Pearl River Junction: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

36

Off on his own, Thomas was able to think better. His father had said that he and James had to make up their own minds. That meant he was free to decide what was best for him.

First, he knew his brother Matthew would never have stood a chance against a woman like Belinda—and she was more woman than girl, in his opinion, despite her youth. She was able to handle a man as young as James and a mature man like the sheriff. And, apparently, an outlaw like Jeb Collier. Belinda Davis was a lot wiser than her years.

But going back to Matthew, there was no way he’d father a child with her or have sex with her, not without first discussing it with one of his brothers or his father. Not with their mother, though. He’d never have been able to talk about that with his mother.

So, as far as Thomas was concerned, Belinda was lying in order to get the three Shayes to take care of Jeb Collier and his gang for her. But what was she getting out of it? If she did convince them that her son was Matthew’s son and they protected her against Collier, what then? Would she want to stay with them? Or stay with the sheriff and his wife? Or go off on her own?

And did she have a plan that none of them knew about?

After walking and thinking for an hour, Thomas’s vote was still that Belinda’s baby was not Matthew’s son—and therefore not part of their family. But if there really was a gang coming to Pearl River Junction after her, he didn’t know if he could just leave Sheriff Cotton to handle them when it was clear he would not be able to.

He wished he could just ride out and forget about it, but he couldn’t.

James was convinced that the baby had Shaye blood. He didn’t think Belinda would lie about that. On the other hand was Thomas right about him? Was he influenced by the fact that Belinda was beautiful and his stomach sprouted butterflies whenever he looked at her or spoke to her? And if the baby was Matthew’s, then he was having impure thoughts about the mother of his brother’s child. What did that make him? Disloyal to Matthew’s memory, to say the least.

He knew how Thomas was going to vote, because he knew his older brother stuck to it whenever he made up his mind. He didn’t know how his father would vote, but he thought he knew one thing about both of them. Like him, they’d never be able to leave Pearl River Junction if the sheriff was going to have to deal with a gang of outlaws. James was young and his experience as a lawman was limited, but he knew after meeting the sheriff and talking to him that he’d never be able to stand up to them, not even with two deputies. Just riding out of town and leaving the man to be killed wasn’t an option.

As the saloon filled up with customers, the sheriff decided he had to go back to his office. Shaye agreed to come and see the man there in the morning, to decide what their strategy would be to deal with a gang—if it showed up.

“I hope, when you come to my office, it’s with your sons,” Cotton said, before leaving.

“That’ll be up to them,” Shaye said, “but I’ll see you in the morning.”

After Cotton left, Shaye did some thinking on his own. Whether Belinda’s boy was his grandson or not was going to have to be dealt with later. There was no way he could leave Sheriff Cotton on his own to face the gang, especially not after meeting the man’s wife. So putting himself at the sheriff’s disposal until the gang question got sorted out would give him more time to mull the question over. What he needed to find out now was what his boys were going to do. James, he felt, would stay. He was sweet on the girl. That would be enough to keep him there, but he also knew that James would feel as he did. They had to help the sheriff.

Thomas was a different story. Shaye had been waiting for the day Thomas would go off on his own. He was full grown, able to handle himself, and Shaye felt that his oldest son was a born lawman. Somewhere out there was a sheriff’s badge waiting for him to find it.

He just wondered if today or tomorrow would be the day Thomas Shaye would finally strike out on his own?