Chapter Thirty
Logan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he watched Bo Prescott ride a horse Logan was certain was not his down Main Street toward the edge of town.
There were many problems Logan had with Bo.
Despite being known as a rustler, the weasel of a man always seemed to be able to get his cases dismissed when it came time for him to stand before a judge, despite what evidence was gathered.
What bothered Logan about Bo today, though, was not his checkered past, but that he was trying to steal a horse right in front of everyone.
Logan knew for a fact that the Palomino mare Bo was saddled on was one of Old Man Rutherford’s horses. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Logan saddled his own bay gelding and quickly caught up to him.
“Where you going with that horse, Bo?” Logan asked, riding up beside him.
Bo kept his head facing straight forward, but his blue gaze slid to Logan as he kept on riding casually toward the edge of town.
“I’m taking it back to where it belongs, Sheriff,” Bo replied, his tone polite but quipped. “Saw this poor girl wandering in the desert. Didn’t think she deserved to die of thirst out there just because one of Old Man Rutherford’s cowboys got lazy about putting her away.”
Logan cocked a single auburn brow.
“You playing the hero now?” He asked.
“A man can have many skills. Even if he’s only known for one,” Bo answered, sliding his gaze back to the direction he was riding.
Logan grunted, then guided his horse ahead, just enough so that he could pull in front of Bo and make him stop.
“Why don’t you just come on back to my office with me instead?” Logan asked, even though it wasn’t really a question.
Bo’s lips twitched toward a sneer as his gaze flicked anxiously, as if he was looking for a way around him.
“You don’t trust a man to return a horse?” Bo grit out.
Logan shrugged atop his saddle as he saw one of his deputies, Abe, riding up to them from behind Bo.
“A man, sure. But a known rustler?” He quipped. “No. No, I don’t. Especially since Old Man Rutherford’s ranch is in the opposite direction that you’re currently heading.”
Bo’s sneer deepened as his hand moved toward his belt, but his movements stilled as he heard Abe call from behind him, "You good, Sheriff?"
Logan cocked a brow at Bo.
“Am I good, Bo?” he asked, his hand ready to fly to his pistol the moment Bo reached for his belt again.
Bo’s bearded jaw worked back and forth in obvious frustration of being caught, then he turned his head to hock a wad of spit at the ground.
“Yeah, Sheriff,” he grit out, putting his hands up in the air. “You’re good.”
Logan smirked, then dismounted his horse. He walked over to Bo and looked him up and down, waiting. Bo rolled his eyes, but he obeyed Logan’s silent command and slid off the stolen horse. Logan removed the pistols from Bo’s belt, then waved Abe over before cuffing the man.
“Take our guest to a cell, would you, Abe?” Logan asked, catching the rope Abe threw him and looping it around the chains between the cuffs.
“Sure thing, Sheriff,” Abe agreed, tying the other end of the rope to his saddle horn. “What about Old Man Rutherford’s horse?”
Logan glanced back toward his parents’ house. He’d been there late the night before, looking over Garrett’s paperwork after he’d had supper with them and Amanda.
“She’ll be tied up to the post near my parents’ house,” Logan answered, nodding toward it. “Have Jerry come and get her and take her back to Rutherford’s. I’ve got to grab something right quick, then I’ll meet you and old Bo here at the Sheriff’s office.”
“You got it, boss,” Abe answered. He gave the rope around Bo’s cuffs a jerk, and started walking his horse back up Main Street.
Logan watched for a minute, shaking his head disapprovingly as he watched Bo being walked through the busy street and being stared at by the townsfolk.
Knowing he needed to keep moving, he strode up to his parents’ house, removing his hat as he always did the moment he opened the door.
Whispered voices ceased as he stepped inside, and he was greeted by startled stares from Amanda and Grace.
His brows dipped in concern as he took in Grace’s red-rimmed eyes and red nose.
“Everything alright in here?” He asked, slowly closing the door behind him.
“We’re fine,” Amanda answered.
The left corner of Logan’s lips drew toward a frown as he heard the protective edge in his sister’s voice.
He also noticed that Grace didn’t answer, but bowed her head.
Even with the evidence of her unhappiness written across her face, Logan found her as lovely as ever.
Her golden hair was swept up into a stylish bun and she was wearing a dress the color of the clear Texas sky, a shade almost identical to her eyes.
Eyes that now remained downcast, framed by delicate, long blonde lashes that glistened from tears she had no doubt been shedding before he’d walked in.
“Logan.”
“Yeah,” he said quickly, jolting out of his studious stare and looking toward his sister. He felt the tips of his ears grow warm as Amanda looked at him with a cocked brow.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, shrugging her shoulders, “I thought you were working?”
“I am,” he agreed with a nod, still embarrassed that he’d been caught staring at Grace so intensely. “I just left some papers here last night. I wanted to swing by and grab them before I headed back to the Sheriff’s office.”
Amanda stared at him suspiciously for another moment before she nodded toward the hall.
“Go on into Daddy’s office then,” she told him, “He and Mama are visiting with the Wilkins’, so you don’t have to knock.”
“Thanks,” he answered.
He took one more glance at Grace, who still hadn’t lifted her bowed head.
Concern for her rose up fiercely, but he took the subtle hints both women dropped to give them privacy, and instead of asking what was wrong, he moved quickly toward his father’s office.
On the desk he found what he was looking for, and quietly moved back up the hall toward the parlor.
He paused at the corner, though, as he heard Grace’s tear-filled voice.
“I can’t do this, Amanda,” she sobbed. “I can’t marry one of those men, no matter what my Papa says. They’re all so awful. And the way they look at me?”
Logan peeked around the corner just in time to see Grace shudder with disgust.
