Page 19 of Texas Glory
The sound came again as though someone were crumpling paper. Slowly, she eased her feet to the floor and stood.
She heard a thump come from his desk, a bump too loud to have come from a mouse. She held her breath, waiting, wondering what sort of animals Dallas kept, wondering if she should find him and let him know that one of his creatures had escaped.
Another bump and crackle.
She studied his desk. Someone had shoved the chair away. The front of the desk spanned its width and nearly reached the floor, where she saw a scrap of blue.
Hadn’t the little girl been wearing blue?
Quietly, she sneaked across the room and peered around the desk. A tiny black shoe tapped the air, the foot moving in rhythm to no music Cordelia could hear.
Cordelia knelt and looked into the alcove where Dallas would normally sit. The little girl sat with sacks wadded within her lap. Her eyes widened to form huge circles of green.
Cordelia smiled softly. “Hello. You’re Maggie, aren’t you?”
The girl nodded, scooted forward, and touched her tiny finger to Cordelia’s damp cheek. “You got a sad.”
Cordelia swiped at the tears that lingered on her lashes. “No, not really.”
“Yes, you do. I can make the sad go away.”
“You can?”
Maggie nodded enthusiastically. She crawled out from beneath the desk and struggled to pull open a drawer.
Cordelia eased a little closer to her. “I don’t think you should play in your uncle’s desk.”
Maggie pressed her finger to her lips. “Shh.” She pulled out a sack and shoved the drawer back into place.
Smiling brightly, she crawled into her previous hiding place and crooked her finger. “Come ‘n.”
Folding her body, Cordelia worked her way under the huge desk, wondering if everything in Dallas’s life was big.
“Close your eyes,” Maggie said. “Why?”
“Unca Dalls says so.”
Dallas had taught the little girl how to make sadness go away? Cordelia lowered her lashes.
“Open your mouth.”
Hesitantly, Cordelia obeyed. She heard paper crackle. Then something hard skipped across her teeth and hit her tongue. She tasted sweet and bitter before she spit it into her hand. She stared at the lemon drop.
“When it’s gone, so is your sad,” Maggie said. “Unca Dalls says so.” She reached into the bag. “I gotta sad, too.” She popped a lemon drop into her mouth and snuggled against Cordelia’s side.
Holding the child close, Cordelia popped the confection back into her mouth. She heard Maggie smacking as she sucked on the candy.
She was surprised to discover that a little of the sadness did melt away.
CHAPTER
FOUR
It had been a mistake to leave his new wife alone, but then it seemed to be a day for making mistakes.
After Reverend Tucker left him, Dallas decided to carry her belongings to the house. She had only brought one small trunk, and it didn’t take Dallas long to haul it to his bedroom, but apparently it was long enough to lose her.
Darkness was settling in, and people were beginning to take their leave. Without his wife by his side, Dallas thanked them for coming and refused to answer the questions he saw reflected in their eyes.
