Monteigne, Mr. Harding. And the lady does her own choosing. I'll warn you she comes in a package with an eighteen-year-old brother, though. You can't court her without courting him."
Kyle straddled a chair and took the untouched beer in front of him. "Brothers are easier than kids. That the boy with the gimp? Heard he raised hell when Phil tried to throw the nigger out. Phil's one of those hotheads convinced the niggers are planning to take over the government. The boy better get his friend out of there before Phil decides a bit of arson will speed his progress."
"It's the white men behind the niggers that you gotta watch out for," Jason said. "Personally, I think all politicians ought to be taken out and shot on general principles. What do you say, Monteigne? Want to come out and look the ranch over and stay a spell? As soon as we get railroads in here, the cattle business will boom."
Tyler relaxed and decided he didn't need to punch out Kyle's teeth. Both Hardings wore the stamp of that rare breed of Western generosity that made it impossible not to like them, even if their references to Evie and Ben were less than polite. He might want to kick their teeth in, but he would like them the whole damned time he was doing it. He saw no reason not to accept Jason's offer.
"I've heard about those cattle drives to Abilene. Is that the closest station, then?"
"There's Santa Fe if you want to ship them west. We drive ours to Abilene. Hang around, and you can go with Kyle. I rode that trip once and decided I was getting too old too fast to do it again."
Tyler grinned and drained his mug. "Might take you up on that. If I come out to stay, you'll have to give me some chores. I'm not used to a life of leisure."
"He can have mine, and I'll stay here and court the beautiful Mrs. Peyton. It'd be nice to have a woman around the place again."
Jason leaned over and gently cuffed his younger brother. "You'll do your own chores and leave the lady to hers. Saturdays are good enough for courting. Have you got that bag of feed we came in for?"
Tyler felt his good humor eroding fast. He wanted this opportunity to investigate cattle ranching, but he was going to have a hard time holding his temper while he watched the Hardings court Evie. They were no doubt good, honest, upright citizens, but Evie came from a different world that they would never appreciate. They shouldn't be allowed to touch her.
The deputy sheriff leaning against the bar picked the wrong moment to open his mouth.
"Hey, Kyle, did you get a good look at the bazooms on that new schoolmarm?" The man made a curving gesture outward from the front of his shirt.
Tyler had been ready to follow the Hardings out the door. It didn't take any extra effort to swing his fist upward and carry the loudmouth from the floor with a blow under the chin. As the man slithered down the bar, Tyler looked regretfully at his bruised knuckles, shrugged, and donned his Stetson. He really had his job cut out for him if he meant to defend Maryellen Evie Peyton from her admirers.
The Hardings watched him with a mixture of admiration and wariness as they left the saloon. Tyler reckoned for certain he wouldn't be hearing anything more about Evie from their mouths. That was a relief. The Harding men were both older and broader than he was.
From her window on the third floor of the hotel, Evie watched the three men walk down the dirt street in the direction of the livery. The thought that Tyler was leaving town made her ache, but it was the best thing for both of them. Playing cards and traveling on steamboats with a handsome gambler made for exciting novels, but real life had just slapped her in the face.
Turning her back on Tyler, she contemplated real life, and seeing Daniel sprawled as always on the bed, she tightened her lips in decision.
"Come on, Danny boy. We're going to find the newspaper office. Where are those articles you had printed in the Dispatch? You can show them to the editor here. He ought to be glad to have someone who can read, write, and spell to call on."
Some time later, after getting directions and telling the Hardings he would catch up to them, Tyler