Texas Twilight (4 page)

Embarrassed, John looked off the side of the
road at the dry lands so different from what he was used to.
Prickly pears, as well as bluebonnets, were everywhere. Plus an
overabundance of rocks. “How are things at Rim Rock?”

“We’ve been better. But, we can’t complain.
Texas has always had its problems—be it water, weather, drought or
some kind of pestilence. There’s always something to kick the snot
out of us. But we’re tough and it’ll take more than any of those
things to best us. Isn’t that right, boys?” The last question,
thrown over his shoulder to Dustin and Chaim, went unanswered.

“That’s the same with us. The Heart of the
Mountain always has something that needs fixing or doing or
driving. I miss it, though, and that’s a fact.” John thought he
heard a soft snort when he said the fanciful name his mother had
given their ranch all those years ago, but he couldn’t be sure. “It
takes a lot of sweat to keep things moving forward.”

The sun was low in the west and the thought
of laying his head on a clean pillowcase was inviting. He reminded
himself he still had a passel of introductions to go through and a
welcoming party, he was sure. If these McCutcheons were anything
like his family, it’d be hours before he could retire.

“The ranch is just over that hill. Go on boys
and give the women a heads up. We’ll be right behind you.”

Dustin galloped up the hill, with Chaim
directly behind.

Uncle Winston gave John a look. “No one in
this family has ever been to the university before. They don’t know
what to say. Give ‘em time to get to know you.”

John
looked up, surprised. He hadn’t thought of that. Never even
considered it. Except for him, no one on his side had been to
university either. It did make him somewhat of an anomaly.
“
I
don’t know what to
say.”

“Nothing to say. Just wanted to make you
aware of the situation. They’re usually welcoming.”

Chaim, the younger, and of his own age, might
be a bit shy, John thought. He seemed a nice enough fellow with his
sandy blond hair and easy smile. But he’d hold out judgment on
Dustin for the time being. His older cousin made him uneasy for
some reason, and John didn’t know why that should be.

John could now make out the ranch house in
the distance. It was large with white adobe walls and big glass
windows. Several earthen pots filled with flowering bougainvillea
plants and a few cacti sat in front. “Uncle, she’s beautiful. That
must be Aunt Winnie waiting out front.”

“It is. And here come Becky and Madeline,”
Winston went on, raising his arm and waving. Dustin and Chaim were
nowhere to be seen.

The three women rushed over as the men
dismounted. They crowded in, and for a moment John felt a flash of
homesickness for his family in Montana.

His aunt went to embrace him, but pulled back
quickly. “You’ve had an accident, John.” She placed her cool palm
on his forehead, making him smile. “You’re warm, too.”

She took his arm and pulled him toward the
house. “And you’re tired. You’ll take your supper in bed after you
have a bath and a shave, where you can relax. You’ve had a long,
exhausting trip.”

That was music to John’s ears and he wasn’t
going to argue.

“But, but…Mother?” the younger girl spoke up,
a note of disappointment in her voice. “What about the dinner we’ve
been planning?”

“It’ll wait until he’s feeling up to it,
Becky. Another time.”

“Don’t we even get to meet him?” The two
girls were following closely behind. Uncle Winston brought up the
rear, carrying John’s saddlebag.

“Just briefly,” Aunt Winnie replied. She
stopped and turned to the girls. “John, this is Madeline and Becky.
Girls, this is your cousin, John.”

With his free hand John tipped his hat. “It’s
nice to finally meet my Texas relations. I look forward to getting
to know you.”

Their faces turned pink. Madeline was the
eldest, with an oval face and big brown eyes. Her hair was dark
like his and she was slender and very pretty. Becky, the younger of
the two looked a lot like Charity. She had the same blondish hair
and was the same age as his little sister. Pretty as well.

Becky giggled, making him feel a bit awkward,
and Madeline’s blush deepened. He shuddered to think how they would
fare even a day at the ranch amidst his brother’s teasing, if a
little statement like that embarrassed them. They nodded in return
as his aunt took his arm, and led him away.

