On the Fence (Chance City Series Book Two)

by Robin Deeter

Rob nodded approvingly. “Good. Where’s Cy?”

  “Out on patrol,” she said.

  “Ok. I forgot something I need. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I hope it’s not a long meeting.”

  Ellie said goodbye to him and went back to work.

  *****

  “It’s not funny!”

  Cotton and Ray laughed as Johnny finished relaying his dilemma to them as they sat around the fire at Cotton’s place.

  Ray said, “Oh, yes, it is.”

  Johnny put his head in his hands. “What the heck am I gonna do? How am I supposed to choose between three beautiful women who are identical?”

  Cotton took pity on the young man. “If you don’t want a woman in your life, you’re going to have to make that very clear to them.”

  “I have! I told them I wouldn’t get married until I was better situated. It’s like I can’t say anything wrong, though,” Johnny lamented. “It just makes them want me more? Why me?”

  Cotton chuckled. “Because you’re a good man who happens to be charming and handsome. Men like that can be hard to find.”

  Ray bridled at his pointed look. “What? I’m a good guy.”

  “I didn’t say you weren’t, but women don’t consider you marriage material,” Cotton responded.

  “They don’t think you are, either,” Ray shot back.

  Cotton said, “I know and that’s the way I like it. I am free, like the wind and stars. Like the storm, I can choose which direction I go and what I do. But you? You’re young and someday you’re going to want to find a woman to love and have children with.”

  Ray said, “Not anytime soon. Maybe never.”

  Johnny snorted. “I should say not. You don’t even have a permanent home. How would you take care of a wife and kids?”

  Ray had fine clothing, expensive guns, and other valuable possessions, but they weren’t all kept in the same place. He had a bunch of friends and family he stayed with and he stashed his stuff here and there. A restless soul, he didn’t cotton to the idea of being in one place too long.

  “And that’s just the way I like it. Maybe that’ll change some day and maybe it won’t,” Ray said. “But I’m fine in the meantime.”

  Cotton said, “A man should know what he wants, but he is also defined by his past behavior and changing someone’s perception of you later on can be hard.”

  Ray frowned. “We were talking about Johnny. Why are you lecturing me? You’re in no position to talk.”

  Cotton took no offense. His midnight eyes filled with humor. “I’m not lecturing you. I am merely bringing something to your attention that you may not have thought about. As for me, that sort of life is over for me. I loved my wife and our children, but after they died, I was too heartbroken to think about marriage again.

  “That’s my choice and I searched my soul long and hard over it. I was offered other women, but I refused them, knowing that I could never love them. Some men don’t care about that, but I’m perhaps more tender-hearted than them.”

  Ray grinned rakishly. “I’d say that you have a lot of love to give women. A man after my own heart.”

  Johnny shook his head. “Cotton, don’t you want someone as a companion? Don’t you get lonely?”

  “Not really. Every so often, I do, but for the most part, I’m content just as I am. Ray is right: I rarely lack for company,” Cotton replied.

  Johnny bit back the critical words that threatened to escape his mouth. It was his frustration over the Silver sisters situation that made him grouchy. He heaved a sigh. “Well, I’m glad you fellas are content, but none of this is helping me. I can’t be rude to them, but I can’t seem to make them understand that I’m not interested.”

  Ray said, “I keep telling you to just go see one of Sandy’s girls and then brag about it. Their father wouldn’t let you within ten feet of them. Problem solved.”

  With a laugh, Cotton said, “While that’s true, it would also damage Johnny’s good reputation, which I’m sure he’d like to keep.”

  Ray took a gulp of whiskey. “Ok, so tell them that you started seeing someone.”

  “But I haven’t,” Johnny said. “People are gonna want to see the girl I’m supposed to be seeing.”

  “It’s not a bad idea,” Cotton said.

  Johnny looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Are you going senile? I’m not seeing any girl.”

  “But you could pretend to,” Cotton said.

  “You mean lie? I’m not doing that.”

  Cotton chuckled. “You won’t be lying. I know just the girl who would be happy to pretend to be seeing you. For the right price.”

