This Loving Land - Dorothy Garlock [82]
“Oh, no, it isn’t that. I love it here. It’s just . . . I’m worried, Ellen!” she blurted out suddenly. “Slater went out along the boundary line six days ago. He had an idea the outlaws the soldiers are looking for are using the hills as a hideout. He was going to look for sign and meet the army men back here. It was something he wanted to do before we went to Hamilton to be married. He’s three days overdue, Ellen. I just know something has happened to him.” Tears sprang to her eyes and her lips trembled uncontrollably.
For once, Ellen was speechless. She didn’t allow a flicker of expression to cross her face. All she could think of was that this was something she hadn’t counted on. Her sharp mind clicked into gear.
“Slater’s able to take care of himself, dear. Don’t worry. He’s come through some rough scrapes.” She said the words, but her thoughts were: I hope to hell the bastard is dead! If he is, the ranch will come to Travis, and I’ll not show her the letter. If he’s not dead, I’ll tell her . . .
“Bulldog had already gone to town to see about a preacher.” Her lips quivered. “Slater would have been here if he could. We planned to leave yesterday. Jack sent men to look for him and would have gone himself, but Slater told him not to leave the ranch no matter what happened.” Summer wrung her hands in the handkerchief she was holding and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Ellen, I just know he’s hurt . . . he couldn’t be . . . dead! I’d just not be able to bear it if anything happened to him.”
Ellen leaned forward and clasped Summer’s hands.
“Did it occur to you, dear, that Slater might have gotten cold feet about getting married? It isn’t unusual for a man. Summer was shaking her head vigorously, but Ellen continued. “The McLean men are like that. My dear Scott loved to play around . . . I kept a loose rein on him, knowing that he’d always come back to me. And Sam. Oh, that Sam! He always had a woman. Libby couldn’t understand that. It was one of the reasons . . . well, we won’t go into that. I’m telling you this to make you understand that Slater might just have decided to stay in the hills and think about it—think about how tied he will be if he marries.”
Summer pulled her hands away. She was calm, suddenly.
“It’s nothing like that, Ellen. You’re mistaken about Slater.”
“I hope so, dear. Oh, how I hope so!”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“Did you have a noon meal, Ellen?” Summer finally asked.
“Well, no, but don’t bother. I don’t want to burden you when you have so much on your mind.”
“It’s no bother and I’d rather be busy. We have freshbaked bread and meat. And we have strawberries.”
“The strawberries sound delicious. Sam always had a gift for growing things.”
“These are wild ones, but quite good.” Summer was suddenly irritated. “With cream and sugar, they can’t be beat.”
Ellen sat at the kitchen table eating daintily.
“Is the woman you brought from town still working for you?”
“Sadie doesn’t work for me, Ellen. She’s my friend. I don’t know what I would have done without her these last few days.”
“Of course, dear, I understand. This has been a dreadful time for you. And I also understand that any other time you would have picked your friends more carefully. You were alone in Hamilton, needed another woman, and she was handy. Travis told me about her. I didn’t really believe all he’d heard about her was true, so I asked Jesse. Jesse gets around and in his quiet way knows . . . everything. He assured me that what Travis said about the woman was true. He was terribly sorry for tbe scene he made when we were leaving that morning. He said what really made him angry was that Travis would speak so in front of me. Jesse is so protective, and gets so violent sometimes that he frightens me.” Ellen gave a little laugh and watched Summer closely.
Summer looked away from her and out the window, her mind churning . . . Jesse said that about Sadie?