Matt (The Cowboys) (34 page)

“You dropped two beans in the hole,” Tess said. “You ought to take one out of the bag at a time.”

The strain of being around Matt all the time, of sitting next to him, lying next to him in bed, and having him continue to treat her like a sister was beginning to drive her crazy. Most of her life she’d distrusted men, been afraid they couldn’t think of anything except their physical wants. After the Lowells, she’d been shrill in her denunciation of the entire sex. Now she was married to a man who did exactly what she asked and—not demonstrating any physical desire toward her—she longed for his touch.

Ellen had always taken pride in being attractive. She’d tried to make certain she didn’t use it as a promise she didn’t mean to fulfill, but she was proud that men were attracted to her, that they sometimes couldn’t control their responses to her. It made her feel strong, and after feeling helpless for so long she relished the feeling.

Matt commented on her beauty practically every day, but it didn’t drive him wild or bring forth urges he had to struggle to control. Did he need a woman as beautiful as he was handsome to cause him to lose some of his rigid control?

But even as she tried to check her response to Matt, she knew it wasn’t his physical beauty that had conquered her fear and made her want to stay with him. It was his kindness, his compassion, his willingness to think of others before himself. There was no more thoughtful man in the world. He would do anything for her and the kids, for his boys, to make them happy, to keep them safe.

“Hank, Toby, stop what you’re doing and come here.”

Matt hadn’t spoken very loud, but his tone so clearly indicated danger that the boys put down their tools and went to him immediately.

“The sheriff is coming,” Matt told the boys without even looking at the trail leading into their valley. “I expect he’s here to get Hank.”

“I’m not going back to Wayne,” Hank cried. “I’ll run away again.”

“You don’t have to run anywhere,” Matt said, “but you’ve got to hide. Toby, take him into the hills. Don’t tell me where you’re going. Just get out of here as fast as you can. Come back after dark and I’ll tell you what to do next.”

The boys headed for the corrals at a run.

Ellen looked toward the distant rider. “How can you tell who that is?”

“I recognize the horse,” Matt replied.

“What are you going to do?”

“Tell him I don’t know where Hank is.”

“He’ll come back.”

“I know, but it’ll give us enough time to take Hank’s case before the judge. He ought to be back next week.”

“Who’s going to plow the rest of the rows?” Noah asked.

“I guess I’ll have to try,” Matt said.

“But you said you don’t know how.”

“I don’t, but I doubt the squash and tomatoes will care if they’re in a crooked row.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Ellen asked.

“Keep on planting.”

“How can you act like nothing is happening?”

His look was open and calm. “What do you think I ought to do?”

“I don’t know. Swear, wring your hands, turn around in circles muttering to yourself.”

He laughed. “If I did that, you’d have me locked up.”

“At least I’d know you were human. How can you be so calm?”

“Because if I weren’t, I’d have killed somebody long before I tried to kill Wayne.”

The sheriff left his horse at the house and headed over to them. Ellen knew the adoption could hang in the balance. She couldn’t plant any more beans. She could only stand there and wait until the sheriff reached them, until he said the words she knew he must say.

“I’ve come to get Hank.”

Chapter Twenty

“Where is he?” the sheriff asked, surveying the ranch.

“I don’t know,” Matt replied.

Ellen was glad to see that the sheriff didn’t appear to be angry; rather he looked relieved.

“You’re getting to be a lot of trouble,” he said to Matt.

“Sorry.”

“You know I had to come after him,” the sheriff said.

“Sure.”

“I’ll have to keep coming back. The law says the boy belongs with his kin. This Hollender says you kidnaped him.”

“I don’t even know where he is.”

“You know what I mean. The law also says I can arrest you for obstructing justice.”

“The reason I asked Toby to hide Hank was so you and I could see justice done. That boy’s been abused by his uncle.”

The sheriff’s brow creased. “There’s nothing wrong with a beating now and again. A boy—”

“I mean sexual abuse,” Matt said.

The sheriff looked baffled.

“Do I need to explain it?” Matt asked.

The sheriff looked a little embarrassed. “I guess so.”

Ellen wanted to know exactly what Wayne Hollender had done to his nephew, but she wasn’t about to let the children hear. “Noah, you and Tess run to the house and get the sheriff some cool water to drink. Noah, you bring the pitcher. Tess can bring the glass.”

Ellen turned her back on the men. As she watched Tess and Noah cross the freshly plowed garden to reach the house, she listened to Matt explain what Wayne Hollender had done to Hank. When he finished, she felt sick to her stomach.

Had that happened to Matt? It must have, or he couldn’t have described it so completely. How could he have endured that for three years? Because he was a helpless child like Hank. Afterward he’d felt worthless and unclean and he’d buried his feelings so far out of sight people thought he had none. He’d channeled all his energy into helping Toby and Orin. Now he was willing to risk everything he had worked so hard to achieve to protect Hank.

How could she have thought he wasn’t strong enough to defend her, that he wasn’t heroic because he was soft-spoken? Isabelle had a right to be furious with her. She had been as blind as everyone else, not smart enough to look beyond the obvious. She’d responded to her crisis by feeling sorry for herself, blaming everybody in the world, being loud and shrill at every opportunity. Matt had quietly gone to work to guarantee at least two boys could grow up in a secure, loving atmosphere.

How could she not have realized that took more courage than fighting? Why hadn’t she seen what was right in front of her eyes? Because she’d made up her mind before she arrived at the ranch that he didn’t fit her preconceived notion of the type of man she could love.

But he was more than she’d ever dreamed, and she wanted him very badly.

