Jodi Thomas - WM 1 (28 page)
Read Jodi Thomas - WM 1 Online
Authors: Texas Rain
“No. There’s a potluck lunch. I helped Mrs. Bailey make bread for it after supper. I should be back by three.” She closed the door without expecting him to comment.
He opened his mouth to call her back, but what would he say? I’ve got a date to meet a horse thief to discuss a murder planned by two barmaids I saw a little too much of an hour ago?
A tiny hand touched his.
He looked down at blue eyes staring up from the blankets by the fire.
Travis growled.
The boy growled back, then climbed up in the chair with Travis. Duck put his head on Travis’s shoulder and let out a deep breath as he went back to sleep.
Travis kissed the top of the boy’s head. “I don’t scare you one bit, do I, my brave little man.”
He leaned back in the chair and thought of Rainey. “I probably don’t frighten her, either, but if we’re talking honest, son, she about scares me to death.”
CHAPTER 21
TRAVIS GOT TO THE CAFÉ EARLY SO THAT HE COULD have Duck settled in a chair when Rainey arrived. For once, he hoped the boy wouldn’t pick up on what the adults were talking about.
He’d enjoyed spending the morning with Duck. Because the Baileys and Sage had gone to church, Travis cooked a late breakfast of fried eggs over toasted raisin bread, then they’d taken off on a walk about the town. Duck grew braver each day, no longer holding on for dear life every time they passed a stranger. Sage had been right, the trip was good for him.
She’d bought him a new pair of trousers and a matching coat. The vest he now wore didn’t make him seem so thin, and Travis hoped it would keep him warmer.
Dr. Bailey gave the boy a top, and Duck found it fascinating to wind the string around the brightly colored wood. Travis showed him several times how to spin it, but for Duck the fun seemed to lie in the winding, which made for a great toy at the café.
While Travis watched the door, Duck sat close to him winding and rewinding the top. The third time the waitress stopped to ask if they’d decided on one of the three choices on the menu board, Travis ordered for the boy. He wasn’t sure Rainey planned to eat; after all, he’d only said they should met. This way Duck could eat while they talked. If she agreed to join him for lunch, Duck would sit quietly watching the people pass the window while they ate.
A few minutes later when the waitress delivered Duck’s plate of food, she smiled and asked, “Is Miss Adams joining you again?”
Travis had to think for a moment who she might be talking about, then he quickly said, “I believe so. That is, if she doesn’t get tied up.” He knew he was pushing it, but he added, “Do you know her well?”
The waitress laughed. “Not at all, she’s usually in a hurry when she makes her deliveries here. I have had a few people offer me money if I’ll tell them her secrets.”
Travis frowned.
She tapped his shoulder. “Don’t worry, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell. Pies that good should be magical, not just made from a recipe. I thought that was real cute of her to order one of her own creations last night.” She winked at him. “And smart of you to eat both slices.”
A customer called from another table and the waitress disappeared. Travis pieced the puzzle together, except for one part. Where did Rainey Adams make the pies? She obviously made enough to live on, so she had to bake a great many, but where? Not the Askew House or she wouldn’t have been coming home so late last night. If she had a home, she would be living there and not at the boardinghouse.
One mystery about his fairy was solved. He now knew how she’d gotten those burns on her hands.
He smiled, deciding to keep his new knowledge to himself. Let her have her last little secret. He’d learned quite a lot this morning.
By the time Duck finished his meal, Travis had stopped watching the door. It was almost one o’clock. If she’d planned to meet him, she would have been there by now.
“Want to do some more walking about town?” Travis asked Duck as he dropped a few bills on the table.
The boy didn’t answer, but when Travis stood, he gathered up his top and string and slipped his little hand in Travis’s. The Ranger didn’t miss the way Duck always walked on his right side so that he didn’t interfere with the cane. Duck was smart; he’d talk in time.
They walked one block after another in no particular direction. He didn’t bother to go past Askew House; she wouldn’t be there. As far as he knew she had no friends, except the few ladies she’d met at the boardinghouse. Somewhere in this town she was probably baking, but he didn’t even know who to ask.
When they walked past the Ranger station and jail, Travis decided to stop in and see if there were any news about the Norman brothers. He might as well report in on his failure to collect any new information from the barmaid. Maybe Dillon would assign someone else to give it a shot.
Mike Saddler was the only man in the office and he didn’t look happy. Travis pulled a stool by the window and swung Duck up on it so he could watch folks passing and still feel safe.
“I’m glad you’re here,” the young Ranger said the moment Travis gave Mike his full attention. “I can’t get the prisoners to quiet down. They keep yelling or asking for things I don’t know if I’m supposed to give out. Dillon left for lunch and told me to be careful around them, but they scare me, if you want to know the truth.”
“Ignore them,” Travis suggested as he poured himself a cup of the strong coffee they all called Pecos mix because it was as thick as the river bottom mud in the Pecos River.
“I can’t,” Mike answered. “All my upbringing tells me that wouldn’t be polite. I’m not trained for this.”
“Throw a bucket of water on them. That usually settles drunks and fighters down,” Travis mumbled as he broke off a hunk of hard bread and dunked it in his coffee to make the bread eatable and the coffee sweeter. It wasn’t much of a meal, but he’d missed lunch waiting for Rainey.
Mike scrambled his hair as if his head hurt. “I can’t throw water on ladies, but I’m not sure I should give one the brush she keeps asking for, and the other one has told me twice that it’s past teatime.”
“Ladies?” The young Ranger finally had Travis’s attention.
“Yeah, one’s a widow and the other is younger but just as pretty. Both of them look so proper you’d think they’d never steal a thing, but Dillon caught them last night red-handed.”
Travis thought of a green-eyed girl he knew who looked to innocent to steal.
