie pulled Joe up to the band with her and begged him to sing with her. He agreed and as they sang, Joe realized how much he’d missed performing with Jamie for the crowd.
The partygoers whistled and stomped their feet in approval as he sang a couple of raunchy songs. Joe figured if he was going to sing, he would sing the songs he liked and the heck with what people thought. Lacey watched Joe transform back into the man she’d first met; the popular, crowd pleaser with the heart of gold.
While Joe was having the time of his life, he was also formulating a plan. His healing had started, but his need for revenge still burned inside of him. He announced that it was time for him to take a break and went off to get a drink. The party was in full swing by that point and everyone was immersed in the revelry. Joe used
to opportunity to slip away to their bedroom. There he gathered a few articles of clothing as well as his guns and ammo.
He wrote Lacey a note and left it on the bed so she’d see it. Joe left through the window and ran to the barn. After putting on his guns, Joe stuffed his belongings in his saddle bags. He took a saddle and tack out to the pasture in back of the barn and captured Hamlet, now his fastest horse. Hamlet was another fine Thoroughbred stallion, but not quite the horse Lance had been.
As Joe saddled Hamlet, tears stung his eyes as he thought about Lance. He missed his horse immensely. Once he’d finished saddling up, Joe went back for his saddle bags and a blanket roll. He attached them to the saddle and mounted. Swinging Hamlet around, he looked back at the estate and all of the people still enjoying themselves. He smiled and then thought about Lacey.
“I’m sorry, darlin’. I know you’re gonna be mad as hell at me, but this is something I gotta do,” Joe said softly.
He turned Hamlet back around and rode over the hill to the back of the pasture where there was a gate that would let him out on the road. He went through the gate and locked it. Once they were on the road, Joe urged the large bay stallion into a ground eating canter.
*****
Towards midnight Lacey began asking people if they’d seen Joe. She hadn’t seen him in quite a while, but had assumed that he was circulating and visiting with his friends. As more and more people told her that they hadn’t seen him, Lacey became worried. She started looking through their house. Thinking that maybe he’d gone to his old room for something she looked there, but the room was empty.
Lastly, she went to their room. She saw a piece of paper on her side of the bed and picked it up.
Dear Lacey,
I know you’re going to be furious with me for leaving, but there’s something I have to do. I know that the ranch will be fine in your capable hands. I promise that I’ll be back just as soon as I can. Don’t send anyone after me because I intend to do this and no one is going to stop me. I know you might not understand, but I won’t be able to move forward until this is taken care of.