The nursery was empty. Rosaline’s bed was already made, and the appetizing smell of coffee was wafting from the kitchen. Thomas made his way to his room where he dressed and shaved, before going into the kitchen.
“Good morning, son,” Arthur greeted from the table with Robbie on his lap.
Rosaline was standing at the stove with her back to him but turned and smiled warmly when she heard him greet his father. “Good morning, did you sleep well? I was worried you would be stiff this morning, but you looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb you.”
She came forward and poured him a cup of coffee.
Thomas smiled up at her. “Like a baby,” he said, taking the cup from her.
“A letter came for you early this morning. Buena sent it over with one of her sons.” She retrieved the letter from the table by the door and handed it to Thomas.
Thomas took the unmarked envelope and read the single sheet of paper that was inside.
“I thought we could take a look at the herd this morning,” Arthur addressed Thomas. “I thought some of them were looking a little listless yesterday. We probably need to rotate the feeding pastures.”
He folded the letter and tucked it into his breast pocket. “I just have to see somebody after breakfast and then we can take a walk down and see. It’s probably nothing. They got spooked the other night after the storm, and it will take them a while to settle completely again.”
***
Thomas pushed open the doors of the Three-Guns Saloon. He had not set foot in the building since the night he had been dragged away by the Sherrif. He licked his lips and looked around, the smell of hops making him queasy and thirsty at the same time.
The man with the scarred face was sitting in the corner of the saloon, his bowler hat tipped askew on his head.
Striding over, Thomas pulled out a chair and sat down across from him and folded his hands on the table in front of him.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” the man growled in his gruff voice.
“You summoned me here in your note. I’m surprised you don’t remember that. Or were you too pickled when you wrote it?”
The man threw his head back and laughed, a nasty guttural sound that sickened Thomas. He lifted his hand to summon a barmaid. “A pint each for me and my friend,” he called out and turned back to Thomas. “After you ignored all my previous notes, I thought the only way I could get you here was to go through other channels.”
“I ignored your notes because I’m almost squared with your employer. I only need to the end of the next calving season to repay the rest. I’ve been making good.”
“So I have heard,” he said in a mocking tone. “Thomas Stratton has found God again. Or so the rumors are flying around town. And all because of the pretty little thing you brought back to be your wife.”
Thomas clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. “I have not found God. He was never lost. I just don’t keep his company anymore.” The mention of Rosaline made his heart beat with fear. “I told your employer I’ll have the money. There’s no need to involve my family, and that includes the Gideons.”
He threw his head back and gave another sickening laugh. “That’s a good one. God was never lost.”
They were interrupted by the barmaid who brought their pints and laid them on the table in front of the men.
Thomas looked at the suds foaming over the sides. It was taking every inch of his willpower not to take just one sip. The problem was that he knew it would not stop there. He tore his gaze away from the glass and looked at the thug sitting across from him.
The man gulped half the beer down in a single swig, streams of beer running down his unkempt beard. Banging the mug on the table, he glared at Thomas. “God may not be lost, Thomas Stratton, but you and I know that you are. My employer is getting impatient. You had better come up with the rest of the money and do it fast, or your family is going to become very much a part of this problem.”
“I’ll get the money. Just leave my family out of this.”
The man stood, scraping the chair across the bar floor. He picked up the pint of beer and chugged the rest. “Drink up, Thomas Stratton. This one is on me,” He retrieved two gold coins from his pocket and tossed them onto the table. “You’re as much a changed man as I’m a fairy princess.” He laughed and walked out of the bar.
Thomas sat staring at the pint of beer in front of him. He thought of all the money he still needed to pay, all the danger he was putting his family in through his own mistakes.
He closed his hands around the handle. The suds were dripping over his fingers in the comforting way he had come to rely on in the past when things were looking tough. One sip was all he needed to make his problems disappear for a few hours.
He thought of Rosaline’s voice, the soft curve of her lips and the way his son smiled whenever she lifted him up. He thought of his father and the way he was starting to slow down and the proud look in his eyes when Thomas had announced he was trying to change.
He pushed the glass away and walked out of the saloon.
***
