On the Fence (Chance City Series Book Two)

by Robin Deeter

  Cy stepped up to Doug and narrowed his eyes. “I understand that you think that cats are smarter than dogs.”

  Doug grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Cy nodded. “I think you and I need to have a discussion about this over a drink.”

  “I’ll take you up on that,” Doug said, following Cy into the parlor.

  Daphne could have kissed her brother right then for playing the good host. The house was filled with conversation and laughter all that day. Like Brock and Daphne, the two families found that the divide could be bridged with a little effort and respect. Surprisingly, the only real remaining animosity was between Brock and Daniel.

  Daphne overheard David speaking to Daniel about it at one point.

  “You must stop this! Brock is changing, as we all are. We have to learn to trust them as much as they do us,” David said.

  Daniel’s blue eyes filled with fire. “It’s hard after years of hearing him call us all kinds of horrible names and embarrass us. Hiding behind his badge if we got out of line. I still can’t believe that Cy is becoming friends with him. Of course, he was gone for a long time and doesn’t really know just how bad it was.”

  David put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I know, but it’s obvious that Brock’s heart and those of his family are changing. If you hang on to this bitterness, it will only cause trouble. No good will come of it. Do you want to cause a situation that would hurt Daphne?”

  Daniel shook his head. “No. I love her and I want her to be happy. I just can’t believe he makes her happy.”

  David gave him a stern look. “That’s Daphne’s business. Someday you’ll understand. You can’t control love, love controls you. Besides, the Great Spirit chose to put them together for a reason. I believe it’s to show us that we can perhaps heal old wounds. Put this anger out of your heart.”

  Daniel inhaled deeply and let his breath out slowly. “I’ll try. It’s the best I can do.”

  David sighed and left the room, put out with his son. Daphne had pretended that she’d been busy with something in the kitchen, but her mind worried over the things she’d heard Daniel say. But when Brock came into the room and stole a kiss from her, the love in the blue eyes she loved so much reassured her and the joy of the day was restored for her.

  *****

  Music and laughter filled Benny’s on New Year’s Eve. Brock, Aaron, and Wheels were joined by two other musicians. Wheels’ sister, Maggie, aka Skeeter, who also owned a junkyard, played harmonica, and Lewis Flemming, played spoons.

  Johnny pitched in tending bar so Benny could go dance off and on. Brock watched his fiancée dance with other men without much jealousy. His trust in her was complete, but he kept an eye on her in case someone got too familiar with her person.

  He grinned as Rob spun her around on the dance floor, thinking that his tall, lanky boss looked a little like a crane as he moved in time to the fast song they played. Ellie was trying to learn some sort of dance from Walt, but she wasn’t having much luck with it. Of course, she wasn’t the most graceful dancer, so if Walt was trying to teach her anything complicated, her chances of success weren’t very good.

  Still, she laughed when she messed up and whatever Walt said to her in response only made her laugh harder. Looking over at the bar, Brock did a double take at the look of pure dislike on Hunter’s face as he watched the Irishman and Ellie. Hunter got the same expression whenever Walt came to the sheriff’s office.

  When he’d first noticed it, Brock had thought maybe Hunter had developed a crush on Ellie, but that wasn’t the case at all. There was just something about the attorney that rubbed Hunter the wrong way and judging from the look on Hunter’s face right then, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

  Loud laughter erupted over at a table and Brock saw a guy throw down his cards in anger. Ollie sat on the table from him. Vern sat in one of the other chairs at the table, keeping an eye on Ollie for Wheels. Apparently Ollie was making a killing at poker. Brock leaned over and nudged Wheels’ chair and then nodded in Ollie’s direction. Wheels cracked up when he saw Ollie scooping up money from the table.

  Turning back around, Brock smiled as Daphne crooked a finger at him. When the song ended, he informed the others that he was going to dance, and put his guitar to the side.

  “You certainly sound in fine form tonight, Deputy. You look it, too,” Daphne said as he took her in his arms.

