Stuck Together (Trouble in Texas Book #3) (13 page)

Luke cocked his head sideways and seemed to burn a hole right through Duffy. “I’ll tell you how I see it, Schuster. Someone’s buying a lot of drink in this town, and you’re the only man who has it to sell. It’s been long enough that freight wagon should be through Broken Wheel again any day, and you can believe I’ll be askin’ him some questions. And if I don’t get answers I like, I’ll be back.”

Luke pressed closer to Duffy and towered over him. “If my wife had been so much as scratched, you wouldn’t still be standing when I left this place. So if you’re lying, you’d better tell whoever’s buying from you that you’re out of the bottle-at-a-time business.”

Duffy cowered like a scared rodent, but he didn’t change his story. “I can’t stop doing what I ain’t doing to begin with, Stone.”

Vince wanted to try a little rough justice on Duffy, see if they could pound some answers out of him. But Vince was the law in Broken Wheel, and that wasn’t the way a lawman conducted himself. He’d learned that from reading his volumes of Blackstone’s
Commentaries
.

After Sheriff Porter’s disregard for the law, it didn’t sit right with Vince to follow the man in his corruption.

“We’ll talk to the freighter.” Vince came up beside Luke just in case his friend needed to be restrained. “And if we don’t like what we hear, we’ll be back.”

Vince waited until Luke quit trying to burn the truth
out of Duffy with his blazing eyes and stormed out. Dare came out from behind the bar and followed Luke. Vince was right behind them. The three of them strode down the steps and into the deserted street.

“He’s lying.” Luke turned to go back to the tavern, ready to get answers with his fists.

Vince grabbed Luke’s arm and stopped him cold. “We don’t know that, Luke.”

Turning on Vince, Luke said, “I’m not leaving town without some answers.”

“You’re not going to find them in there. Duffy is either telling the truth or he’s covered his tracks. We have to wait for the supply wagon to come back.”

Luke looked frustrated enough to swing a fist at anyone who thwarted him. “Those bullets came too close to Ruthy. I won’t let anyone hurt her, for sure not a low-down polecat like Duffy Schuster.” Luke took a step forward until he was nose to nose with Vince. They were close in height, yet Luke probably outweighed Vince by twenty pounds, all of it iron-hard muscle.

Vince was tough, but he didn’t figure he could win a fight with the kid. “Luke, I’d let you pound on him, except I got a bad feeling in there.”

“What do you mean, ‘bad’?” Dare asked.

“Duffy was sure enough afraid, no doubt about it. But I listened to a lot of men tell stories both true and false while I was spying during the war and policing at Andersonville, and to me, Duffy sounded like he was telling the whole truth.”

Luke turned to face the saloon. “Then it’s Griss. Maybe he orders bottles on the side.”

“Griss sounded like he was telling it square, too.” Vince stood side by side with Luke. Dare was to the far side of the kid, and he faced the tavern, too. The three of them in a row, frustrated. Angry. Vince admitted he was also worried. Flying lead wasn’t a good fit for a lady with a baby on the way. Come to that, it wasn’t a good fit for anyone.

“Then if it isn’t them, who is it?” Luke asked. But they all knew there was no answer, not here and not now.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, and we’ll do it fast. Let’s start by going back to where you found those bottles and look harder for tracks.” Vince added, “How sure are you that the Indians weren’t the ones who left those bottles?”

“It ain’t them. I know it in my gut. But I’ve got no proof.” Shaking his head as if to escape his bleak thoughts, Luke turned toward the diner. “I want to go see my wife. I can hardly bear to let her out of my sight.”

Dare said, “I’ve got a book for her to read about having a baby, Luke. Come on back to my place and I’ll get it for you, then we’ll go sit with the womenfolk for a while.”

“I’ll go get my mother and Missy and Jonas and bring them over, too,” Vince said. “Jonas and Missy are probably long past ready for some help.”

“Tina?” Jonas ran one hand over his red curls. But it was no use. Missy’s fingers had clearly left a trail.

Missy blushed to the roots of her dark hair and clutched her hands together in front of her. She would have put those hands to better use covering her lips, swollen from kissing Jonas.

Tina’s brother kissing Vince’s sister.

They’d only just met.

“I . . . I didn’t mean to . . . to . . .” Tina was speechless. And that certainly never happened. “I’ll just . . . that is . . . Mrs. Yates should—”

Tina spun away and almost ran out of the room, her head full of confused images. Her brother had been holding a woman close whom he barely knew.

And where had Mrs. Yates gone to? As she rushed away, Tina’s temper began to build. Jonas shouldn’t be kissing a stranger. Why, Tina had known Vince for months now, and when they’d kissed she’d been astounded by it, not ready for it at all. And anyway, these two were supposed to be watching Mrs. Yates. Where was she?

“Tina, wait!” Jonas came running after her and caught
her just as she was ready to go check Mrs. Yates’s room. “What you saw back there was . . . was . . .”

