“Hold on here,” Caleb said. “Who is this man?”
The fellow stared back at him with a surprised look. “I might say the same thing. Who are you?”
“The name’s Wilson,” Caleb said. “I’m the new sheriff ’round these parts.”
“You’re a liar, sir. I just rode into town with Sheriff Wilson. He’s at the livery at this very moment.”
Chapter 12
Lydia slipped from the man’s embrace to reach for Caleb’s hand. “Caleb, I’d like you to meet my papa, Reverend Augustus Bertrand.” She turned to the older man. “Papa, this is Caleb Wilson, and I don’t care who you rode in with—he’s the sheriff of Dime Box. He’s also going to be my husband.”
If he weren’t in such a sudden fix with her papa at that moment, Caleb would have kissed her for sure. Instead, he tried to think of a way to get out of this mess. He had no doubt the older man had ridden in with Cal Wilson. It would be about right to have the real sheriff finally show up when he’d made his peace with keeping the job.
Caleb felt her squeeze his hand, and he squeezed back before offering his palm to Reverend Bertrand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir. I assure you I am Caleb Wilson.”
“He is who he says he is, and I’m here to vouch for him.” Ed Thompson walked into the parlor and shook hands with the pastor. “He’s a fine, God-fearin’ man who’s been helpin’ with the church when he isn’t busy keepin’ the peace.” He turned his attention to Caleb. “I’d like you to meet someone, Caleb. This here’s Cal Wilson.”
A portly fellow tipped his hat at Caleb. “I hear tell you took my job.”
“I suppose I did.”
The fellow reached over to shake Caleb’s hand. “I’d just like to thank you.”
He shook his head. “You want to what?”
“You see, I was headed this way to take the job when I come across the loveliest gal a man ever set eyes on. Suffice it to say, I made the gal my wife in short order, which left me with two problems: the job and the woman I’d sent for from New Orleans.”
The pastor gestured toward Lydia. “That would be my daughter, Lydia.”
Lydia smiled in his direction. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Likewise, I’m sure.” He turned to Caleb. “I’m not here to take your job, but I do need to set some things to rights.” He looked at Ed. “First off, I need to repay you for the money you wired, Mr. Thompson. The whole hundred dollars is in there. You count it and be sure.” He handed the mayor a thick envelope. “And then there’s the matter of my betrothed.”
He took a step toward Lydia. “My dear, you are lovely. I deeply regret any trouble I’ve caused by sending for you and then failing to be a gentleman and fulfill my end of the contract.”
“Actually, I’m grateful for how things turned out.” Lydia looked past him to where Caleb stood. When she smiled, his heart nearly turned over. “At least I think I am. Caleb was in the middle of an important question earlier, and he never did finish asking it.”
“Reverend Bertrand, I’d like to do this right and proper. Would you do me the honor of allowing me to marry up with your daughter? I’ll see she never wants for a thing as long as I draw a breath.”
“Is this what you want, daughter?”
When Lydia nodded, Caleb dropped to his knee again. “Will you marry me, Lydia Bertrand, and not in June but as soon as your papa’s willing to perform the ceremony?”
Lydia looked down at the man who’d stolen her heart and smiled. Tears began to fall, and she didn’t care who saw them.
“I’d be honored to become your wife.”
Caleb rose to embrace her, then kissed her quickly before shaking hands with her father. Only one thing kept the moment from being perfect.
“Papa, where’s Mama?”
Her father smiled. “She’s out in the coach. She was afraid to come in until I checked things out. For some reason she thought you might be a bit miffed at her. It was her idea we make this trip.”
“It was?” A thought occurred to her. “Papa, were you offered the position in New York?”
He nodded. “I was, but I turned it down.”
“You did?”
Papa smiled. “I had a better offer, but I’ll let your mother tell you about it.”
He stepped out and returned with Mama, who cried and professed love and apologies all in the same breath. “There’s nothing to forgive, Mama,” Lydia said. “Meet Caleb Wilson, the man I intend to marry.”
