“Are you done?”
Morgan pretended to give the question full consideration. “Yeah. Guess I am.”
“All right. Here it is: I’ve got no problem with you yanking my chain as long as that’s all it is. If this business with your rustlers turns out to be something more, then I expect you to get real serious, real fast.”
“Sure, Marshal.”
“I mean it, Longstreet. If you were here, say, because someone was putting you up to it, then I’d want to know.”
Morgan turned to look at the marshal. “I suppose I should be grateful that you’re acquitting me of planning a robbery on my own.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
Morgan glanced in Jane’s direction. She was beginning to gather her things at the cage. “Look, Bridger, if it’ll ease your mind some and keep you from following me around like a calf after his mama’s teat every time I come to town, then I promise that I’ll let you know if something’s happened that concerns you and Bitter Springs.”
Cobb thought about that. “I have your word?”
“You do.”
“Good.” He put out his hand.
Morgan hesitated, then he also extended his hand, and they shook.
Cobb said, “Just so you know, I didn’t care much for the calf and his mama’s teat analogy.”
Morgan grinned. “Puts a picture in your head, doesn’t it?”
Jane came upon them. “Hello, Marshal.” Then to Morgan, “Do I want to know about this picture?”
“Probably not.”
She smiled and held up her savings book. “All done. Mr. Hollerman was very helpful.”
Hollerman. Morgan held up his index finger as he made a mental note of the name. Not Hall. Not Hollis. “I never knew a bank teller who wasn’t happy to take your money. It’s when you try to get it out of the bank that they’re mean as snakes.”
Cobb looked sideways at Morgan. “Your husband’s right, Mrs. Longstreet.” He tipped his hat. “I have some business with Mr. Webb. Good to see you both again.”
Jane opened her reticule and put her savings book inside. “Is everything all right?”
Morgan held out an elbow for her to take. “Everything’s fine. Why do you ask?”
“I suppose because he’s the marshal, and you told me once that he was not your friend.”
Morgan looked back over his shoulder as he held the door open for Jane. Cobb was walking into Webb’s office. Morgan did not envy the banker for the earful he was going to get. “He’s not so bad.”
“He’s not so bad,” Jane repeated. “High praise indeed.”
Morgan shrugged. “I figure it’s what he says to his wife about me.”
Ida Mae Sterling placed a plate of almond cookies in front of Jane and invited her to eat. “I’ve had two more than my fill,” she said, sitting down at the table. “And if you don’t mind my saying so, you could eat the cookies and the plate and none of it would show on your waistline. How tight are you pulling your corset?”
Self-conscious, Jane pressed her palms against her midriff. Even though she was alone with Mrs. Sterling in the hotel’s dining room, she only whispered her response. “I am not wearing a corset. I haven’t for weeks and weeks.”
Mrs. Sterling’s wiry salt-and-pepper eyebrows lifted toward her widow’s peak. “No corset? Well, then, that’s cause to think about this differently.” She poured another dollop of sweet cream into Jane’s tea. “You need to start eating more of what you’re feeding those men. Lord, Jane, but you can slip through cracks where a shadow couldn’t go. Morgan looks fit, and I’ve seen the Davis boys and Max Salter around and about. I can’t say they’re missing any meals. Are you?”
“No. I’m fine. Really, I am.”
Mrs. Sterling continued to regard her suspiciously. “I’ve known some women who lose weight at first…you’d tell me if you were going to have a baby, wouldn’t you?”
