her silent about them.
“When he died—” she wouldn’t tell them how he’d met his end “—he left a few debts, which I plan to pay back over time.”
“How much debt?” Nate leaned toward her, perhaps to offer help. She couldn’t let him.
“Oh, not much in the grand scheme of things.” She waved a hand dismissively to deflect further questions. After all, it was her business, and hers alone, how much she owed Lucius’s cousin, Hugo. The other supposed debts from various merchants hadn’t been hers at all, but Hugo claimed they were, claimed he possessed notes she’d signed for gowns and hats and shoes. She couldn’t fight against such false charges when no one believed her. If Justice learned she’d fled her supposed creditors, he would surely arrest her.
Nate sat back, his forehead furrowed. “Last winter was pretty harsh, and we lost a lot of cattle, but we expect this year’s herd to put us on the road to financial recovery. If you need help, we might be able to work something out.”
“You’re very kind, but you really needn’t bother. Now with my job at the library—” she squeezed Susanna’s hand in gratitude “—I’ll start putting away money. And the children can work as they get older.” She managed a teasing smile. “Maybe you could teach Gerard to be a cowboy.”
Nate winced and studied his hands. “Maybe I could. We’ll see.”
Evangeline dabbed her damp cheeks again. “Please promise me you won’t tell anyone about this, especially Justice.”
While Susanna gave her an enthusiastic nod, Nate ran a hand down his cheek.
“I don’t know.” His eyes revealed his disapproval. “Since you haven’t done anything wrong, I don’t suppose Justice needs to know, at least not right now. But you should probably tell him someday for the sake of your old friendship.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Evangeline wouldn’t correct him about not having done anything wrong, or he might change his mind. As difficult as her past had been, her only goal now was to rear her precious children in safety and security. Once they were grown and on their own, she’d return to New Orleans and find some way to repay Hugo what she owed him. Whatever she found to do, it could never be as bad as what he’d demanded of her. As for those merchants and the notes she supposedly signed, it was a problem she had no idea how to solve.
* * *
In his small apartment over the jailhouse, Justice lay on his bed fully dressed because it was his night to be on alert for any mischief in town. Esperanza never had such troubles, but Justice and his deputy still traded off nights to keep watch. Sean was probably sawing logs in his rented room over at Starlings. As for Justice, he couldn’t sleep for thinking about Evangeline. Her beautiful face, which wily Susanna had arranged for him to observe over dinner, bore a haunted look. Was it grief over that scoundrel Benoit? Justice wondered how the man had died, and whether it was his death that had put a burr under the saddle of his sullen boy.
Justice was nineteen when his own father died. A godly, honest man, Father had been ruined by the shady dealings of his business partners, Evangeline’s father and Lucius Benoit, who’d put all the blame for the business’s losses on Benjamin Gareau to save their own necks. Having just returned from Europe, Justice had been too young, too inexperienced, too grief-stricken to investigate the particulars. The same day Father died, the day Justice needed Evangeline’s support more than ever, she’d refused to see him, instead choosing to marry Benoit.
If he could have spoken to her back then, he would have promised he’d work hard to prepare a comfortable life for the two of them, but she didn’t care enough even to bid him adieu. With Mother already long in her grave, he hadn’t seen any reason to stay in New Orleans, so he’d sold the house and furnishings his father left him to pay off his debts, then lit out for Texas. After trying his hand as a cowboy and doing many foolish things in bad company, he’d signed on with the Texas Rangers. Jubal Tucker became his mentor and put him on a straight path and brought him back to the Lord.
He knew the Almighty had brought him to Esperanza, but why had He brought Evangeline here, too? Was this a test of some sort? Was he supposed to—
Gunshots and wild hollering erupted in the street below, followed immediately by the sound of shattering glass. Justice sprang from his bed and raced to the window. Across the street and down a half block, men on horseback were shooting up Mrs. Winsted’s mercantile. Justice grabbed his guns and raced down the back stairs and through the jailhouse in time to see the gang ride off toward the west. No use chasing them. By the time he woke Sean and they saddled their horses, the varmints would be miles away in who knew what direction. He’d try to track them in the morning.
As Justice strode down the street to make sure Mrs. Winsted and her family were safe in their apartment over the store, he decided this was the worst day he’d endured since leaving New Orleans. Not only had Evangeline disrupted his life, but for the first time in his tenure as sheriff, outlaws had shot up a good citizen’s business. What else could go wrong?
Oh. Right. Tomorrow was his birthday. Having his past come back and smack him in the face wasn’t the way he’d planned to celebrate.
* * *
A slender beam of light shone through the window to brighten a patch of wall in Lizzie’s bedroom, waking Evangeline. Despite bawling cattle outside and frigid temperatures seeping into the room, she’d slept hard and awoke rested and full of hope about beginning her new life. Even her dreams of Justice frowning at her from his physical and moral height couldn’t subdue her excitement over her new job, because she’d also dreamed of the Christmas village and already had some ideas for how to decorate it. She looked forward to seeing its size and learning how she could help complete it. What fun that would be.
She rose from the cot and dressed quietly so Isabelle and Lizzie, both still blissfully asleep in the four-poster bed, wouldn’t waken. She found Susanna in the kitchen. The aromas of coffee, bacon and freshly baked bread roused her appetite. “Mmm, smells wonderful.”
“Thank you.” Susanna gave her a quick peck on the cheek before turning back to the sizzling bacon in the cast-iron skillet. “Pour yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat. Nate should be back from his chores in a minute, and we can eat in peace before the children need tending. We let them sleep late on Saturdays.”
Evangeline did as she was told. From her vantage point at the round kitchen table, she watched in awe as her cousin bustled about the room with the grace of a ballet dancer and the energy of a whirlwind. Having never learned to cook, in fact, having spent little time in her own kitchen except to hand weekly menus to the cook, she couldn’t imagine how Susanna knew what to do. Yet the moment Nate entered the back door, his face and hands still damp from washing up on the back porch, everything was in place for him to sit down to breakfast.
After greetings and prayers, they began to eat while Nate told Susanna about his plans for the day. “I still have some work to do at the big house before I head up in the hills on Monday to join Rand, so I’ll be around another day or two. I don’t mind showing Gerard what we do around here while you ladies go to town.”
Evangeline’s face must have shown her alarm because Susanna patted her hand. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Evie. Nate knows how to wrangle little cowboys.”
“He’ll be fine.” Nate grinned, and his green eyes twinkled. “We’re not breaking broncos or doing any other dangerous work. Does he know how to ride?”
“Forgive
