Lawman in Disguise (18 page)

“Why? Does the boy want me to serve his stew without carrots?” Daisy asked, making a wry face. Billy Joe used to refuse to eat carrots when he was little, she remembered. She hadn't minded leaving them out of a stew, but such an accommodation had enraged his father...

“No-o-o...” Jane said. “Go see them.”

Now Daisy noticed the sparkle in her eyes, as if the other woman knew a delightful secret.

Could it possibly be—?
She hurried through the door.

It was! Thorn sat there at the middle table, dusty and travel-stained, but his grin was as wide as that of the boy who sat beside him. There was no star on Thorn's shirt.

“Look who's home, Ma!” Billy Joe crowed. “We came to surprise you!”

Daisy startled everyone in the restaurant by her shriek of joy.
He'd come back, he'd actually come back!
Suddenly all her fears that Thorn wouldn't return, that he'd stay with the police and forget all about his promises of a life with her and Billy Joe, seemed so silly.
Why had she doubted him for a single second
?

The dark eyes that met hers were full of love—they weren't the eyes of a man who made empty promises. She was in his strong arms in an instant, her lips meeting his with urgent force, as if she could hardly believe he was real. He tasted salty and still smelled of his horse, but she couldn't imagine anything better than his kiss.

* * *

After Thorn and Billy Joe were full of beef stew, Thorn walked them home, though he was again taking a room at the hotel.

“I suppose you have to work tomorrow?” he asked Daisy as they strolled down the darkened main street toward her house. He wanted to ask her how soon she could quit her job—right now wasn't too soon for him, because he wanted nothing more than to spend all his time with the woman he loved. He didn't want to be unreasonable, though, and knew Daisy was too conscientious to be inconsiderate of her employer.

“No. But I do have plans...” she said, her eyes dancing.

“Plans? But I don't want to let you out of my sight, woman,” he protested mock-indignantly, and smiled at Billy Joe's chuckle. “I rode all the way from Austin like Ace's tail was on fire just to hurry back to your side, and you tell me you have
plans?”

“Yes, but as long as you don't mind riding out to the Brookfields' ranch with me, you can come, too,” she told him.

“Sure, we can do that. Why don't we rent a buggy at the livery, and I'll let Ace rest in your barn. But why are you going out there?”

“It just so happens Milly's making me a dress,” she told him, smiling as her voice trailed off mysteriously, and then he caught on.

“She's making you a dress? Is there a special occasion coming up?” He grinned down at her, loving the way her deep-set blue eyes gleamed.

“
Maybe...
And she's ready to do a final fitting on the dress she's been making for me. But you can't see it yet,” she told him with mock severity.

Thorn pretended to look disappointed. “I understand her husband's quite the cattleman. I suppose I could pick up some pointers from him about ranching, seeing as I'm about to change professions...”

“I don't hafta go, do I?” Billy Joe asked.

“You don't want to go?” Daisy asked, surprised. He'd always been eager to go out to the ranch, where he could ride a horse and learn roping tricks from the cowboys.

He shrugged. “Miss Ella's dependin' on me at her café,” he said. “And besides, you and Thorn'll probably want to do more of that
kissing
stuff on the way there and back,” he said, rolling his eyes in pretended disgust.

Daisy couldn't smother her laughter. Her little boy wasn't a little boy anymore, but he still wanted to disguise his thoughtfulness as something else. She was glad he didn't seem to mind sharing her with Thorn.

“All right then—we probably won't be home till late evening. You could stop in at the hotel for your supper. I'll ask Jane to save you something. Senora Flora from the mayor's house is going to be doing the cooking at the restaurant tomorrow.”

“Yippee! I hope she makes tamales!” The Mexican housekeeper had contributed them to a church supper some time ago, and Billy Joe had never forgotten.

They'd have so many more good memories now, Daisy realized. Life would be full of happy occasions, and home would be a place filled with the people they loved best. She remembered when she'd been married to William and had dreaded waking up every day.

There's no more reason for me to fear for the future
, she realized.
Now I can't wait for the rest of my life to begin.

* * *

“You're sure the Spinsters Club would be ready to hold the wedding reception in just two weeks? That wouldn't be rushing y'all too much?” Daisy asked doubtfully, looking down at Milly from the chair she was standing on while Milly pinned the hem of her wedding dress.

Milly had a mouthful of pins held at the ready, but she spit them out into her hand before replying. “Of course we'll be ready. We started making plans at the last meeting, when we knew for sure that you and Thorn were in love—how to decorate the church, who's cooking what for the reception afterward...and Reverend Chadwick was out to visit yesterday, so I know for a fact there's no other wedding scheduled for two weeks from now on Saturday. And the hem's the only thing left to do on this dress,” she added, holding the fabric between her hands as she expertly placed the pins.