  Brock said close to her ear. “Why, thank you, Miss Decker. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen every gorgeous inch of you, so I should know.”

  Daphne laughed, loving his scandalous remark. “If you play your cards right, you might just get the chance to see it again.”

  “Then I’ll be on my best behavior,” he said.

  Benny clanged the bell that hung behind the bar, gaining the crowd’s attention. “Almost midnight folks! Get ready!”

  He started off the countdown and everyone joined in. The clock struck midnight and the noise level rose tenfold as shouts of “Happy New Year” went up. Brock kissed Daphne soundly, properly ringing in the new year with the woman he loved more than anything in the world.

  Parting, they raised their voices with all the others in signing Auld Lang Syne, but their gazes stayed locked. Even as their family and friends wished them Happy New Year’s, they were acutely aware of each other. Desire shimmered between them, potent and raw.

  Brock arched an eyebrow and gave her a small, wicked smile that she answered with one of her own, thereby giving him the answer to his unspoken question. He turned to go get their coats and came face to face with Daniel. A dangerous glint shone in Daphne’s cousin’s eyes.

  “Where are you off to?” he asked. “Taking my cousin to your secret little spot?”

  Brock’s eyes widened and Daniel gave him a drunken sneer.

  “That’s right. I know about it. You took her—”

  Grabbing Daniel’s arm, Brock pulled him to the side. “Shut your mouth! You’re drunk and you’re gonna embarrass Daphne!”

  Daniel yanked his arm away. “You really think you’re something special, don’t you? You think just because you wear a badge that you’re untouchable. Well, you’re not.”

  Brock reined in his temper. “Cy wears a badge, too.”

  “Yeah, but he knows what it means to be Comanche. At least he used to. Maybe he’s forgotten, but I haven’t! Just because you’re marrying Daphne doesn’t mean that you’ve really changed the way you think about us. We’re just a bunch of dirty Injuns to you. Isn’t that right?”

  Brock’s jaw clenched. “This isn’t the place or time to discuss this. Come see me when you’re sober and we’ll talk then.”

  He tried to move past Daniel, but Daniel grabbed his shirt collar and hauled him back.

  “Daniel! Let him go!” Daphne said. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “He’s not good enough for you!” Daniel said.

  Brock extricated his shirt from Daniel’s fist. “He’s drunk. Let’s go.”

  “He was just telling me what a dirty, good-for-nothing Indian I am. Isn’t that right?” Daniel let out harsh laugh. “He hasn’t changed, cousin. He never will.”

  Daphne said, “Stop it, Daniel!”

  “No! Not until you see what’s right in front of your face. He doesn’t care about you. He just thought it was fun to bed—”

  Brock had had enough. He spun Daniel in his direction and socked Daniel in his jaw. Daniel reeled back from the blow, but recovered quickly. He shook a finger at Brock and grinned.

  “You’re gonna wish you hadn’t done that,” Daniel said, advancing on Brock.

  Sly inserted himself between the two men. “Daniel, stop this. It’s a holiday and you’re upsetting Daphne, not to mention the rest of the place.”

  Daniel frowned at him. “So now you’re siding with him? You can’t stand him, either.”

  “I’m siding with you, but I’m not letting you start a fight tonight. Come ho
me with me and sleep it off,” Sly said, his dark eyes pleading with Daniel.

  Daniel shoved him. “He’s brainwashing you, too. Just like he did Daphne.”

  Daphne said, “No one brainwashed me, Daniel. Go home with Sly.”

  “You can’t see it can you? Of course not. He seduced you and made you think he loves you.”

  Brock moved towards Daniel. “You need to shut that foul mouth of yours.”

  Cy arrived and put a restraining hand on Brock’s shoulder. “You need to just leave, Brock.”

  Daniel snorted. “What happened to you, cousin?” he asked in Comanche. “You have forgotten who you are. Who we are. We used to stand and fight together, but not anymore. You left and forgot about us. You turned your back on your people.”

  Sly said, “No, he did not. He followed his dream. Everyone is entitled to do that.”

