Madison's Children

“People haul dogs they don’t want out to the country and leave them. The dogs begin to scrounge for food. They meet up with coyotes or wolves and mate. Suddenly there’s a pack of them, all hungry and killing everything they can to survive.”

“How awful.”

“Yeah, animal activists have tried to change things to no avail. Sometimes you just can’t stop people. Animal shelters are full and now charge if you bring in a dog. People who don’t want a dog are not going to pay. It’s a vicious cycle and ranchers pay the price.”

“Miss Dorie used to take in every stray dog that showed up at High Five,” Rufus said, shoving his gun into his saddle scabbard, “but since Mr. Bart died she lost interest in a lot of things. If one shows up, I take it to the shelter so they can find it a home.”

“Good for you, Ru,” Maddie replied.

“And Booger’s a stray we kept. He’s part Australian blue heeler and learned to work cattle. He’s a natural. Wish we could keep ’em all, but we can’t.”

“If everyone did that, there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“But we have a problem now,” Coop said. “Ru and I were talking, and we think it might be best to round up all the cows fixing to calf and keep them in the pen next to the corral. Except the hurricane took down the fence, so we have to repair it first.”

“Go for supplies and we’ll get busy.” That was an easy decision to make.

Coop hesitated.

“What?”

“Cait always went for supplies. Ms. Nell doesn’t want me in her store.”

“Well, that’s insane.” Maddie couldn’t believe Cait tolerated such behavior. “Make a list and I’ll pick up everything.” And she’d have a talk with Ms. Nell, too. Since she was sticking her nose in other people’s business, she might make it a trend.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER she walked through the double worn doors of Walker’s General Store. A bell jingled over her head, and it reminded her of the summers she’d spent at High Five as a kid. This was a favorite spot of the Belle sisters—candywise the store had everything.

She breathed in the scent of apples, spices and cedar, a hint of the upcoming holidays. The store was the same as it had been when she was a child: faded hardwood floors, a rustic wood ceiling from which sundries hung, and shelves of gallon jars filled with every candy a child could want.

The aisles were cluttered with everything imaginable, from buckets and fishing poles to barrels of apples, pears and oranges. Homemade quilts hung on a wall. A couple of Christmas trees were propped in a corner. A feed and hardware department was at the back. Every now and then the scent of oats wafted through the tantalizing aroma of the holidays.

Maddie walked over to the counter where Nell Walker stood waiting on a customer. Cigarettes took pride of place in the glass case beneath. A gallon jar of jawbreakers sat on the counter among chewing tobacco, gum and tempting candy bars. She always went for the jawbreakers—they were her favorite. She resisted the urge to stick her hand in the jar.

Instead, she studied Ms. Walker. She had aged since Maddie had last seen her. Her gray hair was cut short like a man’s and the lines of her stern face were set into a permanent frown. A tall, big-boned woman, Nell Walker exuded a persona of toughness and rigidity, the same as her nephew.

The customer left and Nell swung her gaze to Maddie. “May I help you, Ms. Belle?”

She noticed that Nell’s eyes were a cold gray like a winter’s day. As she pulled the list from her pocket, she thought that Nell looked very unhappy.

“I’d like to pick up some supplies.” She placed the list in front of Nell.

Nell looked it over and then shouted, “Luther.”

A man in his sixties ambled from the back.

“Is your truck out front?” Nell asked Maddie while glancing at the list and scribbling it into a record book.

“Yes.”

“Give Luther your keys and he’ll load your supplies.”

“Oh, okay.” She’d never done this before so she wasn’t sure how it worked. Digging in her purse, she found her keys and handed them over.

As Luther took the list and walked out the door, Nell said, “I’ll put everything on your bill. Anything else I can help you with?”

Maddie swung her purse strap over her shoulder. “Yes, there is.”

Nell raised frosty eyes to Maddie’s, and for a moment, a tiny moment, her resolve weakened. She stepped closer to the counter. “A lot of days I’m busy and don’t have time to come in for supplies, so I’ll be sending Cooper Yates, my foreman, in for them. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“I don’t want him in my store.” The words were delivered like an errant baseball smacking someone against the head. Unexpected and painful.

Nervously, her hand tightened on her purse strap, but no way would she bend. Coop deserved better than this kind of treatment. “Fine. If that’s the way you feel, I’ll just take High Five’s business into Giddings, and I’m sure Caitlyn will agree to do the same for Southern Cross.”

A telltale shade of pink crawled up the woman’s face. Losing two ranches’ business would hurt the store. Evidently hitting her in the pocketbook was talking her language.

“I don’t want ex-cons in here. It’s bad for business, but—”

“Is there a problem?” Walker strolled from the back, Georgie on his heels. Georgie smiled and she smiled back for a second.

Then she glanced at Walker, tall and imposing in a white shirt, snug jeans and boots. His Stetson was pulled low and hid his eyes, but just the sight of him made her heart go pitter-patter.

She took a breath. “Yes, there is. Ms. Walker refuses to allow Cooper to pick up supplies.” She stood her ground when she wanted to take a step backward. The man was just so…so intimidating, frustrating and…handsome. There, she’d admitted it. He was too handsome for her peace of mind. And that sincere note in his voice was sidetracking her.

“Is this true?” Walker asked his aunt.

“We can’t have ex-cons in here. Business will drop.”

“Caitlyn and I will certainly take our business elsewhere if the status quo doesn’t change.”

“It will change, won’t it, Nell?”

Nell puffed out her chest. “I was just about to tell Ms. Belle that.”

Walker swung his gaze to her. “Good, then there’s not a problem.”

Her insides did a crazy flip-flop. What was wrong with her? Earlier she was annoyed at his attitude, but now she was acting like a ridiculous teenager. Before she could gather her wits, Georgie stuck his hand into the jar for a jawbreaker. Nell quickly slapped his hand with a resounding swat. Georgie let out a wail.

Walker gathered the boy into his arms, his eyes turning as cold as Nell’s. “You will not hit my child.”

“He eats too many sweets and he’ll choke on those things.”

Maddie walked over to a jar on the shelf and used the scoop to fill a bag with jelly beans. “Put this on my bill,” she said to Nell, and handed them to Georgie. She waited for Walker to say he could pay for his own kid’s candy, but he didn’t say a word, just looked at her. “It’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked, to hide her nervousness under that gaze.

“Yes.”

“See?” she said to Georgie. “These are smaller and chewy. They’re good.”

Georgie wiped away a tear and poked his hand into the bag. He popped two into his mouth and nodded with a grin.