Matt (The Cowboys)

by Leigh Greenwood

  “After all, there’d be a lot of money floating around, looking for a place to land. Like I said, people would know their money wasn’t safe with you. No telling when Wilbur would get mad at them, and they’d be out in the cold. The Randolphs might be willing to offer real good rates, rates you’d find hard to match.”

  Tom appeared to pause a second to take stock; then he sat back in his chair, visibly relaxed. “It’s been nice talking to you, Matt, but I’ve got to get back to work. Like I said, I was just checking over your loan. We do that for all our customers from time to time. Looks like it’s real solid. Hell, you’re one payment ahead. Can’t say that about the rest of my customers.”

  “Glad you’re pleased with my progress. Why don’t you come out to the ranch someday and see our operation? I think you’d be even happier about having lent me the money.”

  “I’ll do that,” Tom said getting to his feet, “just as soon as I can get that preacher off my back.”

  Ellen and the kids were watering the plants in her garden by hand. She didn’t know why she bothered. She would be gone before the garden started to bear, but she went ahead. Being busy kept her from thinking too much. She didn’t know if she could stay at the ranch until the adoptions were completed. The last two days had been awful. She missed Matt something terrible. They hadn’t spent a single day apart since they were married. She’d always had him to depend on, to look to for strength. Now he was in San Antonio, and his coming back wouldn’t change anything.

  She’d taken his presence for granted, his strength, his support, the feeling of quiet and safety he instilled in everyone around him. She missed seeing him at the table, feeling his warmth in bed, knowing he was so close she could reach out and touch him. She hadn’t realized how much of her happiness and that of the kids depended on Matt.

  The horror of the murder lingered, but the feeling of loss was even greater. She tried to rationalize the murder, but she couldn’t. The nightmare of her parents’s deaths plagued her. Memories of the shock, hatred, and thirst for revenge tried to force their way out of the dark corner of her mind where she’d hidden them, but she locked the door on them. No matter what her feelings had been, she hadn’t killed. An honorable man had to have boundaries he wouldn’t cross no matter what the provocation.

  Once again a man had proved untrustworthy.

  She push ail thoughts of the deaths from her mind. She would concentrate on her shop and the move to San Antonio. She would become so busy and successful, she’d forget Matt and these few weeks. She wasn’t cut out to be a rancher’s wife. She was really a town girl. She didn’t even like horses.

  “When is Matt coming back?” Noah asked for the dozenth time that morning.

  “I told you I don’t know. He has to talk to another judge. I have no idea how long that will take.”

  “Is he going to take us away?” Tess asked.

  Matt had packed and left with the sheriff so quickly, everybody knew something was wrong. It didn’t help that Toby shouted that she had messed up the adoptions and they were all going to be shipped off to an orphanage. The kids had been silent and frightened ever since. Orin was so upset, he couldn’t eat. Toby had gotten up from the table and stomped out. He hadn’t returned to the house until after dark.

  Today she hadn’t seen either Toby or Orin since breakfast. Isabelle had sent Hank over for the day so he could enjoy some company his own age. The three boys had ridden out together.

  “No one is going to take you away,” Ellen tried to assure Tess.

  “Toby says we can’t live here anymore,” Noah said. “He said Matt has to run away. I don’t want Matt to run away. I like living here.”

  She didn’t want Matt to have to take the boys and go west, but it might be the best solution. He wouldn’t need a wife to keep the boys, and she would have a husband so she could keep the children. But leaving his ranch would hurt him deeply. When the boys got old enough to go out on their own, he wouldn’t have anything left. The only family he had was here. He had to stay, but how?

  She still loved him. She wondered how she could love a murderer, but it was pointless to deny that she did. She would always love him. It hurt that she was unable to give him the one thing he wanted more than anything else, a family. She tried to find a way to rationalize the murder, but she kept thinking about the man who’d killed her parents. He was mild-mannered most of the time, but the murder had been incredibly violent. She didn’t believe Matt was like that, but she couldn’t separate the two in her mind.