  Daniel was done talking. He shouldered his way around Sly, moving toward the door. At the last second, he rammed into Brock, taking him down in a swift wrestling move. Cotton pulled Daphne away from the bedlam that erupted as the two men fought in earnest, exchanging blows and hurling insults at each other.

  Their fury burned so hot that it was hard to keep them apart, but finally both men were subdued.

  Brock panted as Benny and Hunter held him back. “You know why people call you a filthy Injun? Because that’s what you keep acting like! Your problems are you own making, Daniel. If you started acting a little civilized instead of like one of the Comanche who killed my grandpa, people might actually like you and remember that you’re part white, too.”

  With a sharp gasp, Daphne stiffened against Cotton.

  Daniel let out a sarcastic laugh. “And there it is. How you truly feel. I told you all that he hasn’t changed.”

  Daphne’s stricken face came into Brock’s line of sight and his stomach sunk. “That is not what I meant at all!”

  Cy and Sly hauled Daniel out of the bar and Benny and Hunter released Brock. He immediately went to Daphne.

  “Honey, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he said. “You have to believe me.”

  Daphne wanted to, but the look on his face and the venom in his voice made her doubt him. “Cotton, please take me home.”

  Brock tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrank away from him.

  Cotton said, “Brock, let us pass, or Daniel won’t be the only Indian to put you on your ass tonight.”

  Brock’s temper flared until Cotton winked at him and shook his head slightly. His shoulders sagged as the fight left him and he stood aside.

  “Daphne, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said, as she passed by.

  She looked at him, but didn’t say anything as Cotton guided her toward the door. Someone nudged his arm and he looked to see Aaron holding out a shot to him.

  “She’ll come around. Drink this and let’s go home,” Aaron said. “She just needs a little time.”

  “This wasn’t how I pictured this night going,” Brock said. “I’m gonna kill Daniel.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re going to ignore him if he comes after you,” Aaron said. “You have to rise above whatever he throws at you. Protect yourself if it comes to that, but no more. You’ll only prove him right if you keep fighting with him.”

  Brock sighed and looked at the shot glass in his hand. The sight of his bloodied knuckles took away any desire for the drink and he handed it back to Aaron. “Yeah. You’re right. See you in the morning.”

  “Careful going home.”

  Brock just nodded and walked out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Cy had barely stepped into the kitchen the following morning before Daphne said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  He looked at Leigh, who gave him a wide-eyed look and shook her head.

  Taking his cue from his wife, he said, “Ok. Is the coffee ready?”

  Daphne moved over to the sink to put water into a pot. “Yes.”

  In times like this, Cy was actually a little scared of his sister. “Ok. Leigh, do you want some?”

  “I have, thanks.”

  “Oh, ok.” Cy quickly poured a cup and sat down by Leigh.

  He thought it best to try to act normal, but he suddenly couldn’t come up with a topic of conversation. Leigh opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it and closed it again. The kitchen door banged open and Johnny bounded in as usual.

  “Good morning, everyone. I brought the milk. Those cats followed me all the way over to the house, windin’ around my feet and all. I spilled a little in the drive and they left me alone to clean it up.”

  Cy and Leigh were never so grateful for Johnny’s rambling.

  Johnny put the milk pail on the counter and kissed Daphne’s cheek. “Don’t you worry about Brock none. He didn’t mean it. Daniel just likes to instigate.”

  Cy and Leigh cringed a little at his broaching the topic.

  Daphne shook her head and poured him a cup of coffee. “I’m not so sure about that, Johnny.”

  Cy and Leigh looked at each other, surprised when she didn’t bite Johnny’s head off.

  Johnny said, “He’s not like that anymore. I mean, he asked you to marry him. A fella just doesn’t do that if he doesn’t love the woman. Well, ok, some men might, but not Brock. He don’t care if you’re Indian or not.”

  Daphne wanted to agree with Johnny, but she kept hearing Brock’s words in her head and seeing the look on his face. Questions crowded her heart and mind. What if they got married and his loathing for Indians returned? She couldn’t take that.

