"N-no. People donate what they can."

"Mm. How about a fee for seeing that this is written down in the courthouse records like everybody else?"

"There's a small fee. You can take the certificate and...."

Cord threw a dollar on the desk and his voice went softer and menacing, "I suppose if we check at the courthouse next time we're in town, we'll find it in the records?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I'll see that it's done right away."

"Good, because we'll check." Cord then politely tipped his hat to each of the men.

"Thank you, Reverend. Mr. White, Mr. Benton."

Anne saw no reason to disguise her contempt. She gave them all dirty looks and then walked out.

When he pulled up in front of James Miles' General Store, Anne explained to Cord she would like to go in alone while he went to the feed store. James Miles was Rachel's father and had been like an uncle to her all her life. She was hoping to talk to him and to have him understand and sell them goods without Cord even coming in.

She sensed his reluctance, but all he said was, "Hurt's worse when your friends get mean."

"I know, but I want to try. If it doesn't work, I'll wait for you outside."

When James Miles caught sight of her, his long narrow face lit up. "Anne, I didn't know you had come home. It's good to see you. Are you all right? How are you?"

She smiled back but asked quietly, "Mr. Miles, can I talk with you alone a minute?"

Puzzled, Miles made the familiar gesture of smoothing his black hair over the little bald spot. Then he gestured to his a.s.sistant to take over and led the way to the storeroom in the back of the store. They sat face to face on wooden crates while Anne told James Miles the story she had told Sheriff Reynolds quickly and concisely.

She finished with, "So, you see, Mr. Miles, I'm here with my husband for supplies. I know I can't ever be friends with your family the way it's been in the past, but I'm hoping we can still at least be friends."

Miles tried to argue with her. "You can't be serious about this. No matter what's happened you know you have friends who will help you. You don't have to live out there with that, that...."

Anne felt a small curl of anger begin but squelched it. She didn't want to lose this friend. "That man is my husband, and he's a much better husband than I ever thought I'd have. I like him."

He looked at her in dismay, but Anne could tell her story had moved him.

"You know Randal will never even let Rachel say h.e.l.lo to you in the street and a lot of others will feel the same?"

"Yes, I know. I'll be grateful if you aren't one of those others." Everything has a price thought Anne.

"All right, then. You have a list?"

She felt relief surge through her, and as they walked out of the storeroom, stopped and hugged him. "Thank you."

He patted her shoulder. "Now, now, that's enough of that. I just hope you know what you're doing."

The store was beginning to fill with women who didn't seem to need to buy anything.

Anne realized word was spreading that she was in town with Cord, and every busybody was eager to find out what was going on for herself.

Miles began to pull the items on the list from his shelves, and Anne shopped around, picking up other items on the list and, guiltily, a few that weren't. Finally, she had everything, and she headed for the counter while Miles began to total the bill.

Beside her she heard the shrewish voice of Emma Wilkinson, the most vicious of the town harpies. "Surely, James, you're not going to wait on an Injun's woman while decent folk wait." It was not put as a question.

Miles looked up and said, "Now, Emma, there are circ.u.mstances...."

Mrs. Wilkinson didn't wait for him to finish but interrupted. "There are no such thing as 'circ.u.mstances,' and you know it. A decent woman would choose death."

No one had heard Cord pad in on moccasined feet. His voice was extra polite but very clear and carried over the whole store. "Mrs. Wilkinson, you'd never have to make a choice. My grandfather was an ignorant, illiterate savage, but if he'd captured you, he'd have just slit your throat. Even an ignorant savage knows better than to f.u.c.k a b.i.t.c.h."

Mrs. Wilkinson's face turned deep puce and she seemed to be gasping for air. Anne was afraid for a moment that the woman would faint at her feet, but with a strangled sound Emma ran from the store as if pursued by furies.

Trying very hard to keep a giggle inside, Anne peeked up to see Miles frowning at her.