  By lunch she made up her mind what she was going to do. “Change into some clean clothes,” she told the kids. “We’re going into town.”

  “How about Toby and Orin?” Noah asked.

  “And Hank?” Tess added.

  “We’ll be back before dinner.”

  She knew a tactic that would work. She had to neutralize the enemy.

  Mrs. Ogden had been so excited she could hardly wait for Ellen to settle herself on the sofa before she told her the news. “He ordered Mabel to have nothing to do with Wilbur Sears. Then he told her not to say another word against Matt Haskins.”

  “And Mabel agreed?” Ellen asked, unable to believe Tom Jackson had laid down the law to his headstrong wife.

  “Tom said if she didn’t, he’d send her to stay with her mother until she could control herself.”

  This would deprive Wilbur of his strongest ally. Ellen hoped that would work in her favor. She’d never felt more nervous. Or more reluctant to do what she’d made up her mind to do. She had dropped the kids off with Mrs. Ogden, staying only long enough to hear the news about Mabel. She was afraid she might change her mind if she gave herself a chance to think too much.

  She forced herself to march up to Wilbur’s house and knock on the door.

  Wilbur opened the door himself. He seemed shocked to see her.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  That wasn’t a good beginning. “Aren’t you going to invite me in? I’d rather not talk standing on the porch.”

  “All right,” he said reluctantly, “but I’m busy. I have a sermon to prepare.”

  “This won’t take long.” It might only take seconds. They took seats opposite each other in the most depressingly austere room she’d ever entered. No pictures, pillows, or dresser scarfs. Just ladder-back chairs around a table. It looked like a Quaker meeting room.

  “Now what do you want?” Wilbur asked, an unfriendly tone in his voice. “I’d rather you tell me quickly. I don’t want your husband coming here looking for you.”

  “It’s Matt I’ve come to talk about,” she said. “I’m going to divorce him.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Had she waited too long? If Wilbur wasn’t still interested in her, it would ruin her whole plan. She didn’t want to lie. Everything depended on Wilbur making assumptions she wouldn’t correct.

  “Thank God you’ve finally come to your senses,” Wilbur exclaimed, giving Ellen the first genuine smile she’d ever seen on his face. “Now you can marry me.”

  Ellen felt some of the tension flow from her body. He’d taken the bait.

  “I can’t do that, Wilbur. You know you don’t want the children.”

  “I’ve accustomed myself to the fact that you won’t marry me without them,” Wilbur said, his expression turning serious. “You will have to assume responsibility for them. Naturally I will set down the rules they are to follow, but I can’t slight my work. There is much evil in this world. It is my job to seek it out and destroy it.”

  Ellen tried to look demure. She wasn’t sure she succeeded. “That’s not the only reason a marriage between us wouldn’t work,” she said.

  “What other reason is there?”

  “I can’t stay married to Matt, but I couldn’t marry you knowing you were determined to take those boys away from him.”

  The condemning look was back. So was the anger. The jealousy. She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it before. “If you’re going t
o divorce him, why do you care?”

  “I’m not divorcing him because of the boys.”

  “Then why are you divorcing him?”

  “We’re not suited. We can’t get along. We’re always disagreeing.”

  “In general I believe a woman should heed her husband, but in this case I think you’re showing good sense.”

  “Nobody in this town wants Toby,” Ellen said, determined not to be diverted from her main purpose. “If you could convince the town bullies to leave him alone, there wouldn’t be any trouble. Besides, he’ll be grown, soon. He’ll probably want to leave.”

  “Okay, but—”

  “You can’t take Orin either,” she said before he could say what was on his mind. “Nobody wanted that boy when the money ran out. Everybody knows Ermajean is mean-spirited and stingy. And don’t say Orin needs a family. He has more family in Matt than he’d have in Ermajean. And that doesn’t count Matt’s nephews and nieces. The Maxwell clan sticks together.”