A
fter washing
up, Lily went to the window in her bare feet. The rosy, golden
sunrise waxed poetically over the mountaintops and spread
throughout the town, but today the beauty of it brought little
delight.

Why on earth Texas? The question was still
there. With each passing day, as they got farther and farther away
from Boston, the only home she’d known since coming to America a
year and a half ago, her anxiety grew.

She glanced over at Tante Harriett still
asleep in the hotel bed. Always generous, her mother’s older sister
had sent for her in Germany. The ocean crossing had taken two
months. Since her arrival, Lily had made many friends. Learning to
be a seamstress had been her dream. But the puzzling truth was,
throughout the time spent with her aunt she’d never once mentioned
anything about leaving.

It wasn’t until the night they’d left that
Tante Harriet had shown Lily the agreement between her and a Mr.
Bartlett here in Rio Wells for the lease of his shop on Spring
Street.

She sighed. It was a mystery. For now she’d
let it be.

And now there was John. And her attraction to
him. She needed to remind herself often that he was engaged. Her
conscience prickled for the childish way she’d treated him when
they’d arrived. Especially after all he’d done for them. But, she’d
not been able to help herself. She’d grown used to sitting at his
side, as distracting as it was, and she would miss him horribly now
that the trip was over.

Somewhere a door slammed, making Lily jump.
People passed down the hallway and were gone. Tante Harriet stirred
under the quilt, then reached for her spectacles on the bedside
dresser. She put them on and blinked.

“Why, Lily, you’re up.”

Lily came close. “Yes, a new bed in a new
town. You know.”

“Yes, indeed I do,” Harriett said, scooting
up. She positioned her pillow behind her back and leaned against
the shiny brass headboard. “That’s exactly what you said your first
day here in America. I’m sorry, dear. I can say it had little
effect on my sleep, though.” She reached out and stroked Lily’s
hair. “Tell me what’s troubling you.”

Lily didn’t have the heart to voice her
concerns. She knew her aunt would never hurt her intentionally or
break the law in any way. She was just going to have to be patient,
until she could figure this out on her own. She wouldn’t burden her
aunt’s already weighted shoulders.

“I just feel bad Abigail is dead. She was
such a wonderful person.” She felt her eyes well up but blinked
them back. “Now she’s gone. And the two men. How can people be so
cruel?”

“That’s a question I don’t have an answer
for. It’s strange, isn’t it? How humans can protect their own with
such fierceness and loyalty, yet not blink an eye when it comes to
destroying someone else. I wish I knew, Lily. I really do.”

Harriett flipped the cover back and swung her
spindly legs over the bed. Her pink flannel nightgown swirled
around her feet as she went behind the dressing screen and used the
chamber pot. A moment later sounds of water pouring and splashing,
then quiet. “Let’s go get a nice cup of hot coffee downstairs and
then go and see what kinds of things our new home has to offer,”
she called past the blue and white gingham fabric stretched taut on
the wooden frame. “How does that sound?”

“Fine.”

Harriett peeked around the screen. “Just
fine? Would you rather have a hot cocoa and strudel?”

Lily smiled at her aunt’s efforts to cheer
her up. She went to her trunk and debated on which dress to put on.
“I doubt they have strudel here,” she responded as she took off her
nightshirt and donned her undergarments. Gathering yards of blue
material she pulled her dress over her head and took a moment of
shifting this way and that, to get it straight.

“Perhaps John McCutcheon, with his flashing
green eyes, will be at the restaurant this morning. I think that
would cheer you up.”

Lily was fixing her hair but stopped to gape
at the screen in the reflection of the mirror. “What are you
saying? You heard him speak of Miss Emmeline Jordan. He’s engaged
to be married.”

“I’m saying I’m getting hungrier by the
second. If I don’t have my coffee soon, and maybe some toast, I’m
going to evaporate into thin air and float away.” Lily heard a bang
and a swish and then a scooting sound. “There. I’m ready.”

Tante Harriett came around the screen dressed
for the day. She picked up her parasol and her small hand-clutch,
then stuffed a white cotton kerchief up the sleeve of her dress.
She went to the door and waited patiently.

