“I am,” he admitted. “But Marshal Walker and I were able to either capture or kill all the train robbers, so I feel it was worth the time and the effort.”
“I heard that Mark Quaid was killed.”
“He was,” Longarm said. “I shouldn’t have let the hot headed fool go ahead alone.”
“I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it,” Stella said. “Quaid was always looking for trouble. It was just a matter of time before he got himself killed.”
“That’s what Marshal Walker said.” Longarm drew a cheroot from his pocket. “Do you mind?”
“I never have before, have I?”
“No,” Longarm said, “but then, I’ve never visited you in a respectable house before, have I?”
Stella laughed. “A woman like me can never hope to hide her past, and I don’t even try. Still, it is causing a lot of trouble for Noah.”
“So I heard.”
“I suppose,” Stella said, “that you heard Noah was supposed to marry someone else.”
“Yes, a Miss Carole Clark. I was told by the town banker that she was the next thing to a saint.”
“Carole looks like an angel, but she has all the warmth of a weasel. She’s a back-stabber and the biggest gossip in town. She’s also a flirt and has had a number of affairs in San Francisco, but never locally. She’s very, very devious. I could have made a lot of money off a girl like her when I had my brothel in Virginia City.”
“I see.”
“On the other hand,” Stella said, “Noah is exactly as he appears. He is naive, but bighearted and generous to a fault. He’d do anything for a friend. I met him in the local hospital where we both volunteered during a bad epidemic of influenza. We didn’t mean to fall in love, but it just happened.”
“I’m very happy for you,” Longarm said, meaning it. Stella smiled. “Well,” she said, “you know that you’re the man that I always intended to marry.”
“Stella!”
“Oh, let’s not kid ourselves,” Stella said. “We were perfect in bed and well matched in temperament. The only problem was that you couldn’t trade in your badge for a business suit and I didn’t want to be a young widow.”
“I’m still alive and have no plans to be otherwise.”
Stella’s smile faded. “Sooner or later, someone will back-shoot you, Custis. Nobody wins all the time. Everyone’s luck runs out sooner or later.”
“It’s not luck,” Longarm argued. “I’m good and I am very careful.”
“Yeah,” she said, obviously not convinced that those attributes would always continue to keep Longarm alive. “Noah is coming over for dinner tonight. You’ll like him.”
“I look forward to meeting him. How are the wedding plans?”
Stella shrugged. “We’ve had some problems, I’m afraid. Noah’s father has done everything to stop this wedding except to offer a reward to have me shot on sight.”
“He must be extremely ambitious.”
“Oh, he is!” Stella laughed without humor. “And if you think he’s bad, just wait until you meet Nick Huffington!”
“Marshal Walker has already filled me in on him,” Longarm said. “I guess he’s pure poison.”
“The man is a snake! I don’t know how Noah escaped being like his father or brother. Maybe God or some divine force thought that there ought to be some balance in the family so they created my Noah.”
“Well,” Longarm said, puffing on his cheroot and refilling his glass, “I just hope that you and Noah can put all that aside and be happy. Will you stay in Auburn?”
“No. We’ve both decided to leave this area and start fresh. I think I’ve got a buyer for my saloon so that, even if Noah is disinherited, we’ll still have a good nest egg and be able to build a future.”
“You must love him very much.”
“I do,” she said. “And I can’t wait to get married and leave this town where tongues never stop wagging and fingers never stop pointing. Where I’m the evil witch and Miss Carole Clark is an angel. I’m just sick of the whole sorry mess.”
“It will be a shame to leave this beautiful house.”
“Yes,” she said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax. “I do love this home and even Auburn itself. It’s just that I can’t abide the self-righteousness of some of its people. The ones that call the shots and decide who wins and who loses in Auburn.”
“You mean like Mr. Haley, the banker.”
“Exactly! You’ve met him? I’ll bet he gave you an earful.”
“He did,” Longarm admitted. “I had to be rather … abrupt with Mr. Haley. I don’t think he admires me either.”
Longarm and Stella talked for the rest of the afternoon, catching up on old friends and acquaintances. Longarm heard a cook banging around in the kitchen and learned that Stella also kept a maid.
“We’re having beef stew, dumplings, and apple pie for dessert,” Stella told him about six o’clock. “I hope you have a good appetite.”
“I do.”
“Have you found a hotel yet?”
“No.”
“Good! You can stay here because I have several extra bedrooms.”
“I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“The tongues are wagging fast enough already,” Longarm said. “And I don’t want to give them any more fodder for gossip. You’re about to become a married woman, Stella, and you have to start considering these things, no matter where you and Noah go to start over fresh.”
“But my maid is living here with me! She’s about sixty and …”
“Thanks, Stella, but no, thanks.”
“All right.”
Just then, they heard a knock at the door. Stella jumped up saying, “It’s Noah. I know the sound of his knock.”
Longarm came to his feet and prepared to greet Stella’s fiance in the hope of making a good first impression. He thought the world of Stella, and he wanted to also become good friends with Noah.
Noah wasn’t anything like Longarm had expected. Stella had always liked big, handsome men, but Noah was only about five feet ten and quite slender and ordinary-looking. He wore glasses and was clean-shaven. When he stuck his hand out to shake with Longarm, he smiled broadly and squinted.
“My pleasure, Marshal Long. I’ve already heard a good deal about you from Stella, and more recently from members of the posse that went after those train robbers.”
“We had a little luck.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
Longarm shifted uncomfortably and turned the topic away from himself. “I want to offer you my heartiest congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Stella and I have been friends for a good many years and, frankly, I am jealous.”
Noah had a nice, healthy laugh. “I’d rather you were just envious, Marshal. But anyway, we’re being put to the test, aren’t we, darling.”
“You can say that again,” Stella replied. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m always hungry,” Noah answered.
Longarm followed the couple into the dining room, where Stella’s cook had already prepared the table. They sat down and had another toast to the wedding and then began to enjoy their dinner.
“Noah,” Longarm said, “I understand that you and Stella have decided to leave Auburn.”
“That’s right,” he answered. “I’d like to stay in the gold country, but Stella sort of favors moving to San Francisco.”
“Either way,” Longarm said, “you could hardly go wrong. Will you be starting a new ministry?”
“I’d like to.” Noah shook his head. “I just don’t know. So much has happened here that I think we both need some time to just relax and enjoy ourselves. I’ve even thought of getting a little farm down in the San Joaquin Valley. The soil is so rich down there that you can’t hardly help but prosper.”
Longarm could not imagine Stella Vacarro being a farmer’s wife, but he wisely chose not to voice his concerns.