A Chance at Love (4 page)

He laughed. “Why'd you come to me?”

“Because lawmen always know where the best games are.”

Chuckling, he nodded in agreement. “That we do. That we do. Tell you what. I'm on duty tonight, so we can play here. Give me an hour to rustle up my usual pigeons, and then come on back.”

It was Loreli's turn to grin. “You've got a deal.”

In an hour Loreli returned dressed in a beautiful indigo gown and smelling good. The sheriff introduced her to his friends: general-store owner, Bert Green; rancher, Howard Burke; and the skeptical-looking banker, Sol Diggs.

Diggs declared, “I don't play with women.”

Loreli flashed him a winning smile, “Neither do I.”

The rest of the men laughed. Diggs, caught off guard by Loreli's golden charm and beauty, surrendered.

By the end of the third hand, the men knew Loreli was no rube. Her skill with the cards far exceeded their own. She played shrewdly, decisively, and bluffed better than anyone they'd ever sat down with before. Each man sensed she could've wiped the floor with them, but she kept the blood-letting to a minimum.

An hour later, as the men folded and Loreli raked in another pot, the sheriff said, “Loreli, I'm real glad you insisted on playing for pennies.”

“Me too,” Diggs admitted reluctantly, “otherwise, you'd own my bank by now.”

The rotund dark-skinned Bert Green added, “And my store.”

They were distracted by the door opening. Loreli, in the midst of raking in her pile of pennies, glanced up to see Jake Reed walk in. When her eyes met his, his registered surprise, then, as he saw the cards, disapproval. Loreli found the judgment irritating. Determined to ignore him from then on, she went back to gathering her coins.

Sheriff Mack asked, “What brings you in, Jake? Those girls aren't gone again, are they?”

Reed shook his head, “No. Came to tell Bert his mare's finally foaled. It's a filly.”

Bert Green smiled broadly. “Why, that's good news. The mare doing okay?”

“Just fine. I'll drop my bill by the store in the morning.”

“All right.” Then Bert asked, “Do you know Miss Loreli?”

“We've met.” His eyes were frosty; his tone, no warmer.

Loreli wondered how such a stiff-necked man ever hoped to raise two spirited little girls. “Evenin', Mr. Reed.”

He nodded. “Miss Winters.”

“You want to sit in a few hands?” Howard Burke asked Jake. “Maybe you can stop her from winning the whole town. She's already won the bank, my ranch, and Bert's store.”

“I can't. Rebecca's watching the girls until I get back.”

Sol Diggs, the banker, asked, “When are you going to marry that woman, doc? Everyone's waiting, you know. Woman like that will keep you away from all that union nonsense.”

Loreli watched Reed's eyes go cold. She wondered what kind of union nonsense the banker had been referring to. She thought Reed was a Black Republican.

Reed's voice mirrored the chill in his eyes. “Any woman I marry will have to put up with my union nonsense, Sol, just as you will before we're done.”

The tension in the air rose. Loreli got the impression that Reed and the banker didn't agree on whatever this union issue revolved around.

Sheriff Mack intervened. “Gentlemen, we're here for a friendly game, not political fisticuffs.”

Neither man said anything else, but it was clear that their disagreement would continue. In an attempt to defuse the situation, Loreli cut in. “Gentlemen, shall we play another hand, or call it a night?”

Howard Burke pushed his chair back from the table. “I have to get home. Promised my wife I wouldn't be out real late.”

The others offered up similar pledges, so the game came to an end. Loreli placed the cards back in her handbag and stood. Still ignoring Reed, she said, “Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. I'll be here until Friday morning. If you get together again, I'll be hurt if I'm not included.”

The sheriff cracked humorously, “And our pockets will be hurt if we do, but don't worry. We'll let you know.”

“Where are you staying, Miss Winters?” Howard Burke asked.

“With Mrs. Boyd.”

“Then I'd be honored if you'd let me escort you back.”

Loreli was just about to take him up on the offer when Jake Reed declared, “I'll walk her back, Howard. I'm headed that way.”

