Hope, page 10
part #3 of Brides of the Rio Grande Series
“Doc, if you ain’t gonna introduce me to this pretty little lady, I’ll have to do it myself.”
“Like I said, Bobby, we are famished and if we don’t eat soon, we won’t have time.” Hope knew they didn’t have any patients scheduled for the rest of the afternoon. It was doc’s way of getting rid of the man. There was no doubt about it.
Doc turned to her, all hints of his previous humor were gone. His eyes met hers and she sensed he was sending her a silent message, but she wasn’t certain she understood it. He continued to look at her when he spoke the demanded introductions.
“Bobby, this is Hope. Hope, this is Bobby.”
“Very nice to meet you, Miss Anderson.” The man removed his dirty, battered hat and nodded to her. In spite of his rough appearance, he could be considered a handsome man. His dark looks and dimples kind of reminded her of Billy, but there was something about him that was very off-putting.
Hope curtsied and nodded in return. “The same to you, Bobby.”
“I didn’t tell you her last name. What’s going on, Bobby? How do you know Hope?”
“I don’t know her, but I heard around town that piss ant little brother of mine was sweet on a girl. Couldn’t believe it myself, so I asked around town.”
“You were the man who asked me all those questions that day. You are Billy’s brother?” Hope couldn’t believe her ears. Or eyes.
“That’s right. My name’s Bobby. Bobby Buchanan, ma’am, and I’m certainly glad to be makin’ your acquaintance. Again. You are quite the looker if I do say so myself.”
She felt the doctor’s hand on her back, compelling her to move away. She was curious about the man now, but not enough to prolong the conversation. Not when it was obvious Doc Howard wanted to put distance between them and the stranger. That was unlike the doctor, so something must have happened to make him behave in such a way.
She started to move in the direction of the table when the man stopped them again.
“I’ll be seein’ you around town, Miss Anderson. And tell that snot nosed brother of mine, he can’t stop me from doing something when I put my mind to it.”
Hope was secretly glad to meet a member of Billy’s family, but was taken aback by the man’s crude behavior. Billy never talked about members of his family, other than a younger sister somewhere down around Durango. When she asked questions about his other siblings, he always changed the subject of the conversation. Hope wanted to get more information without seeming to be interested in the man’s answers. The truth was, she was very, very interested indeed.
“Bobby, that’s just about enough. Now, if you will excuse us—”
The man again stepped into their path. It could be viewed as a menacing move but then again, Hope knew something wasn’t right between Billy’s brother and Doc Howard.
Hope wasn’t certain what Doc was going to do, but the set in his jaw told her the possibility of a physical confrontation was imminent. The last thing she wanted was a scene in front of the patrons of the boardinghouse restaurant, so she quickly interceded hoping to diffuse the situation.
She curtsied to the man named Bobby and said her goodbye. “It was very interesting to meet you, Mr. Buchanan. Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse the good doctor and myself, I’m faint with hunger.” Hope turned and left the men standing in the doorway and wove a path through the occupied tables of curious diners to the still-empty table in the corner.
Without a single look backward, she nodded to the few familiar faces she passed along the way. Her heart skipped a beat here and there until she reached the table. Now she was faced with another quandary. Should she seat herself or should she search out Doc’s whereabouts which would make it look like they were a couple. Oh what a mess this was turning into. Thank goodness Doc arrived a mere second or two behind her.
He pulled out her chair and seated her. Then, he chose the chair across the table instead of one beside her. Relief pushed a nervous breath from her lungs. She hadn’t realized she had held her breath at all.
To her added relief, the waitress addressed them immediately, giving Hope time to think before she began firing questions at her dining companion. Doc nodded and smiled openly to other diners he knew. Soon, the waitress returned with silverware and hot coffee in tow. The young woman poured the aromatic steaming black brew into Hope’s serviceable mug and she busied herself by adding cream and sugar, stirring the mixture slowly to give herself another moment to calm her ragged nerves. She wrapped her chilled fingers around the hot cup and waited for an opening to quiz the doctor on exactly what had just happened between him and Billy’s estranged brother, Bobby.
