Mrs. Perkins left, and Patience got out a dust rag and began to wipe down the counter.
Lee sauntered over to her and leaned against the edge of the counter. “Hello, Miss Patience,” he greeted.
She made a show of cleaning a spot on the counter that was well away from him. “Sheriff Cutler,” she greeted coolly.
He walked to where she was. “When are you going to stop ignoring me, Patience?” he said with simmering impatience.
She avoided looking at him and walked to the opposite end of the counter. “The last I heard it was still pretty warm in El Paso, Sheriff Cutler. And I didn’t give you permission to use my Christian name!”
Lee shoved a hand into his hair and smoothed it back in a show of frustration. “Come on, Patience. It’s been two weeks since I said that. When are you going to forgive me?”
She turned to him finally, looking down her nose at him. “You’re forgiven. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.” With a regal lift of her chin, she went to an aisle where she had started stocking paper and pencils.
“Well, if you forgive me, will you go with me to the fall social the ladies club is throwing this Saturday?” he asked while following her.
She kneeled on the floor and took a stack of tablets out of a box. “No. I already have a date.” She carefully placed them on the shelves and prayed her hands wouldn’t shake.
She still had deep feelings for Lee, no matter how she tried to convince herself otherwise. But she knew he was only coming around and inviting her out because he felt guilty for saying all those mean things to her. He didn’t really want to be with her.
“Who is it this time?” he stressed. “This is the second man who’s called on you this week, and it’s only Tuesday.” She’d been called upon at her home by Jake Norton, Harold Ray’s widowed son.
She smiled with satisfaction, knowing that her loose hair hid her face. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going with Bernard Touchet.”
“The Frenchman?” he exclaimed with derisiveness.
“He’s not from France, but from Lafayette, Louisiana. I suppose you could call him Cajun French.”
“He’s only lived here for a month! You don’t know what kind of man he is.” Lee was pacing back and forth at this point.
Patience started counting the pencils in the box. “And I suppose you do?”
Lee stopped and looked down at her blankly. “Well … no! And that’s the reason you don’t need to go to the social with him!”
Patience looked up at Lee curiously. He sure was acting funny. “I didn’t realize your role of sheriff extended to who courted whom!”
Lee’s mouth thinned. “Okay, here’s another for you. The man is in his mid-forties! He could be your father!”
Patience sighed and threw the remaining pencils back in the box. She kept losing count. Unless she got rid of him, she was never going to get any work done. Slowly, she stood and dusted off her dark blue skirt.
“I am tired of having this conversation. Aren’t you supposed to be guarding that outlaw or something?”
Lee shook his head absently. “I’m on night duty. Billy is with him now.”
Patience planted her hands on her hips. “And I suppose you haven’t been home to rest either, have you?”
Lee shook his head. “No, but …”
She took the sheriff by the arm to pull him toward the door, but she had forgotten what touching him did to her. It made her go all soft inside. It made her dream of him taking her into his arms and kissing her again.
She was so moved by the warmth of his arm that she just stood there.
Lee felt it, too. Carefully, so as not to scare her away, he covered her hand with his own. The touch of her soft skin brought back memories of their kiss. How wonderful it felt having her in his arms.
He wanted more. He wanted Patience to be his wife.
But he couldn’t just blurt something like that out. No. He had to woo her and court her.
That was, if she’d let him!
Patience had been more than stubborn for two weeks now. He knew that she still felt something for him. He also knew that he’d hurt her badly. It was going to take time to win back her trust.
And now that she’d been going out with other men, he knew that she wasn’t getting serious about Bobby Joe Aaron, so he had more time to win her.
But what was with this Frenchman? He’d come into town last month and bought a large spread just outside of town. Already he was building a house that rivaled the Aaron mansion. That meant he was rich. How could Lee compete? Lee was a man of comfortable, but meager means. He couldn’t give Patience a big fancy house or fancy clothes.
What he could give her was his love.
Love! He’d never thought about it much, but it was true. He was in love with Patience Primrose.
She was still holding onto his arm and looking at him. He was so overwhelmed by his feelings for her that he did what came natural.
He bent to kiss her.
Dingaling-aling-aling! The sound of the bell made her jerk away from him.
Lee tried to pull her back, but it was too late.
Startled, Patience looked at him with accusing eyes, then ran to the front of the store.
Though frustration gnawed at him, he took deep breaths and forced himself to be calm.
And he stayed that way until he saw who had come in the door.
It was the Frenchman.
Patience smiled at Mr. Touchet as he walked up to her. Lee had completely gotten the wrong idea about them, and she’d allowed him to believe it. In truth, she enjoyed Mr. Touchet’s conversations since he’d been coming into the mercantile, and she had felt a kinship with him, much like a niece with her favorite uncle.
He would tell her stories of his life in Louisiana and about their unique culture. And best of all, he’d seemed to enjoy talking to her, too. In fact, it seemed that he sometimes came to the store just to talk to her. He constantly wanted her to tell him about her life and the things that she’d done growing up. But most of all he made her feel good about herself. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time, despite the wonders that Rachel had wrought in her appearance. While it was true, she was getting a lot of attention from the young bachelors in town, she couldn’t forget Lee’s words. She couldn’t forget that he’d said that he’d never court her.