  Johnny shook his head. “I’m not seeing a prostitute.”

  “She’s not,” Cotton said. “Dory is a nice young lady. I know her mother.”

  Ray laughed. “I’ll bet you know her real well.”

  Johnny threw a stone at him. It bounced off Ray’s forehead, making Cotton laugh.

  “Ouch! Knock it off!” Ray complained.

  “Then how about you show some respect?” Johnny reprimanded him.

  Cotton said, “I’ll talk to Dory for you so she understands that this is just a job.”

  “I haven’t agreed to it,” Johnny protested.

  Ray asked, “You want to get rid of the Silver sisters, don’t you?”

  Johnny groaned. “Yes.”

  “Then it is settled,” Cotton said. “I’ll talk to Dory and have her come see you tomorrow.”

  Johnny gave Cotton a curious look. “What’s she look like? Is she pretty?”

  “She’s a very pretty girl. Red hair, blue eyes. She’s shy, but very nice,” Cotton said.

  “Ok. I don’t believe I’m goin’ along with this. I just hope it works,” Johnny said, rising from the log on which he’d been sitting. “Well, tomorrow comes early, so I’d better get to bed. Thanks for supper, Cotton.”

  “Anytime.”

  Ray left with Johnny, the two young men clowning around as they went. Cotton put out the outside fire and went to bed. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep when he heard his tipi flap open and shut. His hand curled around the knife he kept near his sleeping pallet, but when he opened his eyes, he saw that a weapon wasn’t needed.

  He smiled as the girl came to the sleeping pallet and sank down on her knees by his side. Wordlessly, she stretched out by him and he covered them with his blanket. Inside, hot rage burned in Cotton’s heart, but he hid it from Dory. Her presence in his tipi meant that her drunk of a father was at it again.

  She snuggled up to him and Cotton put an arm around her. There was nothing sexual about the embrace. At eighteen, Dory was a complete innocent and, although Cotton was known for his philandering ways, he had a certain moral code concerning women. Girls Dory’s age didn’t interest him romantically.

  He’d met Dory about a year ago when she’d burst into his camp, on the run from her father. She’d begged Cotton to hide her and he’d given her refuge in his tipi. When her father had come along, Cotton had lied, saying that no girl had come through his camp. Cotton hadn’t felt guilty about the deception in the least.

  If Maynard Klingerman had tried to get in Cotton’s tipi, he wouldn’t have gotten home that night. Cotton would have gutted him like a felled deer. For the most part, Cotton was a friendly, easygoing person, but he wasn’t so far out of touch with his Comanche heritage that he’d forgotten how to kill and inflict great injury. Maynard had called Cotton a bunch of nasty names and had gone on his way.

  That night, Cotton had kept Dory with him, afraid that if she went home while Maynard was still awake that there would be more trouble for her. He’d become her refuge and he’d told her to come to him whenever she needed him, which had been a lot more often lately. As he comforted Dory, Cotton’s thoughts turned black. Murder sounded good right then.

  Once her trembling subsided, Dory said, “I’m sorry, Cotton. I don’t mean to keep bothering you. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “You
never bother me, Dory,” Cotton said. “I’m happy to help you.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “How would you like to make some money?” he asked.

  “You mean work?” she asked, raising up on an elbow.

  Her eyes sparkled in the light from the low-burning embers in Cotton’s fire.

  “Yes. It’s easy work,” Cotton said. “I want you to let my nephew court you.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “I’m no whore!”

  He laughed. “I know that. Johnny is a very respectful young man with strict morals. He would never take advantage of you. Now, here’s what I want you to do…”

  Chapter Nine

  Daphne hummed as she made breakfast the next morning. She couldn’t wait to see Brock that night, hoping that nothing would spoil their evening this time. Leigh came into the kitchen from outside, a pail of milk in her hand.

  “I’ll put this down in the cellar,” she said. “Do you need anything from down there, Daphne?”

  “No, thanks. Cold out?”

  Leigh made a derisive sound. “This is mild compared to what I’m used to. It’ll be an easy winter if it stays like this.”

