But what concerned her even more was her own reaction to the invitation. Shock, she’d expected. Disbelief, even thinking he was playing some trick on her. Yet in spite of all that, she had definitely felt excitement. Lots of excitement. She wanted to walk with him. More importantly, she wanted him to want to walk with her. And not to discuss the ranch or the bull or what she was going to do if they lost the ranch. It was stupid, even more stupid than being upset after Webb turned his attention to Junie Mae. Even though she’d suspected Webb wasn’t in love with her, that had hurt far more than she could have anticipated. Will had no reason to be interested in her except in his capacity as sheriff. She certainly had no reason to be interested in him. He was too handsome, too sure of himself, too willing to take the word of the rich and powerful. She supposed that was natural when he was one of the rich and powerful himself. Which was still more reason to be certain his interest wasn’t romantic.
But what upset Idalou the most was that she hoped it was.
Chapter Eight
Idalou told herself there was no point in dragging her feet. They were going to lose the ranch whether she went to see Lloyd Severns in person or whether he sent the sheriff out with a notice of foreclosure. She’d known this day was coming. She had accepted it, even if Carl hadn’t. Still, it was like dirt in her mouth. She’d failed her brother, her father, even herself. How could she expect the men of Dunmore to respect her if she couldn’t hold on to her own property?
She hadn’t found the bull on Sonnenberg’s property. Nor had the two cowhands Van had lent her been any more successful. Carl was out looking even now, but it was time to turn her mind to what to do next. They wouldn’t get much for the ranch unless Sonnenberg and Jordan got in a bidding war, but she doubted that would happen. Both men wanted Mara and Van to marry. No matter who got the ranch, it would end up in the same place eventually.
She had never liked entering the bank. Nothing good had ever come of it for her or her father. Its cool, dark interior seemed ominous rather than welcoming. “I want to see Mr. Severns,” she told the teller. “I’m sure he’s expecting me.”
“I’ll see if he’s free,” Austin Ledbetter said. He was a nice young man even if he did look like a beaver.
“He’ll see you now,” Austin said when he came back. “You’re looking a little down this morning.” His smile was sympathetic.
“We haven’t been able to find the bull. I’m sure everybody knows what that means.”
“I’m sorry,” Austin said as he opened the gate and allowed her to pass. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“Thanks. Just keep speaking to me when I have to start cleaning rooms to keep from starving.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
She hoped not, but right now she didn’t have any idea what she was going to do. Lloyd smiled and rose to meet her. She thought it was particularly unkind of him to be so cheerful when he knew why she was here. She chewed the inside of her mouth, determined she wouldn’t become emotional.
“I’m sure you’re feeling a lot better today,” Lloyd said as he pulled a chair up and waited for her to be seated.
“Why should I feel any better?” she demanded, struggling to hold her temper in check. “I’m tired of the endless struggle, but I’m not glad my struggle has ended because we’ve lost the ranch.”
“What are you talking about?” Lloyd asked as he seated himself. “You haven’t lost the ranch.”
“We haven’t found the bull, so we can’t sell it to Mr. Haskins. Consequently, we don’t have the money to pay the loan installment.”
“There is no installment,” Lloyd said. “There is no loan. Mr. Haskins has paid off the whole thing.”
Idalou sat there unable to move, to speak, barely able to breathe. She heard the words. She even understood them, but they didn’t make sense. Will had no reason to do anything so thoughtful, so kind, so incredibly generous as to cover her loan payment, much less pay off the entire loan. She had struggled all her life, yet none of the people who called themselves her friends had offered to do anything like this. This was something she’d never be able to forget . . . or repay.
“You seem surprised,” Lloyd said. “I assumed you’d made some arrangement with him for the delivery of the bull when you finally found it.”
“We talked about the financial arrangements,” Idalou said, fighting for words to keep from showing her complete ignorance, “but I didn’t think we’d reached a final decision.”
