Page 34 of A Convenient Heart
Drew shrugged. “Just lookin’ for you.”
Jack stared at him. The other man didn’t have an obvious tell—he’d noticed that last night—but looked a little worn around the edges. “I figured you’d have brought both your brothers if you meant to run me off.”
Drew sipped his coffee, his hand steady. “Who said anything about runnin’ you off?”
It became a stalemate as they stared at each other.
Finally, Drew relented, a small smile pulling at one side of his lips. “Here.”
He held out the tin cup from his other side. Jack accepted it warily. Hewasthirsty. His mouth tasted of grit and ash, and he gulped the liquid. The coffee must’ve grown cold while Drew had been looking for him, but the drink was still welcome.
“Want to tell me why you’re sneaking around for this cleanup?” Drew asked, surveying what Jack had already done. “Folks’ll look more kindly on you if they actually see you doing the work.”
Jack took another drink. “I don’t care about that.”
Drew glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “You don’t.”
His words weren’t a clear question, but Jack shrugged. It was true. Merritt had told him last night that the local preacher expected to meet with him later. He had no plans to attend that meeting and figured that working out here was as good an excuse as any to skip the meeting. No doubt the man would preach fire and brimstone at him, like Mr. Farr had. No thanks.
In the distance, the train whistle blew. Jack knew the schedule, knew it was pulling into town soon.
Jack kept assessing Drew as he swigged the last of the coffee. Merritt’s cousin was an upstanding man. It was there in the quiet questions he’d asked last night when he’d thought no one else would hear. Checking on her, asking what she needed after the fire. It was obvious he loved Merritt and was protective of her.
Jack lowered the coffee tin to his side. “Do you know Ernie Duff?”
Drew’s brow wrinkled. “From the land office? I know of him. Why?”
Jack worked alone. Had ever since Bybee had been killed. But he didn’t know the people in town like Drew did, and instinct told him that Drew was just as upstanding as Merritt.
He gulped the last of the coffee and put the tin on the corner of the wagon seat nearby. “The other night, I heard a coupla men talking about the schoolhouse and Merritt’s job.”
Drew’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”
“One of them was a school board member. Another one seemed like he owned the saloon.”
“Billy Burns.” Drew squinted even harder, and Jack wanted to quail under his direct attention but he showed nothing. “He’s friendly with Polk—one of the school board members. How’d you have occasion to overhear a conversation between them?”
What were you doing in that saloon?That’s what he meant.
But Jack didn’t have to answer that.
“Seems like Burns wants this chunk of land.” Jack jerked his thumb toward the mess of ash and debris. “Something about getting revenge on the church ladies? Merritt especially.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “There’s a couple of busybodies in town that would love to close down every saloon. I’ve told Merritt to stay clear of it, but…” He shrugged.
Jack had guessed right.
“Burns and his accomplice were cooking up a plan that, if rebuilding the school took long enough, maybe this Duff character could lose the deed that says the school belongs to the town.”
“And Burns could buy it,” Drew said grimly. He tipped his head to the site. “That’s why you’re out here?”
Jack didn’t answer him directly. “Burns said he’d help make sure the schoolmarm didn’t keep her job.”
Something kept Jack from saying the rest—that Jack’s presence in that saloon and in town was damaging her reputation.
He’d done his duty. He’d told Drew. Drew would help. He lifted the shovel and trudged back into the ash.
But Drew followed him, the sound of his steps quiet where everything had been trampled down. “Wait a minute.”
