Give Me A Texas Ranger (11 page)

“I don’t rightly recall anyone spit-and-polishing a hearse before.” Stoney dipped a rag in a bucket of soapy water and sloshed it onto the long rectangular window on the side of the conveyance.

He cast a glance at Texanna, who looked a mess—a beautiful, stubborn mess that he’d keep at arm’s length.

Her hair had come undone from the knot at her neck and spilled in rich, golden waves down her back. The smudge of dirt on her cheek added an enticing touch. It required all his willpower to stay focused on the chore and off the row of tiny white buttons down the front of her dress.

Josh was helping wash the hearse, so even if Stoney had been inclined to pull Texanna into his arms and kiss her silly, he wouldn’t. Not that he even wanted to do such a thing.

It’d be foolish to let himself entertain such a notion.

She’s just a frightened kitten you got out of a tree, he reminded himself. Nothing more.

“Just because you’ve never seen funeral wagons washed doesn’t mean people don’t,” she answered. “I’ve always cleaned mine up before pressing it into service. I want to make a person’s last ride the most dignified I can. It’s out of respect for the dead that I make the hearse gleam. They might not have gotten everything they deserved in life, so I want to give ’em what I can in death, to honor their sacrifices.”

Grudgingly he admitted they weren’t so different after all. He could sure relate to dedication. “You’re very committed to your work. I like that.”

A wrinkle marred Texanna’s smooth forehead. “It’s more than a job to me. It’s a life-calling. It’s why I’m scratching and clawing to hold on to it…and why I can’t abandon it to become a seamstress. Or a laundress.”

Stoney tried to ignore the jab, but in the end couldn’t let it pass. “Nothing wrong with that kind of work—it’s honest.”

“It’s not for me.” Her tone warned that he was coming close to stepping into a pile of horse poo.

How come she could recognize her dedication but not his? Rangering was a life-calling of the highest order. They’d been around that crook in the road enough. No need to keep going over it. He changed the subject. “Will you need help in the morning? I can do any lifting.”

“I’d appreciate that, Stoney. I generally hire some men to load and unload the coffin. Sometimes Dusty helps me. And I always have to hire someone to dig the grave.”

He leaned against the shiny black wagon. “How about if I dig the hole for you? That’ll make me feel better about eating all your food. I’ll take Josh with me.”

Josh threw down his soapy rag, his freckled face lighting up like a beacon. “Oh, boy! Can I, Mama?”

“Don’t see why not.” Her smile blinded Stoney.

Without being told, he knew the smile was a simple thank-you for paying attention to her son. As if that took any effort. He had grown very fond of the boy.

“Then it’s settled.” Stoney tossed his soapy rag into a bucket. “I’ll grab some shovels and we can get started. We should have time before supper.”

“I’ll finish up here. You two go on.” Texanna shooed them.

He located a big shovel for him and a smaller one for Josh. Throwing them over a shoulder, he set out for the church. Josh had to take two steps to his one in order to keep up, but the boy was as happy as a frog in a mud puddle.

Stoney followed Texanna’s directions to the Mayness family plot and sank the shovel into the ground. Josh did the same. Stoney gave the boy a side glance. He was proud of the way Josh dug in wholeheartedly, no matter what job he was called on to do. Josh definitely didn’t shirk from work. Sam must be looking down and grinning up a storm at the way his son had turned out.

There was just a slight problem with things seeming to disappear when the boy was around. Could be coincidence. Or something far more serious. He didn’t know which yet, but he intended to find out before he left Devils Creek.

After an hour, they stopped to rest and wet their whistles with the sweet well water Texanna had sent with them.

“My pa is buried right over there.” Josh pointed. “You wanna see his grave?”

“I would.”

Stoney ambled behind Josh as he led the way. His throat closed up when he saw the tombstone. Somehow, seeing Sam’s name chiseled in a piece of granite made his death more final.

Josh sniffled. “I sure miss my pa.”

He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Wish I could change things.”

“Pa said he was gonna take me fishin’ sometime, but he never got to. Sure wish he had’ve.”

“I’m sure he had lots of things he probably wanted to do with you and teach you, but he never had the chance.” His gaze caught on a small headstone next to Sam’s that had a baby lamb on top. The name read
Jenny Wilder.
The date of death was a year before Sam died. She’d been six months old.

What the hell?

Shock jolted through him. He ran his fingers across the chiseled words,
Asleep in Jesus.
Texanna hadn’t breathed a word about a daughter.

Josh knelt down to brush the cold granite. “That’s my baby sister. I was gonna teach her how to shoot marbles.”

