Too soon to die, p.15
Too Soon to Die, page 15
“There’ll be punch,” Denny reminded him. “And the kids usually play some games outside.”
His mood brightened a little as he shrugged. “Well, maybe it won’t be too bad.”
“Besides, Pearlie’s going to the social, too. I heard Cal say that Pearlie planned to get slicked up and dance with all the widows.”
Brad made a face. “Why would anybody want to do that ?”
“You’ll figure it out one of these days,” Denny told him.
“I reckon I’d just as soon not,” Brad declared emphatically.
Up front, Sally laughed, looked back over her shoulder at them, and said, “Don’t worry, Bradley, you have plenty of time to figure out that and everything else.”
When they reached Big Rock, Smoke parked the buggy in front of Longmont’s. They would have to walk farther but wouldn’t have to deal as much with the crowd already gathering along the street. Smoke got out first and helped Sally down, then Denny and Brad climbed out of the buggy on opposite sides.
“I told Steve Markham I’d meet him here, and then we’d walk to the town hall together,” Denny said.
Sally began, “I’m still not sure—”
But Smoke interrupted her and said, “Brad, you come with Sally and me. We’ll go get some of that punch I keep hearing about.” He looked at Denny and added, “See you down there.”
“In a little while, I imagine,” she said with a nod.
Her mother gave her a skeptical look, then linked arms with Smoke and took Brad’s hand.
“I could wait and come with Denny and Steve,” the boy suggested.
“You don’t want to hang around with those two all evening,” said Smoke. “You’ll have more fun if you come along with us.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Brad rolled his eyes. “They’ll just act all moony around each other!”
Smoke broke out in a laugh at that. “I’ve known Denny a lot longer than you, son. One thing I’ve never seen her do is act moony over some fella!”
“Thanks for that, anyway,” Denny muttered.
The other three headed down the boardwalk toward the town hall four blocks away. Denny waited in front of Longmont’s, knowing the group of ranch hands from the Sugarloaf wouldn’t be long in arriving. As she stood there, she could feel the excitement and anticipation growing in Big Rock. This gathering would be one of the highlights of the summer, along with the big Fourth of July celebration the next month.
“Ah, Denise, the very sight of you is balm to a man’s weary eyes!”
She turned and saw that Louis Longmont had emerged from the doors of his restaurant and saloon. He was elegantly dressed, as always, and would have looked equally at home on the streets of New York, Boston, or San Francisco. He smiled at her and went on. “Smoke and Sally have already gone on to the social?”
“That’s right. I’m waiting for someone I told to meet me here.”
“Deputy Marshal Rogers? He was by here earlier . . .”
So Brice was in town this evening after all. Denny told herself that didn’t matter and shook her head. “No, I’m going to the social with Steve Markham, one of the men from the Sugarloaf.”
Louis arched one eyebrow for a second, then said, “I hope you have a very pleasant evening.”
“I intend to,” Denny said firmly.
He smiled again and moved on, clearly heading for the town hall himself. Denny watched him go, then turned as she heard the sound of horses approaching.
About two dozen members of the Sugarloaf’s crew had ridden into Big Rock for the social. They were all dressed in their best clothes, which in most cases meant their cleanest, least-patched range garb, often ornamented with brightly colored bandannas around their throats.
Cal and Pearlie were in the lead, and as foreman and retired foreman, they owned actual suits. They, along with the rest of the cowboys, were bathed and barbered and shaved, and Denny could almost smell the waves of bay rum coming off them from where she was on the boardwalk.
Steve Markham was close behind Cal and Pearlie. He had on boots and jeans, of course, but he had dug a white shirt and a black vest and a string tie out of his gear. His hat was brushed free of dirt and dust, and the brim was curled just right. A big grin spread across his face when he spotted Denny watching him ride closer.
Markham moved his horse forward and said to Cal, “I’ll see you boys later. The little lady I’m goin’ to the social with is waitin’ for me right here.”
Cal reined to a stop in the street in front of Longmont’s and leaned his hands on the saddle horn as he asked, “Miss Denny, is this big ape telling the truth? You’re really going to the social with him?”
“No, he’s going with me,” Denny replied with a smile. “This is the one where the ladies do the asking, remember?”
“Well, I suppose if you say so.” Cal turned to give Markham a hard look. “You’re going to be on your best behavior tonight, aren’t you?”
“Don’t reckon I’d dare be otherwise, when everybody around the whole ranch is hell on wheels, includin’ the lady her own self.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Pearlie added.
Denny laughed. “Pearlie, you look positively dashing tonight.”
Pearlie swept his hat off his head and bowed low in the saddle. “Thank you, Miss Denny. You’re mighty easy on the eyes, too.”
With that, the Sugarloaf hands rode on up the street toward the town hall while Markham dismounted and tied his horse at the hitch rack in front of Longmont’s.
“Good evenin’,” he said as he stepped up onto the boardwalk and took off his hat. “I don’t figure on lettin’ that old codger outdo me on the compliments. You look plumb beautiful, Denny.”
