Chapter 13 #2
Wade swaggered up to Seth, who had stepped to Muriel’s side.
He ignored Muriel as if she were nothing more than a buzzing mosquito to be brushed aside as a nuisance.
“I’ve ridden all the way into town, and you’re here doin’ nothin’.
I’m not goin’ back without my order. You’ve done enough Bible thumpin’. ”
Seth said quietly, “We’ve been over this before, Wade. There’s someone in from the Sawyer outfit nearly every day of the week. I know for a fact, you were in town yesterday.”
“Don’t tell me you won’t fill my order.” Wade stepped forward, looking hard into Seth’s eyes. “I saw Belle Tanner loading a wagon just last week. If you’ll do it for that woman, you’ll do it for me and like it.”
“Belle had to make a special trip, and she almost never comes to town from where she lives. Of course, I was willing to help her out. The Sawyer place is right outside town. Leave the order. We’ll have it ready first thing tomorrow, and when someone from your ranch is in town, he can pick it up.”
Wade’s eyes narrowed, then they shifted past the Bates and found Cassie.
Dread twisted in her gut as it always did when Wade was too near. His greedy green eyes revealed that awful hunger, that fixated look that was only for her. He hadn’t come in here to get supplies. He’d come in because he’d known she was here.
That sounded like her pride talking, thinking Wade was interested in her.
But for whatever reason, it was true. She knew it.
Wade’s eyes reminded her that she knew how to shoot a gun—she was quick and accurate, and just maybe, with those mean eyes on her, she could even find the courage to pull the trigger.
Of course, this was the second time in a week she’d come face-to-face with Wade and didn’t have her gun handy.
She took a step back and bumped into Red. He put his arm around her waist. Red’s hand was an anchor in a sea of fear. She grabbed his hand with both of hers and held it firmly around her.
“Miz Griffin.” Wade tipped his hat.
“It’s Dawson now,” Red corrected him in a mild tone.
“Oh, yeah. The widow lady remarried. I seem to remember she was so anxious for a man that she stood plumb on the fresh-turned dirt of her dead husband to take her vows.”
Several people in the crowd gasped. Because of her and the location of her marriage or Wade’s callous words?
“Wherever she took her vows, Wade, she took ’em.” Red sounded so quiet, but strength lay behind his words, and Cassie hung on him even harder.
Wade reached into his pocket, and several men tensed as his hand moved near the gun that hung low on his hip.
She might’ve learned to shoot, but she didn’t even have a gun anymore. It had been lost when her home had been taken for the mortgage.
Wade pulled something from his pocket. “Me and Pa are runnin’ your old place, China Doll.
The bank took everything you and your worthless husband had left.
We found some things left behind. It’s trash but you might want it.
” Wade unfolded what he was holding and very deliberately pulled his knife out and slashed it in half, then slashed it again.
He wadded up the pieces into a tight ball and tossed them at Cassie.
Cassie flinched away, but Red’s hand came up and deftly caught them.
Wade said, “We’ll use your house for a line shack. It’s a fool’s house. Too big to heat and too far from our ranch for any real use. Maybe we can store hay in it.”
Surprisingly, his insults didn’t upset her. The fact that she didn’t care about the house gave her the strength to face Wade wave her hand carelessly. “If the house is yours, then do with it what you will. It’s nothing to me.”
“Even after the floors rot and the rats move in, it’ll be better than the hole you’re livin’ in now with Dawson.”
Cassie gasped. Odd how the slur against Griff’s house left her unmoved but his insults to Red’s were fighting words.
She met Wade’s gaze, but she couldn’t hold the look.
Wade’s eyes burned with something that had always scared her.
She still had the China Doll inside her, and she said placidly, “Red’s got a wonderful home. We have everything we need.”
Wade’s face contorted into rage. “So then you must have Dawson bowin’ and scrapin’ for you just like you had Griffin.
” His weasel eyes shifted to Red. “I often wondered what she did for Griff that he’d let her walk all over him like that.
Tell me, Dawson—does she earn your favors like a real flesh-and-blood woman?
Or is she as cold as the China Doll she seems to be? ”
At Wade’s crudity, Red jerked forward, but Cassie caught him with a quick backward move of her hands.
She said clearly, so clearly that it was possible Mort Sawyer could have heard her out at the ranch, “Remember we’re in church, Red. And remember the man who won has to be big enough to stand a few temper tantrums from the loser.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly at Red.
He glared down at her for a second, obviously frustrated, then relaxed. “Only ’cuz we’re in church, Cass. You wouldn’t have saved him any other time.”
“Saved me?” Wade blustered. “The day a man can hide behind a woman’s skirts and that’ll stop…”
“Enough, Sawyer. We’re in the middle of church.
” This was from Norm York. “Your pa wanted Cassie’s spring, and he paid a fair price for it.
You Sawyers got what you wanted. You’ve no call to come in here insulting a fine woman and threatening Red.
You’re standing in front of dozens of witnesses to your actions, and you can’t get away with starting anything.
And if something happens to them any other time, you’re the first one we’ll come looking for.
So you’d better pray they don’t even accidentally get hurt.
If you want to stay and hear the preaching, we welcome you. ”
Suddenly, Mr. York’s voice became very sincere.
“We do, Wade. Forget all this anger and stay. We have God here with us, and you need to hear about Him. There is always room for anyone who wants to worship the Lord. But the store is closed on Sunday and always has been, as you well know. We need to get back to services.”
Every man in the place squared off against Wade, some moving to place themselves between Wade and her until she couldn’t see him anymore.
Even though anyone from out of town would have a rifle on his horse because of the dangers along the trail, none of them brought a gun into church. Wade was the only one armed.
Seconds stretched to a minute.
Cassie leaned sideways to see Wade. His eyes, burning with anger, shifted from one man to another.
He flexed his fingers as if fighting the urge to destroy anyone who thwarted him.
His eyes connected with Cassie’s and held.
Under the anger and hunger lay something else.
Some deep longing that told her Wade wasn’t just fighting because he was a troublemaker.
Wade’s desperate yearning aimed straight at her made her shudder deep inside.
With a sneer, Wade’s hand dropped away from his gun. “This isn’t over, Dawson. You got what’s mine, and I aim to get it back.”
She couldn’t see him anymore, and she stayed behind Red, not wanting Wade’s eyes on her. But his obsession with her rang in his voice, and icy fingers of fear crawled up her spine and grabbed at her throat.
He turned and wrenched the door open, slamming it behind him so hard, the glass rattled.
The congregation stood silently for a moment. Fear showed on many of the men’s faces. The ruthless Sawyer bunch made dreadful enemies.
Finally, Red broke the silence. “Let’s bow our heads and pray for Wade and his father.”
Several people turned sharply to face Red, their faces revealing they were not ready to let go of their anger or fear. Most nodded soberly.
“He’s so lost,” Muriel said.
Cassie couldn’t believe the gentle murmur of agreement. Not a minute ago, a fight brewed that might end in the deaths of some of the people in this room. Now they were praying for a man they so obviously feared.
She thought of her practice with Griff’s gun and her own desperate plans to protect herself. Never for a second had she considered praying for Wade. This was a kind of Christianity Cassie didn’t understand.
A peace settled over her as Red’s comforting voice started talking to God in a way that made it seem God was a personal friend.
Cassie prayed that God would be her friend too.