Chapter 28
Clint walked down the hall past his bedroom, his footsteps echoing with every step his boots took. Everyone was out of the house for the time being, and he had a little investigating to do. Bliss was out helping Grace put wash on the clothesline, so he could keep an eye on her through the windows. He approached the door to Damian’s room and opened the door with his uninjured left hand. The hinges squeaked, and Clint knew that snooping in other people’s business was not the desirable way to find out information, but he couldn’t wait a week for that cowboy to return.
A small bed sat in the corner, covered in a comforting quilt and two fluffy pillows at its head. A writing desk graced the far wall in front of the window, the natural light brightening the papers scattered across it. A dresser stood against the wall beside the desk, and a trunk sat on its other side to block the entrance to a closet. Clint’s interest peaked. A man with clothes like Damian would surely want a place to hang up his duds. He walked across the room and moved the trunk aside with his leg, protecting his bandaged hand. His curiosity drove him to take hold of the handle and twist it until it freed the door for opening. The closet contained nothing more than a few dusty books and an old derby hat. Though somewhat disappointed, Clint took the liberty of examining one of the books.
Holy Bible.
His curiosity concerning the things of God drove him even further. He had wanted to know more about this eternal life thing for a long time, but had never found the courage nor lost the pride to ask anyone about it. An envelope stuck out from between the pages and caught his eye. He pulled it out and was about to open it when he heard the front door open. Stuffing the envelope back where he got it, he put the Bible inside his vest to conceal it and shut the closet door before hastily moving the trunk to sit in front of it again. He rushed out of the room and lightly shut the door just as a person entered the kitchen.
“Slade? You in here?” It was Damian.
Clint took a deep breath and walked down the hall. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Oh, I’ve been looking for you. You keeping an eye on Miss Cooper?” the older man asked him.
Clint nodded. “That’s what I get paid for, isn’t it?”
Damian nodded and looked him up and down, not saying anything.
“Did you need something?” Clint asked.
“Oh,” Damian remembered. “Yeah, Sherman wants to see you out front. Says he’s got something to show you.”
Clint nodded and turned to walk out front; making sure his vest was concealing the dusty book beneath it. He wished the thing wasn’t so tight now. He positioned the book to the baggiest part of the side of his vest and opened the front door to step out on the porch.
Sherman was sitting on one of the wicker chairs with what looked like a note in his hands.
Assuming that the illusive mystery man was leaving notes again, Clint walked over to stand in front of him.
“You wanted to see me, Sherman?” he asked.
Sherman looked up at him. “Yes, sit down.”
Clint reluctantly took a seat beside Sherman and leaned forward with his elbows rested on his knees.
“This note was nailed to the barn,” Sherman handed Clint the thin paper in his hand.
Clint read the note, half expecting another threat on Bliss, but instead he found something much different.
You know what we want. Bring it to the abandoned cabin six miles due east at twelve o’clock Wednesday, or our threats will become reality.
Clint looked back up at Sherman and handed the note back.
“What do you think?” Sherman asked.
Clint stared at him a moment. “You mean you trust my opinions? Surely they are glorified, too.”
Sherman rolled his eyes. “While I have my doubts about your abilities with a gun, you haven’t let me down with your plans yet. We have to stop Seth. I have no idea what he wants.”
Clint itched to tell the man that Seth wasn’t sending the notes, but knew he had given Bliss a promise. He wouldn’t tell.
“Even if we did know, we’re not giving him a blame thing,” Clint said.
“Why not? All I want is for him to leave Bliss and my family alone.”
“Because whatever he wants is obviously something that you want to hang on to.”
Sherman groaned. “If none of us knows what he wants, then it’s most likely not important to us.”
“Are you sure about that?” Clint leveled the man with a glare. ‘
“Y-yes,” Sherman stuttered.
“Miss Cooper knows you are keeping things from her. If you came clean about all you’re trying to hide, she might be able to give us something,” Clint told him.
Sherman stood. “Have you ever had kids, Mr. Slade?”
Clint shook his head.
“Then you won’t understand. When you love someone like I love my daughter, you’re willing to do anything, to lie about anything to keep her safe. I refuse to let her know about some things. They will more than likely keep her up at night and cause her to worry herself into a frenzy. I won’t let that happen.”
“So you’d rather keep her in the dark about everything? Ignorance does not become a lady as smart as your daughter,” Clint said, standing to his feet.
“She’s hardly out of childhood, Slade! She can’t handle it.”
“She’s twenty-one years old!”
“She’s still a child on the inside. You think she’s so mature and can handle herself, but she can’t. You have no idea what I’ve went through with her!” Sherman exclaimed, clearly angered.
Clint felt his own anger rising up. He knew, alright. He knew how Bliss had allowed herself to grow from her circumstances, while Sherman was still stuck in the past.
“No matter what you went through with her, it’s plain as the ears on a mule that you’re scared to trust her again. You have no idea how much that’s killing her on the inside,” Clint argued.