“God almighty!” the sheriff exclaimed when Matt finished. Ellen turned to see his face red, his throat swallowing convulsively. “How do you know so much about it?”

Ellen’s gaze riveted on Matt. She knew he feared exposure of his secret, knew it would change the way people looked at him. He also knew it would give Wilbur a weapon to use against him.

“Because my uncle abused me,” Matt said.

The sheriff gaped at Matt.

“Now you understand why I can’t send that boy back. He will keep doing what he’s always done.”

“Can you prove it?” the sheriff asked.

“A medical examination will, but you can’t have it done in Bandera. Everyone will know the results, and that will ruin the boy.”

“Why didn’t it ruin you?”

“Because there are only four other people who know, my brother, Jake and Isabelle, and my wife.”

“I can’t do anything unless the boy is willing to make an official accusation.”

“I plan to ask the judge for a closed hearing,” Matt said. “All I need you to do is let me keep Hank until then.”

“I don’t know that I can do that.”

“You can’t send that boy back to his uncle,” Ellen said.

“Wilbur Sears and Mabel Jackson are still furious the judge agreed to let you adopt those children,” the sheriff said. “Ermajean is so incensed she won’t get Orin back, she’s ranting and raving about you all over town. This kidnapping business has ripped it. They think they have all the evidence they need to make the judge change his mind.”

“We didn’t kidnap him,” Ellen said. “He came here on his own. He says he’ll run away again if we try to make him go back to his uncle.”

“But everybody doesn’t know that,” the sheriff pointed out. “They just know you’re housing a boy and won’t give him back.”

“I’ll take Hank to Jake and Isabelle,” Matt suggested. “He can stay with them until the judge makes his decision.”

“Wilbur won’t like it,” the sheriff said.

“He can’t dispute Jake and Isabelle’s integrity,” Matt said.

“Maybe not, but he can cause trouble elsewhere.”

“How?” Ellen asked.

“Wilbur’s threatening my job if I don’t bring that boy back and arrest you.”

“He can’t get you fired.”

“I’m not so sure about that. He’s got a lot of people believing every word he says.”

“They’ll wake up soon and be embarrassed they ever gave credence to anything he said.”

“That may be, but you’ve got even more problems. Mabel Jackson is trying to get her husband to call in your loan.”

“He can’t do that,” Ellen cried.

“I don’t know about that,” the sheriff said, “but I do know they’ll do everything they can to prevent a closed hearing. If there is one, you can bet your last pony they’ll not rest until they know what went on.”

“We’ll have to depend on the judge’s discretion,” Matt said.

“And his backbone,” the sheriff added.

“I’ll talk to him as soon as he returns to Bandera.”

“You’d better be there before he opens court,” the sheriff said. “And bring your wife. It never hurts to have a pretty woman on your side.”

“I would naturally bring Ellen,” Matt said. “She will have as much to say about adopting Hank as I will.”

“You meaning to adopt this kid, too?”

“Who else wants him?”

“Nobody, if what happened to him ever gets out.”

“Which is why you can’t tell anyone what Matt told you,” Ellen said, “not even your wife.”

“I ain’t telling nobody.”

“Swear it.”

“I swear. Now do you believe me?”

“I don’t know,” Ellen said. “But if you ever do tell, I’ll find a way to make you wish you’d never been born.”

“You don’t sound like the sweet, loving, motherly type,” the sheriff said. “I hope you don’t talk to the judge like that.”

“I’m defending my children, Sheriff. A woman would risk anything to do that.”

“You two belong together,” the sheriff said as he turned and left.

In spite of everything that had happened, Ellen managed a smile. The sheriff was right. She and Matt did belong together.

“You ought to hear the things Wilbur is saying about Matt,” Tulip told Ellen.

“I can imagine,” Ellen said.

“No, you can’t,” Mrs. Ogden assured her. “Some of the things he’s implying, why, it makes me blush to think about it. Not that I really understand it.”

Ellen had come into Bandera with Matt to see if they could meet with the judge before he took the bench. She’d taken some hats to Susan, then come to visit Mrs. Ogden. Tulip had barreled in just minutes after. Orin and Toby had gone off together with strict instructions to steer clear of trouble. After demolishing a plate of oatmeal cookies, Noah and Tess were playing in Mrs. Ogden’s backyard.

“Wilbur is furious about this boy he says you kidnapped,” Tulip said.

“Hank’s staying with the Maxwells, not us,” Ellen said.

“That doesn’t make any difference. Wilbur thinks they’re just as bad as Matt.”

“Does the town feel that way?” Ellen asked Mrs. Ogden.

“Gracious, no. Everybody here respects Jake and Isabelle. It’s just that preacher has them all stirred up. And that awful Mabel Jackson.”

“She’s angry because her daughter winks at Toby,” Ellen said.

“My advice would be to take your children and go to the Territories,” Tulip said. “Wilbur couldn’t bother you there.”

“That’s just what I’m determined we won’t do,” Ellen said. “I won’t let Matt be driven off his ranch because of lies.”

“What can you do about it?” Tulip asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something.”

All she could think of was that she wanted to stay married to Matt, that she wanted him to love her. But that was no solution. It might even make them more vulnerable.

“Do you think he’ll talk to us?” Ellen asked Matt.

“I hope so.” They waited outside the freight office for the stage that was now coming down the street.

Ellen watched Matt closely. Even though he seemed outwardly calm, she saw the tension around his eyes, heard it in his voice. She envied him his control. He smiled to people who passed, never failed to exchange a few friendly words.

“This is it,” Matt said as the stage door opened and the judge got out. “Sir,” he said walking up to the judge before the man’s feet hit the ground, “my wife and I would like a private word with you.”