Page 65 of Texas Glory
“Sure.”
Lester walked to the edge of the porch. Dallas pointed to the far horizon. “What do you see out there, Lester?”
Lester shrugged. “Moon. Stars. Land.”
“My land,” Dallas said. “As far as you can see, I own it. I don’t have a son, Lester. If I get gored by a bull tomorrow and die, all that land goes to my wife.” Dallas tilted his head. “Come to think of it, the land already belongs to her because she honored me by becoming my wife.”
He tore his hat from his head and lowered his face until he and Henderson were staring eye to eye. Lester backed up, and Dallas stalked him until the man had nowhere else to go and no choice but to bend over the railing like a sapling in the wind.
“If my wife comes into your bank, I don’t want her to have to ask for a damn thing. I want you to jump out of your chair and ask her what you can do for her. If she wants a loan, then by God, you give her a loan.”
“But … but collateral,” Henderson stammered.
“I just showed you her goddamn collateral!”
“But Boyd said—”
“I don’t give a damn what Boyd said or what any other member of her family says. If she wants the moon, by God I’ll find a way to give it to her. Right now all she wants is a loan from you, and I’d appreciate it greatly if you’d think on her request tonight and decide in the morning that it would be in this town’s best interest to give it to her.”
Dallas stepped back. Henderson straightened and puffed out his chest. “Are you threatening me?”
“No, Henderson, I’m not,” Dallas said in a voice that rang out as deceptively mild. “I never threaten, but I’ll give you my word that if you ever embarrass my wife like you did today, I’ll build a bank next to yours and put you out of business. Wherever you go, I’ll follow until the day I die, and you’ll never again work in a bank, much less own one.”
Dallas spun on his heel and started down the steps. He stopped and turned. “Henderson, I never want my wife to know of this conversation.”
Henderson nodded mutely, and Dallas stomped down the steps. He didn’t figure Lester Henderson would ever accuse him of sweet-talking.
The following morning at breakfast, Dallas watched as his wife slowly trailed her finger over her list of topics.
“Dee?”
She looked up, disappointment etched over her features.
“You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to. I won’t discuss husbandry at the table.”
She nodded grimly, glanced quickly at Austin, then looked back at her notes.
Dallas could feel Austin’s blue glare boring into him. Apparently, Austin had figured out that Dallas had not sweet-talked his wife last night, and it didn’t sit well with him.
Cordelia shifted her gaze back to Dallas and gnawed on her bottom lip. “What would you have done if Mr. Henderson hadn’t given you the loan for the cabinetmaker?”
Dallas leaned back in his chair, incredibly pleased with her question, more pleased that she wasn’t planning to let Henderson or her brother stop her from reaching for her dream. He wondered what other questions she’d written on her list. “I’d go to a bank in another town, convince them to give me the loan.”
“What town?”
“Fort Worth would probably be best.” “How far away is—”
A pounding on the door interrupted her question, but he had a good idea where she was headed with the questions, and he hoped she wouldn’t have to travel there. “Austin, why don’t you go see who’s at the door?” Dallas asked.
Austin shoved his chair back and stalked from the room. A few minutes later, disbelief mirrored on his young face, he escorted Lester Henderson into the dining room.
Cordelia gracefully swept out of her chair. “Mr. Henderson, what a pleasure it is to have you in our home. Would you like me to get you some coffee while you speak with my husband?”
Dallas didn’t know if he’d ever met anyone as gracious as his wife, and at that moment he was damn proud she was married to him.
Henderson turned his hat in his hand. “Actually, Mrs. Leigh, I’m here to speak with you.”
Dallas scraped his chair across the floor. Henderson looked as though he’d almost come out of his skin. Dallas stood. “You can use my office. I need to check on the herd.”