“I think it's the finest wedding dress you've ever made, and I've seen several of yours,” Daisy said, remembering other Spinsters Club marriages. She stared down at the ivory mousseline de soie creation that fitted her to perfection now that Milly had made a few nips and tucks here and there. It was simple and elegant, with a diamond-shaped neckline, lace trim only at the edge of the scalloped bishop sleeves and along the hem, with satin trim banding on the lower skirt and the belted waist. The gown featured a bustle and an elegant train—a short one, but it made Daisy feel like a princess who was about to marry her prince.

“Thank you,” Milly said, beaming with pleasure. “It's for sure I've never seen a happier bride. Nick and I are so pleased for you and Thorn, Daisy. And what is the groom wearing?” She nodded toward the parlor's high window. It looked out on the back porch, and through it, they could hear the low hum of conversation from Milly's husband and Thorn as they discussed the finer points of the cattle business.

Daisy shrugged. “I don't know. He's being very mysterious about that. He tells me not to worry my pretty little head about it.”

Milly chuckled. “Men! When Nick and I married, he wore a suit that had been made by his London tailor, since he hadn't been in America that long,” she said. “Since then, though, it takes a wedding or a Sunday church service for me to see him in anything but dusty ranch clothes. But since I love him no matter what he wears, it doesn't really make much of a difference. I haven't known your Thorn for long, but from what I've seen of him—and the way you look at him—he'll be more than presentable come your wedding day, whatever he wears, at least as far as you're concerned. Oh my, it's noon already,” she added, when the grandfather clock in the parlor began to chime the hour. She set the last pin in place. “Hop down from there and change your clothes, and we'll get a meal together.”

Warmed by her friend's approval, Daisy changed back into the clothes she'd worn for the trip to the ranch. Surely good friends were almost as big a blessing as the love of a good man.

Chapter Seventeen

T
he heat of the day had faded somewhat by the time Thorn and Daisy headed back to her house in Simpson Creek.

“So we'll be married in two weeks?” Thorn said, after Daisy told him about what she and Milly had discussed. “That's wonderful, sweetheart. It can't come too soon for me.”

Daisy nodded, pleased by his eagerness. “Milly's going to bring the dress the day before, when she comes into town to help decorate the church, and the social hall for the reception. And Billy Joe's going to stay with them while we take our wedding trip out to your ranch—”

“
Our
ranch,” he corrected her with a grin. Then, noticing her smile fade, he asked, “What's wrong, sweetheart? Don't you want to move there anymore?”

Once again, she'd been transparent. If he had acted angry or hurt at her reaction, she might have hesitated to answer him, but his gaze was clear and honest, his expression encouraging her to share her heart with him.

“Oh, no, Thorn, it's just that...didn't you say that your oldest sister and her husband and family have been living in the main ranch house?” When he nodded, she went on. “I just feel uncomfortable about displacing them, that's all...”

He put out a hand to touch her wrist. “Daisy, Ellanora and Hap have always told me that when I'm ready to quit being a Ranger and settle down at the ranch, they'd be ready to move out, and the last letter I got from them, just the other day, confirms that. Ellanora's older than me, you know, and has raised a passel of kids, and now those kids are almost all grown and gone, starting their own lives nearby. So Ellanora's been feeling like the big ranch house is too much room for just her and Hap. Now, I'm planning to offer Hap the foremanship of the ranch, if he wants it—and I think he will—until Billy Joe's old enough to take over, at least. Would you mind if I spent part of our honeymoon building them a small house on the ranch property, close to ours but far enough apart that you and Ellanora can run your own households? I think we could do it, Hap and me, and if I know the family, most of them will turn out to help us build it, along with the ranch hands.”

He'd thought of everything, Daisy realized. She'd been about to say she and Thorn and his sister and her husband could share the big ranch house, but such an arrangement never would have worked for long, especially when one of the women had been accustomed to being mistress of the house prior to the second woman's coming. Daisy imagined watching Thorn build a house during the day while she and his sister cooked the builders hearty meals for their midday breaks, and the evenings she would spend with her new husband...

She murmured, “That sounds perfect, Thorn. I can't wait to meet your sister and the rest of your family.”

He squeezed her fingers before returning his right hand to the reins. “You're a good woman, Daisy Henderson. I can't wait until you're Daisy Dawson.”

“Me, neither. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?” she said, and then it seemed the perfect time for one of those kissing stops that Billy Joe professed to be so embarrassed about.

“Are you happy?” Thorn asked her a few minutes later, after he'd kissed her for a long while that still wasn't nearly long enough.

