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  “That must be Franz and Audrey,” Maddy announced. “I asked them to join us.”

  The Hendersons and the Schuylers had been friends nearly as long as the Hendersons and Taylors. The men had fought on the same side during the war. It had been the judge who suggested the lamplighter job to Franz.

  The four of them, and Cammy and Teague, had spent many an evening together, listening to Audrey play the piano.

  Over the years, the three families shared the good and the bad, as old friends tend to do.

  Vonnie heard the judge’s hearty laugh from the foyer, then Franz entered with Audrey holding tightly to his arm. It was obvious her health was failing, but her smile was as bright as ever when she saw Cammy and Vonnie.

  “Momma, Audrey’s here.” Vonnie’s eyes plaintively urged her mother to respond.

  “Why, Cammy, don’t you look lovely,” Audrey said, coming over to place a kiss on Cammy’s cheek.

  Vonnie glanced at Audrey apologetically when Cammy didn’t respond, but Audrey’s look clearly said she understood.

  Maddy brought tea and served while Audrey and Franz caught up on the recent happenings in the community.

  “And Cammy, how are you this lovely day? How nice you look in blue.” Audrey tried to draw her into the conversation.

  Cammy ignored the question, sipping her tea indifferently. She turned to her daughter and said, “You know, Vonnie, dear, you should see those nice Baldwin boys more often—Adam and Andrew? They’re such fine boys—handsome young men. Eligible, too…”

  “Mother,” Vonnie admonished, feeling color flood her cheeks. “Adam is engaged to Beth. Have you forgotten?” she gently chided.

  “Forgotten? No,” Cammy mused. “Well, yes, perhaps I knew that.” She looked up again. “Have you considered them proper suitors?”

  “Adam and Andrew?” Vonnie couldn’t believe this turn of her mother’s conversation—didn’t want to believe it.

  Not here, in front of the Hendersons and Schuylers!

  “They’re good men…your father doesn’t care for them, but he’s hardened—always has been…. If you like them, you tell them they can come courting. You leave your father to me.” A smile softened her lips. “I know how to handle Teague Taylor…always have, always will…”

  Vonnie apologized, the full impact of her mother’s condition striking her. It was frightening. “I’m sorry…Mother is a little distracted today—overtired—”

  “It’s all right—” Audrey began.

  “The cellar is evil.”

  Vonnie’s cup rattled on her saucer. This behavior had gone beyond grief.

  “Mother—”

  “It’s evil. Bad. Bad!” Springing to her feet, Cammy screamed. “I won’t go down there. Not ever—you shouldn’t make me…”

  Maddy squirmed uncomfortably. Vonnie could see her distress; the outburst was so out of character for Cammy.

  Reaching for the teapot, the judge’s wife smiled at her husband. “More tea, dear?”

  Clearing his throat, he held out his cup. “Just a tad more, Mother.”

  Vonnie quietly laid her hand on Cammy’s hand. “There’s nothing wrong with the cellar, Momma,” she soothed. “Don’t you remember? Franz cleaned it for us recently.”

  Her mother’s fear of the cellar was legendary. Cammy had always had an abnormal fear of the tight, small place.

  “I won’t go down there,” Cammy repeated, her voice strained and tense.

  “The cellar is as neat as our parlor—”

  “It certainly is,” Franz declared. “I spent the good part of a week going over every inch—”

  “No!” Cammy sat up straighter. The expression on her face startled Vonnie. She wore a mixture of fear and loathing. “No! I’ll never go down there. Never!”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Cammy isn’t herself today,” Franz excused, offering a reassuring smile. “If it makes her feel any better, I’ll clean the cellar as many times as it takes to set her mind at ease. Don’t worry your pretty head about it.”

  “Have you heard that Beth has chosen rose for the bridesmaids’ dresses?” Carolyn asked.

  “No, I hadn’t heard that.” Vonnie wished the floor would open up and swallow her…and her mother.

  “I thought surely she’d insist you make her dress,” Carolyn blurted, then looked as if she wished she’d bitten her tongue. “I mean—”

  “She did.” A knot formed in Vonnie’s throat. “When she and Adam set a date we’ll talk further.”

