The Unknown
by Patricia Henry
Chapter Twenty Five
Jess dismounted and tied his horse to the hitching post.
“You sure you don’t want me to go inside with you?” Slim asked.
“I got to talk to her alone,” Jess said then entered the cabin.
Gwen was at the stove, stirring a pot.
“Jess!” Ronnie ran to him and hugged him. “I sure missed you!”
“Howdy, partner. Say Ronnie, you think you could give me a few minutes with your ma?”
Ronnie nodded. “You going to stay, aren’t you, Jess?”
“No.”
Ronnie’s eyes teared.
“I tell you what,” Jess said bending down so he was on eye level with the child, “there’s a man out there named Slim. When I was in town, I got you a bag of candy. You tell him to give it to you.”
Ronnie’s sniffed. “You did?” For a second the child forgot about Jess and focused on what Jess had bought him.
“You better get out there. Slim’s got a sweet tooth.”
As the door closed behind Ronnie, Gwen never looked. Not even a glance at Jess. Instead she kept her back to him. “That was kind of you. It’s been two days. I didn’t think you’d be back. It’s been a couple of days and-”
“Jonesy needed to rest before we started back to Laramie.”
“What are you doing here, Jess?” she asked bluntly. “I never expected to see you again.”
“Thought you might want this.” Jess tossed the money onto the table.
She peeked over her shoulder, then turned as if in a whirlwind. “What-”
“Reward money from the stage line.”
She looked up at him with wonder. “You’re giving the reward money to me?”
“Slim and I talked-it’s yours. Should be enough to start a life somewhere else.” He wasn’t sure if she’d cry. She didn’t. “Why Gwen?”
“Why what?” She finally looked at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
Her gaze dropped off his face. “I didn’t know at first.”
“But you did find out. And you were going to let me kill my best friend.”
“That’s not true! I begged you not to-” her voice died away as she chocked on her words.
“You knew telling me the truth would stop me from drawing on Slim. But you didn’t. Instead you told me lies about him. Lies that he was the Sheriff, and wanted to kill me.”
She swayed nervously on her feet.
“You wanted me to run so I wouldn’t find out the truth. I could have run for the rest of my life. Always looking over my shoulder, even though I wasn’t wanted. Why Gwen? You seem a decent woman.”
He expected tears. He expected an apology. But what he got from her; he never expected.
Her anger rose so high that her cheeks turned red. “You ever been scared? Really scared. Scared so much that you’d do anything to feel safe?”
“Are you scared?”
‘I got a young boy to raise. And I got no more money. No relatives. No friends, at least here. And this life here. I can’t ranch. The land is too poor. The mine died out a long time ago. My husband couldn’t realize that. But I did. Very soon after we arrived here. Don’t you understand, I couldn’t live on this land. I ‘spect I would have made a deal with the devil if he had come along. But instead you did. I wish I could have met you under different circumstances.”
“I got a feeling that a woman like you would have never looked at man like me...under different circumstances.” He waited but she didn’t deny what he had said. Finally he started to turn away.
“Jess?”
He faced her.
She ran into his arms. “I am so sorry. I am so very...”
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