It was amazing how fast her elderly aunt
could get ready. Lily pushed away a wispy golden strand that was
dancing before her eyes and hurried to the door.

Tante Harriett took Lily’s hands into her
own. “I don’t want you worrying about a thing, child. I can see it
in your pretty blue eyes that you’re pining away about something,
and that only sets off my anxiety and makes me dizzy. You don’t
want to do that, do you?”

Of course Lily didn’t want to distress her.
Fine, then. Until something horrible happened she’d put her
suspicions aside and consider this a new chapter in her life. She’d
read novels about the wild American West when she was a little
girl. She’d dreamt about the handsome cowboys and the ruthless
outlaws. Today she’d concentrate on all the new things in her
life.

John was finishing his breakfast of sliced
beef, potatoes and gravy, and a cup of strong coffee when Dustin
came through the front door. He hung his Stetson on a peg and
pulled up a chair opposite John, next to his sister Becky.

Dustin nodded and picked up the china cup
that Maria, their maid, had just filled. He took a sip. He replaced
it back with a loud clatter, causing Becky to flinch.

“You’re a moose,” she said, giving Dustin a
look of chastisement. “When are you going to learn some manners?
You were saying, John?” She daubed her mouth with her napkin.
“Still single, Charity likes to ride and tend to cattle?”

John pushed away a small niggle of
irritation, realizing Becky was just curious about her cousin.
“She’s had a longtime beau that’s just waiting for the right moment
to ask for her hand.” He sliced a portion of beef and forked it
into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. “You see, we all know
they’ll end up together—well, all of us except for Charity. She’s
as hard-skinned as an armadillo.” He laughed to himself, knowing
how Charity would react to that description.

“Who’s the beau?” Dustin asked.

“Brandon Crawford. Sheriff of Y Knot.”

“A sheriff?”

John glanced up from his plate, wondering at
his question.

“Hardly a match for a McCutcheon, do you
think?” he scoffed.

John glared. He was about to tell his
condescending cousin to go to hell when Becky beat him to it.

“Mind your manners,” Becky gasped, looking to
see how he’d taken the offhand comment. “That’s a rude thing to
say.”

John stood when Aunt Winnie came into the
room, then helped her with her chair. “That’s nice of you, dear,”
she said, getting comfortable. “But unnecessary. I want you to feel
like family. Which, of course, you are.” She leaned in close and
looked at the slash on his face and all the stitches holding it
closed. “How’s it feel this morning?”

John had stared at his wound long and hard in
the mirror. Surely Emmeline wouldn’t care about something
superficial, would she? He’d cleaned it again and put on the
disinfectant. That was all he could do. The rest was up to
fate.

“Aches some. But nothing I can’t handle.”

“It’s a nasty one, all right.” Dustin was
leaning back, staring at him. His mouth was a hard, straight
line.

Winston and Chaim came through the door
together. They hung their hats and hurried to the table, scraping
their chairs across the cool tile floor.

“Are you heading out this morning?” Uncle
Winston asked.

“Yes. I hope you don’t mind. I’d like to head
into town straight away, retrieve my things and start setting up.”
He also wanted to check on Lily and Harriett. He’d hated going off
without getting them properly settled.

“
I
thought as much,” Winston replied, digging into the breakfast Maria
set in front of him. “Just stay right at the two forks and that
will dump you at the end of Dry Street, next to the school. Dr.
Bixby’s office—er, I mean
your
office is just down the street. It’s not hard to find.
Didn’t you say something in your last post about a young
woman?”

John glanced at Dustin. “I did. We’ve been
keeping company and she is planning to follow sometime in the next
few months.”

“You’re engaged?” Aunt Winnie exclaimed,
looking between John and the rest of the family at the table. “This
is exciting news. Congratulations!” She shook her finger at her
husband. “You never tell me anything, you bad man. We’re going to
have a wedding to plan. How wonderful!”

L
ily’s feet
stopped when she saw Dr. McCutcheon riding down the middle of the
street, toward her and her aunt. It was still early in the morning
and there were only a few people on the boardwalk. She and Harriet
had taken breakfast in a little restaurant called the Apple
Dumpling, across the street from where they’d stayed.