4
Justin stood at the back door and watched in the falling dusk as the sheriff rode away with their prisoner. Snow gusted, the temperature had been dropping all day, and it looked like one of New Mexico’s deep freezes was coming in. He never knew how long that might hang on.
The exchange with the outlaw had left him frustrated and worried. And he wasn’t a man who liked the feeling, either. He hoped they were clear of the trouble. And he suspected they were, at least for a time, yet it wasn’t over. And with the two men possibly taken care of, if there were only two, they should be safe—at least until their unknown enemy reorganized. Someone had given Dantalion that thousand dollars in gold.
Even believing they had time to get to the bottom of this, Justin, standing in the back door, let his eyes slide from place to place, everywhere a man could hide and aim a gun. He felt the presence of a dry-gulcher hiding in the deep shadows as if murderous eyes were crawling over his skin.
“The doctor says—”
Justin yelped and whirled around.
Angie.
And she’d just witnessed him make a fool of himself, which set his temper on edge. Through clenched teeth he asked, “What did the doctor say?”
“I’m sorry to startle you.” A smile flickered on her lips and was gone. The little brat was doing her best not to laugh in his face. With his back to the outside, Justin felt he was still under a gun, so he stepped inside and slammed the door. High time . . . all the warmth had been sucked out of the kitchen.
He needed to calm down.
In a moment of rare desire to explain himself, he said, “I was looking at all the spots a man could hide out and take a shot at me. I didn’t expect anyone to come up from behind.”
All amusement was gone from her eyes. Her hair was in disarray, a mass of pretty blond curls. She pushed the curls off her face. Her hazel eyes sparked with worry, and Justin knew the worry was for him and for all the Bodens, not for herself, dragged into the middle of some strange mysterious conflict.
Justin prompted her, “The doctor?”
Now she looked startled as if she’d forgotten all about what she needed to tell him. “The doctor wants me to sleep with you.”
“What?” It was more a shout than a spoken question.
She slapped both hands over her mouth, and her cheeks flamed so bright he half expected her hair to catch fire. From behind her hands she said, “I mean, he wants me to spend the night with you.”
Justin was losing the ability to breathe.
This time she covered her eyes. Finally she managed to drop her hands and face him. “That is, to sit with Cole. He, uh . . . the doctor and I are both going to stay so someone is with Cole at all times.” She turned away, probably wishing her cheeks weren’t quite so pink.
Justin was so grateful to be distracted from the trouble they faced he could have hugged her.
With a visible effort she peeked over her shoulder, then faced him. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t think there’s a very good chance Sadie and Heath will want to take a turn sitting with him.”
Justin was afraid he was blushing too, and that was so ridiculous it helped him get ahold of himself. “Well, that’s fine then. I—we appreciate your help, Angie. Sincerely.” He cleared his throat and forced himself to change the subject. “So, have you had some supper? Let me find Rosita.”
He had to walk straight for her because she was between him and the rest of the house. She seemed to forget exactly where she was and watched without moving.
He came right up to her, almost nose to nose, and he found it so pleasant to stand this close that it took too long to ask, “Can I get through?”
She flinched and jumped backward. It gave him some satisfaction. He’d been off-balance ever since she’d startled him. But since she’d started blushing and whispering, he felt a lot more like the one in control of the conversation.
Justin didn’t holler for Rosita, because he saw a pot of something pushed back on the stove. Rosita had been in and out of the sickroom, running and working as fast as she could ever since they’d brought Cole home. He had no idea where she was right now, but he wasn’t going to pester her to serve food.
“Let me fill you a plate.” Justin headed for the stove. When he got there, he looked back, jabbed a finger at the kitchen table. “Go ahead and sit down.”
She gave him a look so odd, like maybe she was watching a longhorn bull dish up supper. But she didn’t say what was the matter; instead she sat down hard. He was glad she’d been close to a chair.
He turned to the stove and was quick getting her a hearty serving of Rosita’s delicious chicken stew. When Rosita was upset she cooked, and it looked like she’d outdone herself today. The stew was thick with her hand-cut noodles and smelled warm and meaty. Rosita couldn’t make a bad meal, but this was one of his favorites.
