A Texas Christmas Reunion Page 11

  “Are you hungry?” He’d had breakfast early this morning, but perhaps some time in the kitchen of the café would help him regain his mental balance.

  Decorating the lobby would have to wait.

  Within moments she had bundled everyone up for the short walk across the street.

  “Isn’t the snow lovely?” It fluttered down, softly whispering in the still air. “What a fine Saturday morning.”

  “Must be snowing at home, too.”

  What? He had lately considered home to be the café and it was only steps away.

  “Oh, I imagine so. See it just ahead?”

  He stopped dead still in the middle of the road, staring hard at her.

  “You think I’m an old man whose mind has wandered? Either that or I’ve gone blind? I know where I belong.”

  Maybe, she thought, following him. But she could not help wondering what he saw when he was in the café. The home where he raised his boys, perhaps?

  They came inside. As always, warmth wrapped around her.

  Whatever her father-in-law’s mental condition, there was nothing she could do about it. Life did take its course. She would do the one thing she was able to, and care for him as dutifully as a natural-born daughter would.

  “Feed me something,” he grumbled.

  And she would do it with a smile.

  Juliette followed him into the kitchen.

  She greeted Rose while she settled the babies into their cradles a safe distance from the stove. Warren sat down in his familiar chair and picked up the book he had left on the side table.

  Hopefully, he would never lose the ability to read. It was the one thing that kept his mind occupied.

  When she set a plate of food in front of him, he nodded, even gave her a half smile.

  Juliette went back into the dining room. Cora looked up from the book she was reading at the same time three members of the Ladies Service Society hurried in from the cold.

  They plucked off their gloves and rubbed their hands as they stood in front of the fireplace. After a moment of absorbing the warmth, they sat at a table in front of the window.

  She felt like she ought to take their orders, but Rose bustled into the room, a writing tablet in one hand, a pencil in the other.

  A busy schedule demanded that Juliette return to the hotel and keep working. Christmas Eve was in ten days and she still had a lot to do. On the other hand, duty demanded that she stay for a while and make sure Warren was content.

  Cora sat at a table, reading a book while silently mouthing the words.

  “Hello, Cora.” Juliette sat down in the chair across from her. “How is school?”

  “It’s clean as a whistle, although I do wonder how clean a whistle really is. Being blown into all the time, it might not be.”

  “What are you reading?” In the brief glance she got of the book before Cora closed it up, it looked festive.

  “It’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. Mr. Culverson gave each of us copies.”

  “That must be easy reading for you.”

  “It is, but do I like looking at the artwork. Besides, I’m memorizing it for the pageant.”

  “That’s wonderful, Cora. I’m really looking forward to the program, even if I don’t have a child in school yet.”

  “I only hope that Charlie Gumm doesn’t ruin things. He’s supposed to sing all by himself and he’s hardly been to school.”

  Rose set a teapot on the table where the members of the Ladies Service Society gathered for their meeting.

  “The rules clearly state that any teacher who frequents a public hall will be suspect.” Sarah Wilcox whispered, but since she was sitting only feet away, Juliette clearly heard.

  “He was seen doing it.” Adelaide Jones shook her head. “And as much as I hate to repeat that news, it does not make it any less true.”

  “And Nannie says he invited her to meet him behind The Suzie Gal,” Stella Green added with a wink.

  Rumors of impropriety seemed to be in full bloom. Untrue comments would doom the career Trea had worked so hard for.

  There was nothing to do but speak up.

  Juliette pivoted on her chair. “The only reason Trea went to the saloon was to bring his ailing father breakfast.”

  All three of the women set down their teacups with a unified clink and stared at her.

  “It’s true,” she said in the face of their speculative gazes.

  “How would you know that, Juliette?” Stella asked. “I realize he’s staying at your hotel and that it is a perfectly reasonable accommodation in and of itself, but... I wonder...does Nannie need to be worried?”

  “I’m absolutely certain that courting two women at the same time is against any sort of moral conduct for teachers,” Sarah pointed out with a sly half smile. “And he does have that reputation.”

  “Mr. Culverson is not courting me. I doubt that he is courting Nannie, either.”

  “Nannie does tend to fantasize, Sarah...you know she does.” Adelaide nodded while taking a sip of her tea.

  “I think we need to call a meeting of the school committee. If he’s not behaving to the moral code required, it ought to be noted and reported to the board in Smith’s Ridge.”

  The scrape of a chair interrupted conversation. Cora lifted off her seat like a tight spring suddenly released.

  “You oughtn’t gossip. That’s against the Good Lord’s moral code.” Cora pressed her book close to her heart. “Mr. Culverson is the best teacher we’ve ever had...just ask any of us.”

  Cheeks flaming, Cora whisked around then dashed into the kitchen.

  “If that’s the kind of behavior he’s inspiring, I say we call a committee meeting this afternoon.”

  “My child quite likes him. And I know some others do, as well,” Adelaide said.

  “Newcomers, who didn’t know him way back when.” Stella accented her comment by arching her finely shaped brows.

