Cutty (Prairie Grooms Book 8) Read Online Free PDF Page A

been burned, he felt his hair growing back!
    Sheriff Hughes and Cyrus came into the lobby to find him patting his head with both hands. “Lose something?” Sheriff Hughes teased.
    “Only if it was under his hat,” Cyrus quipped.
    “Wait a minute,” Sheriff Hughes said and peered more closely. “Why, Cutty! Is that what I think it is?”
    “It’s a miracle! A plumb miracle!” Cutty said. “I didn’t think it’d ever grow back.”
    The sheriff and Cyrus studied his head. “Well, would you look there,” Cyrus said.
    “I was wonderin’ why my head’s been itchy lately,” Cutty said with a giggle.
    Sheriff Hughes got closer. “How old are ya?”
    “What ya wanna know that for?” Cutty asked.
    “Well, ‘cause …” He glanced at Cyrus, then back to Cutty. “It looks like …”
    Cutty lowered his hands. “Like what?” He stood and hurried to a large mirror on the wall behind the front counter. “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! It’s …”
    “White,” Sheriff Hughes finished. “You don’t look old enough to have white hair.”
    “I ain’t!” Cutty squeaked. “’Fore the fire I had brown hair.”
    “Not anymore,” Cyrus said, stating the obvious. “You should ask Doc Drake about it – maybe he can explain why it’s growing back white.”
    Cutty swallowed hard. What would Imogene think? Of course, up to now she didn’t mind that one side of his face had a few burn scars, not to mention the patch he wore over his eye. And she’d never said anything about his lack of hair. Come to think of it, what woman would want a man that looked like him?
    On the other hand, what woman would want to be with a man like Thackary Holmes, despite him being much more handsome? But Cutty would never look like Thackary again. If his hair was indeed growing in white, no one would recognize him as his old notorious self. Unless he told them …
    Sheriff Hughes and Cyrus joined him at the mirror. “You’ll cut quite a figure for Imogene now,” Cyrus said.
    “They say white hair makes a man look wise,” added the sheriff. “I think she’ll like it.”
    Cutty shoved his hat onto his head. “I can always shave it off.”
    “Ouch,” Cyrus said with a grimace. “Don’t be too hasty. Let it grow out and see what it looks like first.”
    “Enough about my hair,” Cutty said and turned. “I gotta find Newton!” He marched out of the hotel and into the street without another word. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Cyrus and Sheriff Hughes hadn’t followed. Good. He decided to go to the livery stable – if Newton had gone for a ride earlier, he would’ve used one of the horses Chase the blacksmith kept for that purpose.
    When he got there, Chase was nowhere to be seen, which was fine with him. He’d had enough heckling for one morning. He settled onto a bale of hay and mused over his dilemma. How long should he wait before he told Newton and Nettie who he was? How long would it take him to get close to his son? How betrayed would they feel once he gave them the news? Maybe he should tell them now and forget all this nonsense. Maybe if he did, it wouldn’t hurt as much when they told him to get out of their lives and stay out.
    He closed his eyes against the thought. “I just found them. I can’t lose them now,” he whispered. “I haven’t even told them yet, and my heart feels like it’s breaking …”
    He took off his hat and twisted it in his hands. He got nervous just thinking about it. Once he told them, it was going to hurt – and telling them was just the beginning. Even if they didn’t reject him, he’d still have to ask for their forgiveness. Would they be willing to give it?
    Furthermore, the thought just occurring to him, he was going to have to forgive himself.
    But first things first. He couldn’t say anything unless there was someone to say it to. “Where is that boy?”
    The sound of a wagon drew his attention and he got up as it stopped outside the livery stable. A familiar voice