She smiled. 'I think you should back away. Trust her.'
He didn't like her advice, but he didn't argue. 'Thanks,' he said.
'You're welcome,' she answered. 'You love your little sister very much.'
'True. When she was a kid it was like she had three fathers. It's hard now thinking of her grown. You have any siblings?'
He waited, expecting her to change the subject, or lie, but she said simply, 'No.'
The chamber door opened and Dottie Davis hurried out. There was no more time to talk. Travis heard the judge promise he'd solve their problems with the partner.
The judge's secretary hurried down the hall and told Travis he could go into the courtroom. She took the time to frown at Duck, men hurried back to her desk.
He leaned close to Rainey for a moment and whispered, 'I need to see you tonight.'
She met his gaze. Though her head shook slightly, he didn't miss a sparkle of passion in her eyes.
Travis stood. When he collected their coats, he lightly brushed Rainey's arm as if the need to touch her just once was too strong to resist.
Her lips made a circle and he groaned under his breath. The thought crossed his mind that if she didn't plan to see him tonight, she might as well kill him now.
The doors to the courtroom opened and lawyers were already lining up behind a table to question him. He glanced back and saw Rainey start down the steps. She looked over her shoulder and whispered, 'Good luck.'
Travis turned and headed in, feeling less prepared than if he'd been an unarmed man in a Shootout. But this is what he'd told everyone he came to Austin to do, and now all he had to do was see it through.
By the time the introductions were over and the questions began, Duck had crawled up on top of Travis's coat and was sound asleep in the pew behind Travis.
Two hours later when Duck awoke, the lawyers were still asking questions.
CHAPTER 24
Rainey walked home with Dottie. The widow talked all the way about how the judge promised to do his best to help her, but her dead husband's partner seemed to have the advantage. No matter how you looked at it, wine was considered liquor, and he did own the half that was a saloon.
'What did he do with the other half after your husband died?'
Dottie frowned. 'It's sitting empty. I've tried to sell it, but nobody wants half a place. Jeffrey, my husband's partner, doesn't make it any too easy, either. The few people who have looked at it didn't like the idea of sharing the building with him after they met him. He's meaner than a snake.'
They hurried up the steps of the Askew House. Dottie held the door against the wind. 'I may have to move over there and live. The judge said if Jeffrey presses charges, and he will if I know him, I'll have to hire a lawyer.'
Rainey hung her old navy cape on one of the hooks by the front door wondering where she'd find the money for her lawyer if it came down to a trial. If she didn't have one, she'd probably go to jail. Maybe she should ask Pearl and Owen if she could work one more day. The extra pies would sell and she could sock back the money just in case. But she felt she was already intruding on their privacy enough by working three days.
The widow turned from putting up her coat. 'It's lunchtime. I've got tea and biscuits in my room.'
Rainey smiled. 'Texas biscuits or English biscuits.'
Dottie winked. 'English of course.'
One of the sisters stepped from the drawing room and frowned at them. When Rainey looked puzzled, the sister smiled. 'I'm sorry. I'm glad to see you two in from this bitter cold, but we are expecting a young lady for her final fitting this morning, and it doesn't look like she's going to show up.'
'Sage McMurray?' Rainey asked.
Grace nodded.
'I saw her brother at the courthouse. It appeared he had urgent business, and if so, she may have to wait until he can escort her.' Rainey didn't want to tell the spinster that the girl stood her up to go riding with a handsome young man. They'd never understand.
'Oh.' Grace looked relieved. 'I see. That's quite understandable. A young lady of her breeding and wealth should never go anywhere alone.'
Rainey smiled, knowing that if Grace knew what a wild bunch the McMurrays were, she would never have made such a foolish statement.
Dottie whispered that she'd bring the tea and biscuits up to Rainey's room and then hurried up the stairs. She enjoyed the three sisters' conversations, but found them lengthy.
Rainey did her duty and stopped in to say hello to the other two sisters. The German mother and daughter had left two days ago for their farm near Fredricksburg. The house seemed quiet and empty.
Mrs. Vivian was picking up her stationery from the writing table by the window. If there was to be no guest, she had her shopping to do. She didn't bother to say goodbye to the boarders, but they all heard her yell for Mamie to bring the buggy around. Mrs. Vivian might only be going a few blocks, but she planned to go in style.
By the time Rainey made it up to her room, Dottie was already there with the tea. They pulled off their shoes and ate on the tiny bed, laughing at how improper Mrs. Vivian would think they were if she found them.
After several minutes the conversation turned to the mess they were in. 'We were only trying to help Mamie get free, and now we may both be locked up,' the widow mumbled with a biscuit in her mouth.
'Do you really think so?'
The widow smiled a wicked smile and shook her head. 'That's why I asked to speak to the judge alone. I flirted with him outrageously and he never caught on. If trouble comes, I can promise you he'll be on our side. The only problem is he's an honest man, and they are always harder to deal with.'
'You're telling me,' Rainey agreed.
They laughed and talked. Eventually the conversation turned to what Rainey had heard the night before. 'Snort and Whiny are still planning to kill their boss, who claims he's coming into money soon. I talked it over with Travis, and he thinks Haskell plans to collect on the reward money for an escaped outlaw named Seth Norman who is sweet on Whiny.'
Dottie wiggled her eyebrows. 'I'll bet they make a cute couple.'
Rainey laughed. Somehow the widow always managed to make things funny. Rainey opened the window in case they could overhear more. But all they heard was Mamie singing as she threw out the wash water.
Rainey leaned back, not minding the open window, for Mamie's voice sounded so sweet. 'She always sings when Mrs. Vivian is out of the house.'
The widow nodded. 'Too bad it's cold. Our landlord likes to visit on warm days, but when it's cold she hurries back to take her afternoon nap.' Dottie smiled her sweetest and added, 'Which, by the way, you look like you might need a nap as well. Late night?'
She leaned close to Dottie and whispered what had happened last night when Travis had insisted on walking her back to the laundry room window.
The widow giggled like a girl. 'He's got it bad for you.'
'I know. I feel the same. But he's the marrying kind, and I think that's what he wants.'
Dottie raised an eyebrow. 'Then marry him.'
'I can't. I promised I wouldn't tie myself down like my mother did. My father made her believe she would starve without him. Her days were miserable, but she wouldn't leave, not even when he hit her.'
Rainey took a deep breath and told her what she'd never told another soul. 'When I was six, my father's father died. We traveled all day to his farmhouse. My parents expected an inheritance. But it seems my father's education was all the old man planned to give his son. My father discovered he inherited nothing, not even his mother's jewels.'
She closed her eyes as she repeated a memory she'd tried for a dozen years to forget. 'My father had too much to drink. He drove far too fast on a rutted road. The carriage rocked and pitched. My mother fell against the side and was bruised badly. I remember how he yelled at her to stop whimpering. When we got home, her skirts were
