Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) (2 page)

gun."

Griffin's eyes went to the cell, where he could see long

legs stretched out from the bunk but no body or face.

"Did he give you any trouble?"

"No, but he's bigger than I like to deal with." .

Griffin smiled. Liberty was always honest.

Brother and sister born heard movement in the cell just

then and turned to see the prisoner coming to stand at the

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bars.

"I'm Griffin Drake," Liberty's brother volunteered,

"sheriff here in Shotgun. What's your name?"

Even/Little Thing About You 13

"Slater Rawlings," the prisoner said, his eyes going

between them. "You're the sheriff?"

"Yes."

"And you want ten dollars from me?"

"Unless you're wanted, and then no amount will gain

your release."

"How was I supposed to know about guns in the

saloon?"

"It's posted above the bar," Griffin told him calmly.

"I didn't go to the bar. I don't even drink."

"Then what were you doing in the saloon?"

/ can't spend all my money on the luxury of a hotel room, and

there's no place else to go in this town after you've slept out in

the woods, Slated thought to himself, but he wasn't about to

admit that to them.

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Griffin waited calmly for an answer, but the man

turned away. Griffin and Liberty exchanged a glance.

"He doesn't like you, big brother," Liberty said, her

voice low but her eyes lit with a smile. "He was much nicer

for me."

Griffin smiled back. "Let me guess, Lib. You were

holding your gun."

Liberty laughed a little and stood. "I'd better get home

so I can help Mam with dinner."

"All right," Griffin said as he walked Liberty outside.

"Thanks for your help." There was no missing the contentment

in his voice as he looked up and down the street and

even back at the sheriff's office, not new by any stretch of

the imagination.

Liberty said her own goodbyes, thinking not for the

first time that her brother was the perfect man to act as

sheriff in Shotgun. He loved this town, believed in it, and

trusted the people who helped run it.

3-S'

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14 lori wick

When Griffin moved back inside to his desk, he saw

that his prisoner had returned to stand at the bars.

"Don't tell me you let your sister walk the streets

alone." Slater's voice was mildly sarcastic "It's getting

dark She might be harmed."

Griffin did not rise to the bait. On the way to the desk,

he said, "Not my sister. She's the fastest gun in town."

Slater shook his head in disgust Was the man a fool?

He certainly didn't look tough enough to be the sheriff. He

wasn't small, but he had the face of a boy--merry eyes,

smooth cheeks, and all.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me if you're wanted

anywhere," Griffin commented as he lifted a stack of

wanted posters and flyers onto the desktop from a drawer.

"It might save me some time."

"I'm not wanted," Slater said coldly, knowing the

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lawman would have to check anyway. Slater watched him

start on the stack. Twice Griffin rose to hold a picture up to

the fading light at the window and then look toward the

bars. But he only went back to the desk.

"So tell me," Griffin began after a good ten minutes.

"Why didn't you just give up your gun?"

Slater sighed. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"I was stunned. I honestly didn't think she could be

serious."

"I believe you," Griffin said conversationally. "It's happened

before." This said, Griffin reached for the wallet

Slater had been commanded to put on the desk. He could

see a few bills without even opening it "If I don't find you

in this stack, it looks like you could pay your way out of

here."

"Don't count on it" Slater's voice was decidedly cool.

"Ten dollars is robbery, and we both know it."

Griffin shrugged. "The food's not bad, and it doesn't

get noisy until Saturday night"

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Every Little Thing About You 15

Slater didn't reply. Neither did Griffin. It would be

easier for the sheriff not to have a man locked up, but he

would leave it up to him.

The stack was still rather high when Griffin needed to

move around a bit He scooped up Slater's belongings and

took them to the safe in the corner. There wasn't much

inside, but the wallet, knife, timepiece, papers, belt, and

saddlebags just about filled it. He then checked the boots

for weapons and set them by the bars.

"What time is it?" Slater asked.

"Coming onto 6:00. Supper will be here soon."

"I can't say as I'm very hungry."

"Suit yourself," Griffin replied in his calm way, and

Slater knew a moment of respect. One of the hallmarks of

a good Ranger was calmness. Another was politeness, and

he knew he'd failed there. But this was so irritating, and at

the moment he couldn't think why God would put him in

this place. He had fought the Lord for weeks about leaving

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the Rangers, and now that he'd talked with Brace, he found

himself in jail.

