Sally suppressed a sneer. Opal was right. The grass was always greener. She must be getting old.
"Good mornin',
Reverend
."
Aware that her smile was little more than a grimace, Sally continued, "This here is Opal, a friend of mine."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Opal."
Yeah… he sure was.
"I'm pleased to meet you, too, Reverend." Opal moved closer with open interest. She placed a hand on his arm. It was smooth and white and warm as she leaned toward him, allowing a deeper glimpse of her ample breasts as she looked up at him with eyes that gleamed as black as ebony. "Sally was tellin' me that you were sick." She swept him appreciatively with her gaze. "But you look real good and healthy to me."
Reed allowed his own gaze to linger. Opal was younger than she appeared at a distance. Her features were small, her skin clear where it could be seen underneath the heavy face paint she wore, and her body was slim and ripe. He suspected that she wasn't much older than Chastity in years, although her eyes told another story.
Taken by surprise at the unexpected sadness that thought evoked, Reed responded, "I'm feeling much better."
"Glad to hear that, Reverend." Opal played the game well, adding with a flutter of heavily darkened lashes, "Sally's been tellin' me how you're goin' to be leavin' Sedalia to go out convertin'.
I have a few hours off from the Roundup right now, and I was thinkin' that maybe you might like to practice some of your convertin' on me. I sure am in need. As a matter of fact, there are things I didn't even realize I've
been needin'
until you walked up here beside me. I ain't got no doubt you could handle them real well."
Opal moved closer. The casual brush of her breasts against his arm was not really so casual. Nor was it casual the way her tongue stroked her lower lip before she whispered, "You look to me like you'd be real good at what you do, Reverend, and I'll tell you a secret. I'm real good at what I do, too. We just might be able to come together with real benefit for the both of us." Her gaze dropped to his mouth. "I got a room in the back where we could be alone and have a good heart-to-heart talk. I could meet you there in a few minutes, if you like."
All female flesh, hot and sweet as honey…
Reed's gaze lingered on the open invitation in Opal's dark eyes. It moved to her parted lips, then to the warm breasts pressing more earnestly against his arm. The musky scent of her enveloped him in its seductive allure and the sadness within Reed inexplicably expanded. He wondered if she had ever been innocent and trusting like Chastity.
Or if she had ever smelled like roses.
Reed halted his thoughts abruptly. What in hell was wrong with him?
The answer to that question was growing uncomfortably clear.
Determined to eliminate that discomfort, Reed glanced at Sally. It was obvious that she wasn't entirely surprised by the direction Opal's conversation had taken. She was an old hand at this sort of thing. She would keep her silence. And if she didn't, it didn't matter. A half hour with Opal would cure all his ills. Then Chastity and he would be out of town on the afternoon train, leaving Opal behind him, smiling and a little richer for the time they spent together.
His decision made, Reed covered Opal's hand warmly with his own. He heard her short intake of breath and felt her responsive heat. He was about to speak when a flash of red hair at the end of the street caught his eye.
Sally's gaze followed his, and she muttered something under her breath. Something in her tone turned him sharply toward her.
"What did you say?"
"Nothin'."
Reed glanced up the street. "That was Chastity going into the mercantile store, wasn't it?"
"It looked like her."
He waited for her to continue.
"You don't have to worry about her in there. From what I hear, Chastity packs quite a wallop."
"A wallop…"
Sally's brows rose with surprise. "She didn't tell you about what happened, huh? I suppose she figured there wasn't
no
use to it since you was laid up and she took care of it herself, but it sure gave everybody in town a good laugh."
Reed slowly stiffened.
''A laugh?"
"Yeah.
Seems like Charlie Dobbs, the storekeeper, got the wrong impression of Chastity when she went in there to buy some things the day after you got here.
From what I hear, she tried to tell him he was makin' a mistake, but he wasn't listenin'. He tried puttin' his hands on her, and the story is that she hauled off and knocked him flat on his back."
"He put his hands on her."
That thought struck all else from Reed's mind.
"They say the look on Charlie's face was somethin' to see when he got up. Some fella walked in then and backed Chastity up, so's Charlie didn't get any more ideas."
"
He
put his hands on her.
…"
The trembling that slowly beset Reed had no relation to weakness.
He said, "Well, I'm not laid up anymore."
"Wait a minute, Reverend!"
Deaf to Opal's protest, Reed started up the street, a blood-red rage suddenly burning inside him.
Chastity walked cautiously along the crowded aisles of the mercantile store. She glanced around her, frowning. Mr. Dobbs was nowhere to be seen, and she appeared to be the only customer in the store.
Determined to make her purchases and a quick exit before the animosity of her former visit could be renewed, Chastity walked toward the corner of the store where the women's essentials were kept. She reached unconsciously into her pocket and closed her hand around the small cloth purse pinned there. She had ample funds and she had made certain to fasten the purse in a more convenient spot that would not put her in the same embarrassing position as before if she needed it.
Chastity surveyed the small rack of ready-made dresses with growing despair. If she
were
not so desperate…
"I knew you'd be back."
Chastity jumped at the sound of the storekeeper's voice behind her. She turned toward him as he continued with growing malice, "You and me got unfinished business to settle between us. You didn't think I was goin' to let you get away with makin' me the laughin' stock of the town, did you?"
