“Because Silas might’ve feared you’d get it in your head to court me too?”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, that’s straight-up wrong. Silas told me you’re already happily married to your badge.”
Deputy McKay laughed at that. “I can see why my brother likes you. Because that silver-tongued cowboy charm of his rolls off you like water off a duck’s back, don’t it?”
“Sometimes.”
“So I’m askin’ you, please, to tell me what injuries brought Silas here. I can’t protect him if I don’t know what he’s done or who might be gunnin’ for him.”
Dinah dropped the cloth in the water and leaned back against the bench behind her, folding her arms across her chest. “What he’s done, was tangle with Zeke West.”
His eyes narrowed. “Which time was this?”
They’d clashed so often that even the deputy knew about it? Why didn’t he stop his brother from fighting? “Months ago. I remember Silas telling Doc that you were at some lawman’s meeting in Cheyenne.”
“That’d explain why I hadn’t heard of this incident. I ended up stuck in Cheyenne for two weeks because of that blizzard. So what happened between him and West?”
“Something that had to do with a girl at Ruby Red’s.” She forced her eyes to remain on his even when her entire body went hot with embarrassment. Good girls—church-going, virginal schoolteachers—like her weren’t supposed to admit knowledge of a local whorehouse, let alone say the name out loud in mixed company, and especially not admit that she’d come face to face with the beautiful Ruby Redmond that night.
“Silas just told you that, Miss Thompson?” the deputy said skeptically.
Please Lord, forgive me for the lie I’m about to tell. “I overheard that part of the conversation.”
He removed his hat, ran his hands through his hair and resettled the black hat on his head. “I beg your pardon for askin’ this, bein’s that it ain’t proper to discuss my brother’s questionable behavior with such an upstanding woman as yourself, but I’d be much obliged if you could share as many details as you remember about Silas’s conversation with Doc.”
Dinah’s focus moved to Silas sacked out on the table, snoring with his mouth open. “I didn’t hear why Silas was at Ruby Red’s—if he’d been there a while or if one of the girls retrieved him from Sackett’s thinking he was you when the trouble started—and quite frankly, I don’t wanna know. But Silas stepped in when Zeke threatened one of the women after she refused to go upstairs with him. Zeke warned Silas to walk away, Silas didn’t, and Zeke nearly broke his arm.” She paused. “I say ‘nearly’ because that’s what brought Silas here that night through a snowstorm. He was in so much pain Doc thought it had to be a break. We dosed him with tonic and he stayed here overnight. We got that same blizzard that stranded you in Cheyenne, so the next morning Silas was stuck here.”
“Better here under expert care than anywhere else,” the deputy said.
“Unfortunately, Doc’s wife, Mrs. Agnes, had taken ill, so Doc looked after her and I handled the household, which included caring for Silas. He stayed in the recovery room. I kept the fire going, took him food, which meant we spent time together unchaperoned. A lot of time.” She glanced over at him. “That’s probably why Silas didn’t mention it; he was protecting my reputation. It turned out he didn’t have a broken arm, just a severe strain.”
“His left arm?”
She nodded.
“Now I know why he’d been favoring that side. I imagine he’d’ve healed up faster if it had been a break.”
“That’s what Doc said. Before Silas left after the blizzard, he claimed he’d be back to square things about courting me, but I hadn’t seen him until two weeks ago.”
“What was the story with that injury?”
She shrugged. “Pain in his chest. When Doc pressed him for details, Silas admitted the ache was from the fear he was too late, and I’d given my heart to another. Doc practically hauled him out of here by his ear.”
The deputy snorted. “Bet Doc gave him grief after that.”
“Yes, sir.” A pause lingered. “Still…Silas had to get in the last word. He swore the next time he saw me it’d be with his hat in one hand and flowers in the other.” She couldn’t help but smile. “That man has a way with words, even if some of them are just hopeful thinking.”
“That he does.” Jonas patted Silas on the shoulder. Then he looked up at her. “Thanks for talkin’ to me.