THE WRANGLER Chapter eight

A Girl Can Change Her Mind - Can't She?

 

The wedding was drawing near when Cindy received a letter from Lynda.

She said in the letter that an old love, her first love had come back into her life and she had married him.  She said it was hard to explain and she wanted Cindy to break the news to Joey.

The man, Melvin or Mel as she called him heard that she was going to marry Joe and he showed up apologizing for his treatment of her and after several dates she fell back in love with him.

She said he didn’t want to be nasty but she needed a whole man not a cripple for a husband.  One with whom she could be popular in society and travel the world.

The comparison between the two men left Joe at a disadvantage and she succumbed to Mel’s advances.  After she had sex with him she felt she had to go through with a marriage.

Joe could see that Cindy was upset and inquired as to what was the matter.

Handing him the letter and Cindy said, “I’m tired of doing Lynda’s dirty work.”

Joe read the whole letter for Cindy only got through part of it.

Broken Hearts Don't Mend Easily

Joe gave it back to Cindy who threw it in the fire place.

Cindy knew the embarrassment Joe would suffer from being jilted and how his joy will die and sadness will live on.

He went to his room and an hour later came out.  All the staff and the Huston’s were in the big room.  

Joe said , "It seems the wedding is off.  That’s the end of it and I will not discuss it. You may feel free to talk about it among yourselves if you want to but for me it is old news.  

I have much work to do and am going to take care of business."

Everyone could see this was a hard thing for Joe to bear but he handled it like riding a bronco.  It was hang on tight till it was over and then wait till the bruises healed.

Then get on another - - but Joe had no desire to find another for the bruise from this ride wasn’t going away soon.

Lynda wrote Cindy she would like to visit and show off her new husband and before Cindy could write back they showed up at the ranch.

Joe was away checking the herds and Cindy sent one of the stable hands with a note explaining what was going on. Cindy told Lynda she had no shame showing up here trying to rub it in on Joe by bringing this man she married to the ranch.

Lynda said, “I wanted everyone to see why I married Mel instead of the cripple.”

Mrs. Huston overheard the ongoing conversation and told Lynda to take her man and go and don’t come back for she was a disgrace.

She called a couple cow hands to show these unwelcome guests the road and they can walk back to town. She told Lynda they better hurry for it would be dark before they got to town if they didn’t shake a leg.

Betty said, “That trash better never set foot on the Circle O again or I will have both of them shot and thrown into a gully for the buzzards.”

Cindy never saw her Ma that mad before and believed she meant every word of it, even if it was her own daughter and new son-in-law.

It was only six weeks later when word came down that Mel, Lynda’s husband was caught in bed with another man’s wife and he  had been shot dead.

A couple months later Lynda wrote a letter to Joe wanting to renew their relationship.  She played the part of a deceived woman and now the cad was dead.

Joe was indifferent to the whole event saying it was nothing to him but if Lynda was ever invited to the ranch again he would leave and not come back.

It seemed the family was inclined to forgive and to invite Lynda back into the fold and more so as days went by.

~ ~ ~

to be concluded very soon