“And you’re surprisingly respectable.”
“Thanks. I put some effort into it.” He clapped his hat back on his head and extended his arm. “Ready to go?”
Denny linked her arm with his, and they started walking toward the town hall.
After a moment, Markham went on. “I reckon I know why you wanted to meet down here and walk the rest of the way.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“You wanted to be sure everybody got a good look at the handsome fella you’re with. And that’s all right. I don’t mind you showin’ me off. I reckon I understand.”
Denny laughed. “So that’s it. I’m glad you explained it to me.”
Even though his attitude amused her, she wondered if there was any truth to what he said. Did she really want people to see the two of them walking to the social together?
Or . . . one person in particular?
The front and back doors and all the windows in the Big Rock town hall were open to allow the evening breeze to flow through. That let plenty of light spill out around the building to guide the steps of the people flocking toward it in the twilight. It was Saturday night, and people had come from all over the valley to attend the town social.
A number of them greeted Denny as she and Markham approached the town hall. In the year since she and her brother had returned permanently to the Sugarloaf, she had met quite a few people in the valley and was friendly with most of them, although she hadn’t made any close friends, due to her own reserved nature. She didn’t get close to people easily, but when she did, she was deeply devoted to them.
Several girls she was acquainted with giggled and wanted to know who her beau was. Denny smiled and introduced him, and Markham responded gallantly, taking his hat off and bowing and stopping just short of kissing the backs of some hands. Denny was familiar with that sort of behavior, having seen it from aristocrats all over Europe while she and Louis were living in England.
The thought of how some of those so-called aristocrats and noblemen acted made an angry frown cross her face for a moment, but she put those memories firmly out of her mind.
Arriving at the large, whitewashed town hall, they went up the steps to the entrance, which was crowded with people at the moment. A loud buzz of conversation and laughter came from inside. The music and dancing hadn’t gotten underway yet, but they would probably start before too much longer.
Denny spoke to several more people while she and Markham waited to go in, and then the logjam in the doorway cleared and they strolled into the building. Denny looked around the packed room for her parents and Brad.
An opening suddenly formed around them as people stepped back, and although the noise continued in the room in general, in their particular vicinity the voices suddenly trailed off in startled silence. With Markham beside her, Denny stopped short, not sure what was going on but heeding the instincts that told her something wasn’t quite right.
The next moment, she understood why she had sensed that. A man stepped out of the crowd, and if she and Markham hadn’t stopped already, he would have forced them to, the way he planted himself resolutely right in their path.
That same grim resolution was on Brice Rogers’s face as he said, “Denny, I want to talk to you.”
CHAPTER 31
Brice wore a brown suit and a cravat with a turquoise stud holding it in place. He was freshly shaved, too, and in that moment of intense confrontation, Denny noticed a couple of tiny spots of dried blood on his throat where he had nicked himself. His light brown, slightly wavy hair was carefully combed and brushed. He was handsome enough that when he came into the town hall, he had probably drawn the attention of every young, unmarried lady there . . . and more than likely some of the not-so-young, married ones, as well.
He wasn’t wearing a gun, since coming to a town social armed was frowned upon, except for Sheriff Monte Carson. But even without a Colt on his hip, an air of taut menace surrounded him. An open challenge lurked in his eyes as he stared at Denny and Markham.
“Howdy, Rogers,” the cowboy said in a flat, noncommittal tone, as if he were willing to be friendly but was going to wait and see what Brice had to say next.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
That curt response made Markham’s jaw tighten. Denny saw a little muscle jerk in it, and since her arm was still linked with his, she tightened it a little to rein in whatever he might do next.
She didn’t want trouble, especially there, so she said quickly, “What do you want, Brice?”
“I told you, to talk to you.”
“Well, here I am.”
Brice glanced at Markham and said, “I need to talk to you alone.”
“Take a look around.” Denny used her free hand to gesture toward the crowd. “That’s going to be pretty hard to do tonight, don’t you think? Whatever you have to say, you might as well go ahead and say it.”
Brice jerked his chin toward Markham and snapped, “Not in front of this no-account saddle tramp.”
“Listen, fella, you’re actin’ a mite too proddy there,” Markham said. “You got no call to be talkin’ to the lady like that . . . or sayin’ such things about me.”
“Just telling it the way I see it,” Brice replied coldly.
Denny felt Markham starting to move forward and tightened her grip on his arm again. “Let me handle this,” she murmured to him.
“I ain’t scared of this fella, marshal or no marshal.”
“My job doesn’t have anything to do with this,” said Brice. “This is purely personal.”
Too many people were watching. Denny didn’t mind being the center of attention, but not like that. She slid her arm out of Markham’s and stepped forward. “All right, Brice, I’ll talk to you. We can go back outside.”
“Now hold on,” Markham objected. “You don’t have to do that, Denny. Whatever this fella’s problem is, he can just take it somewheres else.”
“She’s talking to me, not you,” Brice shot back. “Stay out of it, Markham.”