The waitress returned a second time to take their order. Hope hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. “We have a few more servings of the pot roast if you like roasted carrots, potatoes and—”
Hope’s stomach threatened to embarrass them all. “That sounds perfect. I’ll have that,” she blurted.
“I’ll have the same.” Doc handed the menu to the young woman and turned to Hope.
When the waitress was out of hearing range, Doc brought up the elephant in the room. “So, I’m sure you are wondering about Billy’s brother. I really wish you would ask Billy for the answers. I’m not sure he would want me delving into such a private family matter.”
Doc’s blunt refusal to talk about the two brothers momentarily rendered Hope speechless. What could possibly have happened between Billy and Bobby to warrant such a reaction from the generally amiable and good-natured doctor?
Soon, their meal arrived and for the next twenty minutes, she and her employer ate in silence. A stealthy glance or two in Doc’s direction revealed his brow deep in thought. It seemed the doctor was as troubled about their interaction with Bobby Buchanan as she was. She really must find out whatever it was Doc was trying so hard not to tell her.
“Doc, believe me when I tell you I’ve tried to talk to Billy about his family. Many times. He is very close-mouthed about it all. Perhaps you would give me a tiny window of insight, so I won’t go stepping on a sore subject next time he and I have this conversation?”
“That’s probably not a good idea, Hope. In fact, it is a very bad idea. I wish we could have avoided that little exchange altogether. No good can come of it. I can’t even imagine how Bobby is even back in town? After all, he was sentenced—”
Hope caught the end of Doc’s sentence and understood its meaning. “You said he was sentenced, as in sentenced by a judge to jail?” Hope’s breath caught at the ramifications of what that could mean.
She watched Doc hesitate for a moment, but his shoulders sagged in resignation. “Yes, Hope. But not to jail. To a prison in Arizona. Bobby killed a man.”
“What happened?” Hope had to know what happened, knowing full well Billy would not offer the information.
“He was caught sleeping with another man’s wife. The man confronted him and Bobby—”
“I need to know, Doc. Please tell me all of it.”
Doc looked her straight in the eyes. “It’s not a pretty picture, Hope. He beat the man to death.”
“Oh.” She tried not to picture the event in her mind. But, couldn’t there be some mistake? Sometimes people were accused of wrongdoings when they weren’t true. Or, like Faith, being forced to defend herself by shooting the drunken mayor’s son when he tried to rape her. But if he was convicted and sent to prison, there must be more to the story.
“He wouldn’t have been sentenced to prison for defending himself, am I right?”
The look on Doc’s face told her she was going to be sorry she asked.
“I need to know. Please. Tell me all of it.”
Doc nodded and picked up his fork to push around the crumbs on his plate.
“The man he beat to death was—” He hesitated as if he couldn’t bear to say the words.
“Go on. Tell me, Doc.” Hope encouraged him. She was so close to the truth that Billy refused to share with her.
“The man was in a wheelchair. A mining accident left him paralyzed from the waist down,” Doc said in a rush of words.
“Then could there have been some mistake? Surely there’s more to the story than what the wife was telling. I mean, the man must have held a gun on Bobby, don’t you think? If the man came home to find his wife in bed with another man, it would only make sense he would be angry. And, if the man pulled a gun on Bobby—”
“The man didn’t have a gun. He was unarmed when they found his lifeless body on the floor in a pool of his own blood.”
It took Hope a moment to understand the portent of Doc’s words. Chills ran over her skin. “You mean Bobby could have gotten away from the man without effort? He could have simply got out of his cheating bed and put his clothes on and walked away from the man without a confrontation? And yet he chose to beat the helpless man—a crippled man in a wheelchair—to death? Billy’s brother did this?”
Doc nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so, Hope. And there’s more.”
Hope couldn’t imagine what more there could be, but she was in with both feet now and she had to know the rest. “Go on, Doc. Tell me the rest of this horrible story. I—have to know what it is that troubles Billy so much he can’t even talk about it. Please.”