  Out of the window, Juliette spotted a woman dashing through the snowflakes. She came inside, hung her coat on a peg and settled at a table near the back of the dining room.

  How odd. Suzie Folsom, the owner of The Suzie Gal, rarely came to eat at the café.

  With Rose busy in the kitchen, Juliette took her order.

  And not a second too soon. If she had to hear another mean-spirited comment about Trea, she might lose her composure. The steam she felt building inside her chest might whistle out her ears.

  “Coffee, please...and a word with you, Mrs. Lindor.”

  Juliette poured two cups and sat at the table with Mrs. Fulsom.

  If the ladies of the Service Society thought it was unseemly for Juliette to be speaking to the saloon owner, and judging by the narrowed gazes of two of them, they did...she did not care.

  Mrs. Fulsom was a customer the same as they were and would be treated with the same courtesy.

  “I just want to tell you I like what you are doing with the hotel.”

  “I appreciate you saying so, Mrs. Folsom.” Truly...more than she could say.

  “The thing is, I’m not getting any younger and there’s a lot of headache goes with owning a saloon...and not much profit with having to compete with that underhanded Culverson...father not son. I reckon the son is decent enough.”

  She sipped her coffee, nodding her head. “With the puppy and all he took from under my porch. Didn’t know the poor wee critter was there until I saw Mr. Culverson and the boy take it away. Anyway, all that aside, I’ve been thinking. With the way you are fixing up the hotel, might be that other places ought to shape up, as well.”

  “Are you speaking of your place, Mrs. Fulsom? I appreciated the wreath in your window.”

  “Pretty thing, isn’t it? And I’d be pleased if you’d call me Suzie. We’ve been neighbors for a while, now.”

&
nbsp; “Suzie, then...and you’ll call me Juliette?”

  “In private, maybe. But judging by the looks those women are shooting your way, I’m not doing your reputation a bit of good.”

  “The thing is, Suzie, I don’t reckon I care. It seems to me that if one picks one’s companions by appearance...or reputation alone, it could lead to taking up with the wrong friends and missing the true ones.”

  “I hope once I make my change, folks will be as understanding as you are...Juliette.” Suzie’s smile crinkled the corners of her mouth and creased the lines at the corners of her green eyes.

  “What change is that? I’ll help if I can.”

  “You already have. If it weren’t for you making town nicer by giving us a decent hotel, I never would have considered calling my son home.”

  “I didn’t know you had a son. He’ll join you in the business?”

  “Oh, my, no!” She waved her hand in front of her face as if trying to brush the idea away. “My boy is a doctor. He’s new to the profession and I’m just so proud I could burst.”

  A doctor setting up practice in Beaumont Spur! It was Juliette’s daily prayer.

  “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have thought to close the saloon and give the building to my son for his clinic. I just came over to say thank you.”

  “I’m so pleased for you, Suzie.” And for the future of Beaumont Springs. She could scarce believe that folks would no longer have to take the train to Smith’s Ridge to get medical attention. “When will he be here?”

  “By Christmas, he says. He’s anxious to help me clean out the saloon and get his practice going.”

  “I know some young people who—”

  The front door burst open. A rush of cold air blew inside along with Sheriff Hank.

  * * *

  Trea entered the café then closed the door behind him. He’d noticed it standing open when he’d come out of the hotel. He’d wager that half the warm air had rushed outside already.

  Probably shouldn’t even think about betting, though.

  He spotted Juliette going nose to nose with the sheriff over something. He could not recall ever seeing her so het up.

  The heat in the room would be replenished in about a minute.

  “You will not post that nonsense on my wall!” She snatched what appeared to be a handwritten notice from the sheriff’s fist when he lifted a hammer to try and nail it to the wall.

  “It’s a crime to interfere with the duties of a sheriff, missy,” he mumbled past the nail he bit between his teeth.

  “I’m certain you meant to say Mrs. Lindor.” Trea had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting something that would get him fired.

  With a neat swipe, he took the hammer from Sheriff Hank’s fist then set it on a table where three members of the Ladies Service Society sat, their eyes grown wide...their teacups stalled halfway to their mouths.

  Making a room full of folks gasp was not what the schoolteacher ought to be doing, but he could not let the insult to Juliette stand.

  “Mrs. Lindor,” the red-faced lawman amended with clear resentment. Was that a quiet laugh coming from the back of the dining room? “A crime has been committed and you are required to post this notice.”

  “A trash fire in back of The Saucy Goose is hardly a crime,” Juliette said.

  “When a can of kerosene goes missing and then there’s a mysterious blaze...I say that’s a crime.”

  “It could be coincidence,” Adelaide Jones, the mother of one of his students, pointed out. “I do not believe there was ever any proof that the kerosene was stolen.”

  Trea’s face turned hot, the pit of his stomach cold. Recently, he’d noticed that Charlie Gumm had ash on his coat and the scent of kerosene lingered about him.

  “Well, ma’am—” the sheriff glanced at his hammer but did not pick it up “—I’ve been informed that this town has a history of fires.”