“One of them got blond hair and green eyes?” It was a long shot, but he had to ask.
“Yeap. She’s the one who wants the brush.”
“What did they steal?”
Mike continued scratching his head. “Wine. Can you believe that? Dillon said once they were caught they offered to pay for the bottles, but the saloon owner insisted we lock them up. It don’t make no sense, but we’ve got to wait until tomorrow morning to get the judge to figure it out. The widow claims her husband used to own the cellar they were climbing out of and that she was only taking some of his wine. If that’s true, it don’t seem like we got much of a crime spree going.”
Travis had already moved near the door leading to the cells. “Mind if I take a look at these women?”
“Go ahead, but if you poke your head in there, the young one will throw something at you. She hit Roy with her shoe this morning. Blacked his eye.”
“It can’t be her,” Travis mumbled as he walked through the door leading to two cells reserved for short-term guests of the state.
He noticed a well-dressed woman in black standing by the window. She had her eyes closed and the sun was warming her face. She could have been a painting of the Madonna. He’d never seen a woman look less like a criminal.
Then he saw Rainey a few feet away. She was storming back and forth across the cell like a caged cat. Her skirt had mud all over it, and her hair was a mass of curls.
“Damn it, Rainey!” Travis yelled. “Why’d you stand me up for lunch?”
She turned and stared at him as if amazed such a nitwit could talk. “I’m sorry.” She squared her shoulders and put her fists on her hips. “I seemed to have been detained.”
Then both women laughed.
Mike ran in behind Travis. “You know this woman?” Suddenly his boring assignment became very interesting. “You know her, McMurray?”
“Know her?” Travis swore. “I plan to marry her when she gives up her life of crime.”
One glance at Mike’s face, and it was Travis’s turn to laugh at how ridiculous he sounded. If Mike had any sense, he’d lock him up with them. But then, of course, he’d have to arrest Duck as well, for the boy would never leave his side.
Travis tried to explain. “I had scheduled a lunch with Miss Adams without knowing she planned a crime spree before meeting me.”
The widow giggled. When Travis glanced at her, she was smiling so mischievously, he couldn’t help himself—he winked at her. He’d bet a month’s pay that Rainey had told the widow all about him.
Rainey was not amused. “I never promised to have lunch with you in the first place, Travis, so don’t go trying to add that to my list of crimes.”
Mike looked torn. He admired Travis and didn’t want to do anything to make him angry, but he had no authority to unlock a cell. He also had never seen McMurray laugh, not in three years of riding from here to the border with him.
“You telling me to let them out?” Mike asked, trying to guess what was going on.
“No,” Travis answered. “Lock me in with them. I’ll have a talk with these two dangerous outlaws.” Travis heard the stool he’d sat the boy on hit the floor as Duck must have jumped off it. He ran to Travis’s side, telling all that anywhere the tall man went, he went as well.
When Mike pulled the door open and stepped aside, Travis and Duck walked into the cell. “Bring us some coffee, would you, Mike?” Travis asked. “And make a fresh pot. I have a feeling it may take more than one cup to straighten this out.”
“I prefer tea,” Rainey added.
“Wine for me.” The widow giggled. “I think there are a few bottles on the desk.”
“Coffee,” Travis corrected. “Just coffee all around.”
Mike disappeared. At last he’d been asked to do something that made sense.
With both women staring at him, Travis walked across the cell and sat down on the bunk, stretching his leg straight to ease the discomfort. Duck stayed right with him. The boy didn’t look like he liked the idea of being in a cage, even a big one, but as long as Travis was with him, he’d survive.
Duck sat as close as he could beside Travis and wrapped his thin arm around Travis’s elbow.
The widow bent in front of Duck. “What’s your name, son?” Her smile softened years off her face, and Travis didn’t miss the laugh lines around her eyes. She might be in mourning now, but she’d known happier times. She had a kindness in her eyes that would have taken a master actor to fake.
Duck moved his head behind Travis’s arm.
“He doesn’t talk, ma’am,” Travis answered for the boy, “but we call him Duck.”
She peeked at Duck and in a kind voice said, “Well, hello, Duck, my names start with
D
s too. I’m Dottie Davis.”
D
s too. I’m Dottie Davis.”
Then the widow straightened and stared at Travis. “You’ll have to give that boy a proper name. It’s your duty as his father. He can’t grow into a man with a name like Duck.”
Travis started to explain that he wasn’t the father, but he figured he was about as close to it as Duck had. He changed the subject. “You used to be a teacher, Mrs. Davis?”
She nodded slightly. “I used to be a lot of things, but right now it appears I’m a criminal.”
“I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.” Travis glanced over at Rainey hoping she knew his words were for her as well. “Sometimes situations look like one thing and in reality they are quite another. I’ve had a few months to study the law lately, and maybe I can straighten all this out for you two ladies.”
The widow took a deep breath but didn’t look like she held much hope in his prediction. “Thank you. Are you a lawyer or a Ranger?”
“I’m taking the bar to be a lawyer tomorrow, but right now I’m a Ranger. Travis McMurray at your service.”
“Well, Mr. McMurray, how do we go about getting out of this place. You’re not going to believe how horrible we’ve been mistreated. No water to wash, and we had to sleep in our clothes last night. And this morning we awoke to find a strange man standing by the door staring at us.” The widow looked about ready to cry. “I’ll never get the smell of this place out of my clothes.”
Travis glanced at Rainey again. She’d turned toward the window and didn’t even look like she paid attention to the conversation. She was the one who stood him up for lunch, who got herself in jail, but she acted as if he should be the one apologizing.
Maybe in kissing her last night he’d gone too far, but it felt so right. She’d seemed fine until he started talking and made a fool of himself asking her to marry him. If he even had another moment alone with her, he swore he’d forget talking all together.
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