The Texan and the Lady

by Jodi Thomas

  “No one but us.” Audrey nodded once to Jennie. “How about we all three agree to raise True? Surely we can do it at least until he gets too big to sleep in the wardrobe. Besides, from the looks of the men in the dining room, it won’t be long until one of us gets married and can set True up in a real home.”

  “I didn’t come to marry,” Jennie objected. She could almost hear her family laughing all the way from Iowa at the very thought of their Jennie marrying.

  Both women looked at her in disbelief. Delta added, “I didn’t come to marry either. But can we keep True a secret if we live here?”

  “Maybe.” Audrey downed another roll. “I’ve seen a few little boys working around here. Maybe once we clean him up and cut his hair, Mrs. Gray will agree to find a place for him.”

  True took another roll from the plate. “I don’t need no one to take care of me. I’m doing fine all by myself. I only stayed around here last night because you three looked like you could use some help.”

  Audrey seemed to agree completely. “Thank you, True. How about you just stay around here and help me eat the leftover food? It would be a shame to throw out the fried chicken we’re going to have for lunch.”

  “It sure would,” True mumbled between bites. “I guess I could stay awhile. But don’t start thinking I need mothering. I can make it fine alone.”

  Jennie tried to hide her giggle as she scrubbed her face. “Well, I’d better go take care of the marshal before he decides to come looking for True.” She studied herself in the mirror for a moment. No one had reminded her in over twenty-four hours how plain she was, and she wasn’t about to remind herself.

  Thirty minutes later Jennie passed the marshal’s table for the third time with a hot pot of coffee. “Would you like another refill?”

  “I’d like a minute to talk to you about a few things.” The marshal’s none-too-sunny mood had darkened a little with each of the ten cups of coffee he’d already had.

  “I’m sorry.” Jennie’s words were so sweet no one in the room could have guessed she was lying. “I’m working right now. I know you’ll be wanting to get on the road to Texas, so I’ll just say good-bye and I hope to see you when you pass this way again sometime.”

  Austin had had all the coffee and stalling he was going to take. He stood, fully intending to have his say with Jennie, even if he had to do it in front of everyone at the Harvey House. But before he could get his throat cleared, an old woman stepped between him and Jennie. She was no more than five feet tall, but with her arms folded, he could tell she thought herself as impenetrable as a union fort.

  “That’s him, Sheriff.” She pointed at Austin as if he’d massacred half of Texas and now planned to do the same to Kansas. “That’s the man who’s been bothering one of my new girls all morning.”

  To Austin’s amazement, an old man wearing a tarnished badge moved beside the little lady as if he thought himself to be some help to her. “Now, you don’t want to cause Mrs. Gray any trouble, do you, son?” The fellow took a toothpick out of his mouth and pointed it at Austin as though it were a weapon. The old sheriff’s mustache curled at the tips, making him seem as if he were smiling, while the stubble across his chin made him seem more the town drunk than a lawman.

  “No one’s called me son in years, Sheriff.” Austin whispered the words between clenched teeth. He could never remember using force against anyone so old, but there might be a first time hatching real soon.

  The old sheriff put his arm on Austin’s shoulder. “Well, son, why don’t we go outside and you can properly introduce yourself to me?”

  Austin didn’t budge. Suddenly all the stubbornness accumulated over his entire life grounded him to the floor like railroad spikes through his feet. “I’m Marshal Austin McCormick, and I’d like to talk to this lady about an incident on the train yesterday without interference.” He relaxed a little, thinking that he’d given just enough information to get these two aging pillars out of his way.

  The old man laughed with a sudden snort and slapped him on the back. “Well, it’s good to meet you, son. I’ve been waiting for you to show up to claim your horse for three days.”

  When Austin raised an eyebrow, the sheriff continued. “I’ve got your orders from the home office in Washington.” The old man smiled so big whiskers pointed out in every direction. He lowered his voice as though not wanting all the room to hear official business. “I’m happy to tell you, you’ve been reassigned here for the time being.”

