Allie's Moon by Alexis Harrington

life in his heart again, a sleeping giant that
he didn’t want disturbed.
    “ I ain’t sayin’ when or how—” Cooper
glanced back at Althea where she stood watching from the porch, her
hands clasped tightly at her waist. “And it might not even be you I
get my revenge on.” He untied his bony nag from the fence and swung
a leg over its slatted sides. “This ain’t finished yet between us.”
He gave the horse a kick and it shambled down the road back toward
town.
    Jeff watched him to make sure he didn’t turn
around and come back. No, it wasn’t finished, and now Althea might
be in danger, too. Matthews had a grudge against him that he wasn’t
going to give up. And it wouldn’t be satisfied until one of them
was dead.
    ~~*~*~*~~
    Worried about Olivia, Althea went upstairs to
see if the noisy scene on the porch had upset her. But when she
reached her sister’s room she found her propped up against her
pillows, reading and looking very much like the blond doll sitting
on Olivia’s chest of drawers.
    “ What on earth was that racket
outside?” Olivia asked. “It woke me up.”
    “ It’s all over now, dear, don’t worry.
Cooper Matthews and Mr. Hicks had a little—altercation—but Cooper
has gone.”
    Olivia sat up a little straighter. “Didn’t
you say it was his son that Mr. Jefferson shot?”
    “ Hicks, Olivia. It’s Mr. Hicks. Yes, I
guess there’s bad blood between them.”
    “ Yes, I’m sure there would be, wouldn’t
there? I imagine that Mr. Matthews might even want revenge. At
least that’s what I heard him say.” She paused for a moment, as if
lost in thought. “Oh, well . . . ” Olivia
shrugged her narrow shoulders and went back to her book.
    For her part, Althea’s legs felt so rubbery
and unsteady, she feared she might fall head-first down the stairs.
She gripped the railing more tightly and descended with careful
steps. Cooper Matthews—oh, God, he was more horrible and despicable
than she’d realized. She was so glad that she hadn’t had to hire
him after all. And yet . . . 
    And yet something he’d said stuck in her
mind. She shouldn’t give it credence, or even think about it. She
tried to push it away, but it sat there in her thoughts whispering
to her. Murderer. The best thing—right thing—to do would be to
dismiss what Matthews had said. Doubt nagged at her, though, and
she realized the doubt had been there from the first moment Jeff
Hicks had arrived at her door.
    She went to the window in the parlor and
peered through the lace curtain at Jeff. He stood next to the
fence, one hand gripping a the top of a picket, while he stared at
something far down the road.
    Was it her imagination, or was he beginning
to look healthier already? The sun fell across his nicked face,
turning his eyes the color of pale jade. She wouldn’t have thought
that a couple of decent meals and a day without alcohol could make
a man look so good.
    One thing was certain—the attractive man she
remembered seeing on the street in town was beginning to emerge
again. And while Sheriff Mason had said there was nothing to fear
from Jeff Hicks, doubt nibbled at her confidence.
    What did she know about him, really? He’d
been the sheriff in Decker Prairie, he’d killed a boy, and he’d
started drinking. That was all she knew, but was there more to
those events? The fact that Will Mason had assured her of Jeff’s
trustworthiness didn’t answer the questions in her mind. The only
way to do that was to ask the man himself. She thought he owed her
that much, anyway, given that she and her sister were here
alone.
    Althea crossed the parlor and went to the
front door, determined to talk to Jeff before her courage deserted
her. On the front porch, a pile of rose clippings lay where he’d
left them.
    “ Mr. Hicks?” Althea approached Jeff
where he stood next to the fence, watching. Just
watching.
    After a moment, he faced her and she saw
something piercing and direct in his eyes that made her