  “Yes, I imagine that Massachusetts is much colder,” Daphne said.

  “You’d imagine right,” Leigh said, going down into the cellar.

  Daphne chuckled and turned back to the sausage in the frying pan. Her mind drifted to the handsome deputy she’d be going out with that evening. Brock hadn’t said what they were going to do, but she didn’t much care as long as she was with him.

  Johnny came in the door and hung up his coat. “Morning, Daphne. Something smells good.”

  She accepted his kiss on her cheek and said, “Sausage and pancakes.”

  “My favorite,” he said, grinning. “Can I help with something?”

  “No. Just wash up and sit down.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Leigh came up from the cellar and said, “That’s it! We’re getting a cat!”

  Daphne’s shoulders dropped. “Oh, no.”

  “Yep. Got into the flour bin again, damn it.” Leigh’s green eyes spat fire. “I don’t care what my husband says, having four dogs don’t make a bit of difference because they’re not always here. Besides, they don’t go down to the cellar and that’s where those mice are. If we had some barn cats, we wouldn’t have as many mice on the whole place. I’m gonna ask David or Daniel if they have any kittens at their ranch. I’ll take as many as they’ve got. Two for in the house and the rest for the barn.”

  Johnny’s eyes grew big. “Won’t the dogs eat them?”

  “No. They’re well trained and we’ll make sure they leave the cats alone. We can’t keep having our flour and stuff ruined by mice. Things are too expensive,” Leigh replied as she washed up.

  Daphne couldn’t wait to see the sparks fly between Cy and his feisty wife. When it came to the ranch work, Leigh ruled with an iron fist.

  No sooner did Cy come in the door with another pail of milk than Johnny said, “We’re getting cats, Cy.”

  Johnny often jumped the gun when it came to relaying information that other people would’ve preferred to have imparted. Leigh frowned while Daphne’s lips twitched as she tried to hide a smile.

  “No, we’re not,” Cy said.

  “Leigh says we are,” Johnny said.

  Cy’s eyes found Leigh’s. “We’ve talked about this.”

  Leigh put her hands on her hips. “We’re getting cats. The mice got into the flour again and, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat stuff that might have mice poop in it. Besides it’s too expensive to keep replacing it.”

  With a sound of disgust, Daphne sat down the bowl of the pancake batter she’d been mixing. “No pancakes. I used that flour to make this batter.”

  Johnny said, “I don’t want no mice poop pancakes.”

  Leigh gave Cy a hard look. “We’re getting a mama cat and some kittens and that’s final.”

  Cy didn’t want mice poop pancakes, either, and the mice were getting out of hand. “Ok. Fine. We’ll get cats.”

  Leigh nodded. “After breakfast, I’ll take a crate over to David’s and get some.”

  Daphne said, “Well, we still have sausage and I’ll make some eggs.”

  “Dang mice,” Johnny said. “I could practically taste those pancakes.”

  Cy said, “I’ll bring home new flour tonight.”

  They were about halfway through breakfast when someone knocked on the front door. Daphne answered it, finding a young woman standing on the porch.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  “I hope so, ma’am. I’m looking for Johnny. Is he here?”

  Daphne’s eyebrows shot up. It was the first time that a girl had come there asking for her cousin. “Yes, he’s here. Come in. And you would be?”

  “Dory Klingerman, ma’am.”

  Daphne led her into the kitchen. “Johnny, you have a visitor.”

  Johnny took one look at Dory and shot to his feet. “Hello, ma’am. You must be Dory.”

  Dory smiled at him. “That’s right. Cotton sent me to talk to you about making a cradle for a friend of mine.”

  He held out a hand to her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Johnny’s heart hammered in his chest as they shook hands. He’d never seen such a pretty girl before.

  “Likewise,” Dory said.

  Johnny introduced her to everyone and said, “Come on out to my woodshop and we’ll talk about what sort of design you want.”

  “Ok.”

  Johnny donned his coat and hat and ushered her out the door.

  Cy chuckled. “Did you see his face? I’d say that Cupid struck. He turned almost as red as the barn.”

  Leigh said, “She’s a pretty girl and she seems nice.”