  She gave Johnny a small smile. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Johnny, but I just can’t talk about this right now.”

  He gave her a sideways hug. “All right. I understand.”

  “Thank you.”

  His blue eyes took on a devilish gleam. “You’re not making us mice poop pancakes are you?”

  Daphne laughed and the release felt good. “No. We’re having oatmeal.”

  “Ok. You need help?”

  “No, I’m fine. Just sit down and behave yourself.”

  Johnny grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am.” He took a seat. “You know, I been thinkin’.”

  “That’s never good,” Leigh quipped.

  “Be nice to me or I won’t help build you guys a water tank,” Johnny said. “I’m gonna talk to Vern and see how hard he thinks it would be to pipe hot water out here to the kitchen. Then we wouldn’t even have to go to the bathhouse for hot water.”

  Daphne said, “That would be wonderful.”

  “I have to go into town later on. I’ll stop by their place and ask him,” Johnny said.

  Daphne was grateful to Johnny for lightening the mood and helping to ease her stress. The knots in her stomach loosened enough so that she was able to eat a small breakfast. But once everyone went off to work, she was alone with her thoughts and the oatmeal felt like a heavy brick in her abdomen.

  Doubt gnawed at her as she went listlessly about her work. Normally, she’d hum or whistle as she ironed and dusted, but not that day. With fortitude, she forged ahead, refusing to let her uncertainty and hurt interfere with her daily routine.

  *****

  Brock tapped his pencil impatiently against his desk as he waited for Cy to arrive so he could find out how Daphne was. He hadn’t been able to sleep, so he came into work early even though things were quiet and he really didn’t have any paperwork to catch up on. He’d ended up cleaning the cells since they were empty, but that hadn’t taken very long.

  “Knock that off before I shove that where the sun don’t shine, Brock.”

  Brock smiled at Wheezer. “Sorry. Why don’t you and Aaron go home? I’m here and I’m sure you wouldn’t mind knocking off a little early.”

  Aaron said, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” He rose and stretched. “Have a good day. Call me if you need help.”

  Wheezer also got up. “You’ll have to send someone for me. I’m too far out of town
to have a telephone.”

  Brock nodded. “Ok. Have a good day, gentlemen.”

  The other deputies bid him goodbye and headed out.

  Brock decided to clean the kitchen to pass the time until Cy arrived. His shoulders ached from the tension he felt over the situation with Daphne. Had Cy also taken what he’d said last night the wrong way? They’d been making progress in bridging the divide and he was worried that what had happened would set them back again.

  He was almost done cleaning the small kitchen when Cy came in, dogs in tow.

  Cy came into the kitchen and gave Brock a hard look before going out into the yard. The dogs greeted Brock with their usual enthusiasm. Brock wasn’t about to let the situation go on and followed Cy.

  “Cy, stop. Let me explain,” he said.

  Cy turned and walked right up to Brock. “Talk.”

  Brock ignored the fact that Cy had issued an order. “What I said last night came out wrong. I never lied about my acceptance of your family’s Comanche heritage. I’ve made my peace with that, I swear.”

  Cy crossed his arms over his chest. “What did you mean?”

  Brock ran a hand through his hair. “Daniel keeps accusing everyone of treating him and Sly like dirty Indians. I meant that if he really wants people to treat him differently, then he needs to change the way he acts. I didn’t mean that I had a problem with his heritage.

  “I was trying to make him see that if he keeps acting uncivilized and causing trouble all the time, he can’t expect people to see the good in him. I was mad about some of the stuff he was saying and it all came out wrong.”

  Eyeing Brock, Cy noted his sincere expression. Although anxious, Brock wasn’t exhibiting any signs of deception. Cy nodded. “I believe you and, I hate to say it, but you’re right about Daniel. I’ve told him and Sly the same sort of thing several times, but they don’t listen to me. Of course, Daniel’s the instigator most of the time. I’m worried that he’s getting really out of control.”