Chapter 10 – The Good, the Bad, and the New

I got back to Little Bend with two days to spare before the hearing at which Maude was supposed to turn over the saloon to Jedidiah Pike. It was early afternoon, and I went straight to Cristian's office. He wasn't in, but Josie expected him any minute, and I chose to wait. I was warmly greeted when Cristian came through the door. "Bart, you made it! Come on in the office. Josie, can you go over to the café and get us all some coffee?"

"I don't think you're gonna be that happy to see me when I tell you what I found in Dodge."

"Oh dear, that bad?"

I shook my head. "Yes and no. Great news for Maude keepin' the saloon. But I've got other news that ain't gonna sit so well."

"For Maude?"

"For Maude, for Doralice . . . even for you."

"Me?"

I nodded. "Let's wait until Josie gets back from the café."

We were settled in with hot coffee when I started telling Cristian what I'd found in Dodge, both at the marshal's office and at the newspaper. When I was done, Cristian looked like someone had torn him in half – Maude's attorney was happy with the things he'd heard, Maude's husband not so much.

"Has Pike arrived in town yet?"

"Not that I know of. I guess I better sit down with Maude and explain everything you told me . . . tonight. To be safe, that is. I'd hate to have her find out any other way."

"Don't forget to give her the good news, too. That's important. Everything ain't perfect, but she's gonna win the biggest battle. And the rest of it can be . . . corrected."

"I'll keep all that in mind. I can't believe everything you've done to get to the bottom of this. We'd be in a real mess if you hadn't stepped in."

I stood up to go. "Speaking of being in a mess . . . I'm not gonna tell Doralice until we close the saloon tonight. So in case Maude gets the idea to come talk . . . tell her not to."

"I will. Take care of her girl . . . why am I telling you that? I know you will."

I took my time walking back to Doralice's house, thinking the whole way just how I was gonna explain all this to her. There was no easy way; no matter how I put it, my woman was gonna take another punch. And this one was major.

I slipped inside and closed the door quietly, but it wasn't quiet enough. Within seconds Doralice was wrapped around me and in my arms, and she held on like she hadn't seen me for months. Maybe she knew there was painful news coming, maybe she just sensed somethin' wrong.

"I'm so glad you're back. I was gettin' worried."

"I'm here." It was hard to sound enthusiastic when I knew I was probably gonna break her heart.

"What's wrong? What did you find out?"

"Let's wait until we've closed Maude's tonight," I suggested, and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew she'd never go for that.

"No. I want to know now. I'm not a child, Bart, or some fragile thing made of glass. I want you to tell me everything."

"Alright. Let's at least sit down, and I'll tell you the whole story."

"Wait – I've got coffee on the stove."

For once I didn't think coffee was such a good idea. "No, leave it there."

She sat next to me, and I took her hands in mine. "I've got good and bad news. It involves your father." She looked startled but said nothing. "He's not dead, Doralice."

"He's . . . but Mama told me . . . "

"That's what the marshal and the newspaper in Dodge City told her. They were wrong. There was a gunfight between him and Sam Winston, and your father managed to kill Winston. He switched wallets with the dead man before help arrived, and they were close enough in physical description that nobody questioned their identities." I stopped to let Doralice absorb what I'd told her. She was trembling, but her eyes were dry.

"Go on," she told me softly.

"That's probably why he went to New York, where his reputation preceded him, and no one dare challenge the great gunfighter. He made quite a fortune posing as Winston." She pulled her hands away from mine and rested them in her lap. "Then LeRoy died here in Little Bend and he must have decided to take revenge."

"But how? Revenge for what?"

"For his brother's death. Or maybe for Maude leaving him all those years ago. The contract to sell the land was worded rather oddly; maybe the attorney was told how to write it. It referred to both of them as 'not obligated in any way to any person or persons not named in this contract.' By signing it, your mother swore she wasn't married – because she thought Luther was dead."

"So that's where the fraud charge comes from."

"Exactly. Flynn owed Sam Winston – or the man he thought was Sam Winston – and if he couldn't sell the property, ownership defaulted to that man. So if the sale was found to be fraudulent . . ."

"Luther Donovan would own the land that Maude's was built on."

"Yes."

"But how can we stop him?"

"Cristian sent a wire to the court that issued the order, requesting that Jedidiah Pike be present at the thirty-day hearing. The court agreed with the request. Your father will be at the hearing day after tomorrow. And we can prove he's Luther Donovan, and not Sam Winston, who's the only man with a right to bring suit against your mother."

"Oh." She sat very quietly and very still, and I wasn't sure she'd heard me. I tried again.

"Honey, Luther will be at the hearing."

She nodded dazedly. "I heard you."

"You don't have to go."

She looked up at me, and there was something I recognized. Fire and defiance were in her eyes, and there was something else. Something I'd seen the first time she looked at me in Mexico. Pure hatred.

"Yes, I do."