Doc nodded. “Sometime during the beating, the man’s cheating wife must have felt some remorse and tried to help her husband. But, when she tried to intervene by hitting Bobby with his own boot heel, he turned on her and hit her in the face, breaking her nose and knocking her out cold. When she woke up, her husband was dead, and Bobby was gone.
“Sheriff Grayson woke me up at three in the morning to see to the woman’s injuries and pronounce the man dead and to determine the cause of death. It took me twenty-six stitches of cat gut to close the gashes on her face. It took her three weeks before she looked close to normal again. And it took a jury less than an hour to convict Bobby and sentence him to prison for murder.”
Hope’s ears rang with Doc’s words. She looked into the troubled face of her employer and mentor. She shook her head in understanding. “No wonder Billy doesn’t want to talk about his brother. He’s a murderer.”
Doc motioned the waitress to bring their bill. Before she arrived at their table, Doc shook his head and whispered words that chilled her to the bone. “No, Hope. He’s a monster.”
Billy led his team of drafts to the Shaw-Bassett sawmill’s stables and fed and watered them before he headed toward the only place to get a room in town. South Fork was a fledgling little community comprised mostly of ranchers and farmers, but now that the sawmill was in full stride providing lumber to the mines near Creede, and the train stopped to refill the steam engines with water to take folks up to the hot springs at Wagon Wheel Gap, the area was a bustling community.
Billy had had a tough week and he was ready to get back to Creede and spend some time with Hope, especially after she had been working for Doc Howard for a whole week. He shoved his jealousy down inside his gut and tried to reassure himself everything between him and Hope would be just fine.
He planned to leave early in the morning so he was looking for an early supper and a quiet bed inside Mr. Shaw’s bunkhouse where he housed his migrant workers when a familiar voice hit him out of the darkness.
“Well, hello Billy Boy. It’s been a long time since I seen you around these parts.”
Billy turned at the familiar voice. “Bonnie. Yeah, it has been a long time. But not near long enough. Where’s the rest of Bedlam’s residents? Did you all kill each other and you’re the last one standing? Nah, that can’t be ‘cause I just saw our no good brother in Creede last week. Guess it’s true what they say, only the good ones die young.” He didn’t even try to hide his sarcasm.
“Ah, Billy Boy. Still mad at the world, I see.”
Just hearing his sister’s voice made him want to punch something. Instead, he turned and vented his anger at one of his siblings who tortured him mercilessly when his mom left him in their care. Which was every damned day she left the house at dawn and didn’t return until well after dark.
“You would try to turn it all on me, wouldn’t ya? You and Betty always did take the easy way out—sneakin’ out of the house as soon as Ma was out of sight. You left me with those sadistic brothers of ours. You knew they tortured me and you did nothing to stop them.”
“Billy, what was I supposed to do? Bobby was the oldest. And Bernie and Bennie followed along behind Bobby like twin puppies. Me and Betty had other things to do besides wastin’ our time watching after a snot-nosed kid who bellyached and whined all the time ‘cause Ma wasn’t home to rock you on her lap.”
“You knew Bobby locked me out of the cabin. Hell, you knew he locked me under the cabin right after breakfast and didn’t let me out ‘till just before supper time when he knew Momma would be home. I cried for Momma, but she wasn’t there. Then, I’d beg for you or Betty to come let me out. I promised to be good, but you two were always chasin’ after two-bit drifters that came sniffin’ around. Do you think I couldn’t hear what was goin’ on in your room above my head? Hell, I could see what you were doing through the cracks in the floor boards. It was disgusting.”
“That ain’t how it was, Billy. You was only five. You was too young to know what was going on. Me and Betty had to make our own money ’cause that was the only way we were gonna get ahead. Momma could barely keep food on the table, much less buy us things we wanted.”
“It wasn’t just when I was five and you know it. It was every day of my life until I was old enough to fend for myself. If it wasn’t for John Malone, who knows where I’d be right now.”
