Texas Twilight (10 page)

So. Dustin and Lily had met. John motioned to
the empty spot at the table, opposite Lily. “Care to join us?”

“Thank you, but I’ve already eaten supper.”
That said, he continued to stand there, as if waiting for another
invitation.

“We’re finishing up ourselves,” John stated.
“Have coffee and dessert. We’ve hardly had a chance to get to know
each other since my arrival.”

“As long as the ladies don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” Excitement sparkled from
Harriett’s eyes, making her look years younger. “We would love to
have your company.”

“And,” Lily added, “I have hardly had the
chance to thank you properly for what you did for me. I am very
grateful.”

Dustin pulled out the empty chair and seated
himself. “It was nothing. You weigh next to nothing at all. And, if
I’m going to be absolutely truthful, I enjoyed the moment more than
I can say.”

Lily’s face flamed scarlet. She glanced at
John and he shrugged. “What happened?” he found himself asking
against his will.

“Well, “Dustin began, “I found Lily on the
boardwalk contemplating how to get past the saloon. Billy Burger
was sitting out front, drunker than a skunk, giving the horses a
tongue lashing. All I did was escort her by without incident.”

Lily started to laugh. “Without incident to
me. But not to, ah, Billy Burger. I could not believe he went head
first into that water.” Her eyes scrunched at the corners as she
tried to hold in her laughter.

Dustin was watching her with interest. “It
was nothing, cousin.”

It didn’t sound like nothing to John, but
he’d not question further.

The waitress was back with a tray and picked
up the used dishes. “Did you save room for dessert?”

“What do you have?” John asked, a bit
defensively.

“Bread pudding, berry pie, peach cobbler and
two slices of granny apple.

“Lily?” John looked at Lily seated to his
left.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly. You’ve been much
too generous already, John. You can’t keep treating us to dinner
like this.”

“I insist. Don’t go looking to Harriett for
help, either. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“In that case, I would like a slice of berry
pie, please.”

“The same for me,” Harriet said.

“Apple,” Dustin added.

John leaned back in his chair. “I’ll take a
large piece of the cobbler.”

“John had to perform an operation today,”
Lily said after the waitress left.

Dustin’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
“Today? On your first day in town?” He stared openly at John. “You
sure the poor victim really needed it?”

“Victim?”

Dustin laughed. “I’m just kiddin’, John. It
just seems strange. You know—your very fist day and all. Who was
the patient?”

“Candy Brown.”

“I know Martha, Candy’s mother,” Dustin
replied.

The waitress was back and served the
desserts.

“
That
would go
without saying.” John cut his cobbler with the side of his fork and
raised a brow at his cousin.

Dustin’s
fork stopped halfway to his mouth. “What’s
that
suppose to mean?” He completed his action and
chewed vigorously.

John
shrugged. “Just that Rio Wells is a small town. I’d think you’d
know just about everyone. It was her
appendix
.”

Dustin was swallowing and the strange word
made him cough. “Append…what?”

“Appendix. It’s a little organ on the right
lower half of your abdomen. If it gets infected and isn’t removed,
it ruptures inside, spewing infection everywhere—then kills
you.”

Harriett gasped.

“That sounds difficult, John,” Lily added.
“And dangerous. As I said before, being a doctor and saving
people’s lives is a noble profession.”

She was listening with rapt attention and
John felt a little surge of victory.

“She’s as good as new.”

“Thank goodness,” Lily breathed. “What a
blessing you got to town when you did. I hate to think of that
happening to anyone.”

“Dr. Bixby could have done the same if I
hadn’t been here.”

A moment passed. Dustin grunted, then pointed
to John’s stitches. “Still hurt? Looks like you put something on
it.”

John
figured Dustin must have seen Lily arrive on the stage yesterday
and took a shine to her. Well, Dustin needn’t worry about
him
. He and Lily
were just friends. He wished Dustin would back off.

