Page 44 of Texas Splendor
He started walking again, toward the far end of town. He heard the tinny sound of an off-key piano wafting out of the saloon. A bottle of whiskey appealed to him, but he’d never enjoyed drinking alone.
And the drinking companion of his youth was probably making passionate love to Becky right about now. He went to the livery, saddled Black Thunder, and rode into the night, trying to escape the invisible prison that surrounded his heart.
He felt the terror that had engulfed him when they’d put him in solitary confinement. The loneliness had been absolute, frightening. Just as it was now. Loving Becky had been so easy. They had never argued, she had never questioned.
But as he rode, it wasn’t Becky who haunted his thoughts. It was Loree with golden eyes that didn’t quite trust him and a heart that might never be his.
Chapter 9
Holding his hat in a tight fist, Austin leaned against the beam of Dallas’s veranda and watched as dawn brought the majestic colors to the day. He remembered a time when he’d celebrated dawn with his violin. Now, more often than not, he welcomed it with a curse.
The front door opened. Dallas stepped beneath the archway and stumbled to a stop when his gaze rammed into Austin’s. Austin shoved himself away from the beam. “I’m here to grovel. I’ve got a wife, a baby on the way, and no way to support them. Cameron is probably the only one in town who’d hire me, but I can’t see me stacking cans and sweeping floors.” He swallowed hard. “But I’ll do it if I have to.”
“Good morning to you, too,” Dallas said, a corner of his mouth lifting his mustache.
Austin slumped against the beam. “Needed to spit out what I came to say before I lost the nerve to do it.”
Dallas gave a slow nod as he walked to the edge of the veranda. The morning sun hit his bruised face.
“How’s your jaw?” Austin asked.
“Sore. You knocked a damn tooth loose.”
Austin flinched. “Sorry.”
“I deserved it, and it was less painful than the dressing down my wife gave me last night.” Dallas settled his black broad-brimmed Stetson on his head and stepped off the veranda. “I was just coming to look for you. Since you saved me the trouble of finding you, why don’t you take a ride with me?”
Austin knew his brother well enough to know he never asked. Even words that sounded like a question were an order. Austin swung up into the saddle as Dallas mounted the horse his foreman brought him. Then as he had for most of his life, he followed the trail his brother blazed.
They rode in silence for long moments, the plains opening up before them. Austin had never appreciated the wide expanse of land as his brother did. Until recently, towns had appealed to him, the constant movement of people going places, the rumble of wagon wheels, the clop of horses’ hooves.
“I never knew what your dreams were,” Dallas said, his deep voice rumbling over the prairie, “but I figured they’d take you beyond this place. You always looked toward the horizon like maybe you’d inherited Pa’s wandering streak.”
“I thought about leaving more than once, but when I finally did, I sure as hell didn’t go where I wanted to go.”
“So you’re figuring to make this place your home?” Dallas asked.
“I’d like to, but it depends on Loree. Her family was murdered a few years back and she’s been living alone ever since. I thought she’d find it easier living here where she could get used to having people around—and I wanted to get her away from the memories.”
“Sounds like I stepped knee-deep into a fool’s pasture yesterday. I owe you an apology for that.”
Austin had always known his brother was a big man, but he’d never seemed bigger than he did at this moment. Austin’s throat tightened. “I realize now that I should have sent a telegram—”
“Might have made things a little easier on Loree. A wife and baby tie a man down whether he wants to be tied down or not.”
“I accepted that before I ever asked Loree to marry me. She deserves better than the life I can give her.”
Dallas looked off into the distance. “Dee taught me the only thing that matters is what you give her from your heart.”
“My heart’s not entirely free.”
Dallas pierced him with a darkening gaze. “Then I’d say you wronged her pretty damn bad.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that, but I aim to make it up to her.”
Dallas gave him a long slow nod. “Well, this spread is getting too big for one man to handle. Reckon I could use some help.”
“Same pay as before?”
