by Laura Drewry
An objection jumped to Levi’s lips, but he bit it back. Will was right. How many times had Joanna told him he was wasting his time? If the last couple of weeks hadn’t proved that right, then he didn’t know what would.
Truth be told, he could use a good long shot of Lefty’s rot-gut. And if Stella was available, well, he could use a good long shot of her, too.
He nodded at Will and forced a smile he didn’t feel.
“Let’s go.”
They gathered their tools, righted the stack of posts and secured the roll of wire with a few large boulders and rope. By the time they’d saddled their horses and started back to the ranch, Levi had almost convinced himself that he wanted to go to town. Almost.
He rode a wide berth around the main house and the yards, and headed straight to his cabin. The thought of a quick bath in the creek crossed his mind, but quickly faded. Wasn’t like he was going anywhere special, after all.
He pulled some money out of his old tobacco pouch and stuffed it in his pocket. Not enough to get him stupid drunk, but enough to straighten him out some, that was for sure.
Will was mounted and waiting when he stepped outside.
“Ready?” he asked. “I stopped at the house and told Miss Ginny where we’d be.”
Levi fought back a wince and nodded as he swung up into his saddle. If Ginny knew where they were going, it was a safe bet Joanna would know soon, too. Not that it mattered, of course.
They rode out with Will in the lead and Levi plodding along behind. What was the big hurry?
The sun had just begun its descent when they left their horses with Big Bill at the livery. A few people lingered on the boardwalks, but for the most part, the stores were dark and the streets emptied.
Levi stepped through the doors and grimaced. He shouldn’t have come. There wasn’t a thing in the place that held any interest to him anymore, and looking around, it was as though he’d never left.
Sal sat at the piano, screeching an unrecognizable, earsplitting ‘song’; Lefty leaned his round belly against the bar, his arms crossed over his chest; and every table was crowded over by drunks.
Wasn’t so long ago he’d have joined right in on one of the card games or pulled up a chair and got sloppy drunk with the rest of them.
Today it didn’t sound like near as much fun.
Will left him at the bar and went to find a game to join.
“Travers.” Lefty eyed him carefully. “Whiskey?”
Levi nodded and slapped a handful of coins on the bar. “Leave the bottle.”
Ignoring Lefty’s annoyed look, he turned to survey the room. He’d played cards or gotten drunk with most of the men there, but a few faces he’d never seen before.
A head of hair, the color of fire, caught Levi’s attention. Peter Carlson sat at the table under the window with three of Pearson’s men. Levi had never liked Carlson; couldn’t say why, exactly, just rubbed him wrong. He’d do well to avoid Carlson’s table anyway. Though Pearson hadn’t ordered his men to shoot Levi yet, it wouldn’t surprise him if they did it anyway.
“How’s Joey?” Lefty’s hard gravelly voice interrupted his thoughts.
Levi shrugged, but averted his gaze. “Joanna’s Joanna.”
“And Mac?” He laughed - loud and crackly. “I’d have given my other eye to see his face when you walked up.”
Levi couldn’t help but laugh, too. “He’s getting used to me being there.”
“An’ you’re full of shit, Travers,” Lefty shook his head, still grinning. “Mac don’t get used to nothin’ too quickly, so he sure as hell won’t be getting used to you anytime soon.”
“True enough, but at least he doesn’t curse me out every time he sees me now.” Levi chuckled. “That’s more than I can say for Joanna.”
Lefty’s face sobered. “Don’t you be messin’ with Joey.” He poured himself a shot from Levi’s bottle and downed it. “Just do what you been hired to do and leave it at that.”
Even though he forced to keep the grin on his face, Levi’s blood began to boil. “I’m not messing with Joanna.”
Lefty raised a disbelieving brow. “Just figured since you ain’t been in here for a stretch that you must’ve found something – or someone – to keep you busy out there at the Double M.”
“Well it ain’t Joanna.”
The bartender’s eye grew wide. “You ain’t carrying on with Carrie? Hell, Travers, she’s just a little girl.”
