Lone Star Bride

Benning, Texas, Spring 1903"I've been your deputy, working in this office with you for eight years, Sheriff." Jamie leaned against the door frame and managed to roll up his life over the past eight years into a neat bundle. A bundle he no longer wanted to live with."I assume you're about to quit," Brace said. "And I don't like it, not one little bit. Unhappy with me? Or the wages? Or just the life of a deputy, in general?""None of the choices you've just pulled out of the hat," Jamie returned quickly. "I just don't feel that I'm getting anywhere. I'm a whiz at breaking up fights in the saloons, I'm up to date on all the wanted posters and to tell the truth, I'm sick and tired of standing on the sidelines while you've managed in the past four years to put together a life with the prettiest girl in town, along with you and Sarah adopting her nephew."But I'll have to admit, it's been a real education watching you with Sarah and Stephen. Hope I can do as well as you when I get a family of my own.""I'll have to admit that marriage agrees with me.""Hope I can say that someday. But for now I've about decided I need to be doing something different with myself."Brace leaned back in his chair and surveyed his deputy. "To tell the truth, I've been thinking about a proposition I'd like to toss in your direction. See what you think of it.""Does it include my moving on? Leaving Benning?""You don't sound happy about that idea," Brace said. "You haven't put down any roots here, Jamie. You got a problem with living somewhere else?""No. But I tend to be a creature of habit." He paused and stood erect, facing the man who had been his mentor and friend. "If you've got something to offer me, let's hear it. I suspect you wouldn't put me on the wrong track, Sheriff.""Well, to tell the truth, I don't know much myself about the place I'd like to send you. But clear across the state is a piece of property that belongs to my son, Stephen.""The ranch he inherited from his birth father's family?""The very one," Brace said. "There's a man running things on the ranch on a temporary basis, but I'd feel better about the whole thing if I knew more about what was going on behind the letters I get from him. He was the ranch foreman before Stephen's grandfather died three years ago and I've let it go long enough the way it is. The judge ordered us to put a man of my own in place as manager when Sarah and I adopted Stephen legally. It'll give me more control over the ranch, and there'll be a better chance of Stephen taking over a thriving concern when he's old enough.""Are we talking about me running the ranch?""Well, I always did say you catch on quick," Brace said with a chuckle. "Didn't take you long to figure that one out, did it?""Let me think about it, Brace. I'll need to know what's expected of me to begin with.""Just be yourself, get to know the men and make the ranch successful. I'm laying odds you can do that.""Anything else I should know if I decide to do this?" Jamie felt there was a gap in the information. Something he couldn't put his finger on."I've heard that there's a fly in the ointment," Brace admitted. "The daughter of the foreman has been causing some problems among the men. Her daddy is right fond of her, but in one case a couple of the men have come to blows over her, and things are unsettled right now. Sort of a state of armed warfare."Jamie shook his head. "You're talking about sending me into a full-fledged battle, aren't you?""If I didn't think you could handle things, I wouldn't have brought it up or made you an offer. There's a nice, big raise in pay attached, son. Enough to make it worth your while.""I've kept my nose clean here in Benning, Brace. Learned that dealing with a female is mighty wearing on a man. Especially if it's a woman who already has a string of admirers a mile long and would no doubt like to add another one to her list.""You can handle it. YDavidson, Carolyn is the author of 'Lone Star Bride', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373294084 and ISBN 0373294085.