There was a plate heaped high with biscuits sitting beside the stove. Besides that, in the kitchen window perched a layer cake with white frosting and two pieces gone. It appeared that Sadie and Heath had already eaten. Beside the cake, two pumpkin pies were sitting on a wide windowsill, along with two golden-brown loaves of bread ready for breakfast, and huckleberry jelly that looked freshly made. A ball of butter was right next to it.
Rosita had as bad a day as the rest of them, and Justin was struck by how much he loved the sweet lady who’d been like a member of the family for his whole life. And his next thought was how much he missed Pa and Ma.
Shaking off the sad thoughts, he focused on how hungry he was. Maybe Angie was, too. She was still mighty thin, her cheeks hollow, her dress showing wrists that were skin and bones. But compared to when she’d first come to town, she looked mighty healthy.
And here she was, right in the middle of it all when she had no part in this trouble. He filled another plate and brought food over for the both of them. He got them each a knife, fork, and spoon, then set the biscuits between them and sat down.
“Thank you.” She blinked her wide hazel eyes and gave him a look full of wonder. And never had a simple thank-you sounded so heartfelt. Since he couldn’t figure out quite why, unless she was desperately hungry, he decided to ignore it and warn her that she was taking her life in her hands every second spent around the Bodens.
“I’m not sure you know what’s going on around here, but if you spend time on the ranch, you need to be on your guard.”
“I know you arrested someone.”
“Yep, the man the sheriff just took to jail. He calls himself Arizona Watts.”
Nodding, Angie asked, “Did you know Maria came out with the doctor?”
Justin paused. “Yes, I think you told me that. It’s been a long day.”
“We were told that Maria’s brother, Ramone, is here and not well. Was Ramone with Watts? Did Ramone hurt Cole? I saw your prisoner for a second, but that’s not Ramone, is it?”
Angie went back to eating in a way that reminded Justin of just how weak she’d been from hunger and thirst when she’d stepped off the train in Skull Gulch. He recalled the weight of her in his arms and how she’d barely found the strength to whisper “Aunt Margaret.” She’d come from Omaha to live with her aunt, Sister Margaret, at the Safe Haven Orphanage.
Justin wished Rosita was here to see Angie gobbling down the meal. Their housekeeper would’ve been pleased to watch someone enjoying her cooking this much.
“Nope. In fact, we think Ramone’s in danger, too. We think the folks who have been harassing our ranch wanted to find a way to blame their crime on him. Maybe plant some evidence and then kill Ramone so he couldn’t defend himself. Ramone and Maria grew up around here, but Ramone went to Mexico a long time ago. He was suspected of killing my grandfather. The man who built this house.”
“Ramone was suspected of murder?” Angie pressed a hand to her chest. “Poor Maria. I could tell when she talked to Sadie it was painful for her. She defended her brother, but what she spoke of led you to him, is that right?”
Justin felt the need to tell her the gist of the story. “About a month ago someone set off an avalanche that nearly killed my pa. He and Ma have been in Denver with a doctor, who had a special treatment for a badly broken leg. He’s going to be all right, although healing from a wound that serious is a slow business. They’ll be gone all winter. We thought the avalanche was an accident until Heath began to suspect someone was behind it. While we investigated it, someone took a shot at us—Cole, Sadie, Heath, and me. Heath was shot saving our lives.”
Doc Garner stepped into the kitchen and broke off Justin’s storytelling. Since his goal had been to warn Angie there was danger around, he figured he’d said enough for now.
“I smelled the food, Justin.” The doctor had a smile that made a body start healing up before any medicine was given.
Angie took two more fast bites and her plate was clean. She gave the pumpkin pie a look of longing, then pushed her chair back and rose. “I’ll sit with Cole, Doctor. You come on in and eat.”
She hurried out of the room. When she was gone, Justin felt like he could still see her, like a man still had a shining light burned into his eyes if he looked too long at the sun.
A hard slap on his back brought him out of the daze left from watching her.
Doc shoved back Angie’s dishes and sat down. He’d already filled his own plate from the stove, which made Justin wonder just how long he’d been staring.
“You know, that young lady acted like she would dearly love a piece of pie, Justin. Why don’t you take one in to her, and one for yourself, too? No reason you can’t eat while you’re sitting at Cole’s bedside.”
“That sounds like a fine idea. She seemed hungry still.”
Justin had two plates with pie and two forks and was out of the room fast. He thought he heard the doctor chuckling, though he didn’t bother going back to see what was so funny.