Travis, Cole, and Harrison were all seated around the kitchen table eating portions of the blackberry cobbler Mrs. Morrison had only just taken out of the oven. Dooley joined them. From where Mary Rose sat, she could see Harrison clearly. And Catherine, of course. She was hanging all over him. When she served him some dessert, she put her hand on his arm and draped herself over his shoulder to place the bowl in front of him. It took her an eternity to straighten back up. Harrison didn't seem to mind.
Having to watch Catherine flirt and not being able to do anything about it was purgatory. Travis wasn't about to be left out. He was competing for Catherine's attention, throwing out one perfectly stupid compliment after another. Catherine preened like a cat.
"It sure was something the way you got so mad, Harrison," Dooley praised. "I thought you were out of your mind taking on all them fellas, and I'll bet you didn't even feel the punches you were getting."
Harrison shook his head. "No, I wasn't out of my mind. I knew exactly what I was doing."
Dooley wasn't finished talking about the excitement in town. "Who would have thought it possible," he remarked. "A fancy lawyer like you being able to fight so mean."
Cole went completely still. "He's a lawyer?"
"Sure is," Dooley said.
Cole slowly put his spoon down and turned to Harrison. Then he punched him in the side of his jaw.
Harrison flinched in reaction. The punch stung. He rubbed his jaw and glared at Cole. "What'd you do that for?"
"Cause you're a lawyer," Cole answered.
He picked up his spoon again, turned to his bowl of cobbler, and then said, "Why in thunder didn't you tell us you were a lawyer?"
"It weren't no secret," Dooley blurted out. He walked over to the stove and leaned against the edge of it. There weren't any seats available unless he went into the parlor, and he wasn't about to leave the kitchen for fear he would miss some important piece of gossip.
The old man shoveled in another heaping spoonful of dessert and then said, "Everyone in town knows what Harrison does for a living, Cole. We even talked over the notion of him opening an office across the street from the general store. Yes, sir, we did."
"You hit me again, and I'll flatten you," Harrison said.
"I hate lawyers."
"Apparently so," Harrison said dryly. "Mind telling me why?"
"I would have punched you myself, but Cole was quicker," Travis muttered.
"Cole pretty much hates everyone, Harrison. Ain't you figured that out yet?" Dooley asked.
Travis finally answered Harrison 's question. "We hate lawyers because they're always poking their noses in where they don't belong. Someone ought to round them all up and hang them. We could have a picnic after."
"We almost had us a bunch of hangings this morning, Miss Catherine," Dooley said.
Harrison looked into the parlor to see how Mary Rose was doing. He'd been looking every other minute just to make certain she was all right. Mrs. Morrison was taking forever getting her supplies ready so she could take care of Mary Rose, and Harrison had about used up all his patience waiting for someone to help her.
"What are you staring at?" Cole asked him.
"Your sister," he admitted. He started to stand up. "I think I'll go see if I can help…"
"Let the Morrison women see to her," Travis advised. "Women like other women nursing them."
Harrison sat back down again. In a low whisper, he said, "It's taking the women a hell of a long time to get to it, isn't it?"
"All in good time, Harrison," Travis said. He glanced over his shoulder to look at his sister, then turned back to the table. "She's fine. Don't worry about her."
"Someone has to worry," Harrison stubbornly insisted. "You and Cole act as though she skinned her knee. She was knocked out, for God's sake. She could be…"
"Don't let her know you're concerned."
Cole gave the warning. Travis grinned. "Sound advice, Harrison. You'd do well to remember it."
Harrison couldn't believe how unfeeling the brothers were. Cole guessed what he was thinking when he saw how incredulous he looked.
"She's little, but she's tough."
"She's probably feeling like hell," Harrison said.
"For God's sake, don't ask her how she feels," Travis warned.
"Why not?"
"You're a lawyer, you figure it out," Cole answered. "You really thinking about giving up on the law and learning to ranch?"
"Yes," Harrison replied. "That's exactly what I'm thinking about."
"Mr. MacDonald, I just love the way you talk," Catherine Morrison said. She leaned forward to brush against her guest while she put a linen napkin down in front of him. "It's so unusual. Isn't it, Travis?"
"I think he sounds like he's got something caught in his throat," Travis muttered. He wasn't at all happy to hear Catherine say anything nice about another man since he was thinking about becoming interested in her in the future.
"Oh, Travis, you're just adorable when you tease like that."
Cole and Harrison shared a look of exasperation. Harrison thought the young woman had taken coyness to a new height. She was extremely transparent. Cole wasn't as kind in his opinion. He thought Catherine was acting like a desperate, husband-hunting old maid.
Travis thought she was about the sweetest little thing in Blue Belle.
Catherine wasn't finished flirting, but Mary Rose was finished listening. She couldn't stomach sitting in the parlor any longer. She wanted to go home and get some comfort and some care. If the cuts on her forehead and her mouth hadn't stopped bleeding on their own, she figured she'd be dead by now for all the attention she was getting. Probably no one would even notice she'd died, at least not until they ran out of cobbler. She knew she was feeling sorry for herself. That was all right. She might even decide to wallow in self-pity for the rest of the day.
Sitting in the chair had made her stiff. She stood up and almost lost her balance. She staggered forward, straightened up, and then turned to look in the kitchen to see if anyone noticed. They hadn't. She wasn't surprised, of course, for everyone was still fully occupied gobbling down cobbler.
She went outside and saw the horses were tied to the fence. Douglas came riding up just as she stepped off of the porch.
"You look a sight, Mary Rose."
"Is it any wonder? I was attacked, Douglas. When I think of all…"
He stopped her before she could really get into her list of ills. "Now, now, no use complaining."
Her brother dismounted and started toward the porch. "Where is everyone?"
"Inside, having some of Mrs. Morrison's mighty fine cobbler. I wouldn't know, of course. No one offered me any."
"There you go again. Complaining won't make you feel better."
He reached her side and awkwardly patted her on her shoulder.
"Yes, it will," she assured him. "I like to complain."
"I know." He sounded resigned.
Then he smiled at her. His amusement set her off again. What in heaven's name did she have to do to get a little sympathy around here?