Ranch Life is Great Page 11

  "Well, I certainly don't want her upset with me," the sheriff said with a grin. "She's about the best cook around."

  "That she is," Cade agreed as they neared the house.

  Chapter Nine

  That night after Cade carried his wife upstairs and helped her to bed, she turned to him. "It was nice of Sheriff Fitch to come out, but I know he didn't come out just to see how I'm doing. What did he say; does he have any leads about my parents?"

  Knowing it would do him absolutely no good to try to deny any of what he'd said, he shared what he could. "He's still trying to find out who started the rumor. He thinks whoever did that might know who killed your parents, because he thinks it was too soon for that rumor to have been spread without someone planning it in advance. He said the people with the most to gain from that rumor were the Wilsons, but he hadn't been able to find any evidence that they'd started it."

  "I know that little snake in the grass had something to do with that rumor. He tried to buy the store for next to nothing while business was down because of that vicious rumor. Did you tell the sheriff that?"

  "I did. That's why he went to visit the Wilsons; hoping they would let something slip while they were talking to him."

  "Did they?"

  "No, but he said Ralph has been ill. He said he's very thin and pale, and they said he'd been ill."

  "I didn't know that." After a moment's pause she said, "I'm sorry to hear that. He doesn't seem like such a snake in the grass as his son. But how does that fit in with this?"

  "We don't know. Maybe it doesn't. We neither one were aware of the fact that he'd been ill, but we're not sure it fits into this whole scenario. In fact, as much as you won't want to hear this, we're not really sure either of the Wilsons fit into it. He hasn't come up with anything to point to them other than the fact that they stood to gain the most from the rumor, and he offered to buy your store when it wasn't doing well. That could just be coincidence and good business, even if it was distasteful."

  She thought a few moments. "I hope he's going to keep looking. I know he has to be involved somehow. Maybe not his dad, but I know Theodore has to be."

  "And how do you know that, detective?"

  "I just know it. A snake in the grass always has something to do with it." She grinned. "At least he does in all the mysteries I've read."

  "Well, we'll just have to wait and let the sheriff do his job and see what he comes up with. Right now, I have another job to do."

  "And what would that be?" He loved the mischievous little grin on her face.

  "Showing my wife how proud I am of her. You've made it a couple days now without a spanking for being on your ankle. I'm real glad about that." He leaned in with a kiss that showed just how proud he was. That kiss led to another kiss, which led to some exploring of bodies, which led to even more kisses, and more exploring, and soon neither of them had anything on their mind except each other.

  * * *

  Cade, Maria and Elsie slipped into a routine over the next couple of days. Cade helped her dress and took her downstairs, and Maria checked on her regularly to see if she needed anything. Elsie grumbled, but stayed off her ankle. Until one day when Sheriff Fitch came to the house. He didn't see anyone at the barn, so he went to the house and knocked on the door. Maria was out behind the house doing laundry and hadn't seen him ride up the lane in the front of the house. When he knocked again, Elsie couldn't stand not knowing who was there, so she got up and slowly hobbled her way to the front door.

  "Miss Elsie," the sheriff said, "it's good to see you up. I take it your ankle is doing better?"

  "It's not bothering me as much as it was. Come on in. Do you have some news?"

  "I do. Is Cade around?"

  Before Elsie could answer, to her chagrin, she heard the deep voice of her husband coming around the corner of the house. "I'm right here, Dan. I saw you riding up the lane and came in. Sorry I wasn't here sooner. Come on in and tell us the news you have."

  Without a word, he swept Elsie up into his arms and took her to the sitting room. He leaned close so only she could hear him whisper in her ear. "We'll talk about this after the sheriff leaves." He sat her down on the couch and put a pillow under her ankle. "Have a seat, Dan. I'll go ask Maria to get us some coffee. I'll be right back."

  The sheriff sat down in a chair toward the end of the couch so she was looking toward him. "Cade sure seems protective of you and your ankle. Is it doing okay?"

