Lady of the Gun (36 page)

Cass breathed a sigh of relief. "
I won't let him out of bed for a second," she said, then frowned, her face becoming a mask of sadness.

"What is it, Cass?" Brett asked.

"I don't have any place for him to recuperate. I don't even own a bed anymore, let alone a house," she said sadly.

"Darby will recover in my home," announced Mrs.
Wettle.

“But..
" Cass attempted to speak.

"Hush. I'll hear no argument. You may also stay with me.
I'm all alone in that big house since Mr. Wettle passed on some five years ago. Mr. Soony is also welcome."

"But I really can't," Cass told her.

"Tut-tut-tut," Mrs. Wettle clucked. "You have nowhere else to stay, and I have the room. You just have to move your things in.... Oh, dear, you have no things. Well, you just come make yourself at home. I'll see to it Darby is nursed properly."

Brett bit the inside of his lower lip
to keep from laughing.  Mrs. Wettle was as persistent as the tide.

"I'm going to rebuild as soon as possible, Mrs. Wettle,
” Cass said. "And it's not that I'm not grateful for the offer, it's just that I want to stay out at the ranch."

The woman shook her head. "Well, do what you must,
but your uncle will be recovering in my home. Is that understood?"

Cass nodded,
unwilling to argue with this formidable woman. She turned to look at Soony. She wondered if he'd been paying attention to the conversation. He wore a questioning expression. "Can Pork Chop go too?" he asked.

Mrs. Wettle smiled. "Of course your pet is welcome also,"
she said.

Soony grinned at Cass. "I'll go to Mrs. Wettle's," he said.
"Mr. Darby needs me."

Cass smiled. "It looks as if
you’ll have two house guests for a while..three, if you count Pork Chop;" she said. "And I'll be in and out regularly to check on my uncle."

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way," Mrs. Wettle
said in a
this matter is
settled
tone.

"How soon can Uncle Darby be moved?" Cass asked
the doctor.

"Not until tomorrow, Cass. I want to watch him tonight.
That bullet went pretty deep."

She nodded. "All right. Is he awake now?"

"No, but he should be before too long. Why don't you go have some breakfast and get cleaned up? By the time you get back he might have opened his eyes again," he suggested.

"That's a wonderfu
l idea," Brett interjected. "Come with me," he said to Cass.

"I'm going to wait right here," announced Mrs. Wettle as
though she'd been asked to go.

The doctor chuckled to himse
lf, then turned to face the other people who'd been waiting for news about Darby.

"You all heard
what I said about your friend. Darby will be fine, so you can go on about your business."

"You sure, Doc?" Bill Conroy asked.

"I'm sure, Bill. Go open the barbershop. You probably have customers waiting."

"All right," Conroy said, nodding his head as he went.
Just before he went out the door, he stopped. "Marshal Ryder?"

"Yes, Bill?"

"I won't be running for sheriff after all," he said.

"You
’ve changed your mind?" Brett asked.

He nodded again. "I don't think I'm the best man for the
job," he stated quietly and walked out the door.

Brett looked at Cass and shrugged. "Imagine that?" he
said, smiling.

Several minut
es later the room had just about cleared. Cass yawned widely. "I need some coffee," she said.

"You need a
bath," Brett whispered to her.

Cass huffed at him. "How dare you, sir?"

"Look at me, Cass. I'm a filthy mess. You're almost as bad."

Cass looked
closely at Brett then down at her own clothes. "I guess you're right."

"Follow me," he said, leading the way to the door.

“We'll be back in a little while," Cass said over her shoulder to the doctor. "And thank you, Mrs. Wettle. We'll see you later."

Brett had the wonderful idea of bathing in the sheriff
’s office. He pulled out the big metal tub and started the fire to heat the water.

“
I don't even care if the water's hot," said Cass.

"You will," he said, smiling.

She looked down at her clothes again. They were ruined. Her trousers were caked with mud and soot. Her shirt looked even worse because she'd torn the bottom off to make the bandage for Darby. "What am I going to put on?" she asked.

"Some of the sheriff's things are still in the dresser drawers,"
offered Brett.

"Funny," said Cass,

"I'll go buy us some new clothes while you bathe. Will that suit you?"

"Perfectly. Jus
t put my things on my tab at the store."

Brett f
rowned at her. "I can still afford to buy a few articles of clothing."

"Fi
ne," she said, grinning at him.

Twenty minutes later she was sitting in a tub of wa
rm water. "Nothing has ever felt so good in all my life," she said loud enough for Brett to hear her in the outer office.

             
"Nothing?" The word was full of meaning.

"When are you going to the store?" she groused
good-naturedly.

"Right now," he said
.

"Don't you need to know
my sizes?"

"Believe me, I already do," he teased.

“You're incorrigible!" she yelled.

He just laughed at her and
left the office.

Cass sank down into the water and sighed with relief. He
was right, there were several things that felt better than the bath. She blushed, thinking about them.

A little less than an hour later Cass was pulling on new
boots in the outer office. "I'm finished dressing, Brett. And I have to say you did pretty well. The shirt's a little big, but other than that everything fits very well."

