“I can tell you the truth,” a voice announced. “I can also tell you that man is crazy.”
Ellen felt her heart sink. Wilbur’s outbursts had attracted a crowd, but Wayne Hollender’s presence was likely to cause a sensation.
“And who are you?” the judge asked.
“I’m Wayne Hollender, Hank’s uncle.”
“If you’re so fond of him, why did he run away?”
Ellen was pleased to see the judge’s direct question had surprised Hollender.
“I had to discipline him and he got angry. Ever since his parents died he’s been real volatile, up one day, down the next. He’s run away before. He would have come home with me if that man hadn’t bewitched him.”
“Are you seriously accusing this man of witchcraft?” the judge asked, incredulous.
“Mr. Haskins lures them in with promises of a life of untrammeled pleasure,” Wilbur said.
“If I could speak with you privately for just ten minutes—” Matt began. ’
“I insist upon hearing every word he says,” Wilbur said.
“So do I,” Mabel Jackson announced, pushing her way though the gathering crowd.
The sheriff, apparently worried at the size of the gathering crowd, had followed Mabel. Ellen didn’t know what he might do, but she knew Matt was losing ground. “Here’s the sheriff,” she said to the judge. “Why don’t you ask him what he thinks?”
“He’d better think that Mr. Haskins belongs in jail if he values his job,” Wilbur announced.
Apparently that was too much for the judge. “And what makes you think you have anything to say about whether or not he keeps his job?” he asked.
“I’ve been sent to save the souls of the community,” Wilbur intoned, rising on the balls of his feet as he made his proclamation. “Their consciences are in my hands.”
“Well, mine is not,” the judge declared. “What do you think of this mess?” he asked the sheriff.
“I think you ought to let each of them have a private word with you,” the sheriff said. “Then they can all have their say, and there won’t be nobody to stop them.”
The judge sighed. “That means I won’t get a drink or my dinner any time soon, but it’s a very practical solution.”
“I’ll be happy to buy you a drink,” Matt offered.
“He’s trying to bribe you,” Wilbur said. “I insist that I go first.”
Wilbur had already headed toward the hotel when the judge said, “I’ll see Mr. Haskins and his wife first, Mr. Hollender after that. When everybody else is done, I’ll see the preacher. I’m sure he’ll want a chance to set me straight about what everybody else has said.”
Wilbur had turned back and been about to explode with anger, but the judge’s last sentence caused him to smile.
“Come along,” the judge said to Matt and Ellen. “I’ll take you up on that drink.” A few minutes later they were settled in the judge’s room. “Now, what’s this all about?” he asked. “I hope none of those accusations are true. If they are, I’ll have to cancel the adoption.”
“Hank Hollender’s uncle has been abusing him sexually for some time,” Matt said. “He came to my ranch to ask me to adopt him. I want you to order a private examination to prove what he says. Then I want you to arrest that son of a bitch and hang him.”
The judge whistled, his drink arrested in midair. “When you wade into things, you don’t mess around, do you? You’ve taken on the preacher, the reigning dowager, and a pervert. What are you going to do next?”
“Go back to my ranch and mind my own business.”
Ellen felt the tension in the room ease. The judge might not be convinced, but he wasn’t going to dismiss what they said out of hand.
“I doubt that,” the judge said. He took a long swallow of his whiskey. “People like you are forever causing trouble.”
“Matt didn’t cause this trouble,” Ellen said. “Hank came to us. After what he told us, we couldn’t give him back to that man.”
“No, I don’t suppose you could. Still, it’ll be hard doing this without everybody knowing what’s going on.”
“This can’t become public,” Matt said. “It would ruin Hank’s life.”
“I know that,” the judge said as he took another swallow. “Still, I just can’t make arbitrary decisions without explaining myself.”
“I want to adopt Hank,” Matt said.
“I hope you aren’t offering that as a way out of this especially prickly situation,” the judge said.
“No,” Matt said, offering a brief smile. “I expect it will make things worse, but Hank needs somewhere to live. If the truth does come out, it will be impossible for him to find a home in this town.”
“Are you absolutely certain his uncle is abusing him?”
“I’m certain of the abuse. We have to take Hank’s word that his uncle is the one responsible.”
The judge set his whiskey down on the table. “Okay, let’s assume what the boy says is true. Why should I hand him over to you? You’ve already got four kids and you’ll probably have a passel of your own. I’d think you wouldn’t want any more.”
“There’s always room for one more on a ranch,” Matt said.
“But five?”
“Jake and Isabelle adopted eleven,” Matt said, “and they didn’t have anything to start with. I have a ranch and a herd.”
“Plus a wife,” the judge pointed out.
“Plus a wife,” Matt said.
“And what do you think about this?” the judge asked Ellen. “How would you feel about taking care of a house full of kids when you’re pregnant for the fourth or fifth time?”
In her mind Ellen had already taken Hank into the family, but she’d never thought of having to care for the family while she was pregnant the first time, and certainly not the fifth. She looked up at Matt. His expression was more inscrutable than ever. Which meant he was hiding something very important to him. He certainly couldn’t doubt she would be willing to adopt Hank.