  “What!” Austin forgot all about Jennie and the lecture he’d planned to give her on being a better parent. He’d just been ordered to spend time in hell, and the old guy acted like it was a promotion.

  “I’m Jim Morris, sheriff, justice of the peace, and part-time blacksmith in these parts. If you need your horse shod, your daughter married, or your drunk brother-in-law thrown in jail, just ask me. Most folks just call me Spider.” The sheriff slapped Austin on the back again. “I’m happier than a single piglet at dinnertime to have you here in Florence.”

  Austin marched toward the door. “There must be some mistake!” He had to straighten out his future before he dealt with Jennie. As he passed her, he raised a finger. “I’m—”

  “I know,” Jennie interrupted and handed him his hat. “You’re not finished talking to me yet.” Her smile left no doubt she knew she’d won yet another round.

  Austin fought the urge to grab her and rattle the grin off her face. He stormed out of Clifton House and was halfway to town before he realized he had no idea where the sheriff’s office was located. When he turned around, he noticed Spider Morris strolling along behind him. Though the man was not tall, his legs were long, probably the origin of his nickname.

  Waiting for the sheriff to catch up, Austin yelled, “Do you think we can wire headquarters and get this straightened out? There has to be some mistake. I’m due back in Texas in a week. I can’t waste my time in a little town like this.”

  Morris shook his head. “I already checked. They posted you here.”

  “But why me?” Austin couldn’t see the logic. “I’ve been on the trail for ten years. They’ve got men to handle trouble with train robbers, and this town’s already got you for a sheriff.”

  The old man moved even with Austin and shifted his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other before speaking. “Maybe they figure the storm that’s headed our way needs two men. It’s nothing to do with that train robbery you were involved in yesterday. However, that is how the trouble all started six years ago.”

  “If it’s been six years, the trail’s a little cold by now.” Austin matched Morris’s steps.

  “Oh, we caught those bandits. Sent six men to the federal prison for robbing a train. It was one well-planned robbery out of many they’d pulled, and one hell of a night till we caught them. Before dawn the day after the robbery, several men and one woman were dead. The leader of the gang swore he’d come back and burn the town down.”

  “Every man I’ve ever helped convict made such a promise,” Austin added.

  “Yeah, but this one is named Buck Lawton, and I got word three days ago that he and his men broke out of jail. He’s got some country to cross, but my guess is after he’s rounded up his old gang, he’ll be paying us a visit.”

  “You really think he’s heading this way?” Austin asked.

  “I’d stake my badge on it.” Morris slowed his pace. “But I’m not willing to risk everyone in this town, so for the first time I wired for help. By the time Lawton rounds up his gang, he’ll have twenty or more men, so I asked for several federal lawmen. The home office said all I’d need was you.”

  Spider smiled as he studied Austin. “I figure you must be one hell of a lawman.”

  Austin laughed. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or question if they think they’ve found a way to retire me permanently. This isn’t my kind of assignment, sitting around waiting for trouble to show up.”

  The sheriff grinned and winked at the same ti
me, making his face resemble a raisin. “Maybe the federal office figures you could learn a few things from me while we’re waiting.”

  “How so, old man?”

  “I’ve been a lawman for near thirty years and never killed a man yet.”

  Austin hardly saw that as a recommendation. He’d run into quite a number of men in the past few years he considered would do the world a favor by being six feet under. “What makes you so sure they’ll come? If this Buck Lawton is smart, he’ll be halfway to California by now.”

  “He’s coming. Besides promising to kill the men who caught him, Lawton buried the loot from the last robbery somewhere around here.” Spider Morris shoved his hands in his pockets. “We got big trouble coming, son. I been watching the signs like a farmer watches the clouds, and the storm’s already on the horizon.

  “I can feel it in the air. Folks around these parts are getting jumpy, pulling out guns every time they see a shadow. They’re libel to shoot one another before Lawton and his men ever ride into town. Don’t you think we could work together to make sure none of the town folks, including that lady of yours over at the Harvey House, gets hurt?”