“For God’s sake,” Denny muttered. She took hold of Brice’s arm and pulled him toward the door. “Let’s just get this over with. Steve, I’ll be back in a minute.”
For a second, Markham looked like he was going to follow them, but then he jerked his head in a nod. “If you ain’t,” he said in a warning tone, “I’ll be comin’ out there to look for you.”
The crowd that had closed in a circle around them opened up again to let Denny and Brice through. They had to wait for a moment until there was a gap in the steady stream of people coming into the town hall, then they stepped out into the warm, pleasant evening. Only a faint line of light remained in the west to mark the sunset. Full night would soon be upon the valley.
Denny led Brice off to the side, out of the way, and said, “All right. What’s so important that you had to make a scene like that?”
“I thought we had an understanding—”
“Why the devil would you think that?” Denny demanded. “Because of a kiss now and then? We’ve never talked about anything beyond that, Brice, and you know it.”
“We’ve fought outlaws and gunmen side by side,” he insisted. “When you do things like that, there are some things you ought to just know.”
“Well, that might be true if you’re talking about another lawman or something like that, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a man of any sort.”
Brice drew a deep breath, blew it out in apparent exasperation. “I’ve noticed. Believe me, I’ve noticed. But I figured things between us would sort of just grow on their own . . .”
“You figured wrong.”
“Are you saying you don’t have any feelings for me?”
“You never told me you have any feelings for me.”
“Blast it, I thought you knew—” Brice stopped short and said, “We’re just going around and around in circles, aren’t we?”
“Seems like it.”
“Even if what’s between us isn’t exactly what I thought it was, you shouldn’t have come to the social with that cowboy. He’s not near good enough for you.”
“That’s not a decision for you to make,” Denny told him. “Sure, Steve’s a little rough around the edges, I guess, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that he’s not a good man. And before you start talking about him being just a cowboy who’ll never amount to anything, at least he’s not risking his life all the time by going out and chasing outlaws. A woman wouldn’t have to wonder every time he rode away if he’d ever come back again.”
Brice stared at her in the light that came from inside the town hall. “You sound like you’re talking about . . . about marrying him and settling down—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Denny interrupted. “I’m not planning on marrying anybody anytime soon. Good grief, Brice, it’s just one social! I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, any more than you do.”
He grimaced and rubbed his chin. “I still don’t like it—”
“I don’t care if you do or not. Who I see doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
Through gritted teeth, he said, “If that’s the way you want it—”
“That’s the way it’s going to be . . . unless something happens to change it.”
“What’s that going to be?”
She shook her head. “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. Now, I’m going back in there, and I expect you to leave me and Steve alone for the rest of the evening.”
“You’re going to dance all your dances with him?”
Denny smiled. “Probably not. I expect there’ll be some other fellas who’ll ask me. And I might make Brad dance with me, just to start getting him used to the idea that all girls aren’t terrible. Are you hinting that you’re going to ask me to dance?”
“I might,” Brice said stubbornly.
“And I might say yes . . . or not. I reckon we’ll have to wait and see.” With that, she turned and started toward the door.
He didn’t try to stop her.
Markham was watching for her and hurried toward her when she got back inside. As he came up to her, he looked past her and asked, “Where’s the lawman?”
“Outside, I suppose. His whereabouts aren’t any of my concern.”
Markham frowned. “He behaved himself out there, didn’t he? If he didn’t act proper-like, I’ll find him and—”
“He didn’t do a thing except talk to me,” said Denny. “That’s all, Steve.”
Markham nodded, appearing to be somewhat mollified, anyway. “What’d he want? Just to run me down some more?”
“Actually, he didn’t.” Of course, that was because she hadn’t allowed him to, thought Denny, but Markham didn’t need to know that. “He just wanted to get a few things straight about where things stand between us.”
“And where do they?”
“Right now . . . they don’t. I admire him as a lawman, but that’s all.”
“Well . . . all right.” A smile spread across Markham’s face as the musicians at the front of the room began tuning their guitars and fiddles and basses.
The same group of cowboy musicians that had played at the dance after Louis and Melanie’s wedding would be providing the tunes tonight, along with a few others who were joining in.
“Sounds like they’re gettin’ ready to start.”
A few minutes later, the mayor of Big Rock climbed onto the little platform at the front of the room and called for everyone’s attention. When the clamor settled down, the mayor welcomed everyone to the town social and reminded them to be on their best behavior. “Don’t forget, our sheriff is here,” the mayor said as he waved a hand toward Monte Carson, who stood at the side of the room with Smoke, Sally, and Brad.
“That’s right,” Monte responded with a smile, “and I intend to spend the evening enjoying myself instead of hauling troublemakers off to the hoosegow!”
That brought laughter and applause.
The mayor joined in, then said, “All right, everyone, have a good time!” He signaled the musicians, who struck up a lively tune, and folks immediately began pairing off to dance.
CHAPTER 32
Denny had danced with Markham at the wedding, so she knew he was surprisingly graceful and light on his feet. She enjoyed herself as they circled and swung around in intricate steps, along with many other people attending the social.
