Heart of a Texan by Leigh Greenwood

about diViere would raise me from my death bed. What made you ask what he looks like?”
    “When I got back, there was a man here who said he was Gilbert Travis.”
    “I don’t know anybody by that name.”
    “I don’t either, but he was looking in your window. It was probably him you saw.”
    Nate tensed. “What did he look like?”
    “I’m not very good at describing people.”
    “Try.”
    “He had black hair parted in the middle and was clean-shaven except for a small mustache. His skin was almost white, his face kind of pinched, like someone had put their hands on either side of his head and squeezed. Still, I imagine he is quite handsome when he smiles.”
    “What color were his eyes?”
    “Black.”
    “Did they blink?”
    “They must have, but I felt like they never did—just stared at me like he was trying to see inside my head.”
    “How was he dressed? Was he short or tall?”
    Nate was becoming so agitated Roberta was uneasy. “I’m sorry I said anything. I’m sure he was—” She was about to turn away when Nate grabbed her wrist.
    “How was he dressed?” It wasn’t a request. It was a demand.
    “He was about as tall as you, about your build, and dressed like he had just stepped out of a hotel in San Antonio.” She pried his fingers loose from her wrist. “Why are you so upset?”
    “I wasn’t dreaming. You’ve just described Laveau diViere.”
    “But he said he was Gilbert Travis.”
    “That’s probably one of the names he uses when he’s putting together one of his schemes to cheat people. What was he doing?”
    “He said he wanted to buy my farm.”
    “I don’t care what he said . What was he doing ?”
    Roberta wished she didn’t have to tell Nate what she’d seen. It would only upset him more.
    “Are you sure he was reaching for a gun?” Nate asked after she’d described diViere’s movements.
    “That’s what it looked like.”
    “He was here to kill me. I’m surprised he didn’t shoot me through the window.”
    “Why would he do something like that?”
    “I’ve been following him for two years. I’ve busted up some of his schemes. I tell every law officer I meet that he’s wanted for murder in Overlin. The Reconstruction government is about to go. Once we elect men of honor, Laveau will lose his protection. He knows an honest Texas jury would hang him.”
    Roberta wasn’t thinking about a jury. She was thinking about Nate being alone in the house while she worked in the fields, of both of them being vulnerable while they slept.
    “I need a gun,” Nate said.
    “You need to rest. You’re far from well.”
    “I’ll be even further from well if Laveau shoots me. I want a gun, and I want something over that window. Can you lock your door?”
    “Yes.”
    “Make sure you lock it every time you leave, even if it’s only to feed the chickens or pick up the eggs.”
    A few chickens had returned to roost in a peach tree her father had planted, but she had no idea where they might be laying their eggs. “I can’t leave you.”
    “If you do what I ask, you can go anywhere you want. I’ve got enough cowhands to watch the place around the clock, but you’ve got to be careful. Laveau won’t hesitate to kill you if that’s what he has to do to get to me.”
    “Does he hate you that much?”
    “Yes.”
    Roberta found it hard to believe anyone could be that evil, but she couldn’t forget the feeling she got before she called out to diViere.
    “You look surprised,” Nate said.
    “Wouldn’t you be if someone had just told you that you could be shot in your own home?”
    “I’ve always known Laveau would kill me if he got the chance.”
    “Then why did you keep following him?”
    “I lost my brother and twenty-three friends because Laveau was determined to be on the winning side. One man who survived got half his face shot off. I’ll never stop until one of us is dead. Could you?”
    Roberta opened her mouth to deny that she could ever pursue such a