Leather and Lace

Chapter 23

Casey trembled the moment she saw Morgan ride into view with Ben Kahler. She wanted to believe the two of them together meant something good. Then again, it could mean nothing at all. A coincidence.?Morgan had left early this morning, according to Grant. He hadn’t said a word to anyone about where he was going.

How can he stay at the cabin where Kathleen was killed? She shrugged and massaged her arms.

“I’ve been praying all day,” Jocelyn said. “I’ve made Ben’s favorite fried chicken and creamed potatoes, hoping it will make a difference.”

“And I baked his favorite peach cobbler,” Bonnie added.

“So you two think Morgan is going to tell Ben everything tonight?” Casey said.

Jocelyn wrapped her arm around Casey’s shoulders. “Morgan’s a good lawyer, and he thinks things through. I bet he stayed up all night working on your case.”

“If this doesn’t work—”

“Hush.” Jocelyn squeezed her shoulders. “Who is in control here?”

“I know. But I can’t help but feel the day of reckoning is coming much too fast.” Casey watched the two men make their way from the barn toward the house. “Remember to call me Shawne until this matter is settled, probably forever.” She couldn’t think clearly when her mind was muddied with emotion.

The men’s boots pounded on the steps and onto the porch, shaking Casey’s resolve to relax. Read Ben’s eyes. Remember who’s in control. She snatched up a glass vase full of the wildflowers Bonnie had picked earlier and set it on the table. A few deep breaths and she transformed herself back to another day: Jenkins had ridden back from a job gone bad and was drunk. He called out for her, then cursed. Back then she depended on her wits and her weapons. Now she depended on God.

“Good to see you,” Jocelyn called to Ben. She hugged him and wagged her finger at Morgan. “You took off this morning, and I had extra breakfast on the stove.”

He kissed his mother’s cheek. “Sorry. Had business to tend to.”

Ben stole a look around Jocelyn. “Evenin’, Bonnie, Miss Shawne.”

Bonnie’s dimpled grin would have melted ice. “Glad you came, Ben.”

He doesn’t know. Casey nodded a silent greeting and caught the grit in his stare. Yes, he did know. “Did you and Morgan spend the day together?”

“Fishing?” Bonnie laughed.

“Yes and no.” Ben couldn’t have disguised his love for Bonnie if he had to. His eyes held a certain light that she’d seen in Morgan’s. “Hmm, something sure smells good, and I’m starved.”

“We’re putting it on the table right now,” Jocelyn said. “It’s just us tonight. We took the hands their dinner before you rode up. But someone needs to round up Grant.”

“I’ll get him.” Morgan glanced at Casey with a grin. “I could use a little company.”

Outside, she waited until they were clear of listening ears. “You told him.”

Morgan wrapped an arm around her waist. “Didn’t have to.”

“Are you giving me an opportunity to ride out of here?”

“No, not yet, anyway. Tonight I want you to tell Ben everything.”

She shivered and watched the sun slowly make its way beneath the horizon. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wanted to leave Kahlerville? But I’m so sick of running that it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“If Ben is on our side, we’re a step ahead of Jenkins and able to move ahead on your case.”

“So now Sheriff Kahler is going to protect an outlaw from an outlaw? And make her look lily white in the process?” Had Morgan been drinking?

“Trust me, I believe in your innocence, and I think he will too.”

Casey didn’t have any more appetite for supper than she’d had for breakfast. More than once over the last few weeks, she’d called herself stupid. Now the word rang in her ear. Bonnie and Jocelyn did their best to keep the talk light, but heaviness clouded them all.

“That’s it.” Ben pushed back his plate. “I can’t eat another bite. Can’t think of a better way to end a meal of fried chicken and potatoes than peach cobbler and cream. In fact, I could use a walk.” He smiled at Bonnie. “If you don’t mind, I need to talk to your friend.”

Bonnie paled. “Of course, Ben.”

Casey patted her hand and rose from the table. She caught Ben’s scrutiny, but then again, she’d felt it all evening. Without a glance at the rest of the family, she made her way to the door. This was between her and Ben.

With the sounds of night and the rapid beating of her heart, Casey breathed a quick prayer. “When did you figure it all out?”