So she welcomed any chance she got to talk to the gentleman. Mr. Touchet was just a very nice, older man who probably thought she reminded him of his own daughter. Lee shouldn’t have been so suspicious, anyway.
But he was. Lee didn’t like the fact that this stranger was so chummy with the girl he was in love with. Who was he? What did he want?
Billy had reported to him that this Mr. Touchet came over to the mercantile quite a bit and only on the days that Patience worked.
Maybe he was one of those dirty old men who stalked helpless women! Well, he would just have to get through Leander Cutler first.
Bernard Touchet gave Lee a friendly smile. “Good evening, Sheriff!” he greeted in his accented voice. “How are you today?”
Lee nodded to the man without returning his smile. “Howdy, Mr. Too-chet,” he said in an exaggerated drawl, deliberately mispronouncing his name. “What brings you to town?”
“Oh, dis and dat,” he answered vaguely. “I always drop in to say hello to de belle of all Texas!” he commented with exaggerated hand movements.
It was all Lee could do not to roll his eyes. The man was slick, he’d grant him that. One look at Patience and he could tell she was eating up all that malarkey he was shoveling out. It made Lee sick….
That he didn’t think of it first.
Maybe that was why she was dating all those different guys. She liked all the attention. They probably flattered her and told her how pretty she looked.
He’d never once told her how much he liked her new look. Probably because he wished sometimes that she would go back to her old self so he wouldn’t have
so much competition.
And he wouldn’t be so jealous.
“Well, you’re right about that, Mr. Touchet,” Lee finally answered, only he was looking at Patience. “She is the prettiest little lady around.”
After making that comment, he nodded to them both and left the store, pleased that he’d left Patience with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“De young sheriff, he’s in love with you, yes?”
Patience managed to close her mouth and look at Mr. Touchet. “What did you say?”
Mr. Touchet waved in the direction of the front door. “Sheriff Cutler. He is in love with you,” he confidently stated.
Patience just shook her head and laughed as if he’d told a great joke. “Sheriff Cutler does not love me, Mr. Touchet. He feels bad because he hurt my feelings and he wants to make up for it. He’s feeling guilty, not amorous!”
Mr. Touchet frowned. “Why do you not believe in yourself? You are a lovely and kind woman.” He stared at her for a moment, then raised his eyebrows as if realizing something for the first time. “You do not think you’re lovely or special, do you? You do not think dat a man such as de sheriff could love you!”
Patience looked away. “Mr. Touchet, I really have a lot of work to do and …”
He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You are, Patience. You are a special person. Do you not know dat all of God’s creations are beautiful in deir own way? You must believe dat He made you beautiful, too. Not just on de outside, but on de inside!”
Bernard Touchet spoke with such conviction, she felt tears rising in her throat and eyes. If only she could feel that way. If only …
All she could do was shake her head.
Mr. Touchet nodded his head. “I see dat it will be up to me to see dat you believe! So just be prepared!”
That made her smile. “I will,” she whispered through her tears. She wanted him to succeed.
But she wondered if he could.
Chapter 15
Patience sat in her kitchen, reading one of the books that Bobby Joe had sent her, trying to ignore the agitated movements of her mother as she furiously cleaned a room that was already spotless.
This particular behavior had been going on for a month now. Patience couldn’t begin to understand what had upset Prudence, but she knew that something must have. When she’d asked, she’d been given some vague answer about there being nothing wrong.
But this was strange behavior for even her mother.
She thought about how Mr. Touchet had tried to help lift her spirits that very morning and wondered why she didn’t try it with her mother. Prudence had never reached out to her, so Patience had never tried to reach out to her mother for fear of being rejected.
Well, Patience was tired of being fearful of doing things that might hurt her feelings. So she took a deep breath and began to talk.
“So, Mama, what did you do today?”
Prudence didn’t miss a beat with her dusting. “This and that, Patience,” she answered briskly.
Patience smiled in remembrance. “You know, I heard those very same words today at the mercantile. Only they were pronounced funny. But I guess they talk like that in South Louisiana. That’s where Mr. Touchet is from, you know.”
Patience didn’t notice her mother had stopped dusting. “He’s such a nice man. Have you met him yet, Mama? Mama?” she queried again when she got no answer the first time.
She stared at her mother’s stiff back and frozen position. “Mama? Are you all right?”
Slowly Prudence turned, and Patience was shocked to see her mother’s face was white. “You met … Mr. Touchet?” she asked faintly.
Patience nodded, not sure what was wrong.
Her mother was breathing fast and heavy. Prudence grabbed the back of the chair to steady herself. “Did he … say anything to you?”
Patience was getting scared. Her mother didn’t look good at all. “What was he supposed to say, Mama?”
Her mother stared at her for a good long minute, then relaxed a little. “Nothing, I … nothing,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“Mama, do you know something about Mr. Touchet that I should know? He seems nice, but if he’s a bad person, I need to know. I mean, he’s escorting me to the fall social and …”
“He’s what?” Prudence cried. “Oh dear Lord. Oh God. Help me. Please …” She grabbed at her chest and started the heavy breathing again. Then she stumbled backwards, almost falling.