“It’s like I’m not even a person to them,” she went on, “I’m just a prized heifer or mare on the auction block. It makes my stomach hurt. I can’t marry someone who looks at me like that!”
“Oh, Grace,” he heard Amanda sigh as she reached over to rub soothing circles on Grace’s bowed back, “There’s still time! Surely there’s someone else, someone you actually like that your father would approve of.”
Grace quickly shook her head as she sniffled.
“There’s not,” she rasped out. “Ever since I told my Papa about wanting to choose Garrett, he’s been adamant that he chooses my husband for me.”
She let out a sigh as she dabbed her eyes with her kerchief.
“Sometimes I still wonder though if he would have changed his mind,” she went on, “If I could have convinced Garrett to run away with me and get married in another town. If I had done that, my Papa would have been angry at first, but at least I would be married to a man who wouldn’t pressure me into becoming some sort of breeding stock for his family line. ”
Logan’s stomach dropped as he heard Grace say such things.
He knew her father wanted her to marry a specific type of man but was that how he and his friends saw her?
Just another animal to be bred for lineage?
What about love? What about choice? What about faith?
Out of nowhere, his anger bloomed bright and hot in his chest. He clenched his fists, hating that Grace’s father would be willing to put her through such things.
Still, he stayed quiet and unmoving as he heard Amanda speak again.
“You should really stop thinking like that, Grace,” Amanda gently insisted, “Garrett’s married to someone else now.
And after what we saw on the courthouse lawn the other day, you know he and Hannah have true feelings for one another.
If you keep thinking that Garrett might still turn around and change his mind, I think you’re only going to hurt your own feelings. ”
Logan watched as Grace jolted in her seat, pressed her eyes shut, and dropped her head into her hands.
“Oh, Grace, please,” Amanda pleaded, gently tugging at Grace’s hands, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you! I just, I don’t-”
Unable to watch anymore, Logan loudly cleared his throat, then stepped around the corner. At once Grace sat up straight and sniffled, quickly dabbing at her tears. Amanda as well sat up a little straighter and clasped her hands in her lap, trying and failing miserably to look inconspicuous.
“Got Garrett’s papers,” Logan said, holding them up as evidence, “Sorry again to interrupt. I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait a minute,” Amanda said, shooting up from her seat, “Have you heard anything else? Do you have a date for the hearing?”
“Two days from now,” Logan answered.
Grace’s head snapped up as her delicate blonde brows furrowed.
“What are you two talking about?” She asked, rising to her feet.
“Garrett’s land dispute,” Amanda answered before Logan could speak up. “Someone’s trying to sell it out from under him. You didn’t know?”
Grace shook her head, looking more alarmed as she joined Logan and Amanda.
Amanda and Logan shared a furtive, confused glance.
“What was that?” Grace asked, catching the look. “What was that look for?”
Amanda looked anxiously at Logan again, but he quickly turned his head, pretending not to see it.
“I just… I guess I’m just surprised that you didn’t know,” Amanda replied after a moment’s hesitation.
“Dean was with Garrett when the surveyors from the Southern Pacific Railroad showed up and gave Garrett the news. He’d also been the one to offer Garrett a deal so that Garrett could scrape up some extra money. ”
“Amanda,” Logan murmured, silently willing his sister to stop talking as he saw the look of despair stretch across Grace’s face.
It was too late, though, Logan realized as Grace’s already pale complexion faded into a concerning shade of gray.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me Garrett was in so much trouble?” She asked, looking accusingly from Amanda to Logan. “Why didn’t Garrett tell me himself?”
Logan’s gaze dropped to the ground as he pressed his lips shut, refusing to be the one to tell her that it was her behavior lately was what probably kept Garrett from relying on her as a friend the way that he used to.
Amanda didn’t answer either, and when Logan lifted his gaze again, it was clear by the expression on Grace’s face that she understood what their silence meant.
“I should go,” Grace rasped, hurrying back to the couch to collect her parasol, gloves, and bonnet.
“Grace, wait,” Amanda urged, “I’m sorry you just found out now about Garrett’s troubles. But I know it would mean a lot to him if you came to his trial. Could I come pick you up on Wednesday? Or, I’m sure Dean would let you come with him if—”
“I’m not going,” Grace said, cutting Amanda off as she tied the ribbons of her bonnet under her chin.
“Grace, please,” Amanda pleaded as Logan loosed a sigh of frustration, “Don’t be that way.”
“What way?” Grace quipped, hurt shining in her eyes as she furrowed her brows and pulled on her gloves. “Garrett doesn’t even know that I know what he is going through. It’s obvious that he doesn’t expect me there. Now if you’ll both excuse me, I’m going to walk home.”
Grace tried to breeze between Logan and Amanda, but they both reached out a hand to her shoulders, stopping her.
“I can’t stop you from missing Garrett’s trial, even though I know you know it’s the right thing to go,” Logan said, staring into her eyes with frustrated determination, “But I’m not letting you walk home in this heat and without a chaperone. Wait here, and I’ll hitch up the buggy right quick.”
Defiance shone in Grace’s eyes, but when Logan raised a challenging brow, silently daring her to try and leave without him, she let out a sound of frustration and crossed her arms.
“Fine,” she bit out, “But I’m not talking about this anymore.”
“Fine,” he quipped back, “It’s not like anyone could change your mind anyway.”
True to her threat, Grace didn’t mutter a single word as Logan took her home.
She didn’t even say thank you as Logan helped her down from the buggy after he’d pulled up to the Walker’s ranch house.
And though her attitude frustrated Logan greatly, he still waited by the buggy, watching her stalk away from him until she was safely inside the house.