  "Cade is very protective of me," is all she said.

  Luckily, he came back into the room just then. He went to the end of the couch where she was sitting and helped her sit up, sitting beside her so she was leaning against him. He wrapped an arm around her waist protectively. "I do tend to be protective of her, but she's my wife. Besides, someone has to watch out for her. She doesn't always do such a good job of that herself."

  Elsie cringed, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

  "So, Dan, what's your news?"

  "Harold and Loretta didn't get their order a couple days ago when it should have arrived, so he sent a telegram to find out if it was delayed, and why. He was told that they received a telegram that had his name at the bottom of it, saying due to a temporary money issue, please delay our order by one week. He sent back another telegram saying it wasn't from him and they needed the supplies, so they agreed to ship them out on the next train. In the meantime, though, he's out of a couple things, which isn't good."

  "No, not good at all," Elsie said. "That means people will have to go to Wilson's to buy those supplies."

  "If he has enough in stock," Cade said, rubbing the back of his neck, which he often did while thinking. "Let me guess. By a stroke of luck, he just happened to have extra supplies on hand?"

  "He did," the sheriff confirmed. "Harold came to me and told me what happened. He said he didn't know if it had anything to do with the investigation I've been doing, but he thought I ought to know. I thanked him and did a little more checking. Our local telegraph office sent no such telegram. I sent one to the supplier, asking when he got the telegram asking to hold up a week. He gave me the date they received it, and it just happens to be the date I went to visit Ralph and Theodore and was told Ralph was visiting a friend in a nearby town."

  Elsie sat up straight, but Cade pulled her back against him. "Easy, honey." He looked at the sheriff. "Do you think he sent the telegram?"

  "I don't know, but I know he could have. He obviously wasn't at home that day. I sent Deputy Tillman out today to go to the telegraph offices of a few nearby towns and see if they remembered sending such a telegram, and if so, see if they could give him a description of the man that sent it. If they can't remember, he's going to give them a description of Ralph and ask if they remember ever seeing anyone like that in their office."

  Elsie was trying to sit up straighter again, but Cade was holding her down. She frowned at him, but turned to the sheriff. "So do you think he's the one who canceled the order?"

  "I honestly don't know," the sheriff said, "but there sure are a lot of things that seem like an awful coincidence. I also sent a telegram to ask about the supplies for Wilson's Mercantile, and found out he doubled up on staples for this week. That seems like more than a coincidence that he doubled up at the very time the Stone order was canceled. And Wilsons stand to gain the most from the rumor that was going around, and from the order that was canceled, and from the rock that went through their window closing their store for a few hours while it was cleaned up. It cost them money, as well, which is hard to come by when you first take over a store."

  "It certainly can be," Elsie said, "especially when someone has spread a rumor about the store and business isn't as good as it should be to begin with."

  "True," the sheriff agreed. "Although Harold said an envelope came in the mail for him two days after the window was broken out, that had enough money, in cash, to pay for the window, but no note." He looked over at Cade. "I don't suppose you know anything about that envelope, do
you, Cade?"

  Elsie turned enough to look up at him, with a big smile on her face. "Cade?"

  When he didn't say anything immediately, the sheriff did. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot if your wife didn't know about it, Cade, and I'm sorry about that, but I do kind of have to know. I suspected it was you, helping the new people out, which I commend you for. But it occurred to me that if it wasn't you, who was it? It might be whoever broke it, feeling guilty. So I think I have to ask, did you send that money?"

  Cade actually flushed a bit. "You won't tell Harold, will you? I didn't want him to lose money right after they take over the business."

  "Thank you, Cade," Elsie said, giving her husband a hug.

  "Thank you for letting me know," Sheriff Fitch echoed. "Now I can exclude that from possible leads. And to answer your question, no, I won't tell him who sent it. Although he's concerned that it's somehow connected to the rock and Henry and Velma, so I will tell him I found out who sent it and try to put him at ease. I'll tell them there are many good people in this town and the money was sent by one of them who simply meant it as a sort of welcome to our town, so they weren't out money right away due to some kids being ornery, which is what most people in town seem to think the rock through the window was."

