Cheeks flushed from the encounter, she was relieved by Mr. Walker’s appearance. John Carpenter looked on in obvious interest, eyes bright, taking in the familiarity between the two. The Ranger and Miss Webster seemed already acquainted but she’d only been in town less than a day. Maybe there was something more that went unsaid? Her nieces confirmed his thinking, scrambling from behind the counter when they saw who entered. Physically they looked like their aunt, but maybe in reality there was no brother in the picture. Could the man and woman be romantically involved? A juicy scandal to share as soon as they left his store. Going to the storefront window, he watched them walk away, lawman and prisoners in one direction and woman and children in another. Quickly flipping his sign to 'closed', he locked the door and scurried out the back to share the news with other gossip mongers.<br/><br/>The hotel clerk, Matthew vehemently disagreed with the slander. He liked the new school teacher who was polite and very watchful of her nieces. Texas Ranger’s room was on the opposite end of the hall and the architecture of the hotel was such that anyone sitting at the clerk’s desk could observe coming and goings upstairs. He was on shift when Miss Walker checked in and confirmed there improper behavior going on under the hotel’s roof. Citizens watched and waited to make their own conclusions. Both Miss Walker and Jed working to establish themselves in a new routine and town, were unaware of the attention they were attracting.