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Hidden Heritage 21

With the door now shut behind them Moo asked his next question. "And Bessie. What's this I hear about her getting married?"

T-Bone gestured for him to take a seat and sat down himself, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Well I wish I could tell how happy I am about it, but I don't trust the bull she's engaged to. For one thing, he's a stranger, and in a might big hurry to marry; and acts like he would have been so already if we had someone here in town to perform the ceremony. He sent for a Justice of the Peace only yesterday morning."

"And Bessie is going along with this?" Moo was getting suspicous already. "I remember her talking a lot about what kind of wedding she wanted when she grew up. Settling for a Justice of the Peace just doesn't sound like her, and she always believed in long engagments."

"That's my other point. Bessie doesn't seem to have been herself lately, and I'm fearing he may be taking advantage of that."

"What do you mean, not herself?"

"No, it's not what you think, Son. Your visit last year did her a world of good. Sure, she was down for awhile afterwards, but you helped her to understand that not marrying her didn't mean you didn't care, and she got her confidence back."

"How could I not care? We grew up together, but she was still too young when I had to make the decision to leave Miller's Glen."

"And you honored that decision by not taking advantage,"
T-Bone smiled. "You made me more proud than you knew,
though I'd hoped you'd be ready to settle down once you saw how well she'd grown."

"Well I'm not the same person I was either. Bessie needs a husband who'll be there for her and her calves. I can't do that and still be a marshal. Moo Mesa is too unsettled and that means a lot of travel and danger. She was even threatened because of me."

T-Bone was silent for a moment before asking, "Moo, have you found someone else?"

Moo's reluctance to answer faded when he remembered T-Bone could be trusted with both Bessie and Lily's welfare.

"Yes."

"Her name wouldn't happen to be Lily Bovine, would it?"

"Yes?" Moo sensed the other shoe dropping.

"The new sheriff here's been telling Bessie tales."

Moo bristled. "What kind of tales?!"