  “I can’t—”

  “You wouldn’t have to say anything,” she hastened to add, cutting him off once again. “The judge has already said Matt could adopt Orin. All you’d need to do is stop opposing it.”

  “The judge will cancel the adoption if Matt isn’t married.”

  “I won’t divorce him until after the adoption is final. Matt must have Orin. I won’t leave him before then.”

  Wilbur didn’t look happy, but Ellen knew Mabel’s desertion had weakened his position. Nobody really cared about those two boys.

  “There won’t be any money. Matt convinced the judge to put everything in a trust until Orin is twenty-one. Once Ermajean knows that, she won’t want him anymore.”

  “Okay, but Hank must go back to his uncle.”

  “Wayne Hollender has been abusing Hank.”

  “I have no doubt Matt thinks a boy should be coddled, but a boy needs discipline. Sparing the rod only—”

  “He didn’t beat him, Wilbur. He abused him sexually.”

  She couldn’t tell from Wilbur’s blank expression whether he believed her, or whether he just didn’t believe a woman could know about such things.

  “You don’t have to take my word for it. The judge has ordered a private medical examination that will prove what Hank says.”

  Ellen saw a light begin to burn in Wilbur’s eyes.

  “One more thing, Wilbur. You can’t breathe a word of this to anyone. Not ever. Do you understand?”

  “You can’t dictate to me on this. This is a matter beyond the comprehension of a mere woman. I must—”

  “If you say one word, I’ll say you tried to force yourself on me.”

  Wilbur looked aghast. “No one will believe you.”

  “Of course they will. You’ve made them so miserable over their own little sins, they’ll rush to believe it.”

  He pushed his chest out. “I have an unblemished reputation.”

  “That will only make your fall that much more spectacular. Everybody knows you want to marry me. Tulip says she’s seen lust in your eyes. After the Lowells, people will believe anything scandalous if it involves me.”

  “You wouldn’t do that. You’re too—”

  “I’ll do worse. I’ll turn on my heel if I see you in the street. I’ll make such a scene, you’ll never survive. And don’t forget Isabelle Maxwell. If she thinks you’ve attacked me, you won’t be safe anywhere, not even in your pulpit.”

  Wilbur looked stunned. Stymied. Ellen didn’t like doing this. It made her feel dishonest, but sometimes you had to fight fire with fire.

  “Don’t think you can blame it on anyone else,” she said. “You’re the only one who knows outside of me, Matt, and the judge. And I wouldn’t have told you if I didn’t think I had to. Let the judge decide what’s best for Hank. He may give him to Matt, or he may not, but you’ve got to stay out of it.”

  She didn’t know much about Wilbur, but he struck her as a man who’d never felt in control of anything in his life, never been a man of importance. Now he was a powerful force in the community. He enjoyed telling people what to do. It wouldn’t be easy for him to give that up. She watched his mouth become hard, felt his gaze bore into her as though testing her resolve. She faced him squarely. She had given him her terms. She wouldn’t accept anything less.

  “If I do all this, you’ll marry me?”

  “You shouldn’t have tried to take those boys from Matt. You know he’s the best thing that ever happened to them.”

  “You sound like you’re in love with him.”

  “I don’t have to love Matt to know he’ll give those boys a better home than anyone else. That’s important to me, Wilbur, just like Noah and Tess are important to me. I lived with them. They’ve had a rough time, but they’re good boys. Matt wants them and knows what they need.”

  “Okay,” he said, but his frown indicated that he regretted letting go. “You’ll marry me as soon as possible.”

  “Wilbur, we’re not at all alike. I’m a very strong-minded woman. I’d make you very unhappy.”

  “Permit me to know my own mind on this matter,” Wilbur said, sounding like his old, pontificating self. “I’m certain we can work everything out quite satisfactorily. As my wife you would—”

  Ellen got to her feet. “I’m still a married woman. It would be highly improper to discuss anything of this nature, even on a hypothetical basis. It wouldn’t do your reputation any good if it became known you were having relations with a married woman behind her husband’s back.”