  “Oh, of course.” Carolyn nodded. “Of course no one knows what the date will be.”

  “Oh, my,” Audrey crooned, eyeing the piano. “My lovely old piano—”

  Audrey got up to run her hands over the fine wood lovingly, her eyes filled with sweet memories. “I never tire of seeing it.”

  “It is a beauty,” the judge agreed. “And I must confess, it’s done nothing but gather dust these past few years. That girl of mine played it long enough to learn a song or two, and then got bored with the whole idea.”

  Vonnie recalled Carolyn’s musical talent: heartbreaking!

  “Daddy, you have to admit your nerves have calmed down once I stopped playing.” Carolyn laughed. Turning to Cammy, she giggled. “He said that piano practice was far too kind a word for what I was doing. He said it was more like premeditated slaughter of fine music when I sat down to play.”

  Audrey laughed with the others at Carolyn’s self-deprecation, though they all knew it was true. The girl had absolutely no sense of rhythm. Her piano teacher, Vonnie remembered, had given up out of sheer frustration.

  “I’d like to buy the piano back,” Franz offered quietly.

  “I fear,” Clive said gently, “that the piano has become a part of us. I’m hoping our grandchildren will be more musically inclined, but Audrey is always welcome to play as often as she wants. We so enjoy her fine talent.”

  Carolyn smiled. “I am perfectly dreadful at the keys.”

  “Oh,” Audrey sighed. “We could never afford to buy it back anyway.”

  “But you’ll play for us, won’t you?” the judge encouraged.

  Audrey sat on the bench and lovingly opened the lid to expose the keys. Her fingers lightly touched the ivories, up and down, up and down. Glancing around, she smiled. “What would you like to hear?”

  Carolyn turned to her father. “What was the song you always wanted me to play, but I absolutely could not do it? Instead, I’d have the teacher play it for me and you listened with such enjoyment. Oh, what was it?” Her brow furrowed. “It was one by Johann Strauss, right?”

  With a smile, Audrey nodded, then her fingers flowed up and down the keys, and a hauntingly sweet melody filled the room and captured her audience with its irresistible beauty. The room’s occupants sat spellbound, breathless, as she bent over the keys, her frail body moving with the music’s emotion.

  Vonnie glanced at Franz and smiled when she saw the clear pride in his face as Audrey played on. They listened, recognizing Audrey’s love for the music and the blend of artist and instrument. From one piece to another, until, exhausted, Audrey straightened from the keyboard and the last notes faded into the late afternoon.

  “My, oh, my,” Maddy said. “You are gifted, Audrey. Thank you again for sharing your talent with us.”

  “Thank you for loaning me the use of your piano,” Audrey returned.

  “Well, I’ll make fresh tea,” Maddy said, gathering their cups.

  Vonnie took the opportunity to wander out onto the side porch for a breath of fresh air. Judge Henderson followed. The fragrance of wood smoke curling from the chimney scented the late afternoon air.

  “You’re still grieving over Adam, aren’t you?”

  The judge lit a cigar. His words caught Vonnie by surprise. Emotion welled to the back of her throat. Was she so transparent?

  “No one will ever know your secret,” he calmly stated. “I must admit, I can’t ever recall another circumstance like this one.” He wink
ed at her playfully. “When you put your foot in it, little lady, you really put your foot in it. P.K. and Teague would have had a royal fit had they known what you and Adam did.” He chuckled. “It would have been worth a king’s ransom to see it.”

  “I fail to see the humor,” Vonnie said drily.

  He could be trusted to share her secret, and she so desperately needed to talk to someone who understood.

  “Forgive me,” he said. “I realize the situation is anything but humorous to you. I know you hurt deeply over Beth and Adam’s pending marriage.”

  Vonnie hugged her waist, fighting back tears.

  “I do have one question.”

  Vonnie could guess what it was. “Whatever possessed us to do such a thing?”

  “No, if my memory serves me, I know what prompted you to do it. My question is, why haven’t you or Adam told Beth?” His expression softened. “She needs to know.”