She nodded. “I didn't think it was possible to be this happy, Thorn.” It was true, she
was
happier than she'd ever thought of being. But realizing how happy she was just made her remember someone else who could not possibly be happy at this time.

“Then why do your eyes look troubled?”

Would she ever learn how not to show every thought in her head?

“I
am
happy, Thorn, unbelievably happy—but I keep thinking of Tilly in that jail cell. She'll be in prison for a long time, won't she?”

His face sobered and he nodded. “It's likely. Don't you think she's earned it, for helping Griggs as she did? If things had gone the way that she'd planned, Mrs. Gilmore would have been held for ransom and possibly killed.”

Daisy nodded. “Yes, of course. It just feels wrong to be so happy when her future is so...so bleak.”

He put his arm around her and hugged her, then kissed her cheek. “I'll say it again, Daisy, you're a good woman. You know Tilly wouldn't spare a thought for you if your positions were reversed.”

He was right, Daisy knew, but she also knew she wouldn't be completely at peace if she ignored the urging in her heart. Wasn't there a verse in the Scriptures that said “I was in prison, and you visited Me,” meaning it was the same as doing it for Jesus himself?

“I know. But she's got to be feeling so alone, with Griggs dead, knowing she'll stand trial soon. I think I'll go see her, between now and the trial. See if I can...somehow be a friend to her.” The trial was scheduled to start next week, when the circuit judge could be in Simpson Creek. It would probably be a quick affair, over well before their wedding.

“You're an amazing woman, Daisy,” Thorn told her. “I don't know why God thought I was worthy of you, but I'm blessed that He did.”

* * *

“What are you doing here? Come to gloat, did you?”

The woman who faced her from the other side of the bars and taunted her as she approached appeared to have aged ten years at least since Daisy had last seen her. She wore a baggy dress of a coarse, plain fabric that Daisy knew she would have scorned to wear before she'd been arrested. She'd always put such stock in looking pretty and fashionable, wanting to be admired and desired by every man she met.

Gone was the bravado and the lively flirtatiousness that had been the essence of Tilly Pridemore.
Pride no more
, thought Daisy.

Her throat felt thick as she tried to find the right words. “No, I haven't come to gloat, Tilly. I... I just wanted to see how you were, and if you needed anything.”

The woman turned to the man in the next cell, the other outlaw who had been captured with her, and chuckled. “Mose, she wants to know if I need anything.”

The other outlaw guffawed. “Why don't you tell her you'd like to borrow that big key ring the sheriff keeps in his desk, the one that would let both of us out of these cells? You sure could use that. Oh, and a coupla horses we could ride away on, as long as she's asking.”

Tilly grinned, but there was no warmth in it, just a stretching of her lips in a mockery of a smile. She turned back to Daisy. “Well?”

“You know I can't do that,” Daisy said. “And maybe you don't want to hear this, but I wanted you to know I forgive you, Tilly, for what you did.”

The words seemed to hang there in the air between the two of them.

Tilly blinked, and her mouth fell open for a moment.

“If that don't beat all,” she said. “'Spose you could tell the judge how you feel, and he'll forget about sending me to prison?”

But Daisy felt no urge to rise to the bait. “You and I both know I can't change that, Tilly. But maybe I could write to you, while you're in prison. You told me once you don't have any family. And you won't be in there forever... When you get released, you could come out to the ranch where we'll be living, if you want. The Dancing D, it's called, north of Mason a few miles. We could give you work...”

She thought it likely that Tilly would jeer at that, but if the woman had truly thought about what she would do when her prison sentence was done, she'd have to have realized her options would be severely limited. Decent folks would shun her if they knew she'd served time. Unless she traveled many miles and lied about her background, there would be little open to her but jobs so menial Tilly might be tempted into lawbreaking again, or prostitution—and she would be too old by then to be very appealing as a soiled dove.

“You oughta be smart an' take her up on it, Tilly,” Mose muttered from the far cell. “You ain't gonna be gettin' many nice offers like that, you know.”

Tilly was still staring at her as if she couldn't believe her ears. “Well, I'll be jiggered,” she murmured, shaking her head. “You really mean it, don't you? Does that handsome husband-to-be of yours know you're offering a jailbird a job?”

Daisy nodded, and didn't mention the fact that Thorn had warned her Tilly would probably laugh in her face at such an offer. “He said it was okay.”

“And what would
I
do on a ranch, Daisy Henderson?” Tilly retorted, cynicism gleaming from her hard eyes. “Round up longhorns with the rest of the cowpunchers?”

Daisy shrugged. “From what I hear, the woman who cooks for the ranch hands is getting along in years. You always wanted to be a cook, didn't you? I can't think of a better audience for your culinary skills than a bunch of cowboys...”

