After two weeks of mending, Jo Ella set about seeing the town and meeting some of its people. Like other Texas towns, it was full of rough and rowdy cowboys, some drifters who had no particular goals and aims in life, and others who intentionally planned to make farming or ranching their life. The women folk were all friendly, as half of them had come here to be brides too.
For several minutes, Jo Ella browsed the dry goods store.
A woman walked up to her after buying some material. "You're one of the ladies that was rescued from the stagecoach, right?" She smiled, her blue eyes flashing.
"Yes, I am." Jo Ella grinned and moved along the counter.
"Jeffrey told me about the accident. You must have been pretty shaken up?"
"It was an experience." Jo Ella smiled as the man behind the counter watched them closely.
"My name's Becca. Jeffrey is my husband." She extended her gloved hand.
Jo Ella stared at her hand and then took it in hers. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jo Ella."
"Pardon me, but you are a mail order bride, aren't you?" Becca stared at her a little longer.
"Yes, yes I am."
"So was I over a year ago."
"Really?" Jo Ella looked her over, wondering what they might have in common other than that.
"Yeah, Jeffrey and I have been married nine months. We're going to have a baby in about six months." She blushed.
Jo Ella marveled at her peaches and cream complexion and realized that was why she had just a hint of fullness of the face. "Congratulations."
"Thank you. We wanted to start a family as soon as we could. Well, I hope we can be friends." She started to leave.
Jo Ella turned her full attention on the young woman. "It was nice to meet you, Becca, and I'm sure we can."
Becca gave her a quick wave and darted out the door.
Jo Ella looked at the storekeeper, who had been staring at them.
"That Becca, she's a nice little lady," he said. "She comes in about once a week and buys some material, food, or yarn for the baby. She was one of them mail order brides too, but I guess she told you that."
"Yes, she did. Could you tell me how much a couple of yards of this material is?" Jo Ella picked out a pretty blue color. When he quoted a low price, she gasped. "I'll take three yards of it. You have some fair prices here. I’m sure me and my cousins will do business with you, sir. What did you say your name was…"
"Call me Fred, ma'am. Your cousins?"
"Yes, we came in with the sheriff the other day. Our stage overturned…"
"Oh yes, Harry told me about that. Were you hurt?"
"A little, but we are mendin'." Jo Ella flashed him a curious smile.
"I hope you find our little town comfortable. Harry said you are all mail order brides." Fred twisted about to stare at her.
"That's right. Know anyone you want to point out to me?" She chuckled.
Fred put his palm of his hand to his chin and stretched his finger to his forehead. "One of the best bachelors in town is Harry, the sheriff himself, but he's kind of a confirmed bachelor. 'Course he knows everyone here, and he just don't seem interested in no ladies. He'd be a hard one to catch. There's the reverend. He's a fine fellow, Joseph Miller. He's a little shy, but worth the effort I'd say. He's a rancher most of the time and a preacher on Sunday. There are a few other ranchers here abouts and a farmer too. Then there's Dillon Spears, but he's a little rough around the edges. He killed a man last week in a gunfight. The man stole some of his cattle, and he didn't take too kindly to it. The man called him out, and Dillon shot him dead in the street. He had his right, but Harry wasn't too happy about it. Harry's been kind of doggin' him ever since."
The man at the lake! She just knew it had to be him. Dangerous, and yet somehow gentle too. After working saloons for so long, Jo Ella had learned to recognize quality in a man, just like she was quick to recognize the bad in them too.
She had to get that man out of her head. Trouble was, with a name added to his handsome face, he was doubly hard to forget.
"Is this Dillon a bad man?" She grabbed her chest, expecting to hear the worst.
"No, not really. His family helped settle our town. Big ranchers. But Dillon is one that don't wait for the law to handle things. He's a fair man, a good man, but I think there could be some trouble between him and Harry. You see, Dillon's dad died mysteriously last year and Harry ain't found out who done it yet." Fred stared out the window of his store.
"No one knows who killed him?"
"Nope. It's been a while and I got a feelin' that until they find out who done it, Harry and Dillon won't be getting' along too well."
"Do you consider this fella, Dillon, dangerous?"
"Not unless you are on his bad side." Fred nodded. "Here comes Harry now."
The sheriff stepped inside the store and dwarfed everything around him. Jo Ella hadn't noticed how big the man was. Tall yes, but she hadn't noticed the wide spread shoulders, the tapered waist, and the narrow hips. His gray eyes sought her out. "Miss Jo Ella, I hope you are feelin' better."
"I'm much better, thank you. The doc made sure we took care of ourselves. We've practically been in bed for two weeks now." Jo Ella smiled pleasantly at him before pretending interest in the material Fred was cutting for her.
"I'm gonna be free tomorrow afternoon, I'd love to take you for a buggy ride, so you could see the town and its boundaries," Harry offered.
"That sounds nice, sheriff, but don't you have duties?"
"No, ma'am, my deputy can handle it for me. Would you do me the honor of letting me escort you about town?"
"Well." She batted her eyes at the sheriff. "I'd love to then."
"I'll call for you at noon then. Since it gets pretty hot, we should start early." He smiled at her.
Jo Ella paid for her purchase and nodded to the sheriff. "At noon, sheriff."
"Please call me Harry." He took his hat off and displayed a handsome head of burnished gold hair.
She nodded and left the store.
As she crossed the street, she silently scolded herself. Jo Ella wasn't the least bit interested in the sheriff with his polite manners and handsome smile. She was well used to handsome men, so looks didn't entice her most of the time. There was something about the sheriff. Jo Ella suspected he wasn't a shy man around women. She'd have to watch her step. Maybe he suspected something of her?
Jo Ella rushed back to the boarding house, climbed the two flights of stairs, threw open the door to a room full of beds, and the smell of sweet flowers that Maggie had picked that day, with eagerness to tell the girls about the sheriff.
"He's really cute." Maggie winked.
"He sort of grows on you, but you know, Maggie, we are used to a lot of different men. I don't think my heart is in courting a Sheriff." Jo Ella flashed them all a worried glance. "I mean, wouldn't that be ironic? A sheriff?"
"Why not? He sounds like the most upstanding man around. At least he doesn't play games. He comes to the point. I like that in a man."
"I don't know. He kind of reminds me of Randal for some reason. Maybe it's just his title, and not him. I'll give him a chance though." Jo Ella said as she wrung her hands for lack of anything else to do.. "Maybe I'm misjudging him. Maybe I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, I agreed to going on a buggy ride with him, to see the lay of the land. I guess that won't hurt. And I might learn something."
Maggie nodded. "That's the spirit."
"You know, when I came up with this, I thought it would be easy. Just find a man and settle down with him, but now, I just don't know." Joe Ella tossed her hat on the bed. The green feather waved in the air.
"Well, I'm not gonna be bashful about the preacher. I'll be in church every Sunday." Sarah flaunted her hips.
"Good for you!" Maggie cheered.