"Sir," Chastity began, then stepped back, unconsciously noting as she did that the wall was again flush against her. "I came in here to make a purchase, nothing more. I would appreciate it if you would allow me to conduct my business and leave."
"It ain't goin' to be so easy this time." Dobbs's puffy face glinted in the light, and his small eyes were hot with anger. The sight of him advancing slowly toward her set Chastity's flesh crawling as he continued more softly than before, "You ain't got nobody to fight your battles for you this time, and you can be sure you ain't goin' to catch me by surprise like you did last time, neither."
His gaze raked her with an intimacy that flushed her face with heat. "A preacher's wife, are you?" He gave a harsh laugh. "There ain't no preacher's wife alive that looked like you did that day, with that dress you was wearin' hangin' open at the neck like a trollop's, and your eyes all hot and hungry like they were."
"Hot and hungry!"
Chastity gasped. "Get out of my way! I won't stand for any more of your insults!"
"No, sweetheart.
You ain't goin'
nowhere
. Not yet."
Chastity's chest began a slow heaving, and her fists clenched tightly. "Are you threatening me, sir?"
"No, I ain't threatenin' you. I'm
tellin'
you you ain't goin' to hide behind your husband's collar not when you come back in here as bold as brass, beggin' for what I got gypped of when that nosey cowpoke stuck his two cents in last time."
"Nosey cowpoke… What
you
got gypped of…" Disgust rank in her voice, Chastity grated, "I'm leaving! Get out of my way!"
The storekeeper continued his gradual approach and Chastity felt fury rise inside her as she rasped, "I'm warning you…"
"So you're warnin' me. What are you goin' to do if I don't let you go?"
A deep voice responded from behind in Chastity's stead, "It's not what
she's
going to do. It's what
I'm
going to do."
Startled, Chastity turned to see Reed suddenly beside them. Immaculately dressed and clean-shaven, he was standing erect, without a sign of distress, the sheer height and breadth of his muscular frame shrinking the space of the narrow corner where they stood. His collar was firmly affixed, but his eyes reflected little of the temperance of his calling and he looked more intimidating than she had ever expected he could be.
Dobbs froze in his tracks. "Wh
..
who are you?"
Chastity saw the sneer that pulled at Reed's lips. She saw his hands twitch into fists as he said, "I think you know who I am."
"I thought you
was
sick. Everybody in town said you
was
at death's door!"
"Well, they were wrong."
Dobbs's small eyes narrowed assessingly. "No… you ain't
no
preacher!" He shook his head with a scoffing laugh. "You may be wearin' a collar, but I
ain't never seen no
preacher that looks like you!"
Reed's lips spread in a cutting smile. "You're right. I'm not a preacher not now. Right now, I'm just a man who's goin' to listen real close while you apologize for insulting a lady."
"A lady… You mean
her?
" Dobbs swept Chastity with a demeaning gaze. "She
don't
fool me with her airs, and I ain't apologizin'! She got what she had comin' when she came in here the way she did that day, lookin' like she just tumbled out of bed with one man and was ready to tumble right back with another.
Anticipating Reed's reaction, Chastity slipped between the two men in a quick step that halted Reed's furious advance. Brought up suddenly against his chest, she could feel the heat of him as his heart pounded against her breast. She could feel the fury that shuddered through him as she whispered, "No, please, Reed. He's not worth the trouble. Let's just get out of here."
"No."
Moving her aside in a motion so smooth and swift that she hardly realized what had happened, Reed was past her in a moment. Paralyzed by the visible power of his wrath, she was unable to speak as he grasped the terrified Dobbs by his shirt, holding him inches off the floor as he said in a deadly tone, "You owe this woman an apology, and I want to hear it… now."
"I'm sorry!" His arrogance abruptly vanishing in the face of Reed's barely controlled menace, Dobbs nodded, eyes bulging. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"You beg her forgiveness…"
Dobbs gulped. His voice emerged in a frightened squeak. "I beg her forgiveness!"
"Reed"
Ignoring her attempt at intervention, Reed shook Dobbs roughly, eliciting a sound of pure terror as he hissed, "You're lucky I'm wearing this collar, because if I wasn't…"
Allowing that thought to go unfinished, Reed dropped the man abruptly back on his feet. Dismissing his presence just as abruptly, he turned back toward Chastity. He assessed her pale face for a long moment, then raised his hand to brush a straying wisp back from her cheek as he said, "I'll wait until you're done making your purchases."
Shaken, Chastity whispered, "No, Reed, please. I just want to get out of here."
His hand slipped to her shoulder where it lingered briefly. The touch was disturbingly gentle, but his gaze was cold. "Mr. Dobbs apologized. We should give him the opportunity to make amends for his behavior." It occurred to her belatedly that Dobbs had not moved an inch when Reed looked at him and prompted, "Isn't that right?"
"Right… right."
Reed replied with obvious restraint, "Chastity will let you know when she's done."
Disturbed and somehow uncertain as Dobbs disappeared from sight between the aisles, Chastity frowned. "You didn't have to do that, Reed. II could've handled the situation."
Reed's expression hardened.
"Like you did the last time."
"Yes."