  "Is that what you think it was?" Cade asked.

  "No, I don't, but I haven't told Harold that. He may have surmised it, but I haven't told him. I think it's too much of a coincidence for the rumor, the rock, and the canceled order. I think someone is behind them all, the same someone, but I don't know who."

  "It's got to be that little snake in the grass Theodore," Elsie said.

  Cade quickly cut her off before she could say anything else. "You don't have any proof of that, Elsie, and unless you do, I don't want to hear you saying things like that. It's wrong to accuse someone if you don't have sufficient proof to back it up. Besides that, what if other people hear you saying things like that, and then it turns out to be someone else? How would you feel then?"

  "Cade, I don't know why you always take his side in this," Elsie said, obviously upset.

  "I don't, honey. I think he is the likely suspect, but until we have evidence, we can't just go around accusing him. It could ruin his reputation, and if it turns out he didn't do any of these things, then you've ruined the reputation and livelihood of an innocent man. Besides, telling anyone else you think he's behind any of this is doing exactly what you're accusing him of doing; starting a rumor."

  She was quiet a few moments, but finally nodded her head. "I guess you might be right about that."

  "I know I am. We'll talk more about this in a little bit, but for right now, I don't want to hear you saying things like that again. Do you understand?"

  She knew exactly what he was talking about when he said they'd talk about it in a little bit, and she dropped her head. She'd forgotten about the spanking she was sure he would give her for getting up to let the sheriff in. She certainly had no desire to upset him any more. "Yes. I'm sorry, Cade."

  He patted her hand, and turned to the sheriff. "I think, too, it's got to be more than a coincidence. But what happens next? How do we get the proof we need?" He looked down at his wife and tightened his arm around her waist a little more before asking him the next question. "And do you think this is all related to Henry and Velma's deaths? Do you think the Wilsons could have anything to do with that?"

  "Those are a lot of good questions, Cade, and I wish I had answers to them. I'm going to see what Deputy Tillman finds out before I do anything else. If he finds the town where the telegram was sent and the description of the man that sent it matches Ralph's, I'll go talk to him again and ask him straight out if he sent it. If the deputy doesn't have any luck, I'll have to take some time and go back over everything I have and give it all some more thought. In the meantime, I would appreciate you two keeping all this under your hat, but if either of you thinks of anything I might be missing, or something else we may be able to check into, please let me know."

  "We will, and thank you for coming out to fill us in."

  "I told you I'd keep you two filled in, and I meant that. I have to get back into town now, but if you think of anything we've missed, let me know. Miss Elsie, I hope your ankle heals quickly. I know it's hard for you to stay off of it as much as possible, but I had a sprained ankle once, and believe the doctor when he says the more you stay off of it the quicker it will heal."

  "Thank you, Sheriff," she said rather meekly. "It is real hard to stay down all day, but I'm trying."

  "Let me walk you out, Dan," Cade said. He leaned down to whisper in Elsie's ear. "Don't you dare move. I'll be back in shortly for our talk."

  While the men were gone, she tried to concentrate on what the sheriff told them, but it was no use. All she could think about was the spanking she knew she was about to get. She knew she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of it, but maybe she could come up with something that would calm him down a little bit and it wouldn't be as bad. She was trying to come up with the best way to approach him when he came back into the sitting room, closing the doors behind him.

  He went to the couch, picked her up and sat down in the middle of the couch, settling her on his lap. "All right, stubborn little wife of mine, I'm ready to hear why you were standing at the door. And please don't tell me you were letting the sheriff in. I could see that. I want to know why you felt it was fine to get up and go to the door."

  "Cade, no one else was in here. I didn't get up until he knocked the second time. Can you honestly say you would have just sat here, not knowing who was at the door? What if they thought no one was home and left?"

