City Girl
Page 15
Cash looked her in the eye and admitted, "After getting
over my surprise, I'm glad you're here, Reagan, but I know
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how I want this done. Katy sometimes forgets who's in
charge. If you can't do as I expect, I'll find someone who
can."
Reagan had no argument for that. Indeed Katy's very
commanding presence had caused Reagan to forget whose
home she was in. All remaining fight drained out of her. It
was more than reasonable that Cash get his way in this
matter, especially in light of the fact that he only wanted
his housekeeper to be well.
"Do you have any questions?"
"No. I should tell you, though, that she was awake in the
night and has some pretty aggressive plans."
250
"Like what?"
"She says she hasn't done the windows in a while, the
rugs need beating--things like that. She also said your bedroom
and office need turning out, and she was going to get
to it next week."
Cash shook his head a little. "I think you should run
everything through me for a while. You can take notes or
whatever you need to keep track of what she wants done,
but before you start any large projects, see me."
"All right."
"I need to tell you, Reagan," Cash added, I'm very
thankful that you've come to help her."
"It's all my fault, Cash. No matter what you say, 111
believe that." She shrugged and added, "There was
nothing else I could do."
The rancher knew there was no point in arguing with
her.
"Nevertheless, I thank you for your willingness to come
and help." He paused suddenly, as he fully realized what
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a huge job they would both have. "Reagan," he went on,
"the doctor said that Katy must keep still if her hip is going
to heal properly so she can walk again. I don't want you to
lie to her, but between the two of us, we need to keep her
as calm and happy as we can manage. I'm not sure she'll
City Girl 139
make it easy, and I'm not going to let her run you ragged,
but--"
Cash cut off when Reagan put her hand up.
"I know what you want, and I'm willing to do that."
Cash stared at her. He genuinely liked her, he realized,
and at the moment he was more grateful to her than he
could say. That it had been her bicycle that caused the accident
was of little importance to him. She was willing to
help, and he was very glad to have her.
"I did tell Katy that you would check on her after I
talked to you."
Reagan pushed out of the kitchen chair.
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"I'll go right now."
Cash ate his again-cool breakfast, his mind covering the
things he had to do. Reagan could not keep sleeping on the
floor of Katy's room, and his family needed to know what
had happened. He ate without giving much thought to the
taste, his mind on the full day ahead.
5"5" - r
"What is that noise?" Katy demanded not long after
Reagan started giving her a bath. She'd eaten a small breakfast
and had been fairly subdued. Reagan had been the one
to suggest washing up when she noticed the hair around
Katy's temples and forehead was matted with sweat
"I don't know."
"Well, go check!"
"As soon as we're done and you're settled."
"Oh, for pity's sake!" the old woman exclaimed in very
real frustration. "I tell you, Cash does not know what he's
talking about! I'm fine. Go see what that is!"
253
Reagan stood to full height, a glint in her eye and, surprisingly,
a smile on her face.
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"As me Irish father would say/' she said, dropping into
a remarkable Irish brogue, "'Dinna fash yourself,
woman/"
"What?" Katy was so taken aback, she forgot about the
noises.
'"Dinna fash yourself/ In other words, don't fret yourself,
don't worry."
"Easy for you to say," the older woman sniffed, turning
her head with as much dignity as she could muster.
Reagan ignored her and went back to the bath. She
made swift work of it, and by the time someone knocked
on the door, Katy was bathed and in a fresh gown.
"Come in/' Reagan called.
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Cash's head came around the corner.
"I need to show you something, Reagan. Do you have a
minute?"
"Coming right up."
"What were those noises?" Katy demanded.
"I'll tell you as soon as I get finished talking with
Reagan," Cash said, waiting for Reagan to come to the door
so he could take her out into the hall.
"If you're stirring up a bunch of dust, Cash Rawlings..."
they born heard Katy begin, but neither one turned back to
hear the rest.
"There's a small storeroom around here next to the
pantry," Cash said, as they headed down the hall. "It was
never meant for a bedroom, but if the closet door in Katy's
room is open/ you can hear everything in that room."
Reagan suddenly smiled at him.
"You sound as though you speak from experience."
Cash smiled at being caught out and laughed when he
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volunteered, "My mother's great uncle visited one time.
With the way he snored, you could hear it all over the
house, but my brothers and I did hide in this room one
night just to get the full effect."
