The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,292

the first time they’d made love.

He’d treated her—a fifty-cent whore—like something special—until she’d begun to believe that she was.

He’d been everything she’d ever wanted. Their time together had been far too brief, but she knew if she had it to do over again, she wouldn’t change a thing—except the way she’d dealt with George Mellin.

She would never have taken a bullwhip to him. She would have shot him where he stood. Then Eulis would still be alive, and she wouldn’t be wishing she could join him in that grave.

With the absence of a preacher, Dr. Warren had offered to read a passage from the bible. Letty didn’t hear a word of what was said.

In her mind, she was watching Eulis preaching over Baby Mary’s grave, hearing the sorrow in his voice as he gave the final prayer, then watching as he began filling up the hole, letting the dirt fall gently on top of the little box until he was done.

Someone squeezed her hand. She looked up. It was Robert Lee. She frowned. He’d been at Baby Mary’s service, too. He’d made the cross they’d put on her grave, and here he was again. Eulis had been so certain this man was good. It seemed that he’d been right.

“Mrs. Potter?”

She shivered as Dr. Warren laid a hand on her arm.

“Here, ma’am, please hold out your hands. It would be proper if you drop the first handful.”

Assailed by the musty smell of damp earth, the scent of green wood, and the stench of death awaiting her blessing, she shivered as he dropped a handful of dirt into her hands. Then she opened her fingers, watching as it fell downward, only to splatter on top of the green wood like raindrops.

One after the other, the mourners filed past, picking up a handful of earth from the pile, then dropping it into the grave, as she had done.

She stood without moving until they had all passed, then watched as the rest of the earth was shoveled back into the hole. Once they were done, Robert Lee led her back to the house. Alice had set up a chair for her near the fireplace in the parlor. She put a plate of food in her lap, and then frowned when Letty handed it back to her without comment.

Alice leaned down until she was eye to eye with Letty, then lowered her voice to an angry whisper.

“You can’t die with him, so don’t bother to try. Trust me, Missy. I know.”

Letty blinked. Their gazes locked, first in understanding, then with tears.

Alice squeezed Letty’s hands and kissed her briefly on the forehead.

“This, too, shall pass,” she said softly, and walked away, carrying the plate Letty had refused.

The food that had been brought to the home quickly disappeared as the hungry horde descended on the makeshift tables that had been set up outside. They ate their way through two hours of food and gossip, and then convinced that they’d seen all of the drama to be had that day, went back down the mountain the same way they’d come up.

Robert Lee had a self-appointed mission of his own. Until Letty Potter came to herself, he was going to make certain she had a life and a business to come back to. He didn’t have to convince the hired hands to go back to work. To a man, they showed up at the mine the next day and fell to working as if they owned the place themselves. Part of it had to do with their pride in working for a woman like Letty Potter, and the other part had to do with their fear of her, and how she dealt with being crossed. Nobody wanted to make her mad, and nobody wanted to see her cry. It was a good arrangement for all involved.

A week into Letty’s self-imposed isolation, her long-awaited furniture from back East finally arrived. Five wagons full of everything from furniture to linens to silverware, and she could have cared less. Letty was sitting on a small stool at the bedroom window. Katie came running up the stairs calling her name. She frowned, angry at being disturbed.

From where she was sitting, she could see the freshly turned earth mounded over Eulis’ grave. In the back of her mind, she knew he would be disgusted with the way she was acting. She could almost hear him telling her to get up and get over it. Even though she knew that withdrawing from life was not