The front door opened, and Vince stepped in. He looked right into Tina’s eyes and there was a flash of memory between them. Then Vince’s brow furrowed, and Tina wondered what in the world she must look like. Vince looked past Tina. His eyes locked on something. Tina looked back to see Jonas, lapsed into silence.

“What’s going on here?” Vince asked, sounding like the crack of doom.

Missy peeked out of the doorway but stayed back. Vince’s sharp eyes went past Jonas to his sister, then back to Tina. He arched a brow at her.

Which helped her to regain her speech.

“It was what, Jonas?” Tina thought she sounded rather steady. Calm, in fact. Cool and unruffled. “You were about to say what I saw was . . . ?” Tina let the word hang.

“It was Missy agreeing to . . .” Jonas’s always ruddy skin turned a vivid red. He swallowed hard, looked at Vince, then squared his shoulders as if someone had ordered him to stand at attention. “Missy was agreeing that I could court her.”

“She what?” Vince exploded.

It was such an unexpected answer, Tina’s knees sagged, and even though she was gripping the banister, she sat down hard on the second step. If that step hadn’t been there, right under her backside, she’d have slumped all the way to the floor.

Vince seemed like the type to catch a collapsing woman, but he didn’t even notice.

“You just met her!” Tina hadn’t meant to shriek exactly, but that was how it came out.

And one completely selfish stab of jealousy told Tina she was no longer going to be as important to her brother. In fact, if Jonas and Missy married, Tina was most likely going to be asked to move out. And if they were too kind to ask her to leave, she’d still know they would look on her as unwelcome. A feeling she’d had most of her life.

Jonas shrugged and scrubbed both hands through his hair, then turned and reached one hand out for Missy. She came forward with a shy but steady smile and took his hand.

“You’re courting?” Vince sounded somewhat like a screeching bird. He had the nickname Invincible Vince, but he must’ve had too many things happen too fast, because this situation had gotten the better of him.

“I know this seems sudden.” Jonas pulled Missy close.

Tina studied Missy. They really knew nothing about her. There could be little doubt she was Julius Yates’s daughter, but how had she really lived these last few years? Was she an honest woman? Maybe she was looking for a home and grabbed the most gullible man she could find. Maybe Jonas meant nothing to her. Maybe she’d been overly generous with her favors, allowing a man to kiss her. Tina caught herself on that when memories of being in Vince’s arms subdued her growing moral outrage.

“It doesn’t
seem
sudden. It
is
sudden.” Tina really didn’t know what to say. And that never happened. Tina always knew exactly what to say.

“Where’s my mother?” Vince sounded cold as the grave. “You were supposed to be watching her, but it looks to me like you got distracted.”

Melissa gasped, gave Jonas a worried glance, then
whipped around him and threaded between Tina and Vince to run upstairs.

When she was gone, Tina exchanged a long look with her beloved brother. Vince stood silent.

“I know it’s come from out of the blue,” Jonas said, “but from the moment I saw her, I felt like God was opening a door in my heart I never even knew was closed. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. If it were up to me, we’d be getting married this very day.”

“Today?” Vince croaked, and for a second Tina thought he was going to join her sitting on the steps. He looked none too steady.

A movement at the top of the stairs drew Tina’s attention, yet that wasn’t a surprise. She was eager to look away from the besotted expression in Jonas’s eyes. Melissa came out of the room with Mrs. Yates on her arm.

“I believe Missy is the woman God prepared for me,” Jonas went on. “I feel like I’ve found my other half.” He watched Melissa descend the stairs as if she were walking down an aisle with a bouquet of posies instead of an addled woman. Tina and Vince and Mrs. Yates might as well have melted into the floor, because Jonas and Melissa only had eyes for each other.

Finally, Melissa was near enough that Tina had to move or block the stairway for the two ladies. Tina struggled to her feet. Her knees wobbled. Vince caught her under the arm and kept her upright.

“I want you to trust me, Tina.” Jonas reached for her, but Tina stepped back, pressing against Vince, out of her brother’s reach. “I know the voice of God, and He’s telling me I’ve found my wife.”

Jonas wanted her to approve. He wanted her blessing. But right now that was too much to ask.

“I came over here to invite you all to the diner for coffee.” Her voice was frigid.

“Tina, I—”

Slashing a hand at her brother to shut him up, she pulled herself free of Vince’s grip. “We’ve locked up until it’s time to serve dinner. Ruthy is in town with Luke, and we wanted a chance to visit uninterrupted. I’ll head on back now. Come if you want.”

Tina dodged around Vince and left the house at a near run.

“Wait!” Jonas called out. “Tina, come back!”

Tina only moved faster. She needed someone, a witness, a buffer. She looked back and saw Vince’s broad shoulders blocking the doorway. Apparently he wanted a word with his friend.

As she rushed away, Tina wondered where she was even going. Back to the diner, where Jonas and Melissa would no doubt soon arrive?