Her handsome husband-to-be charmed Mama in no time flat. She knew Mama approved when she looked over toward Lydia and nodded.
Mrs. Sykes called from the kitchen that coffee and a hot meal awaited the travelers. The portly former sheriff headed off, but Mama and Papa lingered behind.
“So what’s this about a new assignment?” Lydia asked.
Mama smiled. “Yes, your father has taken a prestigious assignment with an up-and-coming church. I’m so very proud. He will be the first pastor to preach in their new building.”
Lydia turned to her father. “Where is it?”
“Right here in Dime Box, dear. Mr. Thompson was very kind to allow me to break the news. You see, Lydia, I’ve been plotting this ever since I returned from New York. Rather, your mother has been. Isn’t that right, dear?”
Mama kissed Papa, then nodded.
Caleb shook Papa’s hand. “Welcome to Dime Box, sir.” He gathered Lydia into an embrace, then kissed the top of her head. “I know from experience that when you’re where the Lord wants you to be, there’s not a better feeling.”
A GAMBLE ON
LOVE
by Tamela Hancock Murray
Dedication
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
PSALM 68:5 NIV
Chapter 1
Denmark, Texas—Summer 1882
Another round for the boys, Pearl.” Balancing his chair on its back legs, a sober Benjamin Wilson kept his facial expression unreadable and studied the playing cards he held.
“I already knew what you were thinking, darlin’.” With an oval-shaped fingernail, Pearl tapped the half-empty bottle. She batted her eyelashes and swayed her hips in Benjamin’s direction, motions that always left him wishing he could be alone with her instead of sitting at a card table surrounded by cowpokes, whiskey, and tobacco smoke.
Benjamin winked at her. Though Pearl said she loved him, she spurned his advances beyond an occasional kiss. But at the moment, Pearl winked back at him as she tipped the bottle toward the dry glass of a young self-proclaimed cattle rustler, a man they knew only by the name of Owen.
“No more for me.” Owen looked up at Pearl and placed his flat hand over the top of his glass. “Or cards, either. I’ll hold ’em.” He pulled on his mustache.
“Are you sure you don’t want another round, Owen?” Pearl tilted the bottle, hovering it over the empty glass. “There’s plenty.”
Benjamin didn’t take his gaze off the cards. “Plenty” was a code word. His hand was better than Owen’s. With seventeen dollars on the table, Benjamin didn’t want to lose this round. Pearl lived up to her name, all right. She was a jewel.
Another habitual card player, Cyrus, threw his cards on the table. “I’m out.”
Benjamin held back a smile. If I can just hold on, I’ll get a good take.
He caught Sadie studying him from her perch on a settee near the front door. No doubt her silent observations went something along the lines of how foolish his companions were to fall for his tricks—again. Blue-eyed and baby-faced, with dark blond stubble that matched longish blond hair, Benjamin knew his innocent-looking demeanor misled many players into thinking they could beat him at the card games he had long since mastered.
Pearl’s coded talk interrupted his musings. “There’s plenty more here for you, too, W.C.”
With a nod, W.C., a man whose wealth derived itself from suspicious origins, accepted the drink. “I
’ll raise you.” He tossed some coins in the pot.
Since W.C.’s hand also lacked the cards to win, Benjamin kept the game going. “I’ll see you and raise you.”
A look from Pearl told him he’d done the right thing—according to the rules of a cheating gambler. But in the world beyond Sadie’s, Benjamin was doing wrong, according to what they said at church. That’s why he seldom attended worship.
If the preacher had his way, he’d take away whiskey, cards, and tobacco and even shut down Sadie’s business. While whiskey and tobacco didn’t impress Benjamin, he realized those threats didn’t touch his penchant for cheating. But he let the boys win once in a while so they had their fun. Just often enough so the local gamblers and out-of-towners passing through wouldn’t catch on to Benjamin’s guile. He knew he should feel guilty, but he couldn’t. He’d been cheated in life when his brothers dumped him off at Sadie’s at the age of six. Why shouldn’t he be rewarded now?