“
Actually,
Dustin
, I did.
Dr. Bixby suggested a salve he makes from cactus juice. It heals a
wound quickly. And it also sooths.” John scraped his empty plate
with the bottom of his fork, getting every last crumb.

“My treat,” Dustin said as the waitress
approached with the bill.

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary.”

“
I can’t
let you pay for your own dinner your first night in town, cousin.
Texas McCutcheons may be a little rough around the edges, but we do
have
some
manners.”
He took the paper from the waitress’ hand, glancing at the total.
Withdrawing a twenty dollar bill from his pocket he handed it to
her. “Keep the rest.”

“Dustin,” Harriett gushed, “that is so kind
of you. Thank you very much.”

“
Yes,
thank you
again
,” Lily
added.

Knowing
there was nothing he could do or say to change Dustin’s mind, John
thanked him too. “That’s thoughtful of you, cousin.” As the word
thoughtful passed his lips, he realized he
still
hadn’t yet telegrammed Emmeline. What in the devil
was wrong with him? At this hour the telegraph office was
closed.

John helped Lily with her chair as Dustin did
the same for Harriett. After thanking Dustin again the three went
up the stairs and then, at their room, Lily produced the key from
her bag and put it into the lock.

“May I talk to you for a moment?” John waited
until Harriett went inside after kissing him on the cheek.

“Of course.” She followed him back a few
steps to the balcony railing that overlooked the lobby.

“What happened at the bank today? I know you
didn’t tell the whole story this afternoon.”

“Mr. Shellston is…an arrogant, cold-hearted
man. He has let the building out to someone else because he can get
more money for it.”

“But, you said he’s finding you another
shop?”

“
I am
ashamed to admit that I lied to keep Tante Harriet from worrying.
He is
not
finding
another building for us and he is
not
refunding the year’s rent that my aunt sent to Mr.
Bartlett. He said he had never received any funds and he was in no
way going to return money to us.”

“So. What now?”

She
shrugged. “I am not sure. I do not know exactly how much money my
aunt has, except that it is not much. She keeps it from me so I
will not worry. But, I
am
worried. Somehow I need to find a new building and discover
a treasure chest full of money at the end of a rainbow. Nothing
impossible, mind you.” Her hands were placed on her hips and her
expression resolute.

John racked his brain for a solution. “I wish
I knew more people around here. There has to be somewhere you can
use at least until I get that banker to return your money.”

“I do not wish to keep involving you with my
problems. You have done so much already. And for hearing me out
tonight. A problem shared is half the problem solved.”

“Come on,” he said, turning and going over to
her door. “Get some rest tonight and tomorrow things will look
brighter. And I’ll also see what can be done with this matter.”

“Be sure to look after yourself.” She
gestured to his wound. “I think you are busy doing for others. Do
not forget to do for yourself.”

He waited till she closed the door, then
descended the stairs and went out into the dark street.

A
candle
flickered on the nightstand as Lily went directly to the screen in
the corner of the room and slipped behind it. Her emotions were too
close to the surface to let her aunt, who was already in bed with
the covers pulled up to her chin, notice her distress.

Reaching behind her back, she unclasped the
row of hooks and eyes holding the green muslin fabric of her best
dress together, and let it fall away, feeling the cool air glide
across her warm skin. She lifted the garment, which she’d made
herself, over her head and hung it on a peg on the wall next to
Tante Harriett’s gown. Taking the wide-mouth pitcher from the
wooden shelf, she poured water into her basin.

Gooseflesh raised up on Lily as she stood,
barefoot in her pantaloons and chemise, and washed her face and
neck with a clean cotton rag dipped in the cool water. After
rinsing the cloth, she went about washing her arms. Stripping off
her underclothes, she finished up the rest before donning a long
sleeping gown. Lastly, she brushed her teeth and quickly braded her
hair, not caring if she missed a strand or two.