Reagan had a good laugh over this as they finished the
journey to the room. She passed odds and ends of furniture
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and even some sacks of food that had been stacked against
one wall of the narrow hallway. When she got to the room,
she could see that someone had been busy.
The room was very small, but already there was a bed
with a small table near the head. Suddenly, from behind
Cash and Reagan, one of the ranch hands snowed up with
a small dresser.
"Right in the corner mere, Luke," Cash directed. "Now,
Reagan, we've got rugs to spare and just about anything
you want to make mis liveable. I don't want you sleeping
on the floor for the next six weeks. If s simply not practical,
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and I don't think you'll be able to move around comfortably
if I put another bed in Katy's room."
"But I can't be too far away and still hear her if she calls
in the night," Reagan finished for him.
"Exactly. Now right here, on the other side of the wall, is
the closet. We're going to try a few experiments and see..."
Cash stopped talking, his voice trailing off for a moment
Reagan watched him, as did Luke, both waiting for further
instructions.
"Do you sleep soundly?" he finally asked.
Reagan shrugged. "I don't know. I've never given it
much thought."
"Did you wake easily when Katy called you in the
night?"
"I think so."
"But you were sleeping on the floor," Cash said as he did
som
e thinking out loud, "and that couldn't have been very
restful."
"Reagan?" Katy's voice suddenly came through the
wall
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"Is that closet door open?" Cash asked as he turned to
Reagan.
"I don't think so."
Cash worried the edge of his lip for a moment
"I'd better see what Katy wants."
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"Right!" Cash was brought back to reality, "Before you
go, though, do you think you could be comfortable in here,
Reagan?"
Reagan couldn't stop her smile, her eyes sparkling and
white teeth flashing at him.
"You haven't seen my house, have you, Cash?"
With that she turned and went on her way. Not until
then did Cash notice that Luke had not taken his eyes from
Reagan. Remembering that night with iy in front of the
hotel, the ranch owner had all he could do not to pat Luke
on the bade and warn him that the lady would not be interested.
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"I spilled my water!" Katy all but snapped at Reagan
when she crossed the threshold. "Cash should just come in
here and put me out of my misery. I can't even get myself
a drink!"
Reagan did not comment. The thought of Katy dying
horrified her, and for a moment she could not speak. She
came close to the bed, lifting a towel from the basin on her
way past. She mopped the water without overdo fuss, but
inside she was shaken.
I've caused all of this. Katy's misery and all the inconvenience
are my fault.
"Okay," Cash stated with enthusiasm, coming through
the open door unannounced. "Here's the plan, Kate.
Reagan and I are going to clear the stuff from this closet
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and then shut the door. You're going to hear a lot of cutting
and pounding because I'm going to put a doorway through
on the other side."
"Whatever for?" Katy asked, mouth open.
"Reagan's going to sleep in the little storeroom by the
pantry, and the new door will give her access in here. I
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don't want another bed in this room, but she needs to be
able to hear you."
The older woman looked so upset that Cash went to her.
Reagan felt they needed time alone, but for some reason
she couldn't move.
"Katy." The big cowboy said her name quietly, taking
the chair and leaning close. "I want you better, and to do
that you can't get out of this bed. Reagan has to be close to
help you, but she can't sleep on the floor."
"But if s little more than a closet. Never has a guest in
this house been treated that way."
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"I know, and if things were different, it wouldn't have to
be this way now, but Reagan understands."
"Maybe we should move to my house. I wanted Reagan
here to take care of you, but maybe we should get out of
your hair."
Cash picked up her hand.
"This is where you're staying until you can walk out on
your own. When you're on your own two feet--bossy as
the day is long--you can go home. Until then we're going
to live together and probably drive each other crazy at
times, but that won't change the facts. The three of us are
going to do everything we have to do to get you out of that
bed."
Listening to him from where she felt frozen in place,
Reagan saw for the first time how much Cash loved this
old woman. This kind of love was foreign to her. She didn't
know what to do with it; indeed, it frightened her, but at
the same time she was strangely touched by what she was
witnessing.
"Okay." Cash stood, dearly ready to get to work. "We'll
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make it as fast as possible, but it will be noisy."
"Who's helping you?" Katy demanded.
"Luke."
"Well, thaf s at least something."
Cash went on his way, and Katy dedded to take her
mind off what she thought of as an intolerable situation.
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"Have you met Luke?"