Cord's voice came again, drawling, but still clear, "I didn't think a decent woman would even know what I was talking about."

Still meeting James Miles' disapproving gaze, Anne lost control, and the giggle escaped.

Still frowning slightly, Miles said, "Anne, girl, I sure hope you know what you've gotten yourself into."

She grinned at him mischievously. "It's really not a problem, Mr. Miles. I'm so decent I can't understand half of what he says."

She laughed to herself the whole time Cord paid the bill and he and Miles carried the supplies to the wagon.

In the street, Cord muttered without looking at her, "Thought you'd be mad."

"Why should I be mad? You just fixed it so there isn't a woman in town who'd have the nerve to say an unkind word to me."

"Mm. Anything else you want around here?"

"If it's all right, the druggist has some nice lotion at his shop, and I wouldn't mind some soap easier on my skin than what you use."

Amiably they headed to the druggist's.

On the wagon seat again, Cord asked, "You want to go straight home, or shall we press our luck at the cafe? I'd sure like a steak."

Anne was feeling almost giddy with the success of the day so far. "Let's try the cafe.

All that can happen is Dora won't wait on us, and we'll sit a while and walk out."

He drove up the street.

Anne started to believe her worst that could happen prediction was going to come true. The cafe's owner, cook, and waitress, Dora Bagley, acted as if they weren't there.

Dora was stout, red-faced, and formidable, and trying to force her to feed them would probably get them poisoned.

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Cord reached for his hat, signaling to Anne he was ready to admit defeat and leave. Just then, however, Noah Reynolds walked into the little restaurant, argued vigorously with Dora, walked over, and sat down at their table.

"Do you mind company?"

Cord regarded Noah thoughtfully. "Nope, but if you're planning on eating anything, you won't get it done here."

Noah chuckled. "Dora's changed her mind. It wouldn't do to refuse the town's sheriff his piece of pie just because of the company he keeps."

Sure enough Dora came over, thumped down three coffee cups and filled them with strong looking brew. "I know you want pie, Noah. What about these two?"

Cord's eyes met Anne's for an instant, and she saw a what the h.e.l.l glint. He said only, "Two steaks with everything."

Dora never looked at him but left with a swish of skirts.

Cord leaned back in the chair, looking so relaxed as to be boneless. "'Preciate that, Noah. We'll treat you to the pie."

Noah shrugged. "When I heard you were here, I thought I'd better tell you, those Double M Men all quit and moved on. Meeks and Samuels were in to see Doc. Meeks had a pretty good shoulder wound, and you hit Samuels in the side. They must have hurt for a while, but they weren't in much danger of dying. I suppose you were trying to kill them, weren't you?"

"Trying to gutshoot them, but I wasn't too steady at the time." The off-hand, casual way he said it made the statement more chilling.

The sheriff's mouth tightened with disapproval. "Well, they didn't say where they were headed, in case you have any notion of going hunting."

Cord's only answer was a slight headshake.

Now Noah brought up a second reason for his visit. "Also, I'm here because I'm as curious as the rest of the town. I figured Frank and Eph would have had Anne in Chicago long ago. What are you two doing here like this?"

Cord just looked out the window, answering the question in his usual way. Anne said, "We decided to stay married."

Surprise showed in Noah's face. "Just like that."

"Not exactly just like that, but that's how it ended up."

Noah was struggling for words, at a loss. "But what about Frank and Ephraim?"

"Well, they came the day after you did, but they made me angry, so I sent them away."

Noah did not understand. "Sent them away?"

Cord rejoined the conversation. "Ran them out of the house with a rifle."

Noah couldn't have shown more astonishment if they'd said a mouse had killed a cat.

" You ran Frank Bennett out of the house?"

Anne felt slightly embarra.s.sed and knew it showed. "Well, he started yelling ugly things, and I lost my temper."

Noah slumped in his chair, looking back and forth between the two of them.

