Bret got there just as Maggie was about to leave, as promised earlier. I had just woken up and was glad I was finally getting a chance to go over things with my brother. I definitely needed another perspective on this whole situation.
I explained everything I'd heard from Rally, and told him about the difference in June since the proposal. Then he got the story on my visit with Clara Farrel and what I'd learned from her. Bret was still sitting, smoking a cigar and thinking, when I finished the tale. I waited a few minutes and when he didn't say anything I asked the first question, hoping that he could shed some light on anything. I had all this data, but I was at a loss when it came to putting it together.
"Do you have any idea why Constance is so dead-set against Rally and June being together?"
"She thinks he's after June's half of the saloon."
"I don't think that's foremost in his mind," I explained. "The only reason he wanted money was to try and buy Farrel's silence once and for all. And he insists Farrell had nothing to do with the beating. If what Clara told me was true, it makes no sense for June to meet Rally out there. They met regularly at his house."
"Maybe it was Constance that went out to meet him." Bret just tossed it out casually.
"I thought you were with her that day," I reminded him.
"Nope. There was a couple hours where she was out and I stayed at Pete's. Plenty of time for her to drive out to Farrel's place and confront Simmons."
There was something bothering me. "But why? To tell him to leave June alone? That wasn't gonna do any good. And it still leaves the question of who beat Rally."
"And the question of who tried to kill you."
I scratched my head. This was giving us more questions and still no answers. "Have you seen Connie's books? How's the saloon doing?"
"Hmmm. Not as well as it used to, ever since the Lady opened. Say, who owns The Gilded Lady, anyway?"
That was another good question, one I didn't have an answer for. "I can probably find out . . . . when I go back to play poker. Surely the group knows."
"Simmons must know, too. Maybe that's got somethin' to do with his 'accident'."
"Maybe. See if it was Constance that drove out towards the Bar J and confronted Rally."
"Alright. Meantime you sit tight just where you are. Let the wound heal, for once."
"You're one to talk. What about your arm?" Bret had lost that sling awfully fast, and he'd said nothing about it in the past two days.
"Brother Bart, it was not much more than a scratch. Doc put a sling on it just to keep me from usin' it. I coulda done without it. You sleepin' right there?"
"For tonight. Tomorrow I'll try the other room. You gonna leave?"
"Yeah, I'm tired. You gettin' shot messed up my beauty sleep. Anything ya need before I go?"
"The hole in my back fixed. You got any ideas?"
Bret rested his hand on my shoulder. "Nope, son, not much I can do in that department. You be alright here?"
I nodded. My eye felt better than it had that morning. "You comin' by in the mornin'?"
Bret laughed. "Yeah. My idea of mornin', not yours. You be good, you hear? No more bullets?"
"Where am I gonna go?" I asked him, and when he got to the door I told him, "You be careful."
"I will." And he was gone.
XXXXXXXX
It was a restless night, and I didn't hear Maggie when she came home from work. I woke up about an hour later, to the smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee. Maggie brought a cup over as soon as she saw I was awake.
"Morning, Bart. How'd you sleep last night?"
"Not as good as I should have. Back kept wakin' me up all night."
"You should have used the bedroom."
"How'd your first full night go?"
"We were busy. A lot of drunk cowboys with nothing better to do than eat in the middle of the night. Your poker buddies came in and I told them what happened. Calvin wanted me to tell you to be sure and get well, he didn't want to see your ugly face at his place anytime soon."
"Calvin's the only man I know that doesn't want business," I told her. "I guess I could – "
"No, you can't. Remember what Doc Demmers told you about taking it easy for a while."
"I can't take up all your time, and I'll go crazy just sittin' here."
"Bret came by the café after he left here. He brought me some reading material to give you." I hadn't noticed it before, but two books were sitting on the table next to the settee – Momma's Bible and Dickens' last novel, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' "You read the Bible?"
"I always have," I answered as Maggie brought my breakfast over to me. "It was our Momma's. She taught us how to read from that Bible. I almost lost it in a fire once, and Bret had it for a while. I'm glad to have it back."
"And Dickens?"
"Everything of his I can get my hands on."
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"
"No, ma'am, I'm just a simple country boy."
She was trying her best not to laugh. "Alright, simple country boy, let's take a look at those stitches."
XXXXXXXX
I stayed there for a week before Doc would release me to return to both my hotel room and poker. Bret had no luck when it came to getting information from Constance regarding her identity as the woman Rally Simmons encountered on the day of his beating. Joe Mercer came to visit on his day off and begged me to hurry and return to the poker game. "It's no fine without ya, Bart. Those other dolts just have no sense of humor."
Maggie and I fell into a comfortable pattern. I stayed awake most nights and read until she came home from work; then she'd make breakfast, we'd eat, and get some sleep in. After two or three days we were curling up together and sleeping in the same bed. It felt good to have her in my arms, even though all we did was sleep. Maggie would be someone's wife one day and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that.
It wasn't gonna be near as pleasant to go back to sleeping in the same bed with my brother, but the morning we went to see the Doc I was more than ready to get on with my life. I was surprised to find that Doc had released Rally to June, and she'd moved into his house to take care of him. I bet Bret had his hands full with Constance the day that happened, although he said nothing about it to me.
Doc was pleased enough with my progress that he gave the go-ahead for me to resume whatever it was I wanted to resume, within reasonable limits. Maggie and I went back to the general store to re-stock everything we'd gone through since our last visit, but I arranged to have it delivered later that day. Sammy Miller had sold the store to Ethan Wilson via telegram (thank God those still went through) and Wilson now had his son working for him as a delivery boy. Out of respect for Tom Miller he left the name of the store unchanged.
Bret came to the house and helped move my things back to the hotel, and I bid a temporary 'goodbye' to Maggie. I would miss her cooking; the peaceful days spent sleeping together, and Maggie. The inactivity I was more than anxious to get rid of.
I walked back to Pete's with Bret and was glad to sit down when we got there. Constance was in her office working and seemed pleased to see me, even coming out front to say hello and invite us back in for coffee. Patience has never been one of my virtues, and true to form I plunged right in, despite Bret's pleas to take it slow. I was tired of taking it slow and wanted some answers.