"I don't think so," Reagajt said. She wasn't ready to talk,
but keeping Katy's spirits in mind, she answered.
"I think he's about your age."
"Now, what would you be knowing about my age?" The
brogue was back, and Reagan was smiling.
Katy snorted. "You can't be more than 20."
Reagan had a good laugh over this, and without even
knowing it, Katy was drawn away from her pain as
curiosity got the best of her.
"You don't mean to say you're older!"
"Indeed, I do," Reagan said as she straightened the
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room and even dusted the dresser.
"Twenty-one?"
Again Reagan laughed.
"No!" Katy exclaimed. "I refuse to believe it."
"I'll have you know," Reagan informed her, brogue still
in place as she came to the end of the bed, "that I will be 24 later this year."
Katy's mouth opened and with good reason. Reagan did
have a youthful appearance about her. And with her gutsy,
sometimes zany, approach to life, Katy naturally thought
her younger.
"What year were you born?" Katy prodded, certain
Reagan could not be telling the truth.
"Eighteen fifty-nine. How about yourself?"
The number on the tip of her tongue, Katy opened her
mouth but caught herself just in time.
Reagan smiled, and Katy shook her head a little in mock
despair. But all of this fun came to an end just moments
later when pounding and lots of movement started on the
other side of the wall. Reagan went over and swiftly began
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to empty the closet so she could shut the door, but there
had been no missing the pained look on the bedridden
woman's face.
City Girl 145
Reagan had never been so glad to sit down. Prior to
speaking with Cash, she had been determined to clean the
entire house and see to Katy's needs, but right now she saw
that in no uncertain terms Cash had rescued her.
Katy was finally asleep. There was now a new passageway
between Katy's room and her small bedroom.
Katy had eaten and told Reagan she wanted to sleep, and
Reagan had figured out that if she left the doors open, she
could sit on the porch in a rocking chair and still hear if
Katy called.
Her feet throbbing, even though she'd put them up on a
small wooden bench, Reagan let her head fall against the
high-backed rocking chair, her eyelids lowered just enough
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to find the horizon going to dusk. In that position, she was
ready to think about the day.
Katy had received a surprising number of visitors,
almost all food-bearing: the Bennetts; Max; Brenda and her
daughters; two other cowhands; Pastor Ellis and Noelle;
Lavinia from the general store; and Dr. Bruce again. Reagan
had been introduced to the ones she did not know, but she
did not visit with any of them or even stay close by. Katy
still had things she needed f
rom her little house, and
finding them had taken some searching. Reagan also had
her own room to dean and put together, wanting it done
before nightfall. All had been accomplished, but by the
time Reagan had started dinner, she'd been nearly crosseyed
with exhaustion, and the day wasn't done. Cash had
turned out to be a marvelous help in the kitchen, but he'd
gone to be with Katy while Reagan worked on the dishes.
Never had Reagan been so glad to hear anyone say she
wanted to sleep than when Katy made this announcement
not long after the dishes were completed.
Reagan now shifted a little in her chair, thinking she
265
should just head to bed, but before she could do that, her
thoughts went back to the way Cash had dealt with the
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patient all day. Panic almost gripped the new caregiver.
Cash's tenderness was still too much for Reagan to take in.
For the first time in a very long time, Reagan found herself
asking her own heart why she could not let people love
her. As a child she'd been starved for love and affection,
but when she'd grown into womanhood and men were
actually willing to marry her, her young heart had felt
frozen in her chest.
And then today, having to watch the love between a pair
who were like mother and son had been just as painful. When, Reagan asked herself, had all love become a threat?
When did I go from needing it so badly to being terrified by it?
And where, if anywhere, does God fit into the whole picture?
Not having answers to these questions was so confusing
and painful to Reagan that she didn't even want to think
about them, but one question would not go away, and that
one was directed at God.
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Do You really love people in a way they can survive? The question repeated itself over and over again in
Reagan's mind until she thought her head might burst
When she knew she couldn't think on it anymore, she rose
wearily to her feet and made her way inside. A swift check
on Katy told her that for the moment she was still off duty.
Trying not to long for the little house behind the Bennetts',
Reagan took herself off to bed.
dear slate, the letter started, the third one of the
evening. Katy has fallen and broken her hip. The doctor predicted
that she will be laid up for about six weeks, but if she
remains still during the healing process, she should be able to
walk again with very little trouble.
I won't try to go into details on how it happened, but there is