Patience jumped up from her seat and ran to her mother. “Mama, what’s wrong? Please … talk to me!” She placed her arms around her mother’s trim waist. She was shaking all over.
“This is terrible, so terrible …,” Prudence muttered over and over.
Patience was really scared now. Her mother was still clutching at her chest, and Patience worried that she could be having some kind of attack.
Slowly, she led her mother to her bed and helped her lie down. Prudence seemed out of her head—she kept muttering things and now she was crying.
“What’s wrong with you, Mama? Are you sick? Please tell me what I need to do,” she begged her mother, but it was no use. It was as if she couldn’t hear her.
There was only one thing to do. She had to go and get the doctor.
After closing her mother’s door, Patience ran and grabbed her coat and put it over her nightgown, hurrying from the house.
There was no time to harness the horses, so Patience threw a saddle over one of them and prayed that she wouldn’t kill herself riding into town. She’d never been any good at riding, but tonight she’d just have to take a chance.
For once, her mother needed her.
Clumsily, she climbed onto the horse that she called Cactus, because she was always so prickly, and squirmed around until she got her seating. Cactus must have sensed her anxiety, because for once she didn’t try to throw her.
Wind whipped through her loose hair and tore at her gown as she urged Cactus into a faster run than she was used to. It was so cold, and her legs were partially exposed from straddling the horse. She forced herself to think about what she had to do to help her mother so that she wouldn’t think about how badly her teeth were chattering.
Finally the dim glowing lamplights came into view. Doc’s office was located in the middle of the town, just down the street from the sheriff’s office. It was really a narrow two-story house that contained his office on the bottom floor and his residence on the top.
When she got there, she slid off her horse. Her leg muscles screamed in protest, and she almost stumbled. Determinedly, she made it to the door and pounded hard on the wooden surface.
“Doc! Doc, please wake up! It’s Patience!” she yelled at the door. “Mother is ill! Doc! Doc?” It was no use. She could see that the lights were still out and the house was very quiet. With a sickening feeling, she realized that the Doc and his wife weren’t home.
Frantically, she ran into the street and started searching for anyone who could help. Her eyes fell on the saloon. Raucous laughter filtered out into the night and made Patience shiver. It reminded her of the night she was attacked.
There was no way she was going there for help.
She looked down the other way and saw the sheriff’s office. She let out a relieved sob when she saw a light burning in his window. Lee had night duty with the prisoner! He would know what to do.
She left her horse tied to Doc’s post and ran to the sheriff’s office.
If he hadn’t been so exhausted, it wouldn’t have happened. He’d tried so hard to stay awake, but the prisoner wasn’t in the mood for chitchat, and he’d been unable to keep his eyes open. Somehow, he’d drifted off into a dreamless, exhausted sleep.
“Click!” was the only sound he heard, but it was enough. He went from very sleepy to wide-awake in a matter of seconds, which wasn’t hard to do with a pistol pointed at his head.
Standing behind the gun was a face that only a mother could have loved. Black stringy hair
fell from the man’s pointed skinny head and around his stark face. He had sunken, beady eyes and a crooked nose. And when he smiled evilly at Lee, he displayed a mouthful of yellow, rotten teeth. It was a face he was familiar with. The outlaw’s brother had returned for his own.
“Welllll, looky here!” he drawled snidely in his reedy voice. “Looks like the law ain’t too fierce around these here parts!”
The outlaw looked over to his brother. “Bubba, you all right?” he yelled out, looking quickly back to Lee.
“Yeah, but it sure took you long enough to get here,” he whined.
Otis smiled. “Ain’t that gratitude for ya?” he spoke to Lee. “He always was the spoilt one in the family.” He laughed, and Lee nearly doubled over from the smell of his breath.
Lee didn’t say a word. He kept trying to think of a way to reach for his gun.
Otis finally stopped laughing at his own humor and got down to the business at hand. “Okay, Sheriff. Where do you keep those keys?”
Lee didn’t say anything for a moment; but when he saw the deadness in the man’s eyes, he realized that the man would as soon shoot him as look at him. And Lee wanted to live. He wanted a life with Patience. He wasn’t ready to die now.
“In the desk drawer,” he replied coldly.
Otis moved in closer. “Well, why don’t you get it?” he demanded, his voice sarcastic. “And don’t try anything, because I’ll plug you full of holes if you do!”
Sweat began to bead on Lee’s forehead and fall down into his eyes. Slowly, he reached down and grasped the drawer handle, pulling it open.
Lee looked at the keys and then up at Otis. There was a gun inside the drawer. Did he dare?
His chance came when he saw Otis turn to his brother and say something. He got a good grip on the handle and trigger and started to lift the gun out of the drawer when the door opened.
Lightning fast, Otis whirled around and fired.
Everything happened in slow motion after that. The force of the bullet knocked Patience against the door frame. Lee, shocked and horrified, reacted by aiming and shooting Otis. Almost in harmony, they fell to the floor.
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