  "Yes, I can honestly say I would have stayed here. Elsie, I saw him and was on my way here. Even if he had turned around to leave, I would have gotten here before he left."

  "But I had no way of knowing that," she pointed out.

  "But think about it a minute. This is a ranch. There's always someone around. If no one answers the door, he and other people who visit a ranch will go to the barn. There's always a cook in the bunkhouse. People who go to ranches know that."

  "Oh." She was quiet for several moments. "I didn't know that. All I knew is someone was knocking at the door and no one was letting him in."

  "No, honey, that isn't all you knew. You also knew ranch hands were around, and you knew Maria was around somewhere, and most importantly, you knew you'd been told to stay off that ankle."

  She frowned up at him. "You make it all seem so cut and dried."

  "It is. You were told to stay off your ankle, and now you'll pay the price for not listening." Without another word, he picked her up again and had her lying over his lap. He again adjusted her ankle, making sure it was elevated on the pillow, before pushing her skirt and petticoats up onto her back. He patted her bottom over her pantaloons. "Your pretty little bottom looks nice in these cute pantaloons." He unfastened the ribbon holding them up. "But I need to see your pretty little bottom bare so I can watch as it turns red."

  She looked back up at him, frowning. "It sounds to me like you enjoy watching it turn red."

  "In a way, I do," he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "I have to protect you, and if turning your cute derrière red is what it takes to teach you to listen to what I tell you, I'll do it. What I meant, though, is that I need to see your pretty little bottom turn red so I know where it needs my attention and where it's already received enough attention. I don't want to do anything that would ever cause you any permanent harm, but I want to be sure every part of your bottom has received my special attention so you learn the lesson."

  "And you enjoy it?"

  He'd pulled her pantaloons down while he was talking, and was rubbing her bottom. "You have an adorable little bottom. I enjoy seeing it, feeling it, rubbing it, and yes, even watching it turn red. I'd rather be playing with it than causing it pain and watching it turn red, but I'll do what it takes to teach you to listen to me. Now, I want to be sure you're thinking about what you shou
ld be thinking about during this spanking. Why are you being spanked?"

  She hated when he asked her that, but had learned that telling him that just made it worse, and she had no desire to do that. "For being up on my ankle."

  "That's my girl. You think about that while I try to impress upon you how important it is that you listen to what Doc Wallace and I are trying to tell you." He started spanking her, and it didn't take long for her bottom to turn pink. He waited until it was a uniform pink before starting his lecture, reminding her that the doctor told her to stay off her ankle or she could hurt it worse.

  He continued the spanking and lecture until her bottom was a deeper shade of pink. "Now, I also want to talk to you a little bit about you telling Sheriff Fitch you think Theodore is involved in this."

  "But I think he is," she insisted.

  He gave her several sharp swats, harder than the others had been. "While you're over my lap getting a spanking is not a good time to argue with me, wife. Instead, listen to what I'm trying to tell you, because once again, I'm trying to protect you. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She was gasping for air, and he gave her several moments, but when she didn't answer, he gave her six strong smacks. "I can be just as stubborn as you can, Elsie. You can keep refusing to answer, but the same thing will happen every time. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  "Yes."

  "Much better. Now, I know you think Theodore is involved in this somehow, and I won't say I disagree with you. But you can't be telling other people that. I won't have you spreading a rumor. You of all people should see how badly rumors could affect you. If you tell someone you think he had something to do with spreading the rumor and the rock and the canceled order, they're apt to tell others. Then if it turns out he had nothing to do with it, but people avoided his store because of the rumor, how would you feel?"

  "But I don't think that will happen."

  He started the spanking again, using swats intended to get her attention and sting, but not extremely hard. "But it could. And I won't allow you to take that chance. That's nothing more than spreading rumors and gossiping, and I won't allow my wife to do either of those things. Do you hear what I'm saying, wife?"