Slater shook his head as he went back to the bunk. He could well imagine Brace's face if that man could see where he was, not to mention his brother Dakota's. Slater made

himself sit back against the wall before he tried praying

again.

S-*3$

"All

right, Libby," Kate Peterson, Liberty's mother, said

as she adjusted the candles on the table and moved the

basket full of biscuits. "I think that just about does it. Duffy

is carving the meat."

"I'll put the gravy in the blue boat just before we sit

down."

"Good. Where are Zach and Laura?"

"You sent them out to wash."

16 lori wick

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"Oh, that's right. Some days I think my head has rolled

off my shoulders and I haven't noticed."

"It's still there, Mam/' Liberty smilingly told her.

Kate smiled back and said, "I think I'll have you run a

plate of food over to your brother."

"He's at the jail with a prisoner."

"Oh, who did he bring in?"

"I brought him in, and his name is Slater Rawlings."

Kate was instantly alert. Since Griffin's deputy had

moved across state a month back, Liberty had been filling

in. It was not the first time, nor was it an ideal situation, but

at times a matter of life and death.

"Everything all right?" Kate asked her daughter.

"Yes. He's new to town and didn't know the rules. He

hesitated, and I felt I had no choice but to lift his weapon."

Kate nodded. She didn't fear Liberty's being shot--the

younger woman was very competent with a firearm--it

was more the things men said to her that Kate objected to.

No mother wanted vulgar things said to her children, but

when the child was a young, unmarried woman, it was all

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the harder. At times Kate wanted a different life for her

daughter, a life without Griffin's refitted pants or a gun.

Kate honestly believed that would be best, but for the

moment, this was where God had them.

"I washed," five-year-old Laura announced as she

came to the dining room doorway.

"Thank you, dear. Please tell your father we're all ready

in here."

"Papa!" Laura dashed from the room on that note, and

both women turned as Zach entered. He was a serious six-year-old

with a heart of gold.

"Are you washed, Zach?" Liberty asked her young

half-brother.

"Yes, but I got my shirt a little wet."

"It will dry," Liberty said kindly as she touched his fair

head.

Every Little Thing About You 17

"Laura says we're ready!" Duffy Peterson, one of

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Shotgun's doctors and Kate's second husband, said as he

came on the scene just then, a platter of roast pork in his

hands. He added it to the table, and in his warm, wonderful

way invited everyone to sit down. He then asked

them to bow in prayer.

"Family is so special, Lord," he said reverently, "and

we thank You for the ones You've gathered here. Thank

You for the sweet fellowship we have in You. Thank You

for this food, and for the strong bodies You've given to us.

Help us to be filled without being greedy, and to remember

that every bite is from Your hand. In Jesus Christ's name I

pray. Amen."

The meal began on that good note and only got better.

Duffy had been called upon that day to deliver twins-- always fun news. He was peppered with questions for a good ten minutes; questions he patiently answered.

"Boys or girls?"

"One of each."

"Who was born first?"

"The boy. I think they're calling him John after his

father."

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"Did they cry hard?"

"Yes, but we kept them warm, and they settled right

down for their mother."

"Is their mother all right?"

"She's doing very well."

"Will you see her again this week?"

"If they call me, yes."

"We'll have to get over with a basket of baked goods,"

Kate suggested in an effort to stem the tide.

"The pantry's full right now, so that shouldn't be a problem," Liberty said as she remembered she had not brought in the gravy. She rose to do this, giving husband

and wife a moment to speak.

"She brought a man in today," Kate said for her husband's

ears alone.

18 lori wick

"Did it go all right?"

"She said it did. Griffin is still at the jail with him."

"I can bake," Laura put in suddenly.

"Whaf s that, honey?" her mother asked/ needing to let

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the other conversation drop. Her husband watched her for

a moment

"I can bake for the babies too."

"Yes, you can, and we'll just do that. All right?"

Laura nodded, looking pleased.

'Tell me, Zach," his father said conversationally, "what

was the funnest thing that happened in school today?"

"We got to read outside."

"Oh, that is fun. Did you all have books, or did Mrs.

Murch read to you?"

"She read to us first, but then the older kids took

turns."

"Very good. You'll be having your turn before you

know it"

Zach smiled up at his father, his favorite person in the

world. While other boys wanted to chase after frogs and go

fishing, Zach Peterson wanted to sit with a book and read.

Some of the children at school had said that such things

were sissy, but not Zach's father. Duffy had told him that

reading was wonderful and that he should never feel