Vera pointed to a chair. “Won’t you have a seat, Lucy?”
Vera and Wyatt sat on the sofa while Lucy sat on the over-stuffed chair. “How can we help you?” Vera asked.
“I came for two reasons. First, I want to apologize to Wyatt for my breaking off our betrothal so ... um ... abruptly. I also came to warn him about his new friend. His name is Jack Haskell, and he’s wanted in Texas. There’s a bounty on his head.”
Wyatt frowned. “What?”
“My father and I came here from El Paso three years ago, and I never forget a face, especially one as handsome as Jack’s.”
All Wyatt could do was stare at the woman who’d barged into their home, dressed all in red, to tell him his handyman was a criminal. Was she telling the truth?
Lucy let the fur cape she wore slide off her shoulders, revealing a good amount of her neckline and below.
“My,” Lucy said to Wyatt, “you sure married quickly after I left. Where did you two meet, anyway?”
Wyatt stood. “Never mind that. What was Jack supposed to have done, anyway?”
“He’s a gambler, and he shot a man who he thought was cheating.”
Wyatt paced before the fireplace. “Are you going to turn him in?”
Lucy played with her reticule. “I may, unless he offers me something I can’t refuse to remain quiet.”
“Have you spoken to him?”
“No, I’m not sure where to find him. I saw him with you at the dinner yesterday and hoped you could tell me where to locate him.”
Wyatt didn’t know what to do or say. He looked to Vera for help, but she just sat there calmly and smiled at him before addressing Lucy. “How about if we have him contact you instead? You’re living with your father, I take it?”
Lucy seemed stunned by Vera’s question. “No! Um ... that is ... I don’t want my father to see him. He’ll turn him in.”
Vera smiled sweetly at Lucy. “I see. Then, perhaps we can have him meet you somewhere ... like the café in town.”
Lucy pulled her cape on and sighed. “I suppose that will have to do.” She stood to face Wyatt who was leaning on the fireplace mantel. She pouted. “Do you forgive me for leaving with Lee?”
Wyatt nodded. “Of course, you did me a favor.”
“Really!” Lucy exclaimed as she walked toward the front door. “Lee was such a bore. Tell Jack to meet me at the café at noon tomorrow. Good day.”
Wyatt laughed once she’d left.
Vera swung around and stared at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Not funny but clever. You handled that well, Mrs. Stone.”
“Should we fear Jack?” she asked.
“No, we don’t know if it’s the truth. Maybe the man that he shot had cheated, and it was a fair fight. I don’t condone killing, but in El Paso, I hear that’s quite the norm. I like Jack. I think he deserves the chance to explain his past to us.”
Vera smiled up at him. “I agree.”
“I’ll go out in the barn and see if he’s there yet.”
Wyatt brought Jack into the sitting room where they greeted him warmly and invited him to have a seat.
“Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” Vera offered.
“I think not, but thank you. I drank nearly a whole pot of coffee before I came today.” Jack took a seat. “I need more energy to go out in this cold weather. I’m from Texas, so I’m used to warmth.”
Wyatt asked, “Where in Texas?”
“I’ve lived in so many towns, it would take a while to name them all.”
Wyatt gave Vera a meaningful look. He was evading the question. Maybe what Lucy had told them was true.
“Jack, we had a visitor today who claims you killed a man in El Paso.” Wyatt held up his hand when he saw that Jack was about to react. “The woman wants something in return for her silence.”
Vera said, “We’d like to hear the truth from you, Jack.”
Jack rubbed his face with his hands before answering. “It’s true. I shot a man, and he wasn’t just any man but the sheriff’s son.”
“What happened?” Wyatt asked.
“I used to gamble, but I haven’t touched a playing card since that day,” Jack said. “The man was cheating. I called him on it, he took offense and he pulled his gun on me. I reacted by pulling out my gun and shooting him before he could get a shot off. I never ran from a town so fast in my life. They’d planned to lynch me. Since there’s a bounty on my head, I made my way north, finding jobs here and there on farms along the way.”
Wyatt paced the floor. He stopped in front of Jack. “You say he pulled his gun first?”
“I swear, but the man I shot was the sheriff’s son, no one would speak up for me. All of his friends told the sheriff I’d shot him. They even put his gun back into his holster to frame me.”
Vera looked up at Wyatt and nodded. Wyatt knew it meant she thought he was being truthful.
Wyatt sank into a chair. “I’m not sure what Lucy Ames wants from you, but I’d be careful if I were you. I wouldn’t trust her.”
“I don’t even know the woman. Where am I supposed to meet her?”
“The café, tomorrow, at lunchtime.”
“Should I go?”
“Well, she claims she’ll turn you in if you don’t.” Wyatt shrugged. “I wish there was something I could do to help you. My wife and I are preparing for a trip to Missouri to visit her family. We’re leaving in a few weeks. I really counted on your looking after our place while we’re gone.”
“I’d be happy to—unless I’m dangling from a rope by
