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no intention of marrying him.”
    “You mean deceive him?”
    “Well, he’s not expecting to marry me immediately. He said in his letter that he would have to approve me first. After a while, you could just say it didn’t work out, you can’t marry him.”
    Sharisse was appalled. “I couldn’t possibly take advantage of the man.”
    Stephanie refused to give up. “You don’t have the money to support yourself, do you?”
    “I have my jewels. They would last a while.”
    “Sell them?”
    “As many as necessary.”
    Stephanie began to wonder how she could let her sister do this for her, but then she thought of Joel and suppressed her conscience.
    “You probably won’t get anywhere near what those jewels are worth,” Stephanie said thoughtfully. “I just don’t see why you can’t take advantage of Lucas Holt. Did I tell you he was a rancher? I’ll give you his letter and the advertisement. You can see for yourself he sounds like a very agreeable fellow. He’s probably rich. You could live in style.”
    “Stop it, Steph. I wouldn’t dream of using the man that way. I will make use of his train ticket, though, to get me out of here.” Sharisse grinned, excited by her own daring. “Shall we go to my room and start packing? If I’m going to go, I’ll have to leave first thing in the morning, just as soon as Father goes to his office. You can cover for me in the afternoon and evening. Father won’t have to know I’ve gone until the following day, and by then I should be far away. You’ll have to cancel my appointments for me. I was to meet Sheila for lunch tomorrow, and there’s Carol’s party—”
    “How can I ever thank you, Rissy?” Stephanie cried.
    “By becoming Mrs. Joel Parrington as soon as you can. I don’t mind disappearing for a while, but I don’t want to be gone too long.” She smiled wistfully. “After all, nowhere can compare with New York. I love it here, and I hate being homesick.”
    Stephanie grinned. “You’ll be back before you know it.”

Four
    Benjamin Whiskers stood behind his bar, slowly wiping a beer mug. His eyes were on Lucas Holt, watching him walk to the swinging doors, look outside, then come back to stand on the other side of the bar. He finished his third whiskey, and that was the fifth time he’d looked outside. Ben was dying to ask him what he was looking for, but he hadn’t got up the nerve. He still couldn’t get it right in his mind that this was the friendly Holt brother, not the other one.
    If Ben hadn’t been there the night Slade Holt shot Feral Sloan, seven years ago, then he wouldn’t have been so leery of Luke Holt. But he had been there, had seen Slade shoot Feral as cool as you please and walk away without a moment of remorse. Slade Holt was a dangerous man. And this one just happened to be the very image of Slade. They were twins. It gave a man the willies.
    A lot of folks in town liked Luke, were real taken with him. It wasn’t that they discounted thestories about Slade, it was just that they had met Lucas first, and while the brothers looked exactly alike, they were as different as night and day.
    Lucas took something out of his pocket, frowned at it, then put it away. Ben had seen him do that twice now. The man didn’t look at all agreeable. Most times, he had a few pleasant words, but not today. He was downing whiskeys like water and looking agitated.
    It had been some shock when Lucas came to town to stay nearly two years ago. Folks wondered why he chose Newcomb, but no one asked. No one came to settle in Newcomb anymore. Since the railroad had passed them by, it was a town everyone was wanting to leave. But Lucas Holt had come, buying the old Johnson ranch three miles out of town. He kept to himself and didn’t cause trouble. He was probably a likeable fellow if you got to know him, but Ben would never be friendly with Lucas. He would never be able to separate him from Slade.
    Slade Holt had been back since Lucas settled there. He