They walked home with him telling her about the capital and where Sage and he stayed. He kept hoping she'd share something about herself, but she remind quiet.

"I've heard of the Bailey residence. Someone said that she doesn't see her guests as boarders, but as family. Family that pay, of course."

Travis laughed. "That's about right. The other day I was working late, and she tapped on my door and offered me milk and cookies."

When she didn't comment, he added, "When I'm in Austin, I sometimes bunk in the cell you stayed in for the night, but with Sage on her first trip, I wanted it to be something special."

"She's never been to Austin?"

He shook his head. "Teagen and Tobin would keep her on the ranch forever if they could. While she was going to school at Mrs. Dickerson's, she seemed happy, but the brothers say she's been restless since last year, when she graduated from all eleven grades. A woman with that much education can't be kept on the property for long. Lucky I had to be in Austin or she might have come on her own."

"One of you wouldn't have stopped her?"

He shook his head. "We'd have tried to talk her out of it, but she's a woman with her own mind."

Rainey nodded slowly and they walked in silence for a while. Finally she asked casually, "Why did you come to Austin? And don't say to find me. I know that can't be the truth."

He wanted to say that finding her had been the exact reason, but he figured that would probably frighten her, so he said the reason he'd told everyone. "I came to take a test I've wanted to take for several years. Judge Gates has been giving me law books to read. I've packed them in my bags for hundreds of miles, and finally a few of the facts have begun to sink in. I think I'd like to try my hand at being a lawyer."

"And give up being a Ranger?"

"I don't think I've thought that far ahead. Passing the bar seems like enough of a dream right now. But I see folks robbed on paper now and then as sure as if someone held a gun to their back. It's frustrating when the law can't help them. Judge Gates and I have been friends for years. He says the courts could use a fighter like me." He lifted his cane and frowned. "Maybe he's right."

They strolled in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Duck reached out for dried leaves as they passed a tree growing near the walk. He laughed when they fell on Travis's head.

Rainey laughed as Travis complained and pulled dead leaves from his hair.

Halfway to her boardinghouse, Rainey tucked her hand beneath his elbow. He wasn't sure she wanted to be close, or if she was simply making sure he didn't fall.

At the front steps she thanked him and said goodbye as if they were no more than polite strangers.

He walked home in a dark mood. Maybe that was all they were, he thought. Polite strangers. He's spent so much time away from people or hunting down outlaws that, if he ever thought he knew anything about women, he'd forgotten where the lines should be drawn.

They'd been friends enough to eat together today, and they'd certainly been friendly last night, but she didn't seem to want more. He on the other hand would like to be much better friends, and daylight or dark didn't matter to him.

The day had worn on his leg. By the time he made it back to the Bailey home, pain throbbed with every heartbeat. Sage lifted Duck from his arm and put the boy to sleep. She didn't ask why they'd been out so late; she was far more interested in telling him about all the important and interesting people she'd met at the church lunch.

Travis sat by the fire and stretched his leg out. By the time Sage wound down and went to bed, his muscles had eased enough for him to bend his leg without feeling a shooting pain.

He knew he should look over notes before the questioning tomorrow, but he watched the fire and thought of Rainey. They'd talked easily at dinner. She'd admitted she made the pies and told him how she found a way to support herself. She talked of a woman named Pearl and her husband Owen, but she never mentioned her past. When he'd asked if her mother taught her to cook, she'd simply said, "No." He leaned back in his chair and decided that if they were destined to be just friends, so be it. It appeared neither of them wanted what most people seem to want and need. Maybe marriage and a family weren't for the likes of them.

When he moved to his desk by the window, he thought of her laugh and smiled. He liked the way she laughed. In truth he liked everything about her. He even liked the way her fingers held tightly to his arm as they walked.

Closing his eyes, he realized the need for her was strong. A hunger just to be near her ached inside him, and somewhere, some time, he knew it would have to be satisfied. He also knew, deep inside on a level where there are no words, that she felt the same. And somehow that feeling, that need, had nothing to do with being just friends.

CHAPTER 22

Rainey curled beneath her covers and smiled. She'd enjoyed the evening. Travis wasn't a man who talked much, but he seemed to have made an effort at dinner, telling about his plans for the future. Now and then his questions had been too direct about her past and she ignored them, but he didn't seem to mind.

He told her about the time when he'd been a boy and his brothers had ridden the ranch borders firing at anyone who rode onto their land. He'd laughed saying that he'd been such a poor shot then that it would have been a miracle if he'd hit anything, but those trying to invade their property didn't know. He said they'd only been twelve, ten, and six, but the three had formed a bond that year. They had become men.

He'd also told her why he thought the barmaids might be in trouble. If Seth Norman came in to visit his girl, Whiny just might be caught in the crossfire. There was enough money on the Norman brothers' heads to make some men foolish enough to try and collect the bounty.

In her tiny bedroom she closed her eyes, almost still hearing Travis's rich voice. No matter what they were talking about, she caught herself staring at his mouth and wondering what it would be like to kiss him once more.

