LITMIR.BIZ

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of years, and we got along pretty well.” Glancing down at the letter he held, he flushed a bit.

      “He says I’m honest, dependable and a good hand with a gun.” With that, Jamie folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. “I’m not lily-white, Sheriff, and I’m not about to play any games with you.” He met the lawman’s gaze and hesitated. “I’ve been a rascal in my time, but my record speaks for my life over the past couple of years.”

      “What sort of rascal are we talking about here?” Brace asked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. “You get in any big trouble while you sowed your wild oats?”

      “I hurt some folks. Caused some problems that will probably haunt me till the day I die. But I’ve done my best to make amends with my family and…”

      “And?” Brace nudged his visitor into an explanation.

      “And the girl who was hurt by my actions.”

      “Physically? Were you abusive?” And if the young fella answered the wrong way, he’d be out the door in a heartbeat, Brace decided.

      “No. But I left her in the family way and pret’ near ruined her life. If my brother hadn’t stepped in and cleaned up my mess, I don’t know what would have happened.” Jamie’s face was drawn, aging in moments, Brace thought, as if he bore scars that were still fresh and unhealed.

      “There’ll be no damn carrying-on from this office. I want you to know that right up front. I don’t hold with men taking advantage of womenfolk.” Brace spoke his mind with forceful language, and the man across the desk from him nodded in agreement.

      “I think we understand each other, Sheriff,” James said. “And now, if it’s all right with you, I’ll go and get that hotel room.” He stood and offered his hand. “I appreciate your time, sir. I want you to know that things in my life have done a turnaround. I’ve wanted to turn my life in a new direction, and this might be the very thing I need. Working on a ranch was good for me, but I’m ready for something else. This feels like a mighty decent place to hang my hat for a while, and I’m plannin’ on settlin’ in and makin’ a good life here.”

      Brace Caulfield nodded. “It’s a dandy place to live. Lots of good folks hereabouts. In fact,” he said, rising from his chair, “here comes one of them right now.”

      Across the threshold from James stood a tall man, dark haired with piercing blue eyes. “One what, Sheriff?” he asked.

      “One of the nice folks from this town,” Brace answered with a laugh. “At least I keep telling folks you’re a nice fella.”

      “Well, if you hear of any other nice fellas looking for a job, send them on out to my place. I need a new hired hand.”

      “Well, you can’t have this one, Nick. I’m lookin’ him over for the job of deputy.”

      He turned then to James. “This here is Nicholas Garvey, one of the ranchers hereabouts. If you don’t like the offer I make you, maybe he can do better for you.”

      “I’ve kinda got my heart set on being a lawman,” James said.

      “Any special reason?” Nicholas asked.

      James stood a bit straighter. “I’ve got a yen to see justice done. Maybe because I haven’t always paid my dues the way I should have, and I need to make up for it. My brother and I buried my pa up in Oklahoma a couple of years ago and it did my heart good when the crook that killed him got sent away for the rest of his life.”

      “You can’t seek revenge on your pa by chasing down the men who misbehave in this town, son,” Brace said.

      “I don’t want revenge. I’ve already seen the man go off to prison. But I want the chance to be a part of a system that works, where those who hurt others are brought to justice and punished for their crimes. Whether it be a stay in jail or in a federal prison.”

      “Sounds like your candidate has his head screwed on straight,” Nicholas offered, looking James over thoroughly, then smiling at the young man, as if he’d sought imperfections, and failed to find them.

      “We’ll see,” Brace said. “At any rate, I’ll meet you for supper at the hotel about six, James. Is that the name your family calls you? James?”

      “My brother and sister-in-law have been known to call me Jamie,” he said with a grin.

      “Sounds like a good name to me. I think I’ll pin it on you officially, after we talk tonight. Seems to me I’d better hunt up a deputy’s badge for you.”

      A sense of peace enveloped Jamie. Perhaps his soul searching and wandering days would cease.

       Chapter One

       Benning, Texas, Spring 1903

      “I’ve been your deputy, working in this office with you for eight years, Sheriff.” Jamie leaned against the door frame and managed to roll up his life over the past eight years into a neat bundle. A bundle he no longer wanted to live with.

      “I assume you’re about to quit,” Brace said. “And I don’t like it, not one little bit. Unhappy with me? Or the wages? Or just the life of a deputy, in general?”

      “None of the choices you’ve just pulled out of the hat,” Jamie returned quickly. “I just don’t feel that I’m getting anywhere. I’m a whiz at breaking up fights in the saloons, I’m up to date on all the wanted posters and to tell the truth, I’m sick and tired of standing on the sidelines while you’ve managed in the past four years to put together a life with the prettiest girl in town, along with you and Sarah adopting her nephew.

      “But I’ll have to admit, it’s been a real education watching you with Sarah and Stephen. Hope I can do as well as you when I get a family of my own.”

      “I’ll have to admit that marriage agrees with me.”

      “Hope I can say that someday. But for now I’ve about decided I need to be doing something different with myself.”

      Brace leaned back in his chair and surveyed his deputy. “To tell the truth, I’ve been thinking about a proposition I’d like to toss in your direction. See what you think of it.”

      “Does it include my moving on? Leaving Benning?”

      “You don’t sound happy about that idea,” Brace said. “You haven’t put down any roots here, Jamie. You got a problem with living somewhere else?”

      “No. But I tend to be a creature of habit.” He paused and stood erect, facing the man who had been his mentor and friend. “If you’ve got something to offer me, let’s hear it. I suspect you wouldn’t put me on the wrong track, Sheriff.”

      “Well, to tell the truth, I don’t know much myself about the place I’d like to send you. But clear across the state is a piece of property that belongs to my son, Stephen.”

      “The ranch he inherited from his birth father’s family?”

      “The very one,” Brace said. “There’s a man running things on the ranch on a temporary basis, but I’d feel better about the whole thing if I knew more about what was going on behind the letters I get from him. He was the ranch foreman before Stephen’s grandfather died three years ago and I’ve let it go long enough the way it is. The judge ordered us to put a man of my own in place as manager when Sarah and I adopted Stephen legally. It’ll give me more control over the ranch, and there’ll be a better chance of Stephen taking over a thriving concern when he’s old enough.”

      “Are we talking about me running the ranch?”

      “Well, I always did say you catch on quick,” Brace said with a chuckle. “Didn’t take you long to figure that one out, did it?”

      “Let me think about it, Brace. I’ll need to know what’s expected of me to begin

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