Something Borrowed (Borrowed Brides 3)

Lee struggled to keep a straight face. "Our new abode is at the end of this street. And you seem to be having some trouble with the wind catching your skirt." He watched as Mary straightened her back and raised her chin a notch higher. "Are you ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be," she muttered beneath her breath.

"Okay." Lee picked up Mary's bundle and led the way down the platform steps. "Let's go home."

During the walk through town, Judah pointed out the meager sights. "There's Kinter's Livery Stable on the right. And the Ajax Saloon and Assayer's Office. Used to be soiled doves in the Ajax," Judah confided to Lee. "But not anymore. Now it's just a place for drinking, gambling, and mining business. The Silver Bear, across the street," Judah continued, "that's the place to go for women—" Suddenly remembering Mary's presence, Judah tipped his hat. "Beg pardon, ma'am. I was just saying the Silver Bear is the pl

ace for young men to go if they're unmarried. Of course, Mr. Kincaid won't be frequenting the place."

"No offense taken, Judah," Mary replied. She couldn't object to Judah's commentary on the town watering holes because she was so very relieved to know he remembered them—for today, at least. "Please, continue," she encouraged him.

"Over there's Sherman's General Store." Judah pointed to a building with the windows boarded over.

"Is it open?" Mary asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Mr. Buford, the owner, keeps it open six days a week. Every day but Sunday."

"The owner's name is Buford?" Lee asked.

"Yes."

"Then why is it called Sherman's General Store? Was that the name of a previous owner?"

"No." Judah smiled and shook his head. "It's just Jed Buford's sense of humor. You see, Jed's originally from Georgia. General Sherman's troops burned his first home and business during their march to the sea—after they had looted it, of course. So Jed came west, settled in Utopia during the silver boom, and made a comfortable living supplying the mine owner and the miners. He says he's better off now than he ever was back in Georgia. Naming his store after General Sherman is his idea of a jest."

"But why does he keep the windows boarded?" Mary wanted to know.

"Has to," Judah admitted. "The southerners around here and the Southern sympathizers keep breaking them."

"But Buford is a Southerner," Lee remarked, impressed by Jed Buford's stubborn resistance.

"I guess the other Southerners don't appreciate Jed's sense of humor."

"Or his property," Mary added. "Why doesn't the sheriff do anything about it?" She nodded toward the sheriff's office.

"Well, we have a sheriff's office," Judah replied. "But we don't have a sheriff anymore."

Mary gasped. She didn't want to ask the question, but her knowledge of the danger inherent in Lee's occupation frightened her. "Was he killed in the line of duty?"

"No, ma'am," Judah replied. "He ran off last summer with one of the women from the Silver Bear. I heard he took up gambling down in Dodge City, but I can't say for sure. Utopia's become rather boring, I'm afraid." Judah shook his head. "There isn't much for a sheriff to do. Not like the old days."

Judah sounded so sad, Mary hurried to change the subject. "What was that, Mr. Crane?" she asked, indicating the pile of burned and blackened debris situated on the lot between the sheriff's office and Sherman's General Store.

"That was my office," Judah replied matter-of-factly. "That's where I set up my practice. Judah Crane, Attorney-at-Law."

"Oh, Judah, I'm so sorry," Mary apologized. "I didn't know."

"That's quite all right," the elderly gentleman assured her. "I didn't expect you to. You're new to Utopia. You couldn't have known the crazy old lawyer forgot to bank the coals in his stove and burned his office down." He stared at Mary and the look in his brown eyes was perfectly lucid for a moment longer, but it started to fade with his next words. "I lived there, too, you know. I had a nice, cozy little apartment in back. A real nice place." Then the intelligent, articulate gentleman lawyer vanished before Mary's eyes. "It's around here somewhere." He glanced around at the ashes, then became childlike once again. "I'll find it."

Devastated by the change she felt she had caused in Judah, Mary turned to Lee. "I'm so sorry. I never meant…" Her voice broke, "I mean I never would have mentioned it if I had known or even suspected…"

"Mary." Lee touched her elbow.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me go on?"

"I didn't think anything about it," Lee told her. "I knew he had accidentally set fire to his office, but I didn't think about it until…" He let his words trail off.

"Until I mentioned it." Mary hugged Maddy tightly. "I feel so horrible. He was so intelligent, so witty and entertaining. Now he's like a child again, and it's all my fault."