Before crossing the street, he noticed his older brother riding toward him. Cal made a fine sheriff, and Jesse was happy to be working beside him.
Cal pulled his horse to a stop and looked at Jesse. “What happened with the stagecoach?”
Jesse quickly explained to his brother what happened, but before he could finish the tale, Cal urged his horse into a run, heading out of town. Knowing his brother, he’d gather a few people to help him along the way.
Jesse crossed the street and entered the drinking establishment.
“Afternoon, Slade,” Parley Cyrus, the owner of the saloon, greeted. “Do ya want yer usual?”
“No. I promised Rosie I’d quit drinkin’.”
“What men will do fer their women.” Parley shook his head. “Ya don’t look so hot, there.”
Jesse took off his Stetson, set it on the counter, and swiped his fingers through his thick hair. “It’s been one confusin’ day.”
“Saw ya high-tailin’ it out’a town earlier.”
Jesse nodded. “The stagecoach was robbed.” He paused, held up a hand, then corrected, “Actually,almostrobbed.”
Parley smiled wide, showing his crusty brown teeth. “Done it again, didn’t ya, Slade? Sometimes I think yer better than the sheriff.”
Jesse barked a laugh. “I’m not better, Cyrus, and I didn’t do the rescuin’ this time.” Jesse’s gaze moved out the window and onto the doctor’s office across the street.
“Ya didn’t? Then who did?”
“Miss Summer Bennett.”
A cynical expression crossed Parley’s face, then humor struck. “Ya mean Marv Bennett’s little girl?”
“Yes, the same.”
“Has she come back from that uppity town where she went to learn etiquette?”
“Yes. I went to see why the stagecoach was late, and that’s when I noticed she’d disarmed most of the bandits herself.” Then he added with a low mumble, “The little fool.”
Parley laughed. “Marv’s young’un hasn’t changed a bit.”
Feeling reluctant to describe just how much the young’un had changed, Jesse leaned his elbow against the bar and continued to stare out the window. The sensations his body had experienced from her curves pressed against him still tingled. Yes, Summer had indeed changed, and in more ways than one.
