Sundown (7 page)

“Uncle Luke?”

“Samuel.”  He answered, meeting the gaze of a
seven-year-old child
.  Luke
could not
help but smile, the boy
was the
spitting image of
Cole
.  “What’s on your mind?”

“After dinner, can you show me how to whittle?”

“Well now t
hat depends.”  He returned making sure his gaze turned dead serious.  “Did you get all those chores done for your
momma
?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then, I suppose your momma
has the last word.”

Samuel t
urned an expectant pair of
brown eyes
toward his mother.  “Can I, momma
?”

“Sam
.”  Jenny tilted her chin.  Squinting one eye, she then slowly turned her head toward the barnyard.  “I think you missed something.” 

“
Jehoshaphat
… the kindling!”  Samuel piped.  Taking two steps at a time, the boy hustled down the front steps and across the yard, scat
tering a flock of
hens in th
e process.  Looking back
, he yelled.  “I’ll only be a minute!”

“Better hurry, son.”  Luke chuckled, pretending to pull out his pocket watch.  “I’m counting the seconds.”

Jenny suddenly murmured.  “There’s never a day that goes by when I don’t look at Samuel and think of
Cole
.”

Luke watched the boy unlatch the barn door. 

Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat
and forced a reluctant smile. 
“If I could take it back
, you know I would.”

“I know.”  She
returned
. 

Luke watched
Jenny
lift her delicate chin. 

She stared
after her son behind long lashes, her lips furled into a dour smile.  He noticed her knuckles turn
ed
white as she gripped the rim of the basket.  The look on her face was nothing less than
indignant.  He knew she still blamed him. 

They all did, espe
cially his eldest brother
Jude.
 

As far back a
s he could remember they
had always been
in contention. 
N
ever
did they see
eye to eye, nor would they ever.  Jude was a relentless thorn in his side, a constant reminder of his own contrition within himself.  Shaking his head, he
tried deflecting
his deep-rooted though
ts of his brother,
leaned back and closed his eyes. 

A cool breeze blew in, rattling a tuft of prairie grass.  Soft and fleeting, the soothing sound dwindled away with the echo of Jenny’s footsteps. 

It was always like this
with Jenny. 

One minute she was there, and the next,
she would
up and disappear.  Not one for idle
chat, she
did not
say much of anything, but on
those rare
occasions
when she did, it was usually worth his while to
sit back and listen
. 
Likewise
in restless times like
now
, he’d much rather listen to
sweet
meek-hearted Jenny
than those
cat walling cougars he’d drank one too many with while holed up at Belle’s Bordello. 

Luke opene
d his eyes, utterly relieved. 
Finally, the one sound
he had
been waiting for.  In the distance, the swift thud of horse hooves followed
by
a train of dust and
a fast rider.  Jumping from his chair, he took two steps at a time, hustling down the stone walk and up th
e drive
to greet his brother.

“What in the hell took you so long?”

Jake Shelton reared in on
his mount. 
He cast a wicked smile, his blue eyes flashed bright and amusing
as he laughed back at his brothe
r who was closest in age to him
by a few years.

“Wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if I divulged every little detail, now would I?”  The sound of his voice was droll, his accent thick with southern twang as he dismounted, holding the reigns.

“What the Hell’s wrong with you?”  Luke questioned archly
.  Kicking a stone, he pointed his finger at his brother.  “I sent you into town to check up on things, not so you could entertain yourself by lifting some fancy skirt!”

“Calm down, will you?
”  Jake rolled his eyes.  “You
of all people should know
som
etimes a man’s best ally is a little
pillow talk.”

For a moment, Luke stared
at his brother
registering his lazy smile.  S
tepping back, he dropped his
accusatory
hand
.

“Jake Shelton, you’re depraved, but quite the genius.”  Luke returned, eyeing his brother, he slapped him on the back and nodded his head. 

“C’mon, Jenny’s got supper on the table.”

After supper,
Jenny sat perched
on a tree stump, counting stars until she could not count anymore. 
The beacons of lights were
thick as locust, spattering across the evening sky.  Up there, somewhere,
her husband
’s
star gleamed down from the heavens.  Though his celestial marker was miles and miles away, she could still sense his pres
ence.  Just knowing Cole
still lingered made her feel comforted and safe.  Sometimes, when the moment was right she thought she could hear his voice, or even smell a faint scent of his favored cheroot as she did now.  Smiling, she closed her eyes.  She knew he was there, looking down and listening too.

“What in the hell do you me
an …” She suddenly heard Luke’s
voice, bordering on chaos.  “The Sheriff’s daughter?”

“Hoss, are you deaf or something?”

“Ah shit
e
.”

“Yeah.”  Jake smirked
.  “I’d say you’ve
just about
got us
buried up to our necks in it
.”

“Wyeth Gentry?” 

“The
one and
only.”

“The n
ew schoolmarm?”  Luke
piped
his voice
incredulous.