Lloyd laughed easily. “It looks like Mr. Haskins thought you had, or he’d never have laid out so much money.”
“It does seem so.” Idalou wasn’t sure whether she wanted to kiss Will’s feet or take him to task for not speaking to her first. “I guess I’d better talk to him.”
“He’s ridden out to help one of the smaller ranchers with his branding. It seems he’s quite an accomplished cowhand.”
“Mr. Haskins has a great number of talents,” Idalou said. “I don’t think anybody in Dunmore has any idea just how many.”
“I think you’re right,” Lloyd said. “I wish we could persuade him to stay. We could use a man like him in this town.” His gaze narrowed and favored Idalou with a cautious glance. “Do you think you might be able to do that?”
If Idalou had been stunned when Will asked her to walk with him, she was flabbergasted that Lloyd should think she had that kind of influence over him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Well,” Lloyd said, his gaze never wavering, “it’s not every day a man plunks down several thousand dollars to pay off a loan. I figured he must have a reason.” Lloyd allowed himself a half grin. “He seems to spend a lot of time with you.”
“With me and Carl. And in case you’ve forgotten, Mara has declared to anyone who will listen that she’s in love with him.”
Lloyd laughed at her. “I’m sure she thinks he’d make a perfect husband, but I don’t see him as a man to be attracted to a flighty female. I’d think you were much more his style.”
“I have yet to hear that Mr. Haskins came to Dunmore seeking anything more than a bull.”
“But he took the job of sheriff and paid off your loan. It looks to me like his plans may have changed.”
Idalou was certain something had changed. Realizing she wasn’t going to be able to change Lloyd’s mind or stop his speculations, she got to her feet. “Thank you for being so understanding in the past.”
“I was glad to do it. Now you can relax.”
No, she couldn’t. Whatever Will’s reason for paying off her loan, she was positive it was contingent on their finding the bull. Until then, nothing had really changed.
No, something had changed. She just didn’t know exactly what or why.
“You look like a man who’s spent the morning working hard,” the hostler said when Will rode into the livery stable.
“Branding is always hard work,” Will said.
“How’s Clarence’s boy doing?”
“I think his arm will be good as new in a couple of months.” Will dismounted and turned his mount over to the hostler. “Right now he can’t do much.”
“It was good of you to offer to help.”
“I didn’t mind. I needed to work off some of this food I’ve been eating.” He bent down to scrape some mud and manure off his boots.
“The ladies are having a high old time trying to outdo each other feeding you,” the hostler said with a laugh. “If it goes on much longer, some long-standing friendships will be a bit strained.”
“Then I’d better wind up my business and head home. Make sure to give my horse a good rubdown and some oats along with his hay. I want him in good shape in case I have to make a run for it.”
“Why don’t you consider staying? You’ve handled Newt better than anybody.”
Will was flattered, but as much as he’d like to have a reason to lock Newt up and throw away the key, he couldn’t.
“I’ve got things to do back
home.” He brushed some dust off his shirt with his hands, off his pants with his hat. “I’ve already been gone longer than I’d planned.”
He squinted as he stepped out of the livery stable into the sun. Settling his hat on his head and pulling it low over his eyes, he headed toward his office along the alley that ran behind the buildings fronting the Main Street. He’d gone only a short way when he became aware of voices. He looked up to see Van Sonnenberg and a young woman he didn’t know having a heated discussion. Van was waving his hands in the air at the young woman, who was looking at the ground. Will was about to turn down an alley when Van stormed off and the young woman sank to her knees crying.
Will paused, hoping someone from inside the dress shop behind her would come out and see to her. When no one did, he had no choice but to step forward. The young woman was so distraught, she didn’t hear him come up.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
The young woman’s sobs stopped abruptly, and she looked up with panic in her eyes.
“You don’t have to be afraid. I’m the sheriff,” Will said, pointing to his badge.
“I’m fine,” the young woman said, struggling to compose herself. “You don’t have to bother with me.”