Loreli found his offer surprising to say the least, but she sensed it had little to do with concerns for her safety.

Burke looked disappointed, but nodded a gentlemanly surrender. “If you insist. No lady should be walking alone at night.” Burke turned to the sheriff and added, “No offense to how you do your job, Walt.”

The sheriff replied, “None taken.”

Loreli didn't really want Jake Reed escorting her anywhere, but could hardly say that now. It was only a short walk, though. What could happen?

Loreli grabbed her indigo silk shawl and spread it lightly around her bare shoulders. “I'm ready, Mr. Reed.”

He opened the door with a politeness she knew he didn't feel. Loreli turned to the other men. “Thanks for a fine evening, gentlemen.”

They offered their good-byes, and a moment later, she and Jake Reed were walking together in the silent night. After they'd taken a few steps, he said, “He's married, you know.”

“Who?”

“Howard Burke.”

“Oh. Is that why you butted in?”

Jake's lips tightened.

“Did you think I was going to lure him into an alley and take his wallet or just throw him to the ground and make him renounce his marriage vows?” She looked over at his granite features. “Never mind. I already know the answer.”

Jake wasn't accustomed to being put in his place by such a blunt-talking woman. She was right, however. He had thought she might take advantage of Howard Burke. Burke was a good man, but his weakness for flashy, younger women was well known. “Play cards with men often?”

“All the time,” she replied without shame. “It's how I make my living.”

He stopped. “You're a gambler?”

Loreli looked into that handsome face and chuckled sarcastically, “No, I'm a minister's wife.” She began walking again. “Yes, I'm a gambler, an occupation I'm sure you don't approve of.”

“That's not for me to judge,” he replied emotionlessly.

Loreli laughed. “Oh, for heaven's sake. Your face twisted up like a child drinking vinegar when you walked in and saw me sitting at that table.”

Jake knew she was right. It had bothered him; it still did. “Just had no idea I'd find you there.”

“Especially with a deck of cards in my hand.”

Jake didn't answer.

Loreli let that go, then took note of all the businesses that had closed down now that night had fallen. “This place shuts down pretty early.”

“Saloon's open until midnight.”

She refused to be baited. “No thanks. Guess I've forgotten how provincial small towns can be.”

“Where were you born?”

“Kentucky.”

“Slave or free?”

“Slave.” Loreli wasn't ashamed of her past. Like the other three million captives held before the war, she'd had no say in her birth. She glanced his way. “You? Where were you born?”

“Right here in Kansas.”

“Slave or free?”

“Free.”

That surprised her. “Interesting. Were your parents free too?”

“Mother was. My father was born a slave in Missouri.”

“I see. Are they still living?”

“No, my mother passed away during the war. Pa died about ten years ago. What about your parents? The girls said you lost your mother in a fire?”

“Yes.”

“What about your father?”

“Died in my arms when I was fourteen.”

In the silence that followed, they walked past the milliner's shop and Bert Green's general store. Loreli asked, “The girls doing okay?”

“Yeah.”

“How long have they been with you?”

“Little over a year now.”

“Must have been quite an adjustment having to take them in.”

“It still is, but I'm managing,” Jake said.

“What happened to their father?”

Jake shrugged. “He left my sister before the girls were born. Never met him.”

“They're very special.”

“Yes, they are.”

“They love you a lot.”

“They mean a lot to me as well.”

Loreli was pleased to hear him declare his feelings for his nieces so openly; some men viewed such confessions as unmanly.

By now the short walk to the boardinghouse had been completed. Standing outside its small white gate, Loreli said, “Thanks for the escort.”

“You're welcome. You didn't really win the bank and store did you?”

Loreli studied him for a moment, then asked teasingly, “Why? Are you going to make me give them back?”

“This is a small town with small town folks. They're not used to being taken by sharps.”

Loreli wondered if he were deliberately trying to offend her. “We were playing for pennies.” At his skeptical expression, she added, “It was just a friendly game to pass the time, Mr. Reed. Nothing more. Why on earth would I want to own anything in this poor excuse for a town?” When he didn't answer, she said tightly, “You really need to loosen your stays, Reed, before you injure yourself. Good night.”