  Vonnie studied the quiet street, the houses lined along it. Sounds drifted to her—a dog barking in the distance, the breeze rustling the juniper tree in the side yard. She tried to think of a reasonable explanation to a question she had been asking herself.

  “Adam feels the information would only hurt her. It was one afternoon…and the marriage never began.”

  “No…I suppose not,” the judge agreed. “Still—”

  “Still.”

  Vonnie knew Beth should be told. It would only be fair.

  “It’s my fault, you know. Adam wanted to tell our parents that day, but I wouldn’t allow it. Being in our parents’ favor meant so much to me. Too much. I know that now.” She touched a handkerchief to the corner of her eyes. “Adam’s feelings should have come first.”

  Had she taken her own advice, today she would be his wife and Beth wouldn’t be planning his wedding.

  The judge drew on his pipe thoughtfully. “I suppose one might argue why Adam didn’t take the matter into his own hands?”

  “Adam loved me enough to do as I asked. I asked him to have the marriage annulled. In doing so, I wounded his self-esteem.”

  Promise me you’ll stay with me forever, Vonnie.

  I will, Adam. I promise. Forever.

  She sighed. “I was so foolish. I’m older and wiser now. A woman can’t hurt a man’s pride the way I did Adam’s and not expect to suffer the consequences.”

  “Oh, my child,” the judge said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Wisdom is never easy in matters of the heart.”

  “I’m such a fool.” She bit her lower lip, hard, hoping to stop threatening tears from spilling over.

  “You’re still in love with him. After all these years.”

  Her lower lip trembled.

  With a sigh, he pulled her to him, his hand gently patting her back. “Oh, how tangled our lives can become. Does he know?”

  “No!” She pulled away. “He can never know. Please, Judge Henderson, you must promise me!”

  “I won’t breathe a word of it,” he vowed. “But the question remains, what are we going to do about this?”

  “There’s nothing I can do. Adam is marrying Beth.” She turned, her back firming with resolve. Bitterness choked her. She had no one to blame but herself.

  “Dear me,” the judge said. “You’re willing to let the man you love marry another woman? Just like that?”

  “Adam doesn’t share my sentiments.”

  “You’re sure of this?”

  “Reasonably certain.”

  If he shared her love he wouldn’t be marrying another woman, regardless. Regardless of P.K.’s thirst for more. She changed the subject.

  “Sheriff Tanner has made me a generous offer on the land and birds.”

  “Do you want to sell?”

  “No. At least I don’t think I do.” She paused. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what I think or want.”

  She stared out across the lawn, wishing she could turn back the clock and make her troubles go away.

  “What would you do, Judge?”

  “Sell out.”

  She turned. “Sell out?”

  “God may be opening a new door for you and your mother. You feel Adam is lost to you. A woman can’t run a ranch and take care of those birds. Spend some quiet time with God. Open your heart to His leading. He’ll show us what to do if we take the time to listen. If what you say is true, that you don’t intend to interfere in Adam’s future, then it would behoove all concerned if you were to take Cammy back to San Francisco so that she can be near her family. Perhaps there, she will adjust to her loss. The birds must be a great deal of trouble. Why not start a new life in California? With your talent, you needn’t worry a day about finances.”

  Vonnie paced a step or two away, trying to distance herself from the truth.

  “I don’t know—maybe that would be best.”

  “You and your mother would be sorely missed, but I’m confident it’s the best all-around solution.”

  “I keep hoping Mother will get better. She still thinks Daddy’s going to come home at any minute. If I take her away before she’s accepted that he’s gone, I don’t know how it will affect her.”

  “The decision is most difficult, but you must consider what’s best for the both of you. How will seeing Adam and Beth together affect you? Will you be able to set aside your love and not be resentful when their children come along—”

  “Judge…Vonnie…are you going to stay out there all afternoon?” Maddy called.

  Taking a deep breath, Vonnie turned to go inside.

  “Promise me you’ll think about what we’ve discussed,” the judge urged. “I know you’ve been singled out to have wisdom far beyond your years, but it’s all really quite simple. Trust God, Vonnie. He loves you and He wants the best for you. Let Him guide you in the path you should take.

