“Okay, I can see how people might find that a little bit interesting, but why would they talk about me?”
“You know how the town’s always been fascinated by your mother and you. You two are the only show business folks ever to come from Cache.”
“We’re not exactly famous, either one of us. Mom never made it out of the chorus line until she gave up dancing and became a choreographer. Neither have I.”
“You’re the closest thing to famous around these parts. Especially after that video you were in with that rock star—what’s his name?”
“Duke Devlin. I do well enough for my purposes, but I’m a long way from being a star.” Sidonie shrugged. “But if people find me and the stuffed shirt fascinating, they can talk about us all they want.”
“Stuffed shirt? That’s how you see him?”
She nodded warily. “Don’t you?”
“Not hardly. Rafe McMasters was the roughest, toughest cowboy in Proffit County when he was a young man. Doing real well on the rodeo circuit, he was. But he was always in trouble, right up to and including the day he left town. Now he’s back, throwing money around like it was water. How did he make his fortune? Answer me that, if you can.”
Ignoring the question, which was obviously rhetorical, Sidonie concentrated on the image the judge’s words conjured up—Rafe McMasters in tight jeans and cowboy boots, a Western shirt straining to cover his muscled chest…Sidonie blinked and the image was gone.
“Cowboy? Rough and tough? You can’t mean Mr. Prude and Prejudice. Judge, the man wears a three-piece suit to bed. Did you say he left town under a cloud? What on earth did he do?”
“Never you mind. You get out of here and find a place to stay. I’d let you stay with me, but a pretty young thing like you living with an old bachelor like me would cause tongues to wag, too. Why don’t you go see the widow Harris? She runs a real respectable boardinghouse.”
“I’m beginning to remember why Mom left here. She always told me people in Cache were much too concerned with everyone else’s business.” Sidonie walked around the desk and placed a kiss on the judge’s receding hairline. “I’m staying at my place.”
“You can’t stay there. Not as long as Rafe is in residence.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. How do we get him out of my house?”
“He’ll be out in three months. That’s when the lease is up.”
“Can’t we break it, somehow?”
“I drew it up. You signed it. It’s unbreakable.”
Sidonie left the judge’s chambers dismayed, but far from discouraged. She’d find a way to stay on her land, in her house, and she knew just who to go to for help. She drove to the home of her best friend in Cache, Maggie Malone Parker.
“Sidonie!” Maggie hugged her so hard she thought her ribs might snap. “When did you get here? I thought you weren’t coming for another week or two. Your medical files haven’t even gotten here yet.”
“I broke out of the rehab center. I couldn’t take it any longer. I wanted to come home.” Sidonie swallowed the lump in her throat and hugged Maggie back.
Holding her friend at arm’s length, she gave her a searching look. Maggie Parker was a petite…blonde. This week. She had a habit of changing her hair color every few months. Maggie claimed it was the only adventurous thing she ever did, but Sidonie knew better. They’d always been equally talented when it came to cooking up schemes.
“Aren’t you supposed to be wearing a brace? And should you be driving? Where did you get that cute little truck?”
Laughing, Sidonie let Maggie lead her into the cozy cottage. “Yes, probably not and Dallas. I went straight from the airport to the dealership.”
“You bought it? Does that mean you’re home for good?”
“No. No.” Sidonie frowned. Trust Maggie to figure out right away that it didn’t make sense for her to buy a pickup. Once she had a job and was back on the road again, she’d have to sell it. “I know I should have rented a car, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here. And I thought I’d stay in Texas for a while— there are lots of opportunities for dancers, at least in the summer. The State Fair musicals, Casa Mañana in Fort Worth…” She trailed off. She’d always been able to read Maggie like a book. Now she was reading disbelief. “I am going to dance again, Maggie,” Sidonie said softly.
Another fierce hug. “Of course you are, sweetie. When did you get in? Just now?”
“No, late last night.”
Confusion showed on Maggie’s face. “Last night? Where did you stay? Not at that tacky motel at the edge of town.”
She shook her head. “At home, of course.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “You spent the night with Rafe McMasters?”
“Good grief! Does the whole town know he’s living in my house?”
Nodding her head vigorously, Maggie pushed Sidonie in the direction of the kitchen. “Yes, indeed. Everyone knows Rafe is staying at the Saddler home place. You spent the night with him?”
“You make it sound like we slept together. We weren’t even in the same room, Maggie. Only under the same roof.”
Maggie had the grace to blush. “Well, of course you didn’t sleep with him. You just met. But you’ve got to tell me everything. Where’s he been all these years? Why did he come back, do you know?” Maggie was practically drooling.
“I have no idea. We spent our time together exchanging insults, not life stories,” Sidonie said dryly. “First Judge Longstreet and now you. What is so intriguing about Rafe McMasters and his homecoming?”
Maggie sighed. “I’ve heard stories about him ever since I was” knee-high to a grasshopper. The man’s a legend. But no one’s seen or heard from him for fifteen years—not since he jilted Cathy Sue and ran off with that exotic dancer.”
Sidonie’s jaw dropped. “A stripper? He ran off with a stripper?”
“Practically left poor Cathy Sue waiting at the altar. Although I shouldn’t call her poor. Her daddy’s the richest man in Proffit County. Or he was, until Rafe came back. Folks are saying he’s got more money than Emmet Clancy ever thought about.”
“I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”
“No, that’s right, you wouldn’t. Cathy and Rafe were in high school together—eight or nine years ahead of us. It started out as a real romantic love story—Cathy Sue, the daughter of the biggest rancher in the county, and Rafe, the son of one of his cowhands. Rafe wasn’t a hand, though. He was on his way to being a championship rodeo cowboy. That’s when Cathy Sue and he got together.”
Maggie sighed dreamily. “For a while, it looked like they would live happily ever after. Mr. Clancy eventually came around and gave his blessing to the engagement. A big church wedding was in the works—I know because one of my cousins was going to be a bridesmaid. And then, boom, it was all over. Rafe left town and never came back.”
“With a stripper?”
“Well, that part of the story’s a little fuzzy. Some of the men in town saw Rafe a few months later in a honky-tonk in Fort Worth. He was with a woman a few of them claimed they’d seen a whole lot of— although, when push came to shove, none of them would actually admit they’d been to a burlesque