Slocum and the Socorro Saloon Sirens Read Online Free Page B

wait until he shows up. He’s very careful. He never rides the same trail to our house, and he always comes at night.”
    â€œI see,” Slocum said. “Sure, whatever you think is best. Maybe I’d best be on my way. I was headed for Albuquerque to look at some horses that I might resell to the Army at Fort Craig.”
    â€œIs it urgent?” she asked. She sat there so prim and reserved, literally on the edge of her seat, that he thought she might sprout wings and fly away like a bird at any moment. He realized that she was scared and still worried about her father.
    â€œNo, I don’t have a timetable,” he said. “But you probably don’t want a stranger hanging around.”
    â€œYou have a bedroll,” she said. “And I’ve loads of soft pillows. If you don’t mind sleeping on the floor, I’d like you to stay until Uncle Obie shows up. It could be tonight or tomorrow night.”
    â€œOr next week,” he said, so quickly he regretted it. He saw her stiffen and slide back in her chair as if he had punched her.
    â€œNo. If it’s more than three days, you’re free to go. I—I just feel safer with you here, and my father does need tending.”
    â€œYou don’t have to go to work in town?”
    â€œNo. I told the doctor I’d be away for a few days. There’s another nurse. They can manage without me.”
    â€œI’ll stay, then,” he said. “But . . .”
    â€œBut what?” she said.
    â€œIt might not look good.”
    â€œTo whom? The town doesn’t care. I have no close friends. It’s been just Pa and me and his brother. I don’t care what people say.”
    He knew he liked her then, for what she had said, for what she was.
    A ray of sunlight fell on her face and made it shine with a golden radiance. At that moment, he would have laid down his life for her.
    â€œI’ll fix you a nice supper,” she said.
    â€œObliged.”
    â€œOh, you don’t have to feel obligated. I have to eat and maybe I can pour some soup into Pa. He’s thin as a rail.”
    â€œIf I can be of any help in tending to him, you just let me know,” he said.
    â€œWhy, thank you. I’ll surely call on you if need be.”
    He looked at her and shook his head.
    â€œWhat?” she said.
    â€œOh, nothing. I was just thinking how unfair life can be. In your case, you seem to have run into a stretch of bad luck. It’s sad, that’s all.”
    â€œYou’re a very compassionate man, John Slocum. I feel lucky to have met you.”
    He didn’t know what to say, but he felt a warmth suffuse his flesh and it had nothing to do with the sunlight that sprayed the room, soaking up some of the coolness. It had to do with the sincerity of her words and the beauty of her nature.
    Penny, he decided, was a woman to ride the river with. Any river. Anywhere on earth.
    She left him, then, to tend to her father, and Slocum walked outside and around the house to get his bedroll.
    For the first time in many months, he felt at home.

4
    Slocum watched the way Penny served their supper. Each dish she laid down on the table seemed special. She moved with grace and poise through the shadows and the candlelight, like a dancer making entrances and exits on a lighted stage.
    When she sat down opposite him, she smiled.
    â€œThere,” she said. “Now we can eat.”
    She bowed her head and brought her hands together in an attitude of prayer. Her lips did not move and she made no sound. Slocum sat frozen until she had finished saying silent grace.
    The sun was setting and Penny had lit two candles on the table. Lamps glowed on other tables and shelves, their light mingling with the last radiance of the sun as it splashed through the open windows and painted the adobe walls.
    â€œHow’s your pa doing?” Slocum asked.
    â€œSleeping. I gave him more laudanum. Sleep is a powerful