Dreading another night in town, Mary-Jo went back to Daniel’s house. Eddie was staying with his uncle at the boardinghouse, so she knew it would be vacant. Since Daniel went and got himself killed, the least he owed her was another night’s shelter.
Still, she felt like an intruder. She moved from room to room, imagining how her life might’ve been different if Daniel were still alive when she saw a torn pair of Eddie’s trousers. Just opening the top drawer of the desk in search of a writing implement to mark the fabric made her feel guilty. So anxious was she to close the drawer she almost missed the letters with the Hitching Post’s return address.
She lifted the stack from the drawer. It touched her to know that Daniel had kept all her letters just as she’d kept his. She couldn’t decide whether to toss these or keep them. All she knew was that she didn’t want anyone else reading them. She threw the stack into the wastebasket to burn later, but the string broke and one letter drifted to the floor.
She stooped to pick it up and frowned; the handwriting was not her own and yet it looked somehow familiar. Curious, her gaze followed the fine script across the page. The writer gave a glowing account of her many accomplishments. Mary-Jo’s lips puckered. What a braggart! Whoever this woman was, she didn’t have a modest bone in her body.
She frowned. Obviously Daniel had considered another mail-order applicant, but why would he choose her over a woman nothing short of a human dynamo?
She glanced at the signature on the second page and froze. The letter was signed Mary-Jo Parker clear as day. Falling to her knees, she retrieved the letters from the wastebasket and quickly riffled through them. Her name was on every last one.
She now knew why the handwriting looked familiar. Whoever wrote these letters to Daniel was the same person who wrote Daniel’s letters to her. And unless she missed her guess, that person was Mr. Hitchcock himself.
Horrid realization swept over her, and it all began to make sense. The owner of the mail-order catalogue edited and, in some cases, rewrote the letters she and Daniel exchanged.
Fury rushed through her and her body shook. She thought Daniel had lied in failing to tell her about his son and previous marriage, but she was wrong. It was that deceitful Mr. Hitchcock who had done the lying. She had a good mind to give him what-for. While she was at it, she just might wring his dishonest neck!
•••
The day went from bad to worse. Garrett knew nothing about taking care of an eight-year-old and even less about taking care of a problem child like Eddie. After leaving the cemetery, he realized it was too late to take the boy to school. Instead, Garrett stopped to pay the shopkeeper for the stolen apple and made Eddie apologize. After heading back to the office, he ordered Eddie to sit while he finished paperwork.
It would have been easier to tame a bronco. Eddie wiggled back and forth and swung his legs. He finally occupied himself by tossing his rabbit foot in the air and catching it with his cap. Eventually he fell off the chair altogether.
Garrett grimaced with irritation. “Put that thing away!”
Eddie stuffed the rabbit foot in his pocket and tried to catch a fly that was buzzing around his face.
Deputy Sheriff Barnes finally offered to take the boy to the ice-cream parlor, but Garrett still couldn’t concentrate. Thoughts of Miss Parker kept interrupting, making it impossible to have a clear thought. He tossed his pen down and rested his head in his hands. What had he been thinking, yelling at her like that? On church property, no less.
That morning he and Barnes had to deal with one problem after another. Between them, they’d made three arrests before eleven a.m., mostly for fighting. Barnes blamed it on the full moon. It was either that or spring fever.
By the time Garrett was able to stop at the house and thank Miss Parker for staying with Eddie the night before, she wasn’t there. Worried, he headed for the schoolhouse, hoping to find his nephew there. It was only by chance that he happened to spot the two of them in the cemetery. Relief was soon followed by anger.
It didn’t seem right for the boy to be laughing so soon after his father’s death—not just laughing, but running around with playing cards in his hands.
That memory was followed by another. He remembered how Miss Parker looked with the boy, a lacy petticoat showing beneath the hem of her skirt. She sure did look pretty when she smiled and the thought made him grimace. He had no right thinking such thoughts of his brother’s fiancée with Dan not even cold in the grave.
He buried his face in his hands. Still, he shouldn’t have yelled.
Dan wouldn’t have. He fought injustice with quiet, firm resolve in the hallowed rooms of the courthouse. That was where he and his brother differed. Most of Garrett’s fights had been in ditches and cotton fields, behind blaring guns and cannons.
Dan knew how to save a client from the gallows, but he didn’t know how to raise a child like Eddie. That was one area Garrett had in common with his brother.
The door sprang open and Garrett’s thoughts scattered. Miss Parker stormed into his office looking madder than a newly plucked hen. She flung a pile of letters onto his desk. Never had he seen so much rage pour out of such a pretty package.
“Of all the low-down, despicable . . .” On and on she railed.
He tried to make heads or tails out of her rants. “Are you saying that this . . . uh . . . Mr. Hitchcock wrote these letters to Dan?” he asked when he could get a word in edgewise.
Her pretty blue eyes flashed with indignation. “That’s exactly what I’m saying!”
He scratched his head. “But why would he do such a thing?”
“Obviously, he wanted to make me sound better. Not only did he hide my lack of learning and Pa’s gambling, I have no doubt he deleted any mention of Eddie in Daniel’s letters to me.”
Garrett rubbed his chin. “So then Dan didn’t lie to you.”
She lifted her chin. “And I didn’t lie to him.”
“I guess it’s settled then,” he said.
She stared at him, incredulous. “Settled? Nothing is settled. I want you to arrest Mr. Hitchcock for fraud.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He glanced down at the return mailing address in New York. “It’s out of my jurisdiction. You’ll have to contact the district attorney in his home state.”
She rose to her full height and whirled about. “That’s exactly what I intend to do! I’m leaving on the morning train, but you can be sure I’ll write the district attorney the first chance I get!”
With that she stomped out of his office, slamming the door behind her.
Guilt rushed through him for having misjudged her. Had she given him half a chance, he would have apologized.
He had just about decided to chase after her when Barnes returned with Eddie. The deputy sheriff took one look at the letters scattered across Garrett’s desk and frowned.
“What’s all this?”
“Long story.” Garrett gathered up the letters and stuffed them in his drawer. He had no desire to work and decided he might as well call it a day. He motioned to Eddie. “Come on, let’s go.”
Eddie folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t want to go with you. I want to go with Miss Parker.”
Barnes shrugged and sat at his own desk. “Looks like you got your work cut out for you, boss.”
Garrett grunted and studied the boy. He was the spitting image of his father, not just in appearance but in mannerisms. Dan had the same jutting-jaw look when defending a client, the same way of narrowing his eyes.
“You know Miss Parker is leaving town.”
“Only because you’re forcing her to,” Eddie said, pushing his bottom lip out farther.
“I’m not forcing her.” Okay, so he hadn’t exactly made her feel welcome. He tried to put the memory of flashing blue eyes and unleashed rage out of his mind. The woman was a regular wildcat, that was for sure. But he’d also seen those same eyes soften when she looked at Eddie.
“I can’t make her stay, but I’ll tell you what. If you come back to the boardinghouse with me and mind your manners, we’ll go to the train station tomorrow morning and bid her good-bye. How’s that?” That would also give him a chance to apologize.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”