That could only mean … Matt wanted his own children.
She didn’t know why she’d never thought of that before. True, Matt had never once spoken of having children, but she should have known a man who was so willing to take in other people’s children would want some of his own.
He must think no woman would want to bear his children once she knew he’d been abused. He’d wanted to protect Hank because of the blame and guilt the community would attach to the boy. That had to be how he felt. But he was wrong. Any woman who knew him, who lived with him for as much as a week, would fall in love with him. It was impossible not to love a man who was so kind, generous, giving, and yet was strong enough to protect her and her children.
She loved him. It had taken her a long time to see beyond his shy reticence, beyond her own silly vision of a bigger-than-life hero, to realize she had found all that and much more in Matt.
“By the time you have the fourth kid, your husband will probably have found himself another orphan or two to adopt,” the judge added.
She didn’t care. She wanted her children, Matt’s children, their children.
She would have to tell him that she wanted to stay, to be his wife, that she wanted him to love her as much as she loved him. She smiled up at him, hoping the warmth of her smile would banish some of the cold she now saw in his heart.
“My husband and I know what it’s like to be without a home, the security of having someone who loves you and is willing to protect you. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t want to adopt other children.”
“But you will agree that there’s a limit to the number of children any family can reasonably care for,” the judge said, pressing his point.
“Yes,” she answered, looking at Matt rather than the judge, “and we may have to sacrifice having so many of our own in order to help others.”
Matt’s eyes opened a little wider, but everything else about him was immobile. She wondered if he thought she was just saying that to pl
ease the judge.
“But we haven’t talked about this,” she said, still looking at Matt. “We’ll have to talk very soon.” She hoped he understood. He looked so still.
“Can you support such a family?” the judge asked Matt. “That many children will take a lot of money.”
“I won’t be able to buy them all ranches or build them houses,” Matt said, “but they’ll know how to earn a living if they’re willing to work.”
“What about the kind of home they’ll have? Wilbur Sears tells me you two only married so you could adopt the children. Is that true?”
The judge had gone out of his way to help them. They had to tell him the truth if they wanted him to stay on their side. She looked at Matt. He sat unmoving, waiting for her to answer. She didn’t know what he would have said had he answered the question, but this was her question. Only she could answer it now. She turned her gaze to the judge.
“It started that way,” Ellen said. “Wilbur and Mabel wanted to take the children from me and take Orin from Matt. The sheriff suggested we marry so we could adopt them.”
Matt’s face remained completely closed. She turned back to the judge.
“I was assaulted by my employer’s son,” Ellen said, “and my reputation was so badly ruined, the only job I could find was in a saloon. I was furious at all men, determined I would never be dependent on a man. I made Matt promise to help me open a hat shop in San Antonio after the adoptions were final.”
“So you planned to split up after the adoptions?” the judge asked.
Ellen turned to Matt, but apparently he was going to let her do the talking. He knew she wanted the children as much as he did. And even though what she had said so far sounded damaging, he must have faith she would be able to bring it around so it would strengthen their position. He wasn’t going to second-guess her.
“We didn’t talk about a divorce,” Ellen said, “but I certainly had separate households in mind.”
“What changed your mind?” the judge asked. “I assume the point of this story is that you have changed your mind.”
“Living with Matt changed my mind. There isn’t a kinder, gentler, more understanding man in Bandera, but he’s not soft. Matt had trained those boys to keep a better house than most women do, yet they can handle wild horses and cantankerous longhorns as well as any cowboy. He sticks up for them when he thinks they’re right—he won’t let anybody take advantage of them—but he lets them know they have to earn every privilege. If they do something wrong, he explains the consequences and helps them deal with them, but he never demeans them. Noah and Tess adore him. Toby and Orin will do anything he says. Who wouldn’t admire a man like that?”
“Is that all you feel for him?” the judge asked.
“No. I love him.”
The judge turned to Matt. “How about you?”
Chapter Twenty-one
Matt felt incapable of responding. So many feelings came crashing down on him, he felt buried under their weight, rendered mute, barely able to think.
Ellen loved him!
It seemed impossible, yet she’d said it, said it before a judge.
When she answered the judge’s question about the nature of their marriage, he’d been confident she would say something that would help convince the judge to let them adopt Hank as well as the other children, but he’d never expected this. Could it be true? Yet he didn’t have to ask. He could look at her face and tell she meant every word she said. She looked radiant, happy, beautiful… and uneasy. She didn’t know what he would say.
She loved him. He loved her. Everything had changed, and he didn’t know what to do about it.
“Are you going to answer my question?” the judge asked. “You look shocked.”
“I expect he is,” Ellen said. “I haven’t had a chance to tell him that my feelings have changed.”
“You mean …” The judge looked from one to the other. “Damnation!” he exclaimed, breaking into a huge grin. “I never have been a witness to the first declaration of love. Even missed my own. My wife told me she loved me after I got myself knocked unconscious rescuing her from a frightened horse.”
Matt felt his tongue flap uselessly in his mouth. No matter what he started to say, it didn’t seem right. It was either too much or too little. Or untrue. But this was no time to deal in untruths, even for the judge’s benefit.
