know they were in the trunk? Beautiful masterpieces of the seasons. The finest work I’ve ever seen.”
Hank shook his head. “I never looked. I figured it would be her clothes and I didn’t want to see them. I didn’t want to be reminded of a mother who never touched me.” All his old feelings of being abandoned washed across his thoughts. “Besides, quilts in a trunk mean nothing.”
Aggie had reached the edge of the quilt. Without a word she turned the fabric over and he saw a small square in the corner. Even from five feet away he could see the stitching. Three words: “For my son.”
He sat staring at the quilt as Aggie buttoned her shirt and ran upstairs to get the others. When they were all spread out on the bed, Hank could no longer deny they were for him. Each one had the same three words carefully embroidered on the back. She might have left him, but she hadn’t forgotten him.
A knock sounded a moment before they heard the front door creak. Aggie jumped like a rabbit at the sound of gunfire, and in seconds she was dressed.
“Hank?” the sheriff’s voice boomed. He opened the bedroom door while Aggie stood behind it finishing buttoning her shirt. “Oh, there you are. I didn’t think you’d be in bed. You all right?”
Hank tried to think of some reason he’d still be in bed after sunrise. He knew a very good one, but he wasn’t about to tell the sheriff. “I was just getting dressed.”
Aggie slipped out behind the sheriff, then managed to act like she was just walking in. “Oh,” she said, “good morning, sheriff.”
“Morning, ma’am. I got some good news. They found that other fellow in Fort Worth who Stockton hired to bother you. He was still drunk in the same saloon, claiming he thought the offer was a joke. So you can stop worrying.”
“Good.” Hank drew a long breath. “How about some coffee?”
The sheriff nodded. “I wouldn’t mind if I do. I saw Blue in the barn. I’ll run over and tell him the news and be right back.”
He disappeared. Aggie ran to put coffee on and Hank dressed. When the sheriff returned they were both at the kitchen table.
After a cup of coffee and small talk, the sheriff stood. “I best be getting back.” He lifted his hat. You folks have a good day.” He took a step toward the door, then added, “That sure is a fine little rocking chair you’re building out there, Hank.”
Hank smiled, remembering how he’d worked all day on it and Aggie had been so busy she’d never asked what he was making. “It’s for my wife. The one on the porch is too big for her.”
The sheriff looked at Aggie. “You’ll like that, Mrs. Harris.”
“I’ll need it,” she said calmly. “I’m going to have a baby.”
For a moment Hank thought he’d be embarrassed, but suddenly he couldn’t stop smiling. He shook the sheriff’s hand and limped to the door to say good-bye.
Aggie moved beneath his arm to steady him while they waved the lawman away.
When they were alone once more, Hank whispered, “I think I’m falling in love with my partner.”
“I’m afraid I am too.” She smiled up at him.
“But, Aggie, you’re not pregnant.”
She frowned. “We’d better work on that, dear, before the sheriff finds out I lied.”
Hank looked up at the bright morning sun. “Lucky for us it’s almost sundown.”
They turned toward the house and stepped inside. For the first time since he’d built the place, Hank locked the door and they made love beneath each season of quilts.
SILENT PARTNER
Chapter 1
Dust circled around Rowdy Darnell’s worn boots as he stepped from the noon train. The reddish brown dirt whirled, trying to wipe his footprints away before they were even planted in this nothing of a town called Kasota Springs, which suited him fine. If he could, he’d erase every trace of him ever having lived here.
Beneath the shadow of his hat, Rowdy looked around, fearing he’d see someone he knew. Someone who remembered him.
But only strangers hurried past and most didn’t bother to look in his direction. Not that they’d recognize him now. Prison had hardened the boy they’d sent away into a man, tall, lean and unforgiving.
Rowdy pulled his saddle from among the luggage, balanced it over one shoulder and walked off the platform toward Main Street. In the five years since he’d been gone, the place had changed, more than doubling in size, thanks mostly, he guessed,