  “I don’t think that’s true,” Stella declared. “Other than the house, we haven’t had an unexplained blaze since—”

  Her gaze shot straight to Trea.

  “And even that one was eventually determined to be an accident,” Juliette said. “Isn’t that right, Stella?”

  “A broken lantern that someone left burning fell into a pile of straw,” Sarah added, her gaze settling on him, same as Stella’s had.

  Obviously, even after all these years his honor was in question.

  “Oh, indeed,” Juliette added. Her gaze never leaving the sheriff’s. “The livery owner felt wretched over his carelessness.”

  No wonder he was in love with Juliette Lindor. She was as bold as she was beautiful.

  A man could not ask for a better friend. He would have kissed her in front of everyone if it wouldn’t have doomed his fledgling career and her reputation.

  Everything he did with regard to her must be above reproach, given that he was living under the same roof as she was. The slightest show of personal interest on his part would start tongues wagging.

  He was under no illusion that he was not a bull’s-eye for gossip.

  Silence clung to every corner of the café dining room. He reckoned it made everyone as uncomfortable as it did him.

  The kitchen door swung open and Cora came out.

  She dragged a chair to the center of the room and, of all things, stood upon it.

  “‘’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.’” Her voice sounded lyrical, as sweet as an angel’s.

  While she stood reciting the poem with her hands folded before her, smiles flashed, flicking on, one after another, like candles being lit in a dark room.

  She stepped off the chair, leaving the last few paragraphs unsaid.

  “If you want to hear the rest, you’ll need to come to the Christmas pageant at school. You’ll be there, won’t you, sheriff? Mr. Culverson is working ever so hard with us to make you all proud.”

  “I’d be happy to attend, little miss. Just so long as I’m not protecting the town from a wanton criminal.”

  “I expect to see you then, sir. Everyone knows even desperados take a day off for Christmas.”

  Chapter Nine

  It was late when Trea decided that he would not be able to sleep.

  He left his room and walked through the lobby, being careful not to wake anyone.

  A clank of metal drifted from the kitchen, but softly muted by distance. Juliette must be busy putting away the stacks of cookware that had been piled on the countertops.

  He wanted to go in and lend a hand with the chore, but wasn’t sure he ought to. Not given the way his feelings for her had intensified.

  The last thing he wanted was to give anyone reason to gossip. And, truthfully, being alone with her late at night...he was not sure he wouldn’t give them something to talk about.

  For that reason and because he carried a burden of another sort on his heart, he huddled into his coat, closed the front door behind him and went for a walk in the snow.

  Music from The Fickle Dog disturbed the tranquil, otherworldly peace of walking in the falling snow. Seemed like he’d have to go a bit farther in order to find peace of mind.

  Hell, maybe he wouldn’t find it anywhere tonight.

  Trea was pretty sure that Charlie had started the fire behind The Saucy Goose. He was also pretty sure that, as a mere teacher, there was not much he could do about it.

  Confronting Mrs. Gumm would do no good. In his opinion, it might even do harm.

  After walking long enough that he could no longer feel his toes, he came to one conclusion. It fell to him as the boy’s teacher to make him feel worthy.

  That was something he could do. Something that would have helped Trea when he was young.

  Only one person had ever done that for him. A sweet,
tall and gangly friend whose smile had lit up his world. For all he’d tried to find acceptance by sweet-talking other girls, it was only Juliette who’d made him feel worth half a cent.

  Charlie was worth a half a cent and more.

  A block from The Fickle Dog, he heard shouting over the harsh thrum of music. Some gambler, drunk and unhappy with the turn of a card game, he guessed. Across the street, at The Saucy Goose, he heard a woman laughing, her bawdy guffaw lifting across the road.

  Curiously, The Suzie Gal was closed, every window dark.

  As much as Juliette wanted this town to thrive, be a decent place to live and raise a family, so did he.

  His students called this place home. For their sakes he wanted it to be a good one.

  When he was ten feet from the front door of The Fickle Dog, the door opened and a beam of light spilled onto the boardwalk. A second later a man tumbled out and down the steps.

  He lay facedown in the snow, a twitching foot the only sign of life in the fellow.

  Trotting down the stairs, Trea knelt beside him, helped him sit up. He patted the flaccid cheeks to try and bring the young man’s eyes into focus.

  A shadow in the doorway blocked some of the light falling on the road.

  “What’d you do, son? Become a damn do-gooder?”

  “How are you feeling, Pa? Must have gotten some strength back in order to toss him out like you did.”

  “Green kid, can’t hold his liquor or play his cards right. Would have got himself shot if I hadn’t.”

  “It was good of you to take a care for him.”

  His father was silent for the time it took Trea to get the boy on his feet. For half a second he thought he saw the old man’s expression soften...but not more than half.

  “You ever tried to scrub blood out of the floor, son? It’s nasty business.”

  “Are you still coughing? Eating right?”

  “You a nursemaid or the schoolmarm? Can’t tell from here.”

  “Better get back inside. It’s cold as blazes out here. I’ll see to the kid.”

  With a nod and a grunt, his father backed through the doorway then closed the door.