  “And, either you love Adam and are willing to fight for him, or you move to California and make a new life for yourself…without him.”

  How she wished it were so simple. Yet she knew he spoke the truth. If she stayed here, not a day would go by that she wouldn’t think of Adam and see Beth at his side. How could she do that?

  “I’ll give it serious thought,” she promised.

  Leave Amarillo and Adam. Forever? Could she do it?

  “I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.” Extending his arm, he gave her a paternal smile. “Shall we go have that tea?”

  Pulling the handkerchief over the lower half of his face, Adam spurred his horse into a gallop. He was riding drag this morning while his brothers bunched the herd closer. Moving cattle to higher pasture was a tedious, dusty job, considering the animals had been left to range free all fall. Winter was close; the animals would need feed soon.

  He’d looked forward to the ride. It gave him time to think. But he detested it for the same reason. Beth was talking fall wedding, eleven months away. He had to agree or think of a reason he couldn’t marry her.

  He gave a sharp whistle and cut a stray back into the herd.

  Vonnie. He’d avoided the inevitable as long as he could. The way she’d looked this past Sunday, sitting in the Taylor pew with her mother. Beautiful, self-assured, confident.

  There was a rumor floating around that Lewis Tanner had made her a handsome offer for her land. Tanner had been heard boasting around town that he had an eager buyer for the Taylor ranch and they wanted the birds, too. He must not have been around the birds.

  Adam knew the ostriches were worrisome. They’d done a fair job of spooking his herd a third time. Baldwin beef had been scattered over nearly a hundred acres. It took two days to round them up and cut the birds out of the herd.

  When he took the birds back to Vonnie, she seemed almost unconcerned. Told him he should get calmer cattle.

  Their conversation had ended in an argument, nothing out of the ordinary these days.

  Beth had mentioned the trouble Vonnie was having with the ostriches. Jagged fences, strange disturbances, the birds getting out periodically. That had never happ
ened under Teague’s watch.

  Were the troubling incidents due to lack of experience or calculated interference?

  Lewis Tanner wanted Vonnie’s land. Why? Did he want it badly enough to sabotage the birds? If he had a buyer as eager as he claimed, how much were they willing to pay? Enough for Tanner to try to force Vonnie to sell? Enough to buy her out for a healthy price and pocket a hefty profit?

  But Lewis wouldn’t be able to sell his land as long as Vonnie owned the ostriches.

  Hold up, Baldwin. She isn’t your concern, he reminded himself. It was something he had to remind himself far too often lately.

  Whistling, he turned two more strays back into the herd.

  How far would Tanner go? As far as he needed. Adam knew that with certainty. The man would do anything for a buck.

  He used his power to punish and for his own benefit. And, at the moment, it looked like Vonnie was his next target.

  If she got one of her stubborn streaks and refused to cooperate—as he suspected she would—how far was Tanner willing to go to make her sell? Enough to hurt the birds? Enough to hurt her?

  He bristled at the thought. If Tanner thought he’d get away with hurting Vonnie, he was sadly mistaken. Adam would personally see to that.

  Back off, Baldwin. It isn’t any of your business.

  Giving another sharp whistle, he rode into the herd, determined to get his ex-wife off his mind.

  On Tuesday there was a knock at the door just as Vonnie finished cleaning up their lunch dishes. Glancing in the parlor as she passed, she frowned when she saw Cammy with the photograph album cradled in her lap.

  “Mother, close the book. Please.”

  When she opened the front door, she saw the sheriff. Tipping his hat, Lewis didn’t bother with formalities. Vonnie assumed this wasn’t a social call.

  “Shouldn’t be surprised to see me. Told you I’d be back,” he said curtly.

  “Told you not to bother.”

  Tanner quickly came to the point. “Have you reconsidered my offer?”

  “I have, and the answer is no. I’m not going to sell the land. To you or anyone else.”

  Actually she hadn’t decided one way or the other until the moment she opened the door and saw him standing there. Other than P.K. Baldwin, Lewis Tanner was the last man on earth Teague would want her to sell to.