Hell's Belle by Shannah Biondine Page B

heard a
couple of other strange rumors. Also heard that young Lucius is the one who
started them. Now why do you suppose he'd want to do that? Can't be good for
business, having local folks afraid to come within spitting distance of your
niece."
    Del reached to stop
Fletcher just as he was about to tuck the counted money into his little book.
"And we both know Twila had nothing to do with what caused that pony to
shy."
    Fletcher Bell
didn't flinch. "Maybe not. But are you going to tell me she also had
nothing to do with her parents drowning, or our train being robbed on the way
out here and our luggage going missing? To Lucius' dog being struck and killed
by the iceman, or any of a number of other unfortunate events that have
occurred since Twila became my ward? Oh, indeed, it sounds preposterous to lay
blame for such misadventures, doesn't it? Having my window smashed before I'd
even waited on my first customer is just typical of the kinds of calamity that
follow that child."
    Del wasn't biting.
"You and your son have just as much connection to those events as she
does. Ever ponder that? Her parents were your kin, too."
    "I fail to
understand your point, or why any of this concerns you. You've paid for the
damage your animal caused. Your debt is discharged, obligation here ended. How
I choose to regard my—"
    "You disregard her, from what I've seen. You and your son both. You said some pretty harsh
things that morning, in front of womenfolk who'd just entered to see what the
commotion was. And your son's stoked the fire with his lies over at the barber
shop. Maybe you think I should just pretend I'm not offended because it's none
of my funeral, but I am offended."
    "Now, see
here!"
    Del shot to his
feet. "No, you see here. See a decent, honest town that I've lived
in all my life. Until you and your snot-nosed whelp came along, we didn't have
rumors about hexes and witchcraft. We didn't have people whispering and acting
wary of strangers. I don't like the whole feel of this place, now that you got
folks spooked and distrusting that girl. And while you're facing facts, best face
this one. I may just decide to court Twila. You got an objection to that, say
so now, and I'll mop your floor with you."
    Fletcher Bell went
deathly pale and dead silent.
    Del hadn't intended
to blurt it out so forcefully or threaten mayhem like that, but he was boiling
mad. Truth was, he wished he could march down those stairs and tell Twila to
pack her things. She'd be better off in a rooming house or anywhere away from
this bastard. That's how disgusted Del felt. But he merely crossed his arms
over his chest and waited.
    "Well?"
    "You sir, have
a reputation of sorts, from what I've learned in my relatively short residence
here. You like to flaunt yourself in the face of danger and shock the populace
with wild antics. Is this your latest idea of how to draw attention? Pretending
to woo my niece, the girl you just described as a social outcast and
potential witch ?"
    Pretty good first
punch, and Del honestly hadn't seen it coming.
    "What the hell
would you care, even if that was my motive for calling on her? You don't give a
damn about that girl."
    "And you do,
after meeting her exactly…once?"
    Now Del could feel
steam coming out of his ears. "Since you don't 'converse,' as you called
it, you probably don't know that she walked the three miles out to my spread
yesterday afternoon. She was alone with me for a spell, up at my ranch house.
Go on and ask her if that's not the God's truth." It was stretched to its limits,
but Del figured it still met the basic qualifications.
    And he'd
deliberately emphasized the part about being alone together at the house,
hoping Fletcher would jump to the erroneous conclusion that Del had already
begun sparking with his niece. That she wanted Del to court her, had welcomed
the idea.
    He was mildly
surprised when Fletcher took him up on his taunt and bellowed down the open
staircase for Twila. She appeared seconds