  Daphne said, “I wonder how she knows Cotton. You don’t think…?”

  Cy shook his head. “Cotton wouldn’t want a woman that young. He’s a ladies’ man, but he does have a line that he won’t cross. No, she knows him some other way.”

  “Uh oh,” Leigh said. “Your detective mind just started working on that.”

  Cy said, “Can’t help being curious.”

  “Curious as a cat,” Daphne said.

  “Shut up. Cats,” Cy muttered.

  Leigh and Daphne laughed at him as they finished their breakfast.

  *****

  “I can’t believe you’re courting an Injun woman.”

  Brock’s lips pursed as he finished with his tie that night. Looking at his father, Doug, he said, “Pa, we’ve talked about this. Don’t talk about Daphne like that. She’s a good woman, no matter her heritage. You’re gonna have to get used to it, because I’m not going to stop seeing her.”

  Doug sighed. “I thought you hated them.”

  “I never hated Daphne.”

  “What about that lousy brother of hers?”

  Brock said, “We’ve come to an understanding about somethings, Pa. We’re both trying for Daphne’s sake. Can’t you try for mine? What happened to Grandpa had nothing to do with them.”

  Doug made a dismissive gesture. “One Indian’s just like the next. You can’t trust them, Brock. You wait. No good will come of this.”

  Brock said, “Is that why you play cards with Cotton all the time?”

  Doug grinned. “Now, that is one Injun I like. Too bad they’re not all like that.”

  Brock gave Doug a level look. “Daphne is Cotton’s niece, Pa. That should carry a little weight with you.”

  Doug’s face fell. “Oh. I keep forgetting about that. Well, she might be all right. We’ll see. Those other ones? Forget it. David Lone Wolf is just that; a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The prices him and those heathen boys charge for horses is downright robbery.”

  Not in the mood to hear his father’s ranting, Brock said, “I gotta go, Pa. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He made good his escape, leaving even though it was a little early. Driving
the buggy along, he let his mind drift to much more pleasant things. Daphne’s lovely face rose in his mind. Everything about her enchanted him. Her luminous, dark eyes and shiny cap of mahogany hair drew his eyes and he’d barely been able to look away from her when they’d been out to dinner.

  Turning up the lane of Sundance Ranch, Brock heard dogs barking and was met by all four canines. Burt jumped up in the buggy and Brock had to ward off his sloppy kisses.

  “Get out of here,” Brock said. “Out!”

  Burt whined and jumped out again as they arrived at the house. The dogs trailed him to the door and it opened just as he lifted his hand to knock.

  “C’mon in, Brock,” Cy said. “Daphne will be down shortly.”

  “I’m a little early,” Brock said, following him into the parlor.

  He’d never been beyond the kitchen before and he was curious to see what the rest of the house was like. As they entered the parlor the dogs set up a racket. Brock saw a large yellow tabby cat curled up on the sofa by Leigh.

  “I didn’t know you had cats,” Brock said.

  Cy’s expression darkened. “We just got some today. Mice problems.”

  Leigh laughed. “He hates the idea of a cat in the barn, much less the house.”

  Cy quieted the dogs and sat down in one of the chairs. “Have a seat.”

  Brock sat down by the cat and held out a hand to it. “We have cats. Three, in fact.”

  “No wonder I can’t stand you,” Cy said.

  “Brock!” Leigh admonished. “Shame on you.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brock said.

  Leigh said, “I’ll bet you don’t have any mice, do you?”

  “Here and there, but they’re great mousers. Mice don’t last long if they’re dumb enough to come inside,” Brock said, scratching the tabby’s ears. “This cat’s pretty calm for being in a new place with dogs.”

  “Maybe it’s half-dead,” Cy said hopefully.

  Leigh said, “Stop it! Daniel said that she’s very friendly with their dogs, so she’s used to them.”

  “Stupid dogs,” Cy muttered.

  A calico kitten came out from underneath the sofa, its little back arched and its fur standing out all over. Pudge got down on his belly and crawled towards it. The kitten growled and hissed while the pug rolled over and whined.