She wished she'd come from a family like his, strong and honest. Her father never fought for anything except for more money. In fact, he'd given her, his only child, away just because he didn't want to bother with her anymore. Most of her life she'd felt as if she hadn't been important enough for him to even talk to. If he wanted her to do something, he'd say to her mother, "Tell the girl to do this," and if she didn't act fast enough, he blamed his wife by yelling something like, "Your daughter's as slow as she is plain!"

But Rainey would show him. She'd make her own way in the world. She'd grown up hearing her father remind her mother that she'd be starving on the streets without him. Now he must think the same of his daughter. But she wasn't starving. She had a business and she was making it just fine without him.

Voices drifted up from the alley. The drunk who stumbled out of one of the saloons every night to relieve himself swore against heaven because angels must have come down and moved the privy again.

A man sleeping a few doors down yelled for him to be quiet.

The drunk threatened to kill the man if he would only show himself.

Rainey laughed.

Then Snort's voice sounded from almost directly below Rainey's window demanding that they both be quiet.

Rainey leaned closer and waited, for if Snort were on the back porch it wouldn't be long before Whiny showed up also.

Sure enough, the younger woman's drawl drifted up to the window. "There ain't enough men in tonight to keep me in smokes, much less beer."

"It's the weather, getting colder, makes folks want to huddle down in their own beds and sleep till spring." Whiny mumbled her agreement and Snort continued. "I'm thinking of turning in early. I already got my bed bricks warming by the fire in the kitchen." She laughed. "I could use a little beauty sleep."

"Haskell won't let you leave early. I heard him say he's expecting somebody important to come by in the next few evenings. Says some fellow is going to get him a great deal of money."

Snort sounded interested. "We'll keep our eyes open. When Haskell gets the money, that's when we should make our move. I've been thinking about it. We got to hit him before he puts it in the safe 'cause we'll never get that thing open."

"But we'll be caught. I just know we will," Whiny whimpered. "How are we going to look invisible in that little office of Haskell's? If he even thinks we're planning something, he'll beat us to death, then throw us out with the trash."

"All we got to do is get our hands on the money. Look at it this way, we works for Haskell. Any money he gets belongs to us, too. We just got to be brave for once and take it."

"There ain't no way."

"Yes, there is. I'm working on something he'll never see coming. By the time they find his body we'll be long gone, and we'll have enough to live in style for the rest of our lives. If Haskell says big money is coming in, this may be our one chance. All we got to do is kill one man. That ain't much, 'cause he ain't much of a man."

The women talked on and Rainey listened for details, but they changed the subject.

Whiny said, "Wish that big fellow would come in again tonight. He bought us a whole bottle of whiskey and didn't ask for nothing in return."

"He's got Indian blood in him, I'll bet." Snort sounded as if she were drinking during her break. "That dark hair and brown eyes marks him as breed."

"I don't care as long as he's got money. Half the folks in Texas are mixed blood," Whiny answered. "Long as he don't try to scalp me, he can warm my bed."

"You scared him off," Snort scolded. "With men like him you got to act like a lady. Didn't you notice how polite he was? His clothes were clean, too. A man like that has to be handled differently than most. He thinks you're a tramp and he's going to toss you aside."

"I didn't do nothin'!"

Snort continued. "You showed him too much of the merchandise."

Rainey giggled, guessing who they were talking about. Travis had already told her he'd met them. Now she knew he also bought them a bottle of whiskey.

"I did not," Whiny answered. "He said he was out of money. That's why he left."

"He weren't out of money. Didn't you get a look at those boots he had on? Those are handmade of prime leather down in San Antonio just for him. I've seen a few pair of them before. They say the cobbler makes one boot for each foot, not both just alike the way most boots come. I've heard ranchers say they don't have to wear a boot six months to break it in when it's made like that. Any man who can afford them kind of boots don't run out of money."

"You mean he paid for someone to make a pair just for him?" Whiny obviously didn't believe Snort.

"Yeah, and you can bet they slide up his leg almost to his knee and got his name on the inside. If he ever comes in again, we got to ask Haskell to send over some of the special whiskey. Two drinks of it and he'll be acting like he's had a bottle."

"But Haskell charges us for that stuff."

"It'll be worth ten times what we have to pay. When the big man wakes up in your bed, he'll never remember what a great time he had, but he'll pay up all the same."

Whiny giggled. "I wouldn't mind having a peep at what that one looks like without his clothes."

"He's fine, I bet, but I'm guessing he's also picky about his women, not like some. He probably selects his women with twice the care he picked those boots."

Someone yelled from inside and the women shuffled back to work. Rainey lay awake thinking of everything they'd said. She now knew that they planned to kill Haskell, but what bothered her more was that they planned to trick Travis.

She sat up in bed trying to think. They could have been talking about someone else. But Travis had been in there last night. He was a big man and probably had plenty of money. It all seemed to fit Travis, except for the boots. She'd never thought to look at what kind of boot he wore. He must have had something on his feet, but most of the time they talked they were sitting at a table, or walking in the dark.

It was almost midnight and she remained wide awake. She'd never be able to sleep, worrying about Travis. Tomorrow was Monday and she had to go to Judge Gates's office the first thing. Travis had left her without making any plans to see her tomorrow, so she might have no way of passing on what she'd heard. Haskell must be expecting Seth Norman to show up. That had to be where his sudden fall of money was coming from.