After closing the door to her room, Loreli tossed her handbag on her bed. She knew she shouldn't let Jake Reed and his judgmental self get under her skin, but he had. If she had a nickel for every time somebody looked down their sanctimonious nose at her, she'd be even wealthier than she was now, but as it stood, she'd learned at a young age to ignore such high-handed folks. Why Jake should be such a thorn was a mystery. Taking off her shawl and hanging it inside the armoire, Loreli began removing the pins from her hair. Maybe Jake's sneering manner affected her more because of the seeds planted in her heart by his twin nieces. Maybe, because she couldn't believe a man that handsome could be so—arrogant, was the word she decided upon. He acted as if being around her fouled his air. She still couldn't get over how he'd bushwhacked Howard Burke's offer to escort her back here. Jake clearly believed she'd been up to no good. In the end, Loreli changed into her nightgown, and decided his attitude didn't much matter; in a few more day, she'd be on her way to California and this backwater would just be another memory.

 

After tucking the twins into their beds, Jake Reed sat in the parlor's silence and let the day's tension seep out of his bones, or at least tried to. The day had certainly ended a lot calmer than it had begun, even with the difficult birth of Bert's new filly. He could still feel the panic that had grabbed him this morning upon finding the girls gone. How on earth had Loreli Winters gotten them to make that pledge not to run off again? It was quite obvious there was more to her than he initially assumed, a lot more, he mused sarcastically, thinking of the card game he'd found
her in tonight. By her flashy clothing and bold ways, he'd initially assumed her to be some type of fancy woman, whore maybe. That she was a gambler threw him a bit; it didn't raise her stature any higher, but at least she didn't work on her back.

He walked out onto the moonlit porch. The path to figuring out the best plan for the girls' future was no clearer than it had been yesterday. Arthur Gibson was right. The twins needed a woman in their lives. When they first arrived, Jake had been unwilling to admit that fact, because he'd arrogantly believed he had the ability to do it alone. Now? He ran his hand over his hair, a signature move of frustration. Glancing up at the stars, he called out softly, “Your baby brother needs help down here, Bonnie girl. Can you see what you can do?”

He sat alone in the dark for a few long moments longer, then went inside and went to bed.

 

At breakfast on Monday, Jake asked the girls how they'd feel about him marrying Rebecca. In response, the kitchen had been silent for the last two minutes.

Jake finally asked them, “Well? No opinions? Bebe, what do you think?”

Bebe fiddled with the eggs and grits on her plate. She shook her head, indicating she had nothing she wished to say.

He glanced across at Dede. “What about you, De?”

Dede shook her head.

Jake spoke gently. “Come on now, girls. You must be thinking something.”

Bebe told him quietly, “You don't really want us to say.”

Her soft voice, so filled with sadness, pulled at his heartstrings. Jake responded with the truth. “You're wrong, Be. Because whomever I marry is going to be your mother, and it should be someone you can love.”

Bebe met his eyes. “Then we don't want Rebecca as our mama.”

Dede added, “She doesn't like us to have fun, or to get dirty.”

“Life isn't always about fun, girls,” Jake explained.

Bebe replied respectfully, “But sometimes it is, Uncle Jake.”

Jake studied her honest little face. She was right of course, and getting dirty was part of that fun. He remembered many a day he and Bonnie had returned home covered with river mud. Amazingly, his Bible-thumping father hadn't minded too much; he'd send his two dirty children to the pump to bathe, and no sin was attached. “Then who would you want me to pick?”

“How about Loreli?” Dede asked hopefully.

Jake sighed. “We've already discussed this, De.”

“I know, but you asked me to tell you the truth.”

He had, hadn't he? He tried again. “All right, besides Miss Winters, is there anyone else?”

Silence.

Bebe finally declared, “It's all right, Uncle Jake. Dede and I decided we don't want a mama anymore. We'll just grow up without one.”

That said, Bebe pushed away from the table. “Come on, De. Let's go feed Suzie.”