Levi didn’t bother trying to smile anymore. He was getting damned tired of defending himself lately. In fact, it was taking every ounce of his concentration not to slam his fist into Lefty’s chin.
“No,” he ground out. “I’m not doing anything with Carrie, either.”
Lefty didn’t look the least bit convinced. “But you’ve seen Carrie, right?”
“Only at every single meal for the last month.”
“And you haven’t. . .”
Levi silenced him with a hard glare. “Stella around?”
“She’s busy right now,” Lefty answered. “Why don’t you go find a game and I’ll send her over when she comes down?”
Levi nodded, picked up his bottle and glass and headed to the far corner of the saloon. He had no interest in cards tonight. Hell, he had no interest in anything tonight, least of all Stella, but maybe she’d work some of the tightness out of his shoulders. And everywhere else.
Will waved him over to his table, and more than a few others lifted their glasses in greeting, but Levi moved past all of them and hunkered down at a broken table in the darkened corner.
Carlson eyed him from across the room, said something to the other men at his table, then laughed. The other three men didn’t laugh, just glared in Levi’s direction. Levi returned their glare until they all looked away.
He leveled his gaze at the back of Will’s head, silently cursing him out for suggesting this idea in the first place. He’d have been better off back at the ranch, alone on his cot, imagining all the things he’d like to do to Miss Joanna McCaine and all the things he’d like her to do to him.
Half a bottle of whiskey later, Levi’s mood hadn’t improved even the slightest.
“Was beginnin’ to think I’d never see you again.” Stella stood in front of him, her blonde ringlets slightly askew, her dress more than a little wrinkled.
“Stella.” He offered his glass, which she filled and downed – twice.
“Lefty said you might be lookin’ for some company tonight.” She ran a finger down his cheek, making him twitch. Had she always looked so tired? So empty?
Levi nodded and rose from his chair, lifting the bottle and his glass at the same time.
He followed her upstairs – the same stairs she’d just come down – and into the last room at the end of the hall. He’d never paid much mind to Stella’s room before, but tonight he took a moment to look around.
Tattered white curtains hung from the dingy window and the rumpled sheets did little to hide the lumpy straw tic or the signs of the men who’d been there before him.
Stella’s dress landed in a heap at his feet, leaving her completely naked, save for her boots. It was a sight that usually had Levi reaching for his own buttons, but tonight, it was Stella who reached for them.
“Come on, sugar, let’s get you out of these clothes.” Her grimy fingers fumbled with the top few buttons on his shirt before he stilled her hands with his own.
“That’s it, lover,” she cooed in a voice completely void of any feeling. She wound her fingers through his hair and pulled his face closer.
Levi dragged her up against him, and kissed her hard. This is what he wanted, it’s what he’d come to town for. So why wasn’t he reacting the way he normally did to Stella?
She wiggled against him, moaning with his kisses and moving her hands down his back and over his backside. But her moan didn’t sound anything like Joanna’s did. Stella’s was forced, a little too loud and did absolutely nothing for him. Her hands didn’t tremble when th
ey touched him, either. Joanna’s did.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” she asked. “You’re not yourself tonight.”
Levi shrugged. “Too much whiskey, I guess.”
Stella eyed the half-full bottle and flashed him a look of disbelief. “No amount of drink’s ever stopped you before. Let’s try something else.”
Her hand moved over his thigh and up to his belt buckle. “First we need to get you out of these.” She worked the buckle free, then set to releasing the buttons on his pants.
Levi kissed her again. He slid his hands over her body, feeling their way over her shoulders and breasts, down her belly and over both hips.
Her hands groped against him, rubbing, touching, squeezing.
Nothing.
He might as well be kissing a tree for all the enjoyment he was getting out of it.
“Come on, sugar,” she said, her voice losing much of its sweetness. “I’m ready any time you are.”
“Sorry, Stella,” he muttered, tugging her hands from behind his neck. “Just ain’t gonna happen tonight.”
