Free Texas Tender by Leigh Greenwood Page A

talk, but I have to see the sheriff,” Idalou said.
    Mara went all stiff and prim. “If Carl’s still there, tell him it’s no use dropping by the house this afternoon. I’ll be helping Mama get ready for Mr. Haskins.”
    Idalou thought if Mara said one more word about Will, she’d scream, but fortunately, the girl said she had to buy some new ribbons for her hair. And look for a new bonnet. And her mother thought it would be nice to have something special for dessert, so Mara had been instructed to pick up some extra sugar and dried fruit. She hoped there’d be enough eggs for baked meringues.
    â€œThen you’d better make your purchases and hurry home.”
    Idalou was relieved when Mara rushed off to Andy Davis’s mercantile. She headed toward the sheriff’s office, her thoughts in turmoil. It was hard to believe Will Haskins was Dunmore’s sheriff. Even if it was true that he’d outfought and outdrawn Newt, why would he want to be sheriff when he was going to be here for such a short time? She didn’t have much respect for the good sense of most of the men she knew, but she had thought Andy Davis and Lloyd Severns were at least halfway intelligent.
    Maybe it was the way her fast, energetic stride caused her heels to pound on the boardwalk or the frown on her face which she noticed when she passed the bakery window, but no one stopped to speak to her. It was just as well. She was in no mood for idle chitchat. She entered the sheriff’s office to find Carl and Will getting ready to leave. The sheriff’s badge gleamed on the latter’s vest like the afternoon sun on the Texas horizon. It was impossible to miss.
    â€œLou, did you hear—”
    â€œLloyd couldn’t wait to tell me,” Idalou said, cutting her brother off. “I think he actually enjoyed it.”
    â€œWill’s going to help me look for the bull.”
    â€œI thought you couldn’t interfere in local situations,” Idalou challenged Will.
    â€œThat was before I was sheriff. Now it’s my
duty
to look into complaints.”
    â€œI’ve got a long list. I doubt you’ll be here long enough to get through it.”
    â€œLay off, Lou,” her brother said. “He hasn’t been here long enough for you to get mad at him.”
    â€œI made her angry in our first meeting,” Will volunteered.
    â€œDamn, Lou, can’t you meet any man without making him your enemy?” Carl asked, apparently completely out of patience with his sister.
    â€œI’m not her enemy,” Will said. “She just didn’t like something I said.”
    â€œShe doesn’t like anything anybody says. Let’s get out of here before she makes you so mad you won’t help look for the bull.”
    Idalou didn’t know how the tables had been turned so quickly, but her own brother had done it. “I’d like to talk with the
sheriff
alone for a moment,” she said.
    â€œNot on your life,” Carl stated flatly. “I’m gonna stand right here and listen to every word you say.”
    It was probably best that Carl didn’t leave. She was so incensed that Will was sheriff, convinced he’d done something underhanded to make Mara tumble in love with him, she would most certainly have said something imprudent. Still, she had a lot of questions, and she meant to get answers. Before she could ask even one of them, an altercation outside the office door drew their attention. Two girls were arguing over which one should open the door for the other.
    â€œI’ve got the hot coffeepot,” one said. “I can’t open the door without setting it down.”
    â€œWell, I’ve got a plate of bread and butter as well as a cup,” said the other.
    Carl got up, walked over, and pulled the door open. Two surprised young girls—Andy Davis’s daughters Louise and Sarah—stood frozen, caught in mid-argument.