A Texas Hill Country Christmas Read Online Free Page A

the look on her face.”
    Porter shook his head and muttered, “She doesn’t care about me. If she did, she wouldn’t have agreed to go to Fredericksburg and marry that . . . that Oliver Hudson!”
    He made the name sound like a curse.
    â€œLet’s find some place to get in out of the weather, and you can tell us all about it,” Ace said.
    â€œWhy would you do that? Why do you care?”
    â€œWe’ve been through a fight together,” Chance reminded him. “I took a poke in the jaw because of you, remember? That makes us brothers in arms, I guess.”
    â€œAll right,” Porter said. “But I warn you, it’s not a pretty story.”
    â€œYou said you were thinking about being a writer,” Ace told him. “Make it better.”
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    They wound up in a smaller, quieter saloon. The bartender had a pot of coffee on the stove, so Ace and Chance got cups of the potent black brew while Porter nursed a glass of whiskey as they sat at one of the tables.
    â€œI think I fell in love with Evelyn Channing the first time I went in that café and laid eyes on her,” Porter mused. “I began going there almost every day, and we became friends. I wanted it to be more than that. You saw how beautiful she is. You can understand why I felt that way.”
    â€œShe’s a mighty pretty young woman,” Ace agreed.
    â€œBut it’s not just that,” Porter said. “She’s smart and charming and has a wonderful sense of humor. And a lovely singing voice! You should hear her.”
    â€œSo you started trying to court her,” Chance said.
    Porter nodded.
    â€œEvery time I began to approach the subject, she turned it aside,” he said. “It wasn’t long before I found out why. I had a rival for her affections.”
    â€œThat fella Hudson,” Ace said.
    â€œAnd she liked him better,” Chance said.
    Porter buried his face in his hands.
    â€œYes,” he said, his voice muffled. He lifted his head and laughed. “Can you imagine that? Just because he’s big and handsome and tough, she prefers him to me!”
    Porter laughed again. Ace edged the glass of whiskey away from him and said, “Maybe you’d better lay off this stuff for a spell.”
    â€œI never dreamed she’d actually agree to marry him, though. I thought for certain that eventually she would see through him.” Porter lowered his voice to a confidential tone. “I don’t trust the man, and it’s not just because Evelyn likes him. He’s dangerous, you can tell that by looking at him. I think he’s a gunman. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had several killings in his past.”
    â€œBut you don’t know for sure,” Ace said.
    Porter shook his head and said, “No, I tried to look into his background, but I couldn’t find out anything about him. He’s only been in Austin a few months.”
    â€œWhat’s his connection to Fredericksburg?” Chance asked. “That’s a settlement west of here, right?”
    â€œYes, out in the Hill Country. The town was settled by German colonists. Excellent food, from what I hear. But I have no idea why Hudson is going there or why that’s where he and Evelyn plan to be married, instead of here in Austin.”
    Ace leaned back in his chair, thumbed his hat to the back of his head, and said, “Well, there are some things in life we have to just accept without understanding them, I reckon. Chance and I, we never knew our ma. She died when we were born. Nobody knew why. That’s just the way it was.”
    â€œIt was meant to be,” Chance said. “Maybe it’s meant to be that you and this gal Evelyn won’t wind up together.”
    Porter doubled his hand into a fist and thumped it on the table with unexpected vehemence.
    â€œNo,” he said. “No, I won’t accept it. I know destiny when it’s staring me in