Kate stomped out of the land office. Mr. Forbes had been about as much help as a hemorrhoid. She may as well have gone and talked to Stanley directly and asked him, “Pretty please, will you stop harassing Lucas McCurdy, stop trying to push him off the grazing land that is rightfully his to use?”
Yesterday, she’d sat on the drafty floor next to the door after Lucas had left, crying to the point when she had soaked the front of her dress, angry with herself for leading Lucas on. Why had she not resisted his kiss? How dare she enjoy that kiss beyond any others that had ever touched her lips? Why didn’t she stop to think her unprofessional actions could very well put Lucas in further danger? She’d known she was not ready to give her heart to anyone. Marriage was years down the road—if ever at all. Yet she’d let him kiss her like a man she was about to marry.
That was yesterday. Today was a new day, and she had to move on. It was best that she and Lucas McCurdy avoid any and all romantic involvement, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still be his friend and advocate. The best way to do that—so she figured—was to fight for his legal rights since it appeared he wasn’t going to—he sincerely believed it wouldn’t do any good. But she did.
Kate tightened the shawl around her shoulders against the wind, kicked up some dirt at the front of the land office as she wiped her feet of the place, and headed to the only other place in town she thought might be able to help her: the town’s lone attorney.
Ronald Smith’s eyes lit up when Kate stepped into the office. “May I speak with you for a minute, Mr. Smith?”
“Miss Donahue!” He rose from his chair, hurling it backward, and rushed to greet her with an outstretched hand. “It’s so very good to see you.” Shaking her hand, he asked, “What brings you out on this windy morning?”
“I presume you’re aware of the friction that exists between the cattlemen and sheep farmer in the area?”
“Yes, of course,” he said pulling out the chair in front of his desk for Kate to sit on. He practically jumped around to the other side of the desk and into his seat directly across from her. “And that is what you have braved the elements for today, to come and ask me this question?” A smile pulled up the corners of his usually stoic face.
“Of course not; there’s more,” Kate said, finding Ronald more animated than usual. Did he think she was here to see him? Personally?
Ronald stretched his arm across the desk with the palm of his hand up. “I’ve got no appointments for a while. Please, what’s troubling you? I’d love to help if I can.”
Kate gave a little background on the feud between the Circle J and Lucas McCurdy, and on the permit he’d obtained. “Is there any kind of legal action Mr. McCurdy can take?” she asked.
Ronald raised one of his near-invisible eyebrows as he looked at Kate. “Why is Mr. McCurdy sending you to ask me this question? Shouldn’t he be doing this himself?” His voice for once rose and fell slightly from its usual monotone pitch.
“Uh . . .” Kate took in a big breath. She needed to distance herself from Lucas—for his sake. If there was even a hint that she was helping him other than just as his doctor, it might get back to Stanley and he could translate it as her having feelings for the man, and that could serve to fuel the battle rather than lend aid. “He was going to, but he needed to rush back to his place after I removed his cast yesterday—he’s worried about his flock’s safety. And rightfully so,” Kate added with a touch of anger. She felt bad about stretching the truth, but desperate times required desperate measures. “I told him that I knew you well enough that I wouldn’t mind seeking your advice for him, as I have plenty of time on my hands.” She smiled at that truth. “I assured him that you were an honest, fair man who would help if you could because you didn’t cower under the long arm of the local cattlemen,” she continued, cringing inside all the while. This was so unlike her, but if it helped rally Ronald around her cause and gain his support in helping Lucas fight this unfair battle, it was worth it.
It seemed to be working. Ronald’s face loosened further and his smile spread into his eyes. “There are things Mr. McCurdy can do to help him fight his case, or I could help fight his case.”
“Wonderful!” Kate exclaimed. She rushed her hand to her mouth. That had been much too much excitement shown for someone who was supposed to be an uninvolved third party. “For Mr. McCurdy, that is. He will be glad to hear the good news.”
“But that’s only if he has proof of that permit,” Ronald said, settling back into his monotone voice. “Do you know if he has a copy of his permit back at his ranch?”
“No.” Kate felt her hopes sink.
“No, you don’t know, or no, he doesn’t have a copy?”
“No, he doesn’t have a copy,” Kate said, feeling the anger boil again inside her. “He said it was burned in a fire that destroyed his first home. And my guess was that the fire was no accident—more reason we need to help him with this.”
“I remember hearing about that fire,” Ronald said, hanging his head. “It sounded mighty suspicious to me at the time, but I didn’t pay it much heed because I was new in town and I needed to establish my practice. I didn’t want to get involved with something that didn’t concern me.”
“Oh.” Kate felt her hopes fade further. “I understand,” she said, not that she agreed. She understood that most everyone in this town didn’t want to get involved in things that didn’t concern them. That’s why a helpless immigrant from Ireland was getting his house burned, his livestock killed, and his life threatened over something as petty as grazing rights upon land that was as stark as the surface of the moon, as far as Kate was concerned—though she knew the ranchers didn’t see it as such.
“But that was then,” Ronald said, straightening his back. “Now, if Mr. McCurdy is willing to pay the money, he can obtain another copy of his grazing permit. With that in hand, he could call upon the federal marshal to enforce the law and put the Circle J, or anyone else who may be grazing on his permitted portion of land, in their place. How they would do that, I don’t know, but I do know the federal government is trying to implement stricter punishments against these old-time cattle ranchers who think they are above the law.”
“How much money for the permit?” Kate asked, picturing the two ten-dollar gold pieces she now carried around her waist in her homemade version of a money belt. Most of the small change she’d had was already spent. “And how much for your services to help him obtain it?”
“I couldn’t tell you about the permit. And I wouldn’t charge Mr. McCurdy for obtaining a new copy, because I’m not going to do that for him.” Ronald’s face showed no signs of belligerence. So why had he said that?
She wanted to reach across that desk and slap the man’s face for being like every other spineless man in the town. “But isn’t that your job, if he pays you to do so?”
“If I agree to it, yes,” Ronald said, his face like a statue. “But in this case I won’t agree to it.” He turned and opened a drawer while Kate felt her insides fume. He thumbed through some file folders, pulled out a paper, and placed it on his desk. “I don’t want to take Mr. McCurdy’s money.” He pushed the paper across the desk toward Kate. “He doesn’t have it to give. But this is something he can do by himself. I’ll give you this information. You tell him he can file for the permit if he just follows these steps. The cost should be mentioned in there somewhere too.” He pointed to the bottom of the paper with his pen, which he handed to her a second later. “Here. I’ll get you a piece of paper and you can write down the information for him.”
Kate wrote down the information, feeling much better than she had a few minutes earlier. She chided herself for thinking so poorly of Ronald. She stood, reached her arms across the desk, and shook his hand with both of hers. “Thank you, Ronald. You’re a good man,” she said, letting her emotions do the speaking. As she pulled her hands away, she could see a flush of pink on his cheeks.
He stood quickly and walked Kate to the door, fumbling with the corner of his suit coat. “Uh . . . I was wondering . . . if you might care to join me for supper one evening this week?”
Kate’s first reaction was no. Then something clicked in her brain. It would be good for her to court. It could do the people of the town good to see her out with an eligible young man. Then another reason surfaced—an even better one. Word would hopefully get back to Stanley—he might even see them together. That could only serve to help ease the tension between Stanley and Lucas. Besides, it might help get her mind off Lucas in the area where it didn’t belong: as a man who took her breath away each time she saw those golden curls at the nape of his neck or around the soft features of his face, and eyes as blue as the sky.
“Supper would be nice,” Kate responded sincerely. “Sunny’s place?”
“Where else?”