"Good. I told Jasper they were for you.
He already knew your sizes, so I didn't have to guess," he called from the tub, where he soaked.

Cass looked around while she waited. Her stomach
growled almost painfully as she perused the wanted posters on the wall. "Brett," she called.

"Yes?"

"How about if I go to the hotel and get breakfast and bring it back here?" she said"

"Sounds good to
me. I can soak a little longer."

“
Great, I'll be back as soon as I can."

"See you later," he called
.

Cass left the office and headed toward the hotel, thoughts
of fried eggs, bacon, sourdough toast, and sweet black coffee making her mouth water. As she started to cross the street, Ramsey stepped out from between two buildings right in front of her.

"Cass, I need to talk to you," he said.

She looked at him in disgust. "I have nothing to say to you, Ramsey." Her voice was full of anger.

“
Please, Cass. I want to apologize."

"I don't care," she told him bluntl
y.

“B
ut, Cass, I'm so ashamed of my behavior yesterday."

Was it only yesterday? she wondered. With everything
that had happened since then, it seemed like a long time ago, "You should be ashamed," she said.

“
I know. I behaved atrociously. I've never acted like that before in my life, Cass. I can only say it's because I've never felt this way about anyone before," he said, bowing his head. "I’m so sorry," he mumbled.

Cass stared at his humbled posture. "That's no excuse,"
she told him.

“
You're right, Cass. I know I have no right to expect your full forgiveness, but I was hoping you'd see it in your heart to at least give me a chance to make it up to you."

“
You don't have to do that. Just leave me alone, Ramsey," she said with vehemence.

H
e lifted his eyes to hers then. "Please, Cass. I won't ask for your love. Just let me be a friend."

Cass was astonished to see tears bri
mming in his blue eyes. Was he really that sorry he'd behaved like such an ass? “Well..." She wavered slightly.

"You
will!" he gushed. "I can see you'll give me another chance."

"I don't know,
Ramsey," she said. His behavior was too erratic. She didn't trust him, would never trust him again.

Stepping forward, he gently reached out to take one of
her hands. “No threats. No pressure. Just friendship for a while," he said.

Cass cringed and pulled back when he tried to touch her
hand, the memory of his horrid behavior still fresh in her mind. She saw the hurt in his eyes at her action.

"Please, Cass," he whispered.

His remorse did seem genuine, but she couldn't bring herself to touch him. Standing very still, she sized him up. He'd turned out to be such a pathetic creature. “I suppose," she finally said. Then a thought struck her. "Where were you last night?" she asked.

Ramsey glanced up into her eyes. "I heard about what
happened out at your place. Are you asking me if I was a part of it?"

"I'
m just asking you where you were, Ramsey."

"
I was in town, Cass," he said solemnly. "There are people who will tell you I was here, I'll go get them for you. I want you to trust me."

"'That won't be necessary. If you say you were here I
believe you."

"I botched things up pretty
badly yesterday for you to actually think I could be capable of raiding your place. I'm so sorry, Cass."

Cass sighed. "I had to ask," she said.

"I understand, I guess," He looked past her. "Where are you going now?" he asked.

"
I’m on my way to get breakfast."

"May I go with you? I wou
ldn't want you to have to eat alone."

"I'm getting the
food and bringing it back to the sheriff’s office to eat with Brett," she explained.

Ramsey's mouth drooped at one corner. "That's how it
is, eh?"

She didn't want to explain the dynamics of their relationship
to Ramsey, or to anyone. "We’re friends," she stated simply.

His gaze fell. "I see," he said. "Well, I wouldn't want to
keep you. Thank you for listening to me, Cass."

“
You're welcome."

He turned away from her and began to walk away. At
the last minute he turned back around and flashed one of his old, charming smiles at her. "Besides, you're not married to the marshal. You just might love me yet," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Cass opened her mouth to protest, but he'd already turned
away from her again. "You're one strange man, Ramsey," she whispered, a shiver of revulsion skittering through her at his crazy mood swings.

Starting toward the hotel again, she was almost there
when she saw Rosie coming toward her. “What are you doing out here?" she asked her. "You should still be home in bed."

"I heard some people talking outside as they passed my
window. They said your place was burned and someone was shot. I had to find out who. I was on my way to the doctor's office when I saw you talking to Ramsey," she said hurriedly.

"Yes. He wanted to apologize for . . . for something. And
it was Uncle Darby who was shot, but the doc says he'll be fine." Cass noticed Rosie's color was high. You're not well. I'm taking you home."

"I'm
fine, really," Rosie answered, wringing her hands and breathing in short gasps.

"You're not f
ine" Come with me." She led Rosie back to her house. Once inside, she made the girl sit in a comfortable chair. "You've got to calm down, you’ve worked yourself into a state," she said.

Rosie continued wringing her hands. She looked up at
Cass and bit her lip. "Cass, you're my friend. When I thought you might have been shot . . . it nearly scared me to death," she said.

"Rosie, thank you. You're
my friend too. But as you can see, I'm fine."

Rosie took several more panting breaths. "And just now,
when I saw you talking to Ramsey..."

"Y
es?"

"It's just that Ramsey can be so awful. I'd hate to see
him hurt you."