She peeked around the screen. She didn’t want
to talk tonight. She didn’t have any answers for the questions her
aunt might ask. Thankfully, Tante Harriett had rolled to her side
and seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Lily went to the open window and sat in the
chair, thinking. Dinner tonight had been special. She had enjoyed
John’s company very much. And, if she were honest, Dustin’s too.
Would Emmeline really come from Boston to a town like Rio Wells?
John believed she would. Feeling a bit melancholy, she sighed. A
breeze wafted down off the mountains that rimmed Rio Wells from the
north, cooling her skin and making the lanterns that stretched
across the street sway gently.

A shot rang out. The piano music stopped
abruptly and the double doors of the saloon swung open and smacked
against the walls with a bang. Two men ran out, darted into the
alley between the buildings and disappeared into the night.

Harriett sat up in bed. “What was that?” she
asked, frightened. “Lily? Lily, dear, are you there?”

Lily ran to the bed and sat down. “I’m here.
I’m here. Don’t be scared.”

Tante reached for her spectacles on the
bedside table and put them on with trembling hands. She then took
Lily’s hands into her own. “Did you hear something, Lily?”

“Yes. Something happened next door in the
saloon.”

“Was it a gunshot?”

“
That’s
what it sounded like. But, maybe the cowboys are just having some
fun.”
I will
never get used to America. Dime novel stories are a far cry from
the grisly reality of dead bodies riding in a
stagecoach
.

“Oh.” Tante Harriett blinked several times
and looked around the darkened room. She lay back onto her pillow
and smiled up at Lily. “I’ll be so happy to move out of here, Lily.
Think about it. Our own home again. It will be good to get settled
and set up the shop. Don’t you agree?”

Lily, still holding onto the older woman’s
hand, patted it softly. “Of course. It will be just as we planned.
Soon all the ladies of Rio Wells will be coming to us for their
clothing needs.”

“I haven’t seen too many ladies, Lily.”
Anxiety was back in her tone.

“No worries tonight. They are just hiding
away, out of the hot Texas sun. Once we set up shop they will be
flocking to see our newest creations.”

Tante Harriett nodded. Her eyes shown with
tenderness before slowly drifting closed. “You’re such an angel,
dear. I don’t know what I would do without your pretty smile,” she
mumbled.

After a
moment, Lily removed her aunt’s spectacles and set them back on the
tabletop. Tomorrow she would find a building come heck or high
water. She
had
to. They
needed a safe place where gunshots and piano music didn’t disturb.
Rio Wells was wilder than anything she’d ever read about, and she’d
only been here for one day. She circled the big bed and climbed in
on the other side. Looking across the room to the open window, she
knew it would be hours before sleep would come.

Finished checking on Candy and her mother,
John was just about to climb the stairs when a gunshot shattered
the stillness. He crossed the room in three strides and opened the
door, stepping cautiously out onto the front boardwalk. He couldn’t
tell from which direction the sound had come, but he looked up and
down the street for anything suspicious. Dry Street was quiet,
except for a black cat that jumped from a barrel to the shed roof
of the mercantile next door. Antsy from his first night in town, he
decided to take a short walk down to the livery and check on his
horse. The breeze blew in from the north, bringing with it a
feeling of rebirth.

When he arrived in the livery the animals
were dozing with their heads hanging over the stall doors. Several
chickens nesting in the hay clucked nervously as he approached,
pulling their heads from under their wings and blinking their
sleepy eyes in his direction.

“You’re out late tonight, John.” Cradle, the
owner of the livery came in through the back doors of the barn,
pulling his suspenders up over each shoulder.

He seemed like a genuine sort with the way he
handled John’s horse with gentleness and affection. He must have
noticed him walking past and into the front doors of the livery
from his residence on the second floor.

“Heard a gunshot earlier and thought to take
a look around,” John said. “This town always this noisy?”

Cradle lowered his hefty body onto a sawhorse
and stuck a clean piece of straw between his teeth. The moon’s
light shining through the loft opening gave John ample luminosity
to see him.