Page 41 of An Unexpected Welcome

Lilly smiled at the old man, "I sure am, Mac."

"Well you two always got along well…"

Lilly smiled and nodded and got back to work.

She wouldn't let anyone know she was worried about the Dubs boys. Not even Cord. In a fair fight, Cord would probably take them easy enough, but she didn't think they would be fair. And that worried her.

She smiled to herself when she realized how anxious Cord was to marry her. She felt kind of giddy herself.

What Jason had said worried her, "You want him dead, you'll have to figure out another way."

Just as Cord would have to deal with men knowing Lilly, Lilly had to face the fact that Cord was known for his gun. She'd have to face the fear of him getting killed. Her heart tripped at the thought.

Dear God, she was in love with him and she feared she always had been!

Chapter Twelve

"Why didn't you let me take care of him, Jason." Butch hollered as they sat in the kitchen of their home place, drinking coffee. Butch didn't want coffee, he wanted whiskey, but Jason wouldn't let him have it. Jason was trying to sober him up. Butch was still spitting fire, wanting to gun Cord down in the street. Butch sometimes wished he could gun down Jason, his brother was too pushy.

Jason on the other hand, knew Butch couldn't take Cord in a fair fight. None of them could. It was foolish to even consider it. But convincing his dumb brothers of that was a hard job.

Since his father died he'd been the oldest and most responsible. He'd taken the task seriously. But as they got older he found it harder to control them.

His brothers lacked a lot in brains and Jason sometimes became impatient with them because they never used their heads for anything. Their parents were dead and his brothers needed direction. No that there was much brotherly love involved. He'd kill them himself but he needed them to get this done. He wanted to even the score as badly as Butch, but he wanted to cause Cord some discomfort in doing so. Butch just didn't have enough brains to think things out. He knew he'd have to plan this, himself. Dan was young and impulsive and usually eager to go along with whatever Butch wanted, but Jason had a better idea, and they'd soon see it his way.

"You should have stayed out of it, Jason." Dan came up behind him and said. "Butch could've took him."

"In a pig's eye he could take him." Jason thumped Dan on the head. "If he'd have tried, he'd be dead by now. Butch can't take him in a fair fight, and if you want it in the street, for all to see, it's gotta be fair. Otherwise someone might come after us. This town still ain't too friendly with Cord. So we got an advantage. If we use our heads, we can get this done. The only thing a gunfight would do would be to kill you or put you in jail. I don't think that's what you want."

Dan made a face but kept his mouth shut.

Jason whirled on his boot heels, and slapped his young brother, nearly knocking him down, blood oozed from the corner of Dan's mouth. "You boys gotta start using your brains." He grit his teeth to remember his patience. "A showdown is no way to take Cord out. That's exactly what the man wants a…a showdown. He'd beat us and you both know it. We'd be dead and nothing would be accomplished. That is not how we take him down." Jason insisted, his mouth snarling. "You two better listen to me, unless you are ready to die."

Dan's face turned bright red from the hard slap and his anger was about to explode on Jason. He jumped up out of the chair and glared at his older brother.

"You know so much…how do we take him down?" Dan faced him, but only for a minute before he crawled to the other side of the table and took a chair, the legs screeching on the floor.

Butch hollered again, "I don't need this crud, Jason." The way Jason kept piling the coffee on him, he was getting the jitters. Sometimes Butch hated Jason almost as much as he hated Cord. He determined that one of these days he was gonna whip the hell out of Jason, put him in his place once and for all.

"Drink your coffee and shut up." Jason growled effectively. Jason sought control of his dim-witted brothers. "We have to use our heads. And you being drunk sure won't work. You don't know how fast Cord is." Jason shook his head with disgust as he looked at them both. "I do. He's been a hired his gun before, that's how good he is. People paid him. You know he's good."

"I don't know it. How do you know he's any good, just because he's hired his gun out, don't mean he's good, does it?" Butch straightened his shoulders and sent a steel edged gaze to his older brother.

"He's still alive, isn't he?" Jason taunted. "You think people pay for a sorry gun?" Jason firmed his lips and glared at Butch.

"All right, so you seen him draw, so what?" Agitation lines his words as Butch shoved the coffee cup away from him.

"So you want to end up dead?" Jason shouted. His inability to comprehend his brothers lack of good sense. Why did they have to be so damned stupid? Why couldn't they learn to use their heads.

He took another approach. "Look, you are my brothers. I don't want to see you killed by the likes of him. So you gotta use your head a bit."

"I just don't believe he's that good is all." Butch injected. Hate bulged from his eyes. Hate for Cord, hate for Jason, it didn't much matter. He put them in the same category.

"Then you are dumber than I thought. Now you listen to me, I've seen him up close. He's better than most I've ever witnessed. That's how good he is. He's lightening fast. A man like that, you don't go against his gun. Not if you want to live, that is. That would be to his advantage. No, I've been thinking this through. Since he's been back things have changed. He's settling down with that Lilly gal from the saloon. He's sweet on her." Jason stared at them. "And, he claims her kid is his. That's big news for us. That's a big advantage."

"Everybody knows that. So what?" The old fireplace hissed and sizzled, sparking every now and then catching Butch's attention. Anything to keep him from listening to his know it all brother. Jason's mouth seemed to babble like a brook.

"I don't think anything would be better than killing him right there in the street! In front of everyone." Butch said, gulping down the hot coffee and burning his tongue. Cursing he banged the cup on the table and shoved it away again. "Besides, what about Lilly? Lot's of men are sweet on her."

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