Stoney’s throat tightened. Life could sure rear up and kick you in the teeth sometimes. Seemed unfair that Josh should have to know that kind of sorrow at such a young age. Stoney draped his arm around the slender shoulders, not knowing what to say.

Pounding hooves and the clanging of rigging broke his train of thought. He glanced up. The stage pulled to a stop in front of the hotel. It was too soon yet to expect his replacement papers. Somehow, having to hang around for a few extra days wasn’t the hardship he’d first thought it would be.

“Reckon we’d better quit lollygagging and get back to work, son. Your mama’s gonna have supper ready before long.”

They finished the grave and headed for home. Texanna wiped her hands on her apron when they opened the door to the upstairs living quarters. “Wash up. I have everything ready to set on the table.”

Stoney pumped water into a basin and let Josh wash first. After supper Stoney intended to visit the local bathhouse. That was one luxury he afforded himself. And after digging graves, washing hearses, and fighting LaRoach, he sorely needed to immerse himself in a tub of cool water.

“Will you say grace, Stoney?” Texanna asked when they’d taken their seats.

He wasn’t accustomed to blessing food, so it was short and to the point. It must’ve sufficed though, because Texanna’s eyes glistened when she looked up. Josh grabbed a piece of fried chicken the minute the amens were said.

“Slow down, young man.” Texanna passed a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes to Stoney.

He grinned and scooped out a big helping. “Josh worked up quite an appetite digging that hole. Besides, he’s a growing boy with places to go and people to see.”

“I gotta hurry, Mama. Matthew’s uncle got a new horse and we’re s’posed to help him name it.”

“That can wait until you eat. I won’t have you sick with a bellyache.” She took the mashed potatoes from Stoney and put a spoonful on Josh’s plate along with some green beans.

“I won’t get sick, Mama.” The boy took a big bite of his chicken leg and chewed fast.

“He’ll be all right,” Stoney said. “Give the boy some air.”

They ate in silence that was broken only by the clink of forks on chipped china plates. Finally Josh asked to be excused, took his dishes to the washtub, and bounded down the stairs.

“Josh reminds me a lot of me,” Stoney said. “My mother always claimed I was hollow inside. I shoveled it in like it was the last meal I was ever gonna get.”

“How is your mother? I hope she’s well.”

“Was the last time I saw her.”

“Does she still live outside of San Angelo on the family homestead?”

“She does, along with my brother and his wife. After Pa died, Joseph took over the farm. They look after Ma now. You’ve never seen a more ornery or feistier woman.”

It still rankled that his father had come near to losing everything they owned. Although he loved the man dearly, Stoney swore he’d not turn out like John Burke. His father had been lazy and undisciplined. Instead of working in the fields making a living, you could always find the man at a favorite fishing hole or in town playing checkers with his cronies. If not for Stoney and Joseph, their mother wouldn’t have had a place to lay her head or a morsel to put in her mouth.

“Care for some more green beans?” Texanna asked. At his nod she handed them to him. “I’m glad your mother’s in fine shape. She’s a sweet lady. Always real nice to me. I commend your brother for taking care of her. I wish my parents were alive. I really miss them.”

“That’s why you need to think about pulling up stakes and moving where you don’t have to watch your back.”

Texanna laid down her fork. “We’ve been over this.”

“That was before LaRoach gave you added grief today.”

Sudden tears welled up in her beautiful blue eyes. She stared at the tablecloth, smoothing it with her hand. “There’s something I haven’t told you. Sam and I had a baby daughter almost two years ago. Her name was—”

“Jenny. Her name was Jenny.” He noted her surprise when he supplied the name. “I saw the grave today when Josh showed me Sam’s resting place.”

“That’s another reason why I can’t leave. Jenny needs me to watch over her. She was so tiny. It’s my fault she’s dead.”

“How can you say that? You’re a loving mother.”

“No.” Texanna shook her head. “I knew she was sick. Sam begged me to let him take her to the doctor at Fort McKavett. It was in the dead of winter. I told him Jenny would recover if we just kept her out of the cold. My baby is dead and I’m to blame.” Her voice became brittle. “I deserve everything I get.”

Stoney scooted back his chair and walked around the table. He lifted her into his arms. “Hush now. Don’t ever say that. You don’t deserve to live under this strain.”

He smoothed back her hair. He had one other ace up his sleeve.

And tomorrow he’d use it.

Early the next morning, Stoney marched out of the livery and into the telegraph office. “I need to wire Austin immediately.”