Benjamin had begged to go along with his older outlaw brothers, but they would have none of it. The last remembrance he harbored was watching them ride out of town. Only Reuben looked back at him. Having been thrust unceremoniously into manhood, he never whimpered or complained after that, but the hole his brothers left in his heart had never healed. He tried to fix the hurt by gambling, but no amount of money soothed his wounds.
At least on this night he’d get a temporary lift from winning. According to Pearl’s signals, Benjamin had the best hand at the table. He held out until the call, showed his hand, and watched as his gaming companions threw down their cards in defeat, snorting and frowning.
“I’m gonna be in a right nice fix with my wife tonight. That was her egg money.” Luke, a young farmer with a wild streak, rose from his seat.
Benjamin resisted the urge to sympathize. No one had forced Luke to join the game. Every man who played knew the chances of losing were greater than those of winning. As for Luke, well, he’d spent over three quarters of his wife’s egg money on whiskey before he even sat down at the table.
“You know,” W.C. said with a menacing tone that gave Benjamin pause, “you seem to have a powerful lot of good luck at cards.”
“His luck will run out soon. I’ll be here next week to win my money back.” Wagging his finger, Owen seemed more cheerful, his mood no doubt brought on by one shot too many of libations.
“Sure, we’ll play next week. I’m not that hard to find.” Benjamin looked around, but he didn’t see Pearl. Wisely, she had disappeared from view. He smiled to himself. Pearl wasn’t that hard to find, either.
Pearl drew two silk frocks from the narrow oak wardrobe occupying the small room she had called home for the past year. Colorful dresses, fashioned to flatter, were part of the allure that first brought her to Denmark, Texas. But fancy clothes couldn’t compensate for disappointment. Life at Sadie’s hadn’t been glamorous or exciting, as she imagined when she first left Pa’s ranch in a misguided attempt to earn easy money. Why she had listened to grand promises from the loose girls back home, she never knew. Their advice had proven dismally wrong.
Pearl should have known earning money was never easy, but back then she wanted to try. Pa had died and, with him, Ma’s dreams of making the ranch go. Most of the livestock were sold off, and only the garden crop, one cow, two pigs, and some chickens remained. Pearl’s fantasies were grander. She wanted to make the ranch a going concern. Not only that, but she dreamed of sending money to her favorite sister, a young widow with five small children, living in Abilene. Both efforts required money.
She thought back to her entrance at Sadie’s only a few short months before. When Pearl eyed Benjamin, she thought herself fortunate. But not all the men were like gentle and handsome Benjamin, and on that first evening there, she hadn’t been talking to one of the cowpokes ten minutes when she realized what she had done. She ran upstairs to the shelter of her room, crying. Sadie demanded that Pearl pack her bags and leave. But when Benjamin offered her a chance to help him win at cards, she took it. She knew cheating was wrong, but the alternatives—including returning home in defeat—seemed worse.
Returning to the present moment, she remembered the letter she had tucked away in a little box where she kept correspondence from home. In the box was a missive from her sister Rachel letting her know that Ma needed Pearl, and so she had to go back to the ranch. Pearl was ready to return. If only she didn’t have to leave Benjamin.
A tear dropped down her cheek. She let it flow.
Benjamin found Pearl in her room. Little red veins appeared in the whites of her brown eyes, and the lids were red, too. Her skin, though still creamy, looked splotchy. He’d caught her crying before and surmised she was thinking about her home. At least, that’s what she always told him when sadness overcame her.
She looked up from folding a dress and gasped. “Benjamin! What are you doing, sneaking up on a body like that?” When she looked away from him and resumed folding, he understood she wanted him to ignore her saddened state.
Leaning against the door frame, he dressed his face in its best smile. “Gettin’ ready to go to a party later?”
She shook her head but didn’t look at him.
After ascertaining no one would overhear them, he approached Pearl. “You must be plannin’ on something important. You haven’t even asked me how much the take was.” He kept his voice low in volume.