She didn’t even look disappointed; just lifted her dress from the floor and stepped back into it, her fingers working the buttons with quick precision.
“I still get paid for my time.” She straightened the combs in her hair and fluffed out the fringe against her forehead.
“Yeah, of course.” Levi pulled a few coins from his pocket and pressed them into her outstretched hand. Then he set about fastening his own buttons and buckle.
“Close the door on your way out,” Stella said, then stopped as she pulled it open. Her pale eyes looked back at him, and she smiled. It was the first honest smile he’d ever seen cross her face. “I don’t know whose got you all tied up in knots, Levi, but whoever she is, you either need to get on with her or get over her.” Then Stella was gone.
Levi gaped after her for long minutes. What did she know, anyway? She was nothing but a two-bit whore working in a rundown saloon in the middle of cattle country. All he needed was some more whiskey. Then maybe he’d go sit in on a game or two downstairs. Winning someone else’s money always made him feel better.
And if that didn’t work, he’d find someone to plant his fist into. That’d do the trick.
“Jeez, you’re fast.” Will chuckled as Levi pulled up a chair. “D’you even give her time to drop her drawers?”
Levi put on his best game-face and winked at Will. “If you knew Stella, you’d know she doesn’t wear drawers.”
Will and the other two men roared with laughter, forcing Levi to laugh too, though not near as loud.
As they all settled back down, Will shuffled the deck and began to deal. “You all know each other?” he asked.
“’Course,” Levi answered, nodding at the other two men. Word was that Brooks Francis and Milt Mays had worked the Barnes’s spread for more years than most could remember. And every Saturday night you’d find them at the same table, playing 5-card draw and drinking Lefty’s rot-gut.
Brooks rearranged the cards in his hand. “Heard you two’re working for them McCaine girls.”
“Yup.” Will fanned his cards, then slid them back together.
Milt shook his head and tossed a chip into the middle of the table. “Ain’t right what they’re doing over there.”
Levi’s skin prickled. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“Fencing out their neighbours as though they was all criminals. Ain’t right.”
Brooks added his chips, then lay his cards face down on the table.
“Think so, do you?” Levi tried to sound disinterested as he added his chips and studied his cards. “You think it’s better for their neighbors to keep on stealing their cattle?”
Shock flashed across Milt’s face. “Stealin’? Who’s stealin’?”
Will cleared his throat. “I don’t think Travers meant that the way it sounded.” He shot Levi a warning look, but Levi just shrugged back. “He just meant that a lot of cattle go missing every year from the Double M, so Jo is just trying to keep them all contained now.”
Milt slid two cards toward Will and clicked his tongue. “Jo. What kind of girl calls herself by a man’s name, anyway?” His head shook slowly, but his eyes never lifted from his cards. “I hear her and her sister can’t keep workers out there on that ranch.”
Brooks called for two cards as well. “Could you abide workin’ for a girl?” He shook his head in disgust. “Don’t know how you two do it.”
Levi’s mouth opened, but Will beat him to the answer.
“Easy,” he said. “We get paid on time, we get paid pretty well, and we get to eat Miss Ginny’s cookin’.”
Milt didn’t look convinced. “We get paid on time, too, Brennan.”
“Yeah, but have you ever had one of Miss Ginny’s home-cooked meals?”
Both men shook their heads. “Can’t say we have. I hear she’s a helluva cook, though.”
Will nodded. “You’ve got no idea.”
“Are we playing cards or sharing recipes?” Levi pretended to focus on the game at hand. The other three hunkered down over their own hands and almost stopped talking altogether. Which was just fine with Levi.
After a couple hours, Will collected up his meager winnings and excused himself. “I see something that interests me more than these cards now, boys.”
He adjusted his hat and strode over to the bar where Stella and one of the other girls, Crystal, stood talking to Lefty. In less than a minute, Will was following Crystal up the stairs.
Levi sat through another couple hands, even letting himself lose so the other two wouldn’t think he was cheating. Then he made his excuses and headed for the door.