The skinny clerk looked like he’d swallowed a peach pit, the way his Adam’s apple bulged out in a round knot. The man shoved a tablet and pencil at him. “Write down your message and I’ll send it right away.”

Stoney scribbled a plea to Judge Alexander Goodnight. If anyone could help Texanna out of her mess, it’d be him. He’d known the judge for years and considered him a good friend and one of the sharpest minds in the business.

Surely there had to be a law against taking a widow’s means of support. If not, then maybe at least Judge Goodnight could stall LaRoach’s takeover and give Texanna more time to look for Sam’s legal Last Will and Testament.

Stoney hated to think of other alternatives in the event Judge Goodnight couldn’t offer any help.

In fact, the choices were pretty limited since Texanna refused to leave Devils Creek. Not that he didn’t understand. He did now, and he knew she’d never leave her baby daughter, who lay asleep in Jesus, next to Sam.

Seemed the only other solution was to marry Texanna.

But damn! Could he go that far to save her?

He swallowed the lump that seemed stuck in his craw.

Marriage?

She’d ask him to give up rangering and chasing outlaws. That wasn’t even negotiable. He’d cut off his arm before he gave up the job that had made him the man he was.

Paying the telegraph clerk, Stoney stepped onto the sidewalk and glanced up and down the street that was just coming alive.

The bathhouse where he’d cleaned up last evening sat silent and still. He’d paid them to launder his clothes, but it didn’t appear they’d opened up yet.

Delicious smells came from Mattie’s Cook Shack. Dusty had told him the food there was passable. Instead of heading that direction, he found his feet taking him to the living quarters above Wilder’s Undertaking Emporium.

Texanna answered his knock. A blue spark twinkled in her eyes. “Come in. I have breakfast ready.”

She seemed a little breathless. Maybe because she hurried too fast to the door. That had to be it. He took off his hat before he crossed the threshold.

“Hope I’m not being a bother.”

“Good heavens, no. I was expecting you. You’d hurt my feelings if you ate anywhere else.” She lightly touched his arm and an odd sense of contentment passed through him.

Her nearness kindled sleeping embers. Texanna was a beautiful, vibrant woman. His gaze lazily roamed over her curves when she turned toward the kitchen.

She’d make someone a wonderful wife. She really would.

Too bad he wasn’t looking for one. It would never work.

Josh came running in and skidded to a stop in front of Stoney. “Hi, Ranger Burke.”

Stoney ruffled the boy’s sun-streaked blond hair. “I think it’s about time you called me Stoney. Friends use their first names with each other.”

Josh’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Sure, Stoney.”

“Come and sit down, you two,” Texanna called. “Cold eggs aren’t very tasty.”

Again she asked Stoney to say grace. While prayer made him wriggle uncomfortably, he thought of the woman they were burying in a few hours and her husband, who now lived alone. And of the man who was making Texanna’s life pure hell.

Stoney bowed his head. “Bless this food and watch over us. Comfort, protect, and keep us from harm. Amen.”

If the food tasted as good as it smelled, he’d be in trouble. The plate of hot biscuits, fresh eggs, and ham was all a man could ask for. He took a biscuit and slathered it with butter. It melted in his mouth. Yep, he was in trouble. He reached for another.

“I may have some news for you in a day or two,” he told Texanna, filling her in on his telegram to Judge Goodnight.

Hope glimmered in her eyes. “I pray he can find something in the law that’ll help me. I know that darn will is around here someplace. I just have to find it.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t think of a thing.”

“Are you right sure Sam even had a will?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Then we’ll just have to find it. Did he have a special place where he put his papers?”

“Sam was horribly unorganized. His mind was always somewhere else when he put things down. I can’t tell you the number of times he misplaced his pipe, his barber scissors, or his reading spectacles.” She laughed. “Once his glasses were on top of his head. He’d forgotten he put them up there.”

“I didn’t know Sam wore glasses.” That was hard to imagine. The man who’d ridden by his side hadn’t needed them.

“His eyesight was never real good, but he didn’t want you or the other Rangers to know it. Said you’d lose faith in his ability to shoot. After we got married I convinced him it’s better to see than to be blind, so he took to wearing glasses. He cussed the blamed things though.”

Stoney grinned, remembering how frustrated Sam could get. “That was my best friend for you.” He turned his attention to Josh. “How well can you sit a horse?”

“My pa taught me to ride real good.”

“We had to sell his horse though,” Texanna explained.

“I thought I’d take my gelding out this afternoon for some exercise and if you don’t object, I’d like Josh to go with me.”

“The pair we have left are the ones I use to pull the hearse. They’re slow, and old as Methuselah.”