“Ellen isn’t the only one who’s undergone a change of sentiment,” Matt said, looking at Ellen rather than the judge. “I always liked her, but it’s hard for an unsociable man to know how to court a beautiful woman, especially when he’s already saddled with two boys.”
“And she has a reputation for seducing her employer’s son,” Ellen said, her gaze riveted on Matt.
“I never believed that.”
“I know.”
“It looks like if Wilbur Sears weren’t so pigheaded you two would never have gotten together.” The judge put his glass down and started to heave himself out of his chair. “I imagine you two have a lot to say to each other. I’d better get on to Hollender if I’m ever to have my supper. I’ll arrange for the examination and do my best to make certain the results remain a secret. In the meantime, I’ll leave the boy with the Maxwells. I think even Wilbur Sears will agree that’s a reasonable arrangement.”
Matt was certain Wilbur wouldn’t agree to anything short of Hank’s being handed over to his uncle immediately. Even if Matt told him the uncle had been abusing the boy, he wouldn’t believe it. He would be certain Matt had some ulterior motive for spreading such a slander.
Matt had just gotten to his feet when a series of imperative knocks sounded on the door to the judge’s room.
“Come in,” he called impatiently.
The door opened to admit Mabel Jackson, dragging Orin by the ear. She was closely followed by a woman Matt didn’t know, who seemed to be equally irate.
“I demand you arrest this boy as a thief,” Mabel announced, looking in triumph at Matt. “I caught him in my house trying to steal my jewelry box.”
Matt’s gaze had gone straight to Orin the minute Mabel pulled the boy into the room. It was clear from Orin’s expression that he wasn’t innocent, but Matt knew he wasn’t a thief. He’d never shown any desire for personal possessions. He certainly couldn’t have any use for a jewelry box.
“I’m certain he’s the one who stole my husband’s gold watch the day of the church picnic,” the woman with Mabel said. “My neighbor saw him sneaking around my house about an hour before my husband and I returned.”
Orin ran straight to Matt and threw his arms around his waist. He didn’t protest his innocence when Matt put his hand on his head. He didn’t even look up.
“That’s all the proof you need that Matt Haskins isn’t fit to raise that boy,” Mabel announced. “Look at him, coddling the little thief like he’d done nothing wrong.”
“Regardless of what he’s done, he’s a child and he’s frightened,” Matt said. “He needs to know I love him and mean to take care of him. You’d do the same for one of your children.”
“We’re not talking about my children,” Mabel said, for all the world as though her children were of a superior race. “My children would never steal.”
“No, your son only got his friends to help him jump Toby because your daughter continues to wink at him,” Ellen said.
Mabel turned white, then red. “I insist you arrest that child immediately.”
“I think this is more the province of your sheriff,” the judge said.
“He’s just as bad as you,” Mabel exclaimed. “He can’t see anything wrong with Matt and that woman, either.”
“I think we ought to hear what Orin has to say,” Matt said.
“I don’t see why,” Mabel said. “I caught him in my room. I know he’s guilty.”
“Why did you do it?” Matt asked Orin, loosening the boy’s grasp and holding him at arm’s length. “Look at me,” Matt said when Orin continued to stare at the floor. “W
hy were you trying to take Mrs. Jackson’s jewelry box?” He put his hand under Orin’s chin and lifted his head until he could look into the boy’s eyes.
“I wasn’t trying to steal her stupid old box,” Orin told Matt. “I wanted my mama’s picture. She asked me to give it to my daughter some day so she’d know what her grandmother looked like.”
“Is there a picture of Orin’s mother in that box?” Matt asked Mabel.
She looked flustered. “I don’t know. I bought the box because I thought it was pretty. I never bothered to look inside.”
“Do you want the picture of his mother?”
“Of course not. Why would I want such a thing?”
Matt turned back to Orin. “Did you take the watch?”
Orin nodded his head. “It was my pa’s. He got it from his pa. It was supposed to be mine, but they wouldn’t give it to me.”
“Who wouldn’t give it to you?”
“Ermajean. She said I couldn’t have it or anything else. She said they would need all the money they could get to pay for her taking care of such a troublesome boy as me.”
“Where is the watch?” Matt asked.
Orin hung his head. “It’s at the ranch. I hid it in a crack in the loft.”
“You know you have to return it, don’t you?”
Orin nodded.
“I don’t want the watch,” the woman said. “I never knew it was promised to the boy. I bought it for my husband, but he doesn’t use it. Please, let him keep it.”
“Thank you, ma’am, but I don’t allow my boys to steal, regardless of the reason. You’ll get it back.”
“I couldn’t keep it now, not knowing how much he wants it.”
“Then we’ll buy it back,” Matt said. “Do you remember how much you paid for it?”
“No, and I don’t care. Let the boy have it.”
“We’ll pay for it. Please put a value on it.”
“How about two dollars?”
“Surely you paid more.”
“Maybe, but it’s only worth two dollars to me now.”
Matt turned to Mabel. “Would you let us buy the jewelry box?” he asked. He could tell she was furious the situation had turned out so differently from what she’d expected, but she actually looked a little chagrined.
Matt (The Cowboys) Page 26
