Page 95 of Texas Splendor
That night after everyone left, while Loree listened with tears in her eyes, Austin played his violin, lulling his son to sleep with a song that bore his name.
Chapter 17
The cool breeze blew over the front porch as Loree rocked, her son cradled within her arms. Three weeks had passed since his birth, and she didn’t think she’d ever anticipated the coming of spring more.
She heard the rumble of carriage wheels and glanced up from her sleeping son’s face. She smiled and waved as Becky brought the horses to a halt.
Loree sent the spark of jealousy she usually felt when she first saw Becky to oblivion. She had given Austin the one thing Becky never had: a son.
Becky bounced up the steps and leaned over, slipping the baby shawl away from Grant’s cheek. “Isn’t he precious?” Becky whispered. Smiling broadly she met Loree’s gaze. “I think he looks like Austin.”
“He has his eyes,” Loree admitted. “When they’re open.”
Becky straightened and leaned against the porch railing. “I always thought Austin had the prettiest eyes—too pretty for a man really.” She sighed as though blowing away a memory.
“Would you like something to drink?” Loree offered as she started to rise.
Becky placed her hand on her shoulder and guided her back down. “Don’t get up. I just brought you a few things. I wanted to come sooner but Drew got the chicken pox. Then Cameron got them. I’ve never seen anyone as sick as he was. I wanted to wait until I was certain I wouldn’t bring them out here, but it was hard not to come.”
“I appreciate your coming out.”
Becky smiled. “I can’t tell you how happy I am for Austin.” Her smile grew. “You should have seen him, strutting through the town, passing out cigars. I’ve never seen him so proud and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him so happy. It did my heart good to see that.”
She gazed off into the distance. “I always felt so guilty.”
“For marrying Cameron?”
Becky shifted her gaze back to Loree. “No. For not telling people that Austin was with me the night Boyd McQueen was murdered.”
Loree felt her heart slam against her ribs, and the blood drain from her face. Becky’s eyes widened.
“Oh my goodness. Didn’t he tell you? I was certain he would have, you being his wife and all. I’m so sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut. Let me get the items I brought out of the buggy.”
Loree surged to her feet and dug her fingers into Becky’s arm to halt her leaving. “Why … why would people care that he was with you the night Boyd McQueen died?”
“If they knew he was with me, then they might have believed that he hadn’t killed Boyd.”
Loree released her hold on Becky and sank into the rocker. “Boyd McQueen? He went to prison for killing Boyd McQueen?”
“Surely you knew that,” Becky said.
Loree shook her head. “I knew he’d gone to prison for murder. He never told me the name of the man he was supposed to have murdered. I never thought to ask.”
“Well, let me tell you right here and now that he did not murder Boyd McQueen.”
Loree lifted her gaze to Becky. “I know that. With all my heart I know that.”
Austin sauntered into the house, the first flowers of spring clutched in his hand. He spotted Loree sitting in a rocker before the empty hearth, rocking back and fourth.
He knelt beside her, the sadness in her eyes causing a knot to form in his chest. “Where’s Grant?”
“Sleeping in his cradle.”
He extended his gift toward her. “I brought you some flowers.”
She shifted her vacant gaze to his hand. “You were innocent.”
Reaching across, he grabbed the arm of the rocker and turned the chair so he could see her more clearly. “Pardon me?”