“I’ll rent him a mount from Dusty then.”

“Can I, Mama? Please?”

“Yes, you can go. But you still have to do your chores when you get back.”

The funeral proceeded without a hitch. Stoney drove the polished hearse with its black curtains tied back with a bow and heavy fringed tassels. Texanna perched next to him. She was quite a sight in her crisp mourning dress and becoming hat.

The sun struck her golden hair, making the lustrous strands shimmer. He swallowed hard at the sight, fighting to keep his mind on the job at hand.

Elegant and proud, Texanna Wilder stirred his blood.

She was certainly a sight. He gave himself a mental shake. Best to keep his thoughts confined to prodding the two ancient horses. He’d seen more life in a pair of holey, worn-out long johns.

Stoney had borrowed Sam’s funeral clothes. That they fit surprised him. He hadn’t recalled Sam being so tall and muscular. But the dark britches and frock coat saved him from having to buy some ready-made clothes for a onetime wearing.

He’d put his foot down though at wearing the tall, black top hat. His black Stetson looked fine enough to him. And it was broke in just right.

Tugging the felt hat down low on his forehead, he aimed the plodding animals toward the cemetery. A dozen or so mourners marched behind, paying their respects to the woman who had departed the earth.

A few hours later, Stoney and Josh finished filling in the grave with dirt and turned toward home. Texanna had already driven the hearse back, so they walked.

He looked forward to exchanging the funeral garb for his leather britches and worn gray shirt. He’d feel more like himself. Dressing like the Grim Reaper tended to sour his stomach.

When Stoney neared the Pig and Whistle, Marcus LaRoach stepped out, flanked by some of his cronies.

The man’s glittering eyes cut Stoney to shreds. “Texanna got you doin’ her work for her, Ranger?”

Stoney didn’t bother to reply, just kept walking like he hadn’t heard a thing. Loose chickens in the street squawked angrily, disturbed when Stoney strode with dogged determination through a cluster of them. Beside him, Josh kept his head down and his back ramrod stiff. Stoney knew the youngster shook in his shoes even though he didn’t want to show it. He laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder to let Josh know he wasn’t going to let anything happen to him.

“Hope you don’t expect me to pay you anything for your trouble,” Marcus called.

Still they kept walking.

It’d be a sad day when Stoney took money from Marcus for his trouble or otherwise.

“I see you got her snot-nosed brat with you,” LaRoach taunted. “I hope the brat steals you blind.”

Stoney’s hands clenched. He itched to lay into the little pissant. But that would be playing his game. Stoney had no intention of falling into that kind of trap.

Marcus didn’t have sense enough to end it there. The man loudly remarked to his followers, “Appears the Ranger ain’t only stupid, he’s deaf as a post too. Don’t know what Texanna sees in him. Guess he makes a good babysitter though.”

The piercing glare Stoney shot them silenced their laughter and had them backing up against the batwing doors of the saloon.

He’d run into men like these before. They were awful brave until confronted, then they tended to scatter like dandelion seeds in a stiff breeze.

Stoney couldn’t afford to let down his guard though. The men who seemed the least threatening were often the most dangerous.

Once they were past the whiskey-swilling establishment, Josh eased the tense set of his small body.

“You ready to go for that ride, son?” Stoney asked.

“Yep. I’m worried about Mama though.” Josh looked up at him with his forehead wrinkling in thought. “Do you think we oughta leave her? What if something happened?”

From under the brim of his hat, Stoney glanced at Wilder’s Undertaking Emporium just ahead. “I’ve been thinking that maybe we should ask her to go with us. How about that?”

“I think we should.” Josh’s grin was big.

Twenty minutes later all three strolled to the livery. Stoney carried a picnic basket that was filled to the brim with thick slices of ham, potato salad, pickled okra, and fresh bread. Judging by the weight of it, they wouldn’t go hungry.

Dusty Haws saddled a gentle mare for Texanna and a paint gelding for Josh.

Hondo pranced and high-stepped, obviously happy to be exercised. Outside the edge of town, Stoney urged the gelding into a gallop. Texanna and Josh were excellent riders and kept up with the pace he set.

A good hour later, they dismounted on the lush banks of the San Saba River and let the horses drink.

Then, under the branches of a huge live oak tree, they spread their lunch.

Texanna’s blue eyes rivaled the wide expanse of the Texas sky when she gazed into his face. Whatever he was about to say vanished from his thoughts and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Before he could lasso wayward thoughts, his attention focused on her rosy lips. They lured a man with promises of stolen kisses.

Dear Lord, help him remember all the reasons why he had to resist her!