“Hence, the re
ason she was a passenger on the
stage.”

“This changes everything.”

“Forget her.”  Jake’s voice weathered impatience.

“You’re talking
about the woman I plan on marrying
.”

Jenny smiled at the sound of Luke’s passionate insistence and Jake with his annoyed laughter. 
Deep and throaty, Jake had an honest to goodness jauntiness about him, not brusque and demanding like his brother Luke. 

“Nothing like saying ‘I do’ while swinging with a rope tied around your neck.”

“You’re a horse’s ass.”  Luke returned.  For a moment, there was silence.  Releasing a heavy sigh his voice turned
humorless. 

“I need to see her.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t be too difficult, since you blindfolded her.  She’d never know it was you, right?”

There was another moment of silence.

Luke guffawed.  “Please tell me this is all you
did with the Sheriff’s daughter?
”

“N
one of your damn business.”

“Well, that’s just grand.”  Jake muttered.  “Not only are we wanted for stagecoach robbery and horse rustling, but now no thanks to you we’re
considered
defilers of women.”

Jenny had heard enough. 

Thank God, Samuel was sound asleep.  Standing to her feet, she
ambled tow
ard the porch and
stood at the bottom of the steps. 
She had
never asked for this, being an accomplice to a band of criminals.  Even so, she was
just as guilty as they were. 
She was the widow of an outlaw, and that made her an accessory whether she liked it or not.  Releasing a heavy sigh, she trudged up the steps and faced the boys with
a
grim determination.

“There’
s a way
you can see her.”  Jenny murmure
d, turning a
timid
gaze on Luk
e.  “But it’s going to cost you.”

“What do you ha
ve in mind?”

Placing her hand behind her
,
she massaged away the knot plaguing
her
lower back
.  Shifting her stance, J
enny rolled her eyes at Luke.  “Sunday service.”

Luke groaned. 
“Ah, Hell no.”

Jake stood up, thoughtful.  Wandering toward the steps, he took a seat. 
Nodding his head, he
agreed with Jenny and turned toward
Luke.

“For the sake of propriety, a good sheriff always attends churc
h, and so would his daughter.”

“Not on your life.”
  Luke muttered.

“Well
mastermind
, what do you propose to do?”  Jake’s voice sapped heavy with sarcasm.  “I know … why don’t you just sneak into he
r bedroom, heist your schoolmarm
, an
d piss her father off to boot.”

Luke issued a tempted smile. 

“You can’t be serious!”  Jenny bolstered, appalled by such reckless thought.  “The last thing we need is a vengeful posse riding door-to-door, looki
ng for the Sheriff’s daughter.”

“Bette
r
than putting up with
that
Judas and his
God awful
moral preaching.”  Luke
grated.  Throwing a whittling stick to the ground, he stood to his feet, and shuffled toward the
front
door.
  He turned with one last look and pointed toward the town of Sundown.
“Of all people, that snake
oil preacher
should know better than to lecture me about sins of the flesh.”

Jenny looked
down, stared at rotting floorboards,
and
frowned.  For months,
Luke
and Jude
had been going at it like sworn enemies.  Before then, they rode notorious, holding up stagecoach lines as
far away
as the Missouri border.  Jude, being the oldest member of the gang took on the role as leader.  T
hings were going well until the
day Luke rode home with a woman in tow. 

At first sight, she knew the woman was going to be trouble. 
Rosanna
Putnam was
beautiful.  S
he had the kind of
loveliness
, which
made a man question his
principles
,
as was the case with Jude Shelton. 

Luke never saw it coming, but she certainly did.
 
Jenny saw the amorous looks, heard the subtle inflections exchanged between those two.  Closing her eyes, she remembered the chaos, which followed.  She inwardly cringed when she thought back to the day when Luke walked in on Jude and Rosanna embracing in the barn and then all hell broke loose. 

This was how she had lost Cole. 

Caught in the middle of their vicious fray, Luke fired his gun at Jude, but missed, accidentally shooting her husband instead.  Later that evening, Cole had died. Jude rode away with Rosanna, and she, Jenny Leigh Shelton became a widow.

The memory persisted, and never went away. 

Lifting her chin, she felt her lip quiver.

“I’ve forgiven you.”  Jenny spoke up, her words sounded soft yet distant.  Looking at Luke, she lifted a brow in question.  “So why can’t you forgive your brother?”

Luke stood in the doorway staring back at her.  His jaw clenched, and then unclenched.  Holding on to the doorknob, he leaned on the door and shook his head.  “He’s the reason my brother is dead.”

L
uke did not wait for a reply. 
Jenny watched him disappear into the darkness, leaving her and Jake in uncomfortable silence.  Climbing the stairs, she slid into the empty confines of Luke’s hard-backed chair.

“You miss him.”  Jake spoke up.  She could barely see his handsome face save for the butt of a glowing cigar, and a swirl of smoke, which permeated the air.