“Yesterday. I’d suspected it for a long time, but I couldn’t imagine Morgan with—”

“Jenkins’s woman?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Are you arresting me?”

“No. Morgan told me a strange tale today. I want to see if your story matches his.”

“And if it does?”

“Then I promise to help him clear your name and protect you from those who want you dead.”

She heard the respect in Ben’s deep voice. “I know this has to be hard. Morgan’s your friend, and I see how you care for Bonnie.”

“I’d do anything for this family but sacrifice my principles.”

“I understand, and I respect that.”

“You’re a strange woman, Casey O’Hare.”

“I’ve been called a lot worse.”

He laughed. “Morgan is like a brother to me, and he loves you very much.”

“And I love him, but I want you to know this—I’m more concerned about risking the lives of the dear people of Kahlerville—the reverend and Sarah, all of them—than I am about saving my neck. Today I realized without a doubt that God brought me here to this place to settle up with the law. I can’t run anymore.”

“I have all night to listen. It wouldn’t be the first time I rode back to town in the dark.”

“Do you need an armed escort?”

Ben laughed, and that eased the tension between them for her to start at the beginning, when she and Tim had left their drunken pa and eventually fell into company with Jenkins and his gang . . .

“I know my story doesn’t fit with the newspapers or wanted posters, but it’s the truth.”

He shook his head and stared up at a full moon. “What I find rather odd is that Morgan’s story matches yours exactly.”

Her pulse quickened. “Then you believe me?”

“Guess I do. I’ll keep what I know to myself and give Morgan a hand in clearing your name. But if Jenkins rides anywhere near my town, I’m calling for help. The good people of Kahlerville will not be put in the middle of this.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

*****

After Ben left, Morgan spent another sleepless night. Living at the cabin was like living inside a nightmare. Morgan thought he could conquer his fears, but they were winning. Thankfully, Grant had made it a habit to stop by each morning.

“Move into the bunkhouse until Casey leaves,” Grant said at the cabin door. He touched the worn curtains over the kitchen window—the ones Kathleen had made. “Staying here is crazy.”

“Maybe I’ll take a room at the boardinghouse. I’m reopening the law office. Haven’t told Casey yet, but, little brother, you don’t need me here.”

“An extra hand is always good, but you do what you feel is right.” He drew out a long breath. “If Pa hadn’t built this place, I’d help you set it on fire.”

“I’ve thought about it, but destroying a sound cabin won’t change the past.” Morgan stepped out into the morning air, a little cooler than the torrid days of summer. “I thought I had to prove something by living here. All I’m doing is reliving it again and again.”

“This is not a home.” His brother’s gaze swept back inside the cabin. “I don’t think you need the past staring you in the face.”

Morgan didn’t say it, but at times he could hear Kathleen’s voice asking him where he’d been when Jenkins attacked her. “You’re right. I want a permanent place with Casey.”

Grant said nothing. Morgan knew he had to clear the uneasiness between them. “I know you care about her.”

“She’s your girl. Told you that before.” He scuffed the toe of his boot into a knothole on the floor. “I just looked out for her until you came to your senses.”

Morgan chuckled. “More truth there than you might think.”

“Take good care of her.”

Morgan heard the conviction. A different man would have called it a threat. “I will. If and when she decides to have me, I’ll need a best man.”

Grant grinned. “I know a fella who might be interested.”

“Thanks. You know, when I’m with Casey, I forget about Kathleen. They are two different women. Kathleen accepted me just as I am with all my faults. Sort of put me on a mountaintop.” He paused. “Casey challenges me to be a better man. She’s strong, like Mama in a lot of ways.”

“Someday when I’m done with school, I hope to find a woman who makes me feel the same way.”

“You will. I’m sure of it. I have the letters drawn up to a few medical schools. I’ll get them posted this week.”

“Thanks. Glad to hear Ben is helping.”

“I gambled with that one.” Morgan watched the wind pick up a ragged curtain from inside the cabin and cause it to sway. He shuddered in remembrance. “I refuse to lose.”

*****

The morning after Ben agreed to help with her case, Casey awoke with more hope than she could ever remember. Surely with both men’s belief in her, there’d be a way to clear her name.