“You’re not fine. Besides, my mother would hit me with a log if she heard I turned my back on a woman in distress.”
“You can’t help me,” the young woman said, struggling to regain control. “Nobody can.”
“Is that what Van Sonnenberg told you?”
With that, she broke down again.
“You can’t sit here crying,” Will said, wondering why one of the dozens of females who regularly found their way into his office didn’t come to take this young woman off his hands. “Come along to my office. I’ll get you some coffee and you can have some time to compose yourself.”
“You don’t want to have anything to do with me,” she said. “I’m disgraced.”
“My mother says the same thing about me, so I guess we’ll get along just fine.”
“You don’t understand,” the woman said. “I—”
“You can tell me once you’re comfortable.” Will helped her to her feet. “Come along out of the sun. Your face is much too pretty to ruin it with a sunburn.”
“I wish I weren’t pretty,” the woman said. “Then I might not be in trouble.”
Will felt the same way. He had women trying to stuff him like a pig for the slaughter, an impressionable teenager convinced she was in love with him, and Idalou convinced he believed his face could get him anything he wanted.
By the time Will had the woman settled in his office, watched her drink half a cup of coffee and nibble on one of the sweet muffins Mrs. Olah had sent, Will thought she had calmed down enough that he could ask her name.
“I’m Junie Mae Winslow. After my parents died, Aunt Ella and Uncle Tuley invited me to come live here with them. They don’t have any children.”
Will had met Tuley Hoffman. He owned the saddle shop. He and his wife were an older couple, conservative and very religious, he’d been told.
“I’m sure they’d be more than glad to help you with what’s troubling you.”
Junie Mae burst into tears. “I’ve disgraced them. They’ll turn me out, and I’ll have no place to go.”
“I’m sure you’d never do anything that would cause your aunt to do that,” Will said.
“I’m pregnant,” Junie Mae said. “And I’m not married.”
Nice going, Haskins. Just the sort of confession to make your day. “Is Van Sonnenberg the father?”
Unable to speak through a renewed burst of tears, Junie Mae nodded. In Will’s experience, when a young man got a girl in trouble, he married her. From what he’d seen, he gathered that Van had told Junie Mae he wasn’t going to do any such thing. That didn’t surprise him. As lovely as Junie Mae was, an inheritance of a saddle shop didn’t stack up well against Mara’s ranch.
“Have you talked to his father?”
She shook her head.
“Are you going to?”
She shook it even more vigorously. It was probably just as well. Will didn’t think Frank Sonnenberg would believe that Junie Mae hadn’t set out to seduce Van.
“Want to tell me about it?”
Junie Mae dried her tears, took a couple swallows of coffee, and faced him.
“My father left us when I was very small, so I came to Dunmore straight from my mother’s funeral. I was very lonely, and it was nice when Webb McGloughlin started paying attention to me. I hadn’t had time to decide if he really liked me or was just flirting when he died.”
Will kicked himself for not having made the connection before. This was the young woman Webb had become interested in after he broke up with Idalou. Though Junie Mae was certainly very pretty, he thought Webb showed very poor taste.
“It was stupid of me to believe all the things Van said, but after losing my mother and Webb, I was desperate for someone to lean on.” She focused her clear blue eyes on Will. “Aunt Ella makes me feel like it’s a character flaw not to be stoic in the face of any kind of misfortune, no matter how devastating. Van would hold me when I was lonely and let me cry on his shoulder when I was sad. I see now that it was very foolish of me to think he loved me, but I was desperate to feel close to someone.”
“Did you see him more than once?” Will asked.
“Whenever I could,” Junie Mae said. “He would get a room in the hotel and I would meet him. We were very careful to make sure no one saw us.”
Will was certain that in a town this size, quite a few people knew something had been going on between them.
“Did he know you were in the family way before today?” Will asked.
Junie Mae buried her face in her hands and shook her head.
“What did he say?”