Back to Jonas’s parsonage where, judging from Jonas’s determined look, Tina would soon be living on sufferance. Except the way she’d foisted herself on Jonas uninvited, that was all it’d been all along.

If she stayed, it would be as an unwanted intrusion. Only the fact that Jonas pitied her would keep her from being cast out . . . again. She was a fool to let that break her heart. After her parents left her. After years of Aunt Iphigenia’s coldness. After the awful new uncle who wanted Tina in a way that turned her stomach. She should have expected this.

Why had she come here?

Why had she let herself believe that Jonas would make a home for her?

Why hadn’t she just gotten on with her life, gotten a job somewhere and taken care of herself, instead of being a little fool who wanted home and family and love?

After all those years of hearing Aunt Iphigenia say a woman needed to know how to take care of herself, Tina had ignored that sound advice, tracked down her brother, and forced from him something he hadn’t wanted to give.

She rushed through the back door of the diner and was sorry she’d come. Now Jonas would catch her here and say all the painfully polite words about her always having a home with him. Jonas was kind, but he’d gone out West after the war without stopping in to see her. And she’d chased him practically to the ends of the earth and made it impossible for him to send her away.

Not like Melissa. Jonas had known her for only hours before asking to court her.

And meanwhile Tina had kissed Vince. It was hard to imagine that kiss was less passionate, less powerful than the one shared by Jonas and Melissa. And there’d been no request from Vince to court her—quite the opposite. He’d apologized, said it never should have happened.

Whatever word God had whispered to Jonas, He had withheld from Vince. Which meant Vince didn’t want her, either.

“You’re carrying on with my sister? My sister you just met?” Vince realized that the last day had worn him right
down to the nub. Punching someone would suit him, and to his way of thinking, Jonas had just volunteered.

“I’m not carrying on.” Jonas tried to follow Tina, but Vince blocked the parson from leaving.

“Let me past. I need to talk to Tina. She’s upset.”

Vince’s fist tightened. In a flash he remembered he was Invincible Vince Yates. His Regulator friends had given him that name when he’d found a knack for solving problems in Andersonville. If they needed supplies, Vince found them. If bad men were planning trouble, Vince got wind of it and gathered the Regulators together in time to head things off. If the Confederate guards were in one of their sadistic moods, Vince had a talent for dodging them or calming them down or turning them against each other.

Nothing much got the better of him.

So his father turning up, his mother being abandoned, a sister materializing, a new house being landed on his head, a feisty little lady coaxing a kiss out of him, and now
this.
It had all seemed to be more than Invincible Vince could handle.

In a distant way, Vince realized this was nothing compared to cannonballs and starvation and a prison with thirty thousand men, about half of whom thought sticking a knife in his back was the will of God. But it was still beyond him.

And punching the latest bearer of bad news would make him feel a whole lot better.

“Now, Vince,” Melissa said calmly, “there’s no call to—”

“Get out,” Vince snapped.

“Vince,” Melissa said, her lips forming a tight line, “I do not answer to you.”

“Take Mother over to the diner for coffee and let me have a little talk with Jonas.”

“Go on.” Jonas ran a hand up Melissa’s back, and that stopped her from whatever she’d been planning to say. “Take Virginia Belle with you. I need to talk to your brother alone.”

Melissa’s eyes, a perfect match for Vince’s, flickered between Jonas, Vince, and Vince’s fist. “I’ll go.” She glared at Vince. “But you have no say in this.”

The snap of her voice was even like Vince’s. He’d met a female version of himself and wondered, for all her quiet ways, if Melissa might not be invincible, too. If she was, Jonas was going to have his hands full.

“Come along, Virginia Belle. We’re going to have our morning tea.” Melissa walked straight for Vince, who got out of her way, not so sure he wouldn’t have gotten run over.

“Good morning, Julius.” Mother rested one of her gentle hands on his arm. “Will you be joining us?”

“I’ll be right along.” Speaking civilly to Mother had a calming effect on Vince. It was hard to be so careful with her while contemplating slugging somebody.

Vince watched the ladies leave. The door clicked shut, and the minute it closed, Vince whirled back to face Jonas, only to see him sinking onto the stair step. Right where Tina had been when Vince had come in. This whole thing seemed to be having an ill effect on the ability of everyone to stand upright.

“I’m out of my mind.” Jonas buried his face in his hands. He didn’t seem to be having one second of worry that Vince might throw a fist.

“If you’re this confused, why in the world are you talking about getting married?” Vince felt a tug of sympathy,
maybe even pity, for his friend. Leaning back against the door with his arms crossed, he stood guard like always. He was waiting for Jonas to make sense.

Jonas scrubbed his face with both hands, then ran his fingers deep into his hair, making the red curls run riot. Finally, dragging his hands down, Jonas’s eyes emerged from between his fingers and his whole face appeared. He shook his head and looked Vince square in the eye. Jonas wasn’t one to shirk from taking responsibility for his decisions.