“And you do?” Sherman took a step forward to align his face with Clint’s.
“I do. Because apparently I’ve spent more time with her in the past three weeks than you have in the past three years,” Clint said as he stalked off toward the front door.
He stopped before twisting the doorknob and opening the door and turned around. “I’ll see what I can find out about what these men want.”
*****
Bliss hummed as she helped Grace hang the clothes on the line, the day growing warmer than others so that she enjoyed it. A clear blue sky hung overhead like a comforting sheet, the sun shining sweetly down on them. On days like this, she was tempted to believe that God cared just enough to send her a good day, then remembered that it was just by chance she happened to enjoy the weather.
“Ladies,” a voice said behind them.
Bliss turned and put on a smile for Colt, her previous thoughts about God causing her to feel uneasy about his presence.
Grace turned. “Oh, just in time, Colt. I’m sure you’re in enough of a chivalrous mood to carry these baskets back inside for us?”
Colt smiled. “I most certainly am. Colton Kidd, at your service.”
He dipped in a playful bow and bent to retrieve the baskets of clothes from the ground.
Bliss smiled and walked beside him toward the house.
“You haven’t been on your ride today, Bliss,” Colt commented.
“I know. I didn’t want to cause Clint more pain,” Bliss told him.
“Clint? Is that what he is to you now?” Colt looked more pained than curious, and it made Bliss feel guilty somehow.
She would never let Clint’s given name slip in conversation again.
“It slipped out,” Bliss mumbled.
She noticed that Grace had already gone back into the house, leaving her and Colt alone.
“Do you have feelings for him, Bliss?” Colt asked flat out.
“What?” The question caught her off guard. “No! Why would I…”
“I see things, Bliss,” Colt admitted, such a sharp pain behind his eyes that it stabbed like a knife into Bliss’ gut. “Maybe I’m just making it up or my mind is playing tricks on me, but I see you looking at him in a way that you’ve never looked at anyone else, even Seth. A way that I’ve wanted you to look a me for years. I see him sneaking long glances at you when he thinks that no one’s looking. Whether my eyes are deceiving me or not, it still doesn’t make sense that I should lose sleep over it. I don’t know if it’s that I don’t trust him, or if I’m just paranoid. I don’t want you hurt, Bliss.”
Bliss was taken aback by his outburst. She was truly shocked.
How long had Colt been seeing these things? And why did they upset him so much? It made absolutely no sense to her.
“Wh-What are you saying, Colt?” she asked.
“I… I…” Colt stuttered. A moment of silence passed between them. “I don’t know, Bliss. I honestly don’t know.”
*****
Grace peeked out of the window at Bliss and Colt. They were obviously engaged in an intense conversation, but Colt was doing most of the talking. This was not a common occurrence in their usual conversations.
Maybe they were finally finding a balance!
It could be that Colt had feelings for Bliss. She had seen with her own eyes the jealousy that had flashed behind Colt’s eyes when Colt and Bliss were seen together. There was nothing going on with those two, and that was apparent, but Colt was having a harder time seeing this. She had also seen the pure happiness behind his eyes when Bliss would tease him. They had been best friends for a long time, and maybe Bliss just needed an extra push to get out of that same old rut and move forward on the path of their relationship.
Grace smiled. She might even rustle up a few of her old romantic skills to fix the dilemma.
*****
Bliss took a deep breath as Colt took the two baskets of clothes that he had back inside the house and shut the door behind him.
What had gotten into that boy? He was acting stranger than he ever had, and it was worrying her. Colt was normally levelheaded, and most definitely didn’t go around suspecting people of things.
“Miss Cooper, can I speak with you?” she heard Clint’s voice say.
She whirled around to find the owner of the voice just as he stepped off the front porch.
“Sure,” she called.
He walked up to her and stood in front of her, staring her down as if she had done something wrong. Bliss retraced her steps that day, but couldn’t think of anything that she had done wrong.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Slade?” she asked.
“We need to talk. Saddle your horse.”
“Okay, so you’ve dragged me out here. What have I done?” Bliss sat atop her horse, following a trail away from the ranch with Clint and his horse walking beside her.
“How long have you let your daddy think you were incapable of taking care of yourself?” Clint blurted his question.
“How lon…”
“Are you even aware of how he thinks you are? He doesn’t trust you as far as he could throw you!”
Bliss was taken aback. “Yes, I’m well aware of that. When did you manage to come to this enlightening realization?”
“He was just talking to me,” Clint mumbled.
“I see. I have been trying to prove myself to him for the past three years, but he refuses to give me a second chance,” Bliss explained.
She couldn’t really blame him. She had been quite childish when she married Seth Ryder.
“Well, I’m sick of it. We’re gonna stop focusing on getting me out of here for now and start focusing you your daddy seeing that you can take care of yourself. It won’t do for a woman to be considered a weakling with these men prowling around out there,” Clint stated decidedly.
“What is your plan?” Bliss asked.
“I’m gonna teach you how to shoot.”
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