Daisy could see Tilly was turning it over in her mind, imagining it. The idea of cooking for men had to appeal to her, but Tilly also had to know she'd be a lot older by then, not to mention worn down by the harshness of years of prison life—hardly someone the cowboys would flirt with.

“We'll see,” she said at last. “I don't even know how many years off that'll be yet, before I can take you up on such an offer. Why did you make it—and why forgive me, if you don't mind me asking? It seems like you've got it made—you're about to marry a handsome hero and go off to a peachy new life as Thorn Dawson's wife. You're shaking the dust of this town off your boots. It would be easy for you to leave it all behind—and especially to leave
me
behind. It's not like we were ever friends, and you don't owe me a thing. Why do you need to be asking for any more trouble?”

Daisy took a deep breath before replying. “Because I'm a Christian, Tilly. The Bible instructs us to forgive and offer help.”

The woman whistled. “All those Sunday mornings you took off work to go to church taught you that? I thought you were wasting your time, but I guess not.”

Daisy nodded. “I learned a lot from Reverend Chadwick's sermons and reading my Bible.”

Tilly looked wistful. “I never did have a Bible, but I didn't have much book learning, neither, though I can read and write enough to get by. Reckon I couldn't understand the Good Book, though.”

Daisy hadn't dreamed she'd be offered such an open door by Tilly, but saying a quick silent “thank You” to God, she walked right through it. Reaching inside her reticule, she pulled out the New Testament she used to read on her breaks. “I think you could, Tilly, if you give it a try. I want you to have this.”

The woman's eyes widened as she recognized the book she'd often caught Daisy reading. “Oh, no, I couldn't—not your Bible, Daisy.”

“This is just the New Testament, Tilly. My family Bible—with the Old and New Testament—is at home, so I'll still have one to read, too. Please take this one. Start with the Gospels—they're right at the beginning. If you pray and read it, it will give you hope—I promise it will.”

Want struggled with pride in the other woman's eyes, but at last she reached a hand through the bars and took the leather-bound volume. “Guess I'll be having some time to read, that's for sure, and I'll need all the hope I can get. Thank you, Daisy. You're better to me than I deserve.”

Daisy felt tears stinging her eyes, even as peace settled over her heart. “You're welcome, Tilly. I have to go now, but I'll visit again.”

“I'd like that.”

Daisy left the jail then, knowing she had a shift to finish at the restaurant, but her heart felt so light it might well float away. She couldn't wait to tell Thorn and Billy Joe about her time with Tilly.

* * *

Everything was in readiness. The pews were packed with what looked like the entire population of Simpson Creek. The mayor and his wife were there, with Mrs. Gilmore looking none the worse for her recent abduction. Mrs. Detwiler, the matron who was the social arbiter of Simpson Creek, was present, as were all the Spinsters Club members. Thorn's sisters and their families had made the trek from Mason to welcome her into the family, and she was looking forward to getting to know them better. A couple of Thorn's Ranger compadres had come, too. Wonder of wonders, Mr. Prendergast had even closed the hotel restaurant for several hours, ostensibly so that he could attend, but also because he knew no one in town would be anywhere else but at this church, seeing Daisy Henderson wedding Thorn Dawson.

The Spinsters Club had decorated the ends of the pews with sunflowers, the only blossoms still plentifully in the late summer Texas sunshine. But Daisy's bouquet was made up of—what else?—daisies, grown in Mrs. Detwiler's greenhouse, mixed with some creamy ivory roses that matched the hue of her mousseline de soie bridal dress beautifully.

Billy Joe, wearing his new Sunday-best suit and proud as a peacock in full bloom that his mother had picked him to walk her down the aisle, wore a daisy as his boutonniere. Standing at the altar was Sheriff Bishop, Thorn's best man, with Dr. Walker serving as his other groomsman. Milly and Prissy, carrying sunflowers, attended Daisy as dual matrons of honor.

And now, as she drew near to the altar where Thorn waited for her, she saw why she needn't have worried about what he would wear to their wedding. He had on a new frock coat of an elegant black fabric, with an ivory paisley silk cravat rather than the string tie she would have expected. He wore an ivory rosebud as his boutonniere.

How devastatingly handsome could one man be? How had he managed to obtain such a stylish suit in Simpson Creek, one of the smallest towns in Texas? For a certainty, he didn't buy it at the mercantile, nor would Milly, even if she had the ability, have had time to make it for him, what with his long absence in Austin.

He must have bought it in Austin, Daisy guessed. The finest tailors in Texas had their shops in the state capital, so that the wealthy and powerful figures of government could be clothed at the height of fashion.