That got her attention. She regarded him. “How much?”
“Here’s your share for the week.” He handed her twenty dollars.
“Not bad.” She inspected the bills and then hid them in her bodice. “Now you wouldn’t cheat me, would you, Benjamin?”
“Never. Not you.” He smiled as if he meant it, and he did. He and Pearl always joked about how they would cheat gamblers, but never each other. Stroking her cheek, he noticed her gardenia perfume. “And even if I did, you could forgive me, couldn’t you?”
“Maybe.” She smiled. “But you better not try.”
He laughed and stepped back. “You’d better not try any fast maneuvers on me, either. Even though I could forgive you anything.”
“Could you really?” She cocked her head.
“Yes. I do believe I could.”
“Maybe you better watch what you say,” she advised.
“Oh? How come?”
“Because you won’t like what I’m about to tell you.” Her coy manner evaporated as she took in a breath and let it out. “Today was my last with Sadie, and with you. I’m leaving tonight.”
“What? What do you mean, leaving?” Anger overtook shock. “You can’t do that to me.”
Pearl flinched and covered her face.
“Now you know I would never haul off and hit you, Pearl. But I tell you, you can’t do that. Don’t you see what you’re losing? We have the perfect business. Why would you want to leave?”
“It’s my ma. She’s sick. Real sick.” Pearl cried anew.
His heart softened, and he took her into his arms. As soon as he did, her sobbing increased, tears wetting his shirt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. But you know what? I’ll wait for you to come back. Why, I’ll even take a vacation, a little break. Maybe I can visit Reuben’s family in Wyoming. How does that sound?”
“I—I don’t want you to wait for me. You don’t need to worry. Plenty of other women would be glad to take my place.” He could tell by her anxious expression the suggestion pained her.
“But I don’t want anyone else to work with me. We’re a team, Pearl.”
“I know it.” Her sobs increased. “But Ma needs me. I gotta go. You—you can make do without me.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Sure you can. You’re skilled—and lucky—at gambling. Why, I think you’d win most every time even without me.”
“It’s not just the gambling, Pearl. You know that. Don’t you? Without you I’d have no heart left at all.”
She drew back and sniffled.
He reached in his pocket and handed her his red
bandanna.
She accepted the kerchief and wiped her eyes. “Neither will I, Benjamin. Neither will I.”
“Then don’t go. I know you love your ma, but can’t one of your brothers or sisters go to her?”
Pearl shrugged. “You know I’m the youngest of ten. They’ve all long moved on to their own broods. I’m the only one who’s not tied down to hearth and home. So I’m the one who takes the responsibility now.”
Seeing Pearl’s pretty face lined with care saddened him. He knew what he was going to do. And no one would be able to stop him.
Chapter 2
T he next day, hoping no one would see him, Benjamin strode toward the front door of Sadie’s. She was the only person who knew he planned to leave. He wanted to keep it that way.
He had only a few more paces to the exit when a familiar female voice stopped him. “Say, Bennie, whatcha doin’?”
Letting out a sigh, he turned to face Eliza. “Why are you up at ten in the morning? Aren’t you usually in bed at this hour, still getting your beauty rest? Not that you need it.” He sent her the sardonic grin he knew she loved.
She drew closer. “Flattery will get you everywhere, except out of answerin’ my question. Are you thinkin’ of leavin’ us?”
Benjamin looked down at the trunk that housed every possession he owned. Their number was not great. He hadn’t ever needed much. His life hadn’t been one of fond memories tracked by souvenirs, so two changes of clothes and some toiletries were all he ever needed.
“You won’t answer. You must be leavin’.”
He twisted the heel of his boot into the floor. “Matter of fact, I am.”
She placed her hand on her hip. “Where?”
“Out of town.”
“For how long?”
“Don’t rightly know. Not sure if I’ll ever come back.”
Eliza’s painted face fell. “Not sure if you’ll ever come back? Whatcha mean by that kind of crazy talk?”
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