“I know,” she replied rubbing her forehead. “Once we get home, I’ll get the dates straight and try to calculate the best course of action. Then we’ll come up with a whopper of a lie for Mead to tell the folks back home,” she finished with a wicked grin.
“Heavens, you’re far more devious than I’ve ever given you credit for,” Witt stated in surprise.
“You’re smart, Dr Whittaker,” she replied smugly, “but you don’t know everything.”
Witt looked at Mead and rolled his eyes.
CHAPTER8
1880
All hell was breaking loose at Marshal Reilly’s office. People coming and going from the mercantile lingered on the boardwalk, waiting to see who won the fight.
“I am not having it; do you hear me?” Callie Mae Whittaker shouted. “I refuse to keep The Duchess closed for an extended period of time. Cowboys and ranchers are the life’s blood of the saloon business, at least in this neck of the woods. I’m losing money by the minute, and I have hundreds of dollars in repairs to make. Don’t you realize that liquor has to be replaced? Tables and chairs need to be repaired and that won’t come cheap,” she continued heatedly.
“Callie Mae,” Morgan yelled, rising in warning.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, sit down,” she snapped with a glare. “This is between Marshal Riley and me!”
“Now Callie, you’re being ridiculous,” the marshal stated placatingly. “How can you think about reopening after what happened? Mead was nearly killed, and Jane abducted. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that things didn’t turn deadly? Now be reasonable about this.”
“I am being reasonable,” she insisted irritably. “It’s you and Morgan who can’t seem to see sense about this matter. The Duchess is my business, and I have a right to run it as I see fit.”
“But Morgan is your husband now. Surely, he has a say.”
“Yes, he does, and I’ll listen when he’s got something helpful to add. Closing down is not beneficial, not by a long shot. And have either of you given any thought to Laurie? She’s struggling to provide for her growing boys. Those box lunches she sold at The Duchess were a big help to her. Now Laurie and I are both paying the price for something neither of us had anything to do with. It’s ridiculous,” she hissed as she paced the small office.
“I’ve promised to look for someone dependable to run the saloon for you,” Marshal Riley snapped angrily. “Your place is out on the farm with your husband doing wifely things.”
Callie Mae snorted.
“And what do either of you know about wifely things? Morgan and I have only been married a few days and you’re still single, Marshal. Not that I don’t understand why, what with your high-handed ways and superior male attitude.”
“Now see here, Morgan. She has no call to speak to me that way!”
“Callie Mae…”
“Oh, shut up,” she pleaded, her hand on her forehead in frustration. “I’m trying to be fair here. My idea is that Morgan and I move into town. There’s plenty of room at The Duchess. He can go out and work the farm during the day and be at The Duchess on the nights we are open. This is cattle drive season, Marshal. There will be no better time to recoup the money I’ve lost, and Laurie will be grateful for the extra income. It’s about profit, pure and simple and if you two would open your eyes you’d see the sense of it.
“Every cent of my money is invested in that saloon, and I won’t have it squandered away because of biased, antiquated ideas about a woman owning a saloon!”
“That’s enough!” Morgan shouted and pointed a finger at her. “I’m going to wail the tar out of you when we get home.”
“And you can. There’s not a damn thing I can do to stop you, but I’m telling your right now, tomorrow morning I’ll be back at The Duchess seeing to the repairs and restocking, so unless you plan on locking me up, you’d better get used to the idea,” she staunchly informed him.
“Lock her up, Hank,” he demanded. “Go on, do it now. Let her cool her heels here for a while until she comes to her senses!”
Callie Mae gaped at him before she lifted her skirts and kicked him in the shin.
“Ouch!” Morgan bellowed, reaching to rub his shin.
Callie Mae smiled for the first time since entering the office.
“Now Morgan, you know I can’t do that,” Hank nearly whined. “She hasn’t committed any crime that I know of and kicking her husband isn’t a chargeable offense. Now why don’t you two go somewhere else and settle your differences. Callie Mae has a license to operate that saloon and much as I’d like to shut her down, there’s not a thing I can do about it. And she is looking for someone to manage it. Just give her some time, Morg. That’s really all she’s asking for, isn’t that right, Callie Mae?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want, time to find the right person, someone I can trust,” she agreed stiffly.
“What about Matthew?” Hank suggested.