His sister’s mirthless laugh clawed at him, striking a raw nerve. Bile rose up and threatened to choke him. Memories of those days grew more real the longer he exchanged insults with his sister.
“And how is ole Johnny Boy Malone these days? I sure did take a hankering to get to know that big man better, but he only had eyes for Lizzie and see where that got ’im? Bet he’s sorry he ever called you friend, huh Billy? You stealin’ his wife and all. Guess it’s safe to say ya’ll ain’t friends no more. I hear tell he has another wife now. And she’s pretty. Too bad. Coulda used a ride in the hay with that one.”
“Shut up, Bonnie. You’re disgusting.”
He needed to leave or he was certain he was gonna lose control and that was the last thing he needed to happen. People around these parts already thought he was crazy.
“You shut up, Billy. We all had it rough growin’ up. You ain’t the only one. We was poor, but we made it alright. That is, until Momma died. Then we all had to go our own ways to survive.”
“You keep telling yourself that, Bonnie. You tell yourself everything was just dandy growing up, but you and I both know that ain’t so. Bobby was a mean son of a bitch. And not just to me. Why do you think the twins always followed in his footsteps? Hero worship? Hardly. They were scared to death of him. He was a sadistic bastard and you left me with him.”
Billy squeezed his eyes shut and took deep breaths, fighting back the ringing in his ears. “I gotta get going. I wish I could say it was nice seein’ you, Bonnie, but we both know it ain’t.” He tipped his hat in a sarcastic bow and turned his back on her.
“Billy. I know things were tough on you back then. Hell, it was tough on all of us, so don’t go thinkin’ you’re the only one runnin’ from ghosts. But you remember this. Momma did the best she could. Papa dyin’ didn’t leave her many choices and she did the best she knew how to do.”
Billy stopped. He wanted nothing to do with his past or anyone in it. And he wanted to make that crystal clear. He allowed his self-control to slip—just a bit. He turned and let loose on his older sibling.
“Don’t try to soothe your guilt by convincing yourself things was all hunky dory. You knew what Bobby was doin’ and you didn’t do a damn thing to stop it. To my way of thinking, you were just as guilty as he was.” His pulse raced and his anger was threatening to escape the prison he had erected to hold it in. Sometimes, late at night, in the dark, those memories came to visit. The images and feelings would become so real, he would get out of bed and turn every light on in the house to chase them away. “Now, leave me the hell alone, Bonnie. If you see me again, don’t bother to say hello.”
Billy turned away from his sister once and for all. He hoped like hell he never laid eyes on her again. He hated the way memories from those days made him feel and it took him a bottle of whiskey and a good day to sleep it off before he felt like himself again. He didn’t have time for that tonight.
He turned up the street to the house where he had rented a room. He just needed to get a good night’s sleep and get back to Creede. Better yet, he wouldn’t feel whole again until he was back at his cabin. He wished he could just go home and live there, but it wasn’t quite finished yet. Soon. Very, very soon. Maybe then he could find some peace.
8
Hope sat in stunned silence thinking about everything Doc Howard told her about Billy’s brother when a man Hope had never seen before appeared at their table holding his hat in his hand. It was obvious he didn’t want to bother the good doctor, but his question must have been important to push him into asking it anyway.
“Doc Howard. Could I bother you a moment? My wife—I mean, I have a question that might be indelicate for present company. I have a table right over there.” He motioned to where a lone woman sat watching them.
Doc Howard stood. “Hope, I’m sorry. Duty calls. Think about what I said. You really need to ask Billy about, well, you know. And, to underline our conversation of earlier today, you are doing a fine job as my assistant. Don’t you dare quit on me. I really need your help.”
Hope watched him follow the gentleman over to another table where an elderly woman sat hunched over her plate. He took the woman’s hand to comfort her. Poor Doctor Howard. He couldn’t even grab a quick meal without someone interrupting him. She grinned at her employer’s words. He really needed her help and he didn’t want her to quit.
