a man claiming to own my Della’s house.”
“Word travels fast,” Cord said, moving to the desk.
“Is it true?”
A zip of fire shot up Spencer’s spine. The whole town would be talking by nightfall. “Yes, Otis, it is,” he admitted. The words left a bitter taste. Della didn’t deserve gossip, yet folks talked, and too often, about her. Mainly with sorrow at how Isaac deserted her.
“What you gonna do about it?” Otis asked.
Spencer walked to the little stove in the corner. The coffeepot gave a mockingly hollow clang as he set it back on the stove. Fitting. He probably clanged when he walked, too. This helpless feeling left him emptier than the pot.
“We’ll take care of it, Otis,” Cord said from across the room.
Spencer’s jaw locked tight. Cord was wrong. They wouldn’t take care of it. He, Spencer, would. He’d stood back all these years, never took a direct stance when it came to Della, but it was time. “Otis,” he said, “when Elsie and Anna stop by your place on their way home from school, keep them occupied for an hour or so.”
The man frowned. “Why?”
“What are you thinking?” Cord asked.
Spencer pulled out the paper he’d pocketed at Della’s place. “Westmeier wouldn’t take the money from me, but if Della has the money when the circuit judge reads this tomorrow, he may rule in her favor.”
Cord shook his head. “You’re not going to convince Della to accept that kind of money.”
Determined, Spencer shoved the note back in his pocket. “Oh, she’ll accept it all right, if it takes me all day, I’ll convince her of that.”
Otis stepped forward, blocking Spencer’s route to the door. “Deputy Monroe. I gotta warn you, my Della can be stubborn.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Spencer asked, his nerves eating at his skin.
Cord shook his head. “Spen—”
“I know what I’m doing,” Spencer interrupted. He stepped around Otis. “You just keep those girls from going home this afternoon.”
He left the office heading for the bank with his guts flipping as if he’d just swallowed a pot full of live minnows. Truth was, he’d rather go up against a gang of train robbers than Della, but it was time to face the facts…and the past.
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