Page 15 of The Singer and the Silent Type

I somehow managed not to laugh in her face out of respect for George. “Really? What men?”

“You saw her in here last night, giving a peep show to those out-of-towners,” she glared.

“If you think she spilled water on herself on purpose, t

hat’s just sad,” I said. Suddenly I realized that her meanness was probably not just her own, but coming from the preacher’s wife and town busybody Verity as well. That woman had always truly hated anything new in this area. New was automatically evil in her mind.

“Any decent person would feel sorry for her for accidentally making a spectacle of herself,” I said, trying to keep the anger from my voice. “You and Verity can just mind your own business, or I’ll be telling your husbands about the nasty gossip you spread.”

I glanced to see that George was still talking to a man off to the side, and had no idea that his wife was blushing furiously.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she spat. “We are just trying to keep the men of this town wholesome and keep hussies away from them.”

“I’m serious, Esther. This foolishness stops now, or I’ll take it straight to the preacher so that he can pray for your lying, gossipy souls.”

She sat down as quickly as if I’d slapped her. To be honest, the thought had almost crossed my mind.

As I went back to my stool at the end of the bar, the positively horrified expression on Lorena’s face nearly broke my heart. “What was that about?” she asked.

“Nothing important.” She didn’t seem convinced, but she was too busy to ask further.

I was content to sip my beer in the corner, but kept turning to see the hugs and roars of laughter as old friends greeted each other.

Iris came over to lean beside me at the end of the bar. “Problems with Esther?”

“Not really.”

Iris cocked her head, staring at me. “You keep a lot of things under your hat, don’t you, Cody?”

“Yes, ma’am, I do.”

“Although you’re one of the few cowboys I never see wearing a hat...” she smiled at me. Then she grew serious. “You know, I consider my employees to be my family. Normally, a young girl, new in town without any real friends yet...I’d be extra protective, and feel the urge to lay down the law if I saw an older fellow getting cozy with her.”

Nodding, I thought it best to just let her continue. “But I don’t have to worry about that with you, do I, Cody?”

“No, ma’am. I think the world of Lorena, and intend to do everything I can to make her happy and keep her safe.”

Iris patted my arm. “That’s what I thought. Don’t worry, I’ll mind my own,” she said, walking away.

Looking around the room, I saw Lorena blushing as she set mugs of beer down in front of a table of men. It took me a second to focus on their conversation through the din, but they weren’t harassing her, just raving about her performance this afternoon.

Quickly turning back to my beer, I didn’t want Lorena to think that I was spying on her. I couldn’t help the protective urges that were overtaking me already. But I knew that men sometimes got riled up on nights like this, so I continued checking on her all night long.

The next few hours went by quickly, as I had a coffee, then one of Lorena’s strangely refreshing lime waters. Iris rang the last call bell, and everyone eventually hauled themselves away into cars and cabs. The second she was finished, Lorena came over to me. “Thanks for waiting,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

Slipping an arm around her, we went outside and I helped her into the truck. As soon as we started driving, she snuggled into my side in a way that made me never want to let her go.

I found myself wanting to drive too quickly, and tried to take it easy on the gas. “I was so proud of you up on that stage today,” I said. “You shone brighter than the sun. It was amazing to see you let go like that.”

“Thank you,” she said shyly.

“I heard some of the folks in the tavern tonight telling you the same thing. I hope this means you’ll be singing a lot more.”

“Were you keeping an eye on me?” she laughed.

“Not really. I may have glanced a few times when you were talking to the out-of-towners, that’s all.” Catching her eye before I turned down the side road, I said, “I don’t want to overstep my bounds, like I probably did with fixing your porch.”

She laughed lightly. “It sounds like it was more of an emergency than I realized. Thanks so much for that.”

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