Page 117 of Texas Splendor
“Yep.” Rawley reached for the violin case. “I’ll carry that for you.”
“Thanks,” Austin said as he handed it over.
Rawley jerked his thumb back. “We’d best head to the hotel before Ma sends the posse out lookin’ for us.”
“You ever seen a posse?” Zane asked as he hurried to keep pace with Rawley’s long strides.
“Once I rode with one. Some men held up the bank here in town, and that didn’t sit well with us.”
“Did you catch them?” Zane asked.
“Nope. Last I heard they were hiding out in some hole in the wall.” Rawley stepped off the platform and hit his thigh. “Two-bits!”
The dog eased out from beneath the shade and trotted to his side. Loree knelt in the dirt, laughing with the delight as the dog licked her face.
“You ‘ave a dog?” Zane asked as the boys began petting Two-bits.
“Nah, he’s your ma’s dog. I’ve just been taking care of him.”
“Does that mean ‘e gets to live with us?” Matt asked.
“Reckon it does,” Rawley said.
Loree rose to her feet. “Won’t you miss him?”
Rawley glanced over his shoulder. “We really need to get to the hotel.”
“Is Two-bits going to live with us, Mother?” Zane asked.
“I don’t think so. I think he’d miss Rawley too much.” Rawley turned his head, and she saw the relief in his eyes. “But I’m sure we can find another dog somewhere.”
“That’s if we decide to stay,” Austin reminded her and the boys.
“I want to stay,” Zane said, “if it means we can have a dog.”
“And a ‘orse,” Matt chimed in.
Austin slipped his hand around Loree’s. “Come on.”
The town had grown, and Austin couldn’t help but feel that his brother had done himself proud. And any man would have busted his buttons to have fathered the young man who patiently answered the boys’ questions as they entered the hotel.
Rawley threw open the door to the ballroom. Tightening his hand around Loree’s, Austin took a deep breath and stepped beneath the archway. Screams and cheers resounded around him. Tiny bits of paper and ribbon flew in front of his face.
More than his family welcomed him home. It looked as though most of the damn town had crowded into the room.
“Uncle Austin!”
Turning, Austin felt as though he’d been thrown back in time—over twenty years—looking at Amelia again, smiling and radiant … only he had never been Amelia’s uncle. “Maggie May?”
She nodded briskly and threw her arms around his neck. “I missed you so much,” she cried.
“I missed you, too,” Austin said hoarsely.
Rawley leaned close. “Watch what you say to her. She thinks she’s smarter than all of us now that she’s going to that university in Austin.”
“You could go, too, Rawley,” Maggie said, a daring glint in her green eyes.
“Not on your life, Brat. I got cows to watch.”