Since sunup, she’d worked on the washing with Bonnie while Jocelyn made breakfast for the hands. In the late morning, Morgan stopped at the house while she hung the last load of sheets and pillowcases to dry. They’d smell very fine when she crawled into bed tonight. Odd how little niceties could mean so much.

“Would you take a ride into town with me?” Morgan smiled like a little boy who’d played hooky from school.

“I think so, as long as Jocelyn doesn’t mind. Can we stop by the parsonage? I’d really like to check on Sarah.” He nodded and kept on grinning. “What are you hiding?”

“It’s a surprise.” He took her arm and linked it into his. “I’m one lucky man to have the prettiest girl in Texas. Nothing better than a curly-headed, red-haired angel.”

“What did you do, buy another bull? A horse? A whole herd of cows?” She laughed.

“None of those. This is more of a surprise for us.”

She chilled. His words of marriage paralyzed her. I can’t let him know my fears. “Did you buy the whole town?”

“If I could get you to marry me, I’d buy the whole state.”

The wagon ride was pleasant with a fall chill that proved refreshing after the summer’s heat. She’d given up questioning him about the surprise, but when they pulled up in front of a small building beside the general store, she instantly knew what had him so excited.

“Are you going to practice law again?” she said. “For folks other than me?”

“I am. I made the arrangements yesterday. Tomorrow I’m cleaning up the place, and in a few days, I’ll move into the boardinghouse.” His grin refused to go away.

“Now all of Kahlerville will have a lawyer,” she said. “But what about the ranch?”

“Grant doesn’t need me until he heads east for school. I’ll do both or get a law partner.”

She glanced around at the dust and dirt. “I’d like to help you get things ready.”

“I didn’t bring you here to clean.”

“Looks to me like you need a woman’s touch.” She pointed to the cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling.

“I’m not so sure about that.”

She caught the mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Are you saying you resent a woman’s touch? We do have much to offer.”

“Miss Shawne, you have the wrong idea about me. I’m thinking as sure as I hire a sweet young woman to tidy up, she’d up and get married on me. Where would I be then?”

Casey crossed her arms and swept her gaze about the office. “I think better than where you are now.”

“I have an idea,” he said.

She raised a brow. Oh, how she loved moments like these. “And it is?”

Her wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the tip of her nose. “I think I’d be better off to marry me a sweet young woman.”

She laughed lightly. “Just to have someone clean for you? I think I remember Doc offering me a deal like that once, but I turned him down.”

“I’m glad you did. Now I have you all to myself.” He lifted his hat and sent it soaring across the room. His lips brushed across her cheek and slipped just above her lips.

“And this would be one of the sweet young woman’s duties?” she whispered.

“Hmm. Lots of these. Several times a day.” His lips descended upon hers, warm and tender.

“How would you get any work done?”

“We’d live on love.”

She should have stepped away and not let him see how his nearness caused her to forget what was right and proper. Instead, she slipped her hands to his face and wove her fingers into his hair.

How many days had she waited for this intimacy? Yet she feared the depth of her love for Morgan. As his kiss deepened and she gave into the feelings swirling through her mind and body, all the doubts and mistrust faded.

Morgan’s arms tightened around her. Suddenly a swarm of memories blackened the moment. She remembered Jenkins grabbing her and bruising her lips with his vile mouth—the same mouth that had ordered good people killed.

Casey struggled to press her hands into Morgan’s chest. She trembled. Her gaze flew to his face, and her heart begged for understanding. She loved this man, but she was afraid of what passion might do to him.

His face flushed, and he released her. “What’s wrong?”

The words refused to form. “I’m afraid.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Jenkins.” He spat the word like rotten food.

“Yes.” She picked up his hat and handed it to him.

“What else?”

I can’t tell him I’m afraid of him—that his good temperament might not be true. He’ll think I’m throwing him in the same lot with Jenkins. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I love you,” he said. “I will not let Jenkins or anyone hurt you.”

She stole a glimpse of his face, a mixture of sadness and tenderness. She despised herself, for she knew real love did not embrace fear and distrust.