  “We’re not having relations. I’m simply advising you—”

  “I haven’t come to you for advice. As far as everyone knows, I’m happily married, and it has to continue to appear that way,” she added when Wilbur reached across the table to take her hand. “Now I have to be going.”

  “When will I see you again?”

  “In church.” She didn’t let go of her pent-up breath until she’d turned the corner out of his view. Then she stopped and leaned against the side of the lawyer’s office until her strength returned. She couldn’t collapse now. She still had Mabel Jackson to go.

  “I do not wish to see her,” Mabel told her maid. “Tell her I’m lying down with a headache.”

  “I’m sorry to barge in, Mabel, but I had to see you.” Ellen had followed the maid into the parlor. She had expected Mabel would refuse to see her.

  “I have nothing to say to you,” Mabel said.

  “You will when you hear what I have to say. You may go,” she said to the maid. “I wish to speak privately with Mrs. Jackson.”

  Mabel appeared incensed that Ellen would have the temerity to dismiss her maid. She looked ready to tell Ellen to leave, then relented. “Five minutes is all I can allow you. I really do have a headache.”

  Ellen had rehearsed what she meant to say, but as with Wilbur, it felt wrong. “I have a business proposition to offer you.”

  “I don’t handle business,” Mabel said. “That’s my husband’s job.”

  “This is something that concerns you,” Ellen said.

  “I don’t see how.”

  “Do you like that red hat with feathers you wore on Sunday?”

  “Of course I do. It’s one of my favorite hats.”

  “The green velvet, the blue satin, and the black crepe?”

  “Yes, all of them. Why do you ask?”

  “I made them.”

  Mabel stared in disbelief.

  “I also made all the hats Isabelle Maxwell has worn for the last three months.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Ask Susan. I’ve been making hats for her ever since I came to Bandera.”

  Mabel looked angry. That wasn’t what Ellen wanted.

  “I’m telling you this because I would like to open my own hat shop.”

  “Then you should talk to your husband, not me.”

  “I’ll be moving to San Antonio as soon as the adoptions are final. You know we only married because you and Wilbur for
ced us to.”

  “We only—”

  “I know what you wanted to do, but that’s not important now.”

  “You’re wrong there,” Mabel said, an unpleasant smile on her face. “Wilbur will never let Matt Haskins adopt Orin.”

  “Wilbur has decided to drop his opposition.”

  Mabel looked shocked. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Ask him yourself.” Ellen knew she couldn’t. Her husband had forbidden her to speak to Wilbur.

  “The adoptions will proceed. After a bit, I’ll quietly move to San Antonio, but I’ll need money to set up my shop.”

  “As I told you, that’s my husband’s affair.”

  “Men don’t understand hats. If a man told him he wanted the money for cows, he’d be happy to lend it. If I mention hats, he’d just laugh.”

  “Very true.”

  “He wouldn’t lend money to me even for cows because I’m a woman. My only option is to go to another woman.”

  “Why should I lend you money, even if I had it?”

  “Men think they know everything about money, women nothing, which of course isn’t true. You know how much you and Mrs. Maxwell like my hats. My shop is bound to be a huge success. You’ll make a huge profit on your investment, and your husband will be forced to admit you know as much about money as he does.”

  Ellen knew Mabel had money of her own. She was depending on Mabel being so irritated at her husband’s recent strictures that she would be willing to do just about anything to get back at him.

  “I can’t give you an answer right now,” Mabel said. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “That’s all right. I won’t be doing anything for several months. But the adoptions must go through. I won’t give up Noah and Tess even if it means I have to live on that ranch for the rest of my life.”

  Mabel looked thoughtful. “You say Wilbur has given up his opposition to the adoptions?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even about that other boy?”

  “He’s agreed to leave that decision to the judge.”