He tossed Lefty another coin. “Tell Brennan I’ve gone home, will ya?”
Lefty nodded and pocketed the coin, then turned back to wiping the bar with a dirty cloth.
“Travers.”
Levi turned at the sound of his name and came face to face with Pearson’s men who’d been sitting with Peter Carlson. He didn’t answer them, simply stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets and waited.
“You no-good sonuvabitch.” Frank Bellows stepped closer, the stench of cheap cigars wafting around him. “The Boss is looking to tack your hide on his wall and I mean to help him do just that.”
“Yeah?” Levi tried to sound indifferent. “Why’s that?”
“You know damn well why.” Bits of tobacco flew from Frank’s black teeth with each word. “Stickin’ his little girl the way you did and leavin’ her ruined.”
Carlson walked up behind Frank and smirked. “I can’t believe Pearson ain’t had you killed yet.”
Levi shrugged as casually as he could. “Pearson knows he can’t prove anything. It’s her word against mine.”
“He’ll have all the proof he needs in another month or so,” Frank said. “Then we’ll be coming for you, Travers.”
Another shrug. “We’ll see.” He walked outside, down the boardwalk a few steps, thankful for a breath of fresh air. Carlson’s voice trailed out after him.
“He’s probably already stuck both them McCaine girls, too. Probably turned them both into his own whores out there.” He laughed. “Hell, I bet he even had a go at Mac’s old lady.”
Levi had already turned back into the saloon the second he heard Carlson mention the McCaines. He grabbed Carlson by the shoulder, whipped him around and slammed his fist into the other man’s face. Carlson grunted, stumbled, then crashed against a table, sending cards, drinks and men flying.
“Fight!” Several voices sent up the cheer as the tables around them emptied and were pulled out of the way so everyone could crowd around and get a better view.
Levi moved in again. He grabbed Carlson by the shirt, hauled him up, slammed another punch into his already bloody face, then let him fall again.
“Travers!” Lefty shuffled out from behind the bar, a thick board in his hand. “Get off him.”
Levi made to reach for Carlson again, but Lefty pushed the board
between them, his growl the only sound in the room. “I said get off.” He didn’t even flinch when Levi glowered at him. “You said you were on your way back to the ranch, so I suggest you get on your way.”
“You sonuvabitch!” Carlson cried, his hands cupped over the blood gushing from his nose. “I think you broke it.”
“You’re lucky that’s all he broke,” Lefty growled. “Now get outta here. Both of you.”
Levi straightened his shirt, jammed his hat back on, and pointed a finger at Carlson. “You even think about saying one more word about the McCaines, Carlson, and I swear to God--”
“Travers.” Will slapped him on the back. “Looks like you’ve outstayed our welcome here,” he said, smiling all around. “Let’s go.” As he pushed Levi toward the door, he called back over his shoulder. “Hey Lefty – tell Crystal thanks.”
Levi pulled out of Will’s grasp, cursing everyone around him – including Will. Especially Will.
Will raised both hands in surrender. “I was just trying to help you, friend. If you want to go back there and have the rest of them fellas beat you within an inch of your life, go ahead. But you’re on your own.”
Levi hesitated but a moment before exhaling a loud, long breath and heading down the boardwalk. “Forget it. Let’s just go home.”
“Home?” Will muttered, falling in beside him. “Don’t think I’ve ever heard you use that word before.”
They paid Bill at the livery and rode for the ranch, each keeping whatever he was thinking to himself.
o0o
Jo lingered in the stable as long as she could. Every stall was clean; the gear sorted, repaired and put away; she’d even swept the floor. The crescent moon was high and the lamp oil low when she finally closed the door behind her and headed back to the house.
With each step, she gave herself a mental kick. What did she care that Travers went into town with Will? She’d been expecting him to do it every week since he’d arrived on the ranch anyway. And who cared that it was well past midnight and he still wasn’t back? Stella could keep a man busy for hours.