The food arrived, and there was no more conversation while Noah dawdled over his pie and Cord and Anne dug into the steaks. Cord's plate was already spotless when Anne put down her fork and said with regret, "I hate to waste, but I really can't eat any more of this.

Cord said, "No waste," and exchanged his empty plate for hers with a smooth sleight of hand. The urge to hug him redoubled. He had a dreadful foul mouth, what he had just done was terribly uncouth, and she liked him more than she had imagined possible.

The cafe door banged, and her brother Robert came storming in, a purposeful scowl on his face. Rob had the same soft brown hair as Anne, but bright blue eyes. At twenty-five his face was still soft and boyish with a spoiled, usually sullen looking mouth, a sign, his sister thought, of immaturity.

"Anne, it's all over town about your being here. Noah told us you'd gone to Chicago, and we haven't had a letter from Aunt Clara. What are you doing here with that man?"

The next person who referred to Cord as "that man" was going to get an earful. "Well, I should think you know, Rob. Father wanted me married, so he saw that I was married, and here I am. Let me introduce you to my husband."

Already primed, Rob let go of his temper immediately. "You're not introducing me to him, and you know perfectly well you're not really married to him. If you weren't so pigheaded, you'd be filing charges against him. You're coming home right now! I suppose you think you're getting even with Father for a couple of little slaps you absolutely deserved. You know all you have to do is apologize. You've ruined yourself for living in Mason, but you can go to Aunt Clara's. No one will know."

"h.e.l.l will freeze over before I apologize to anyone or before I ever set foot in that house again. It's not my home any more. I'm not going back today, I'm not going back tomorrow, I'm not going back in ten years, and I'm not going back to die."

Rob grabbed Anne's arm, and as she pulled away from him she saw Cord look up from the last of her steak, his pale eyes looking like gla.s.s shards reflecting the cold winter light. Noah set his coffee cup down hard, his eyes darting back and forth between Rob and Cord.

"If you're going to act like this I won't even talk to you. Go away, Rob."

Almost beside himself, Rob shouted at her. "Maybe Father's right about you! Maybe you are just a slu...."

He never finished the last word as Cord erupted from his chair, backhanding the other man so hard Rob fell backwards across another table. He barely landed before Cord had him by the front of his coat, pinning him to the table as he shook his head to clear it.

"How do you like that sample of the 'little slaps' your father gave your sister? Boy, you listen careful, because if you ever talk to my wife like that again, I'll break your jaw in so many places you'll never talk again."

Anne sipped her coffee and gave Noah a hard look. Surely it was time for him to start sheriffing. Cord slammed Rob down on the table and returned to his chair. As Rob began to get up, still full of indignant righteousness, Noah got to his feet, went over and put an arm around his shoulders.

"Sheriff, you have to arrest that man."

"For what? My wife's been dead for three years, and if you called her names like that today, I'd shoot you."

"She's not really his wife. He can't keep her out there like that."

As Noah hustled Rob out of the cafe, Anne smiled apologetically at Cord. "I'm sorry.

He's not really mean, he's just...."

Cord shrugged. "Maybe he's been taking etiquette lessons from my brothers."

She laughed out loud at that and saw the surprise on Noah's face as he came back to their table.

"I think I convinced him to head for home and leave you be," he said. "Anne, I'm surprised it didn't bother you to see him roughed up like that."

She just shook her head. "The sad thing is it probably didn't do a bit of good. The trouble with my brother is he thinks G.o.d himself should consult with Father before making a decision to be sure to get it right."

Halfway home, Anne gave in to the urge and threw her arms around Cord's neck, giving him a hard hug and a kiss that landed on the corner of his mouth.

"What was that for?"

His words were almost a growl, but she could see the smile in his eyes. It had surprised her to realize today that others couldn't read his eyes.

"I was really afraid I'd get stoned in the streets, you know. I think I even felt a little bit I might deserve it. You not only made me feel respectable, you made me feel eminently respectable."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, but it was a companionable silence.