“He doesn’t believe it’s his baby; he said that I can’t prove we’ve been together.”
Will thought that might be relatively easy to establish, but he had no intention of doing anything to force Van to marry Junie Mae. A marriage to Van under those circumstances would be a living hell. Yet something had to be done.
“I think you ought to tell your aunt and uncle.”
Junie Mae looked up. “I could never do that. I’d rather kill myself.” She uttered a hysterical laugh. “I might as well kill myself anyway. They’ll turn me out when they learn the truth. I’ll die on the street.”
As attractive as she was, Will considered that highly unlikely, but she looked frightened enough to do something crazy. “I’m sure things look desperate to you right now, but this has come as a shock to both you and Van. I think you both need some time to get used to it. Having a baby is a wonderful thing. Why don’t you go home and get some rest? It takes most men a little time to get used to the idea of being a father, but they generally come around.”
Junie Mae threw herself at Will, gripped his vest in both hands, and starting crying. His arms felt awkward hanging at his sides so he reluctantly put them around Junie Mae.
“You don’t have to cry anymore.” He patted her on the back, but that only made her cry harder. “If you don’t get control of yourself, everybody in town will know something is wrong. And if I know women— and I do know women—they’ll have the secret out of you before nightfall.”
Junie Mae lifted her head and released his vest. “I’m sorry. I’m just so relieved to have someone I can depend on.”
Will wished Isabelle could hear that. Maybe then her criticisms wouldn’t be so stringent. “Just dry your eyes and pull yourself together. I promise I’ll think of something.”
Junie Mae looked up at him with adoring eyes, and Will felt his heart sink. Not again!
“I think you’re the most wonderful man in the world.”
With that, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Will had been on the receiving end of such emotional displays too often to be thrown completely off his stride. That lasted just until he looked up to see Idalou staring at t
hem with a look that had trouble written all over it.
Idalou had told herself not to be a fool so many times the words played over and over in her head like a litany. That was partly because her brain was too paralyzed to function. If her horse hadn’t known the way home by himself, she could have ended up in West Texas. As it was, she arrived at the house without any conscious memory of how she got there.
She took longer than usual to unsaddle her horse and rub him down before turning him out in the corral. Then, instead of going inside to change her clothes and begin preparations for supper, she leaned on the corral fence and watched her horse roll in the dust. She studied the way his steel-gray coat wasn’t a solid color but was composed of swirls of dark hair against a background of silvery white. She wondered why she’d never noticed that he was lop-eared. Actually, he was a really ugly horse.
Bored with watching him stand in the shade of a cottonwood, his left rear leg drawn up beneath him and his head hanging down, she turned toward the creek that ran some distance from the house. The day was relatively cool for late July, but it felt good to settle in the shade of the cottonwoods, oaks, and pecan trees that bordered the stream. A cardinal flew in and out of a tangle of grapevines, willows, and hackberry bushes, squawking loudly at a jay trying to feed in the same area. Nearby a towhee scratched vigorously in the leaves for seeds and insects. All in all, it was a lovely summer day, one that reminded people of why they chose to live on the prairie of central Texas.
But Idalou couldn’t get the image of Junie Mae kissing Will out of her mind. Junie Mae Winslow! The woman who’d stolen Webb from her. Now Junie Mae had set her sights on Will, and the spineless man hadn’t been putting up a fight. There was no use denying that Junie Mae was a pretty woman, but Will already had Mara declaring she was in love with him. What was Will doing asking Idalou to walk with him when he was playing fast and loose with any female who was willing?
Idalou had been flattered that he’d asked her. If she hadn’t had to search for the bull, she’d have accepted. After her run-in with Newt, Jordan had forbidden Mara to leave the house after dark unless Will was with her. Now, probably Junie Mae would be walking with him, too. Will probably thought it was perfectly normal to have several women running after him at the same time. She didn’t know a single man who could turn down a pretty woman. There was no reason to expect Will to be the exception.
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