  Austin stepped up on the wooden porch of a building. He dodged the swinging board branded “Office and Jail.” “She’s not my lady,” he mumbled, trying to push Jennie from his mind as he concentrated on the problem. Though he knew he’d never stay here long, he might take the time to help this old man. Hell, if Buck Lawton’s men hit this town, he’d put his money on Audrey and Jennie handling them before this old spider of a man. The sheriff wasn’t even wearing a gun.

  But Austin didn’t like the idea of trouble visiting the women at Clifton House. Oh, they were strong, he reckoned, but he didn’t want to see any of them hurt. Maybe he’d stay awhile. “You got a place for me to bunk?”

  Spider Morris walked across the porch and opened a door. “This here’s my office and the jail, but we haven’t had any need for it in years. There’s a bed in the back, or you can probably get a room over at the boardinghouse.”

  “Thanks. This will do fine.” Austin resigned himself. He fought down a sudden smile. The only good thing about this assignment was he’d be seeing Jennie Munday again. Just once he’d like to see a fire that wasn’t anger in those eyes.

  He glanced around the office, not missing his saddle and gear stacked on a bed in the back room. He took a second look at the sheriff. “You already knew I’d stay.”

  Morris scratched his whiskers. “I knew it the minute I saw you carry that woman off the train. You’re not a man who runs from trouble.”

  “And you’re sure trouble’s coming?” Austin asked.

  Spider laughed. “Son, you were already courting a handful of trouble when I found you. I didn’t miss the way that waitress looked at you. Buck’s gang may try to kill you, but that little lady will steal your heart.”

  “Not likely, old man.” Austin lifted his saddle from the bed. “I haven’t got one. Gave it up years ago when I pinned on this badge.”

  Austin could hear Spider Morris chuckling as he walked out of the office and closed the door.

  Chapter 7

  Jennie worked harder than she’d ever worked in her life. By the time the evening train departed, her legs were so numb they no longer hurt. She’d assisted with serving lunch, then been assigned her own tables at dinner. When she wasn’t cleaning or setting tables, she polished the silver or dried the china. And never, ever, was a Harvey girl allowed to look tired or out of order. In one day she’d gone through three aprons. Every time the others had taken a break, she’d hurried upstairs and checked on Delta and True. Just before the gong sounded announcing the last seating of people for dinner, she’d looked in to find Audrey about to cut True’s hair and bathe him. She wished she could have stayed to see what a fine boy he’d be all clean.

  As she removed the last bundle of linen from the tables, Jennie smiled. It felt good to have worked so hard. She’d watched folks tired and exhausted from the train ride come through the door and leave thirty minutes later smiling and well fed. Jennie slipped her hand into her pocket and felt the coins her customers had left. I’ll start a savings for True’s education, she thought. Someday he’ll be a great lawyer or doctor.

  Mrs. Gray crossed through the room checking to ensure everything was in order. “You did a wonderful job today, Jennie.” She had a way of making everyone feel valued. Even when she’d corrected Jennie for serving from the wrong side, she’d done so only once before slipping a string around Jennie’s right wrist.

  Touching the string, Jennie answered, “Thank you.” Her brothers and sisters would have made a long round of jokes about it, just as they had the red ribbons she tied on the posts so she could find her way to town, even though it was only a short distance away.

  “Why don’t you take the linen out back to the wash house and call it a night?” Mrs. Gray was already moving away. “Be sure and tell Audrey we’ll need her in the kitchen at four in the morning.”

  Nodding, Jennie lifted the bundle of linen. “Good night, Mrs. Gray.”

  “Good night.” Mrs. Gray allowed her shoulders to lower slightly as she slowly climbed the stairs.

  Jennie marveled at how the woman could have an ounce of fat on her body, for she was in constant motion. Whenever something hadn’t been done properly, she was there to straighten things out. When one man refused to wear his coat, she was beside him, softly telling him it was the policy at all Harvey Houses. She didn’t order him to either put on his coat or leave, she only asked if he’d be dining with them or would rather have his meal boxed.

