“And Caroline’s wild happy ’cause somebody wants her,” Wesley finished. “They are a pair.”
“I’m bleedin’ to death and you two are fallin’ apart laughin’,” Lincoln Stark accused.
Leah, still so shocked by the whole scene she couldn’t yet laugh, looked at Bud and Cal and saw they were grinning from ear to ear, so she went to Lincoln. “Let’s go in the house and I’ll see if I can get the bleeding stopped.”
It was sometime later when Wesley came into the house, still smiling. “There are some people out here I want you to meet. They’re the twins’ parents, Linnet and Devon Macalister.”
The Dancer, Leah thought, washing out the bloody cloth she’d been holding to Lincoln’s nose. Now was when she’d be exposed as a thief.
Chapter 26
As Leah left the little house she prayed that Wesley wouldn’t let his temper show, that he’d be cautious and not blurt out what he felt about a man who’d planned robberies for years. But what greeted Leah was not what she expected.
Wesley was talking to the man as if they were the best of friends, smiling at him, his eyes alive. Macalister was tall, lean, dark-skinned, and very handsome. His black hair had bits of gray in it and his eyes crinkled against the sun, all of which added to his sharp good looks. Beside him was a pretty little woman with a delicate-featured face, big eyes, dark blonde hair and a curvy little body. She didn’t look a day over twenty-five, but she had to be quite a bit older if she was the mother of Slade and Cord.
“You must be Mrs. Stanford,” said the woman in a pretty, crisp accent. “I’m Linnet Macalister. And this—,” she pulled a little girl from behind her skirts, “this is my youngest daughter, Georgina. I believe you’ve met my sons.”
Instantly Leah liked this lovely woman and she wondered how much Linnet knew about her husband’s illegal activities.
The little girl gave Leah a shy smile, then ran to her father, tugging on his pants leg until he picked her up.
“Leah, honey,” Wesley said, “come here. I want you to meet Mac.”
Right away Leah knew it was going to be difficult to dislike Devon Macalister. “How do you do, Mr. Macalister.”
The man looked at his wife as if sharing some private joke. “Mac will do,” he said in a deep, pleasant voice. “Wes says you like to weave. Lynna has some patterns for weavin’, and Miranda spins wool.”
“Miranda’s our eldest daughter,” Linnet explained. “This morning she was visiting Corinne Tucker’s eldest daughter and she should be back fairly soon. Perhaps you and I could leave the men to their talk and I could show you Sweetbriar.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I’d hate to take so much of your time.” Truthfully Leah wanted to sit in the back of the wagon with a blanket over her head. That way she’d be sure no one recognized her.
“Go ahead,” Wesley said. “Linnet knows everybody a lot better than I do.” He gave her a hard look of warning that only she could see.
“What about Bud and Cal?” she asked quietly. She felt much safer with the men near her, as if they could protect each other.
With a sigh Wes looked down at her. “The boys will go with us, and Mac and I will protect them with our lives. If any children hurt your boys we’ll string the kids up right there. No trial or nothin’. And if any—.”
“Stop it!” she hissed, but she was smiling. “They’re just…you know.”
“Delicate,” Wesley said seriously. He leaned back toward Mac. “She’s talking about those two bulls over there. Leah’s afraid somebody will laugh at them and hurt their feelings.”
Mac gave a snort of disbelief.
“You just go with Linnet,” Wesley said, “and I’ll meet you at Mac’s store about noon.” Bending, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “And we’ll take care of your boys.”
Leah felt a little lost when Wesley and Mac, followed by the towering Bud and Cal, walked away, but Linnet soon put her at ease.
“Everyone in town is dying to meet Wesley’s new wife. We’ve known Wes for years and seen him work hard on his farm, so of course everyone is curious about who he was doing all the work for,” Linnet said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if nearly everyone in Sweetbriar came to town today just to see you.”
With a laugh at Leah’s grimace, Linnet continued. “You’ll have to get used to this town. There’s no such thing as a secret to them. It’s not that they’re nosy, just that they’re…concerned, I guess. When I first came here twenty years ago—.”
“Twenty years!” Leah said in disbelief. “You don’t look much
over twenty now.”
“How kind you are. My eldest daughter is nineteen. Here comes Agnes Emerson. Her husband died a few years ago and now her son Doyle runs their farm.”
What followed for Leah was a confusing array of names and faces. There were people who’d only been in Sweetbriar for a year or two, but that special light in Linnet’s eyes was reserved for the parents and children of people who, Linnet said, had been in the town for years. Leah found it impossible to keep all the people straight. She met Nettie and Maxwell Rowe and was told their youngest daughter, Vaida, was the town schoolteacher and their eldest, Rebekah, was married to Jessie Tucker who was now a state senator.