  Jennie walked toward the laundry house several yards behind the hotel. She could make the trip in the dark; she’d made it many times already today. The cold air felt good on her warm skin, and the sky was more dusty blue than black. The Kansas sun had melted away all trace of the early morning snowfall, but the slight north wind promised more.

  As she turned to walk back to the house, she saw a lone man standing by the back steps. For a moment, alarm shook the exhaustion from her, then she realized the too-tall outline could be no one else but the marshal.

  Taking a deep breath, Jennie decided now was as good a time as any to face him. It shouldn’t take her more than a few minutes to make plain how she felt about him. She couldn’t go the rest of her life avoiding him. Besides, he couldn’t prove there was a child. Not without climbing the stairs to the girls’ wing, and Mrs. Gray would have him tarred and feathered before he was halfway up the steps.

  “Evening, Marshal.” Jennie nodded as she passed.

  “Miss Munday.” Austin touched the brim of his hat. “I was wondering if you might have the time to talk to me now.”

  “I’m not sure Mrs. Gray would approve of us talking out back like this. She has very strict rules.” Jennie took the first step up the stairs. She waited, holding her breath for him to argue, but he didn’t. She took the second step.

  “Walk with me, Jennie.” Austin’s voice was so low she wasn’t sure she understood what he said.

  “What?”

  “I said walk with me.” He pushed his hat back as if aggravated he had to ask twice. “I’d like to talk with you awhile.”

  Closing her eyes, Jennie tried to make herself believe what she’d heard. How many times had she dreamed of hearing a man say such words to her? She’d told herself she’d probably never hear a man say “I love you,” or tell her how pretty she was, but sometimes she prayed for someone just to want to talk with her. How many thousands of times had she hoped some man would ask her as she left church to stroll the few hundred yards to her house? And how many times—every time—had she walked alone?

  Jennie turned around, unwilling to throw away her one chance. It didn’t matter that the night was cold or that it was late. Now she could say she’d been asked. “I’ll walk with you only down to the depot and back. It wouldn’t be proper anywhere else.”

  Austin nodded as if her words made sense to him and offered his han
d. When his fingers accepted the weight of her hand, he realized he should have taken off his gloves. He wanted to feel the touch of this woman. He wanted to know that someone who seemed so strong and determined could be real and not just a silhouette of what he thought he saw.

  Jennie felt the soft warmth of leather as well as the strength beneath. “Marshal McCormick, I ask only one favor tonight. Could we not argue? I’m afraid I haven’t the energy.”

  Austin moved her hand to the bend in his arm. “Agreed. I’ve done my share of fighting for one day also.”

  They walked in silence along the dark path to the front of the hotel. When Jennie’s shoe slipped slightly, Austin’s fingers tightened over her hand. Protecting. Guiding.

  Several yards away from the front fountains of Clifton House, he spoke. “I’m not much good at just talking.”

  “I noticed.” Jennie laughed; “But to tell the truth, neither am I.”

  Austin nodded as they passed the shadowy outlines of other couples bracing the chilly night for a few moments. “How’s Delta doing?” he asked when they were once again alone.

  “Very weak.” Jennie relaxed a little. “Once we got a few pounds of food into her, she looked better. Audrey told Mrs. Gray she’ll need at least two weeks of total bed rest before she tries even getting dressed. But she did sit up for a while this afternoon.”

  “And the boy. Is he with you?” His question was so casual, Jennie didn’t react at once.

  “What boy?” She tried to pull her hand from his arm, but his fingers trapped hers.

  “The boy who rode halfway across Kansas under your seat.” Austin stopped walking and faced her. The light was too dim to see her eyes, but he didn’t have to see the look in those green depths to know she’d lied.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Marshal.” Jennie forced her voice to be calm as another couple passed only a few yards away.