“About ready to leave? I’ll give you a ride home.”
Kathleen almost choked, and her heart pounded in response to her anger. A hectic flush stained her cheeks, and her eyes, when she glared at Johnny, shone like those of a wildcat he’d once treed.
“When I’m ready to leave, I’ll walk.”
“When will that be?” He gave her back stare for stare.
“I’ve not decided yet.”
“You came to meet the doctor, didn’t you? You met him. Do you need her help, Adelaide?”
“Hey, I’m out of this.” Adelaide picked up the silver coffee server and headed for the kitchen.
“I hope you’re satisfied.” Kathleen’s blue eyes sparkled angrily. “You’ve made Adelaide uncomfortable.”
“Adelaide’s skin is thicker than that. If she’s embarrassed, it’s because you’ve got your back up.”
“All I said was that I’d walk.”
“I saw you in front of the store the other day.” He dropped the news in a calm, sure voice that unnerved her even more.
“I usually buy my groceries at the store.”
“Why didn’t you go in?”
“I changed my mind. Is there a law against that?”
“You followed me out of town.”
“I went to the library!” Her face was fiery now, her eyes like blue stars. Her head felt tight, and her eyes smarted. She wanted to hit him. It was a ridiculous notion. He knew that she had seen him with the blonde. But why was he trying to humiliate her?
“I want to talk to you.”
“Well, talk. Dammit!”
“Not here. These walls have ears.” A muscle twitched in the corner of his mouth.
“I’m home most nights?’ she said in a voice wooden with control, but some of the desperation she was feeling made itself known by the quivering of her lips.
“Don’t be difficult, Kathleen. I know that you can hardly stand the sight of me, but unbend a little. I need to talk to you.”
“Is it safe to come back in?” Adelaide asked from the doorway.
“Of course. I’m sorry you were uncomfortable. I’ll be going now if there isn’t anything else you want me to do.”
“I wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Go on. In a few minutes I’ll have more help than I’ll know how to manage. You’re excused.” Adelaide made a little shooing motion with her hand.
Kathleen picked up her purse and walked out the door, conscious that Johnny followed close behind her. At the end of the walk, he took her elbow and turned her toward his car. After she was settled in the seat, he went around to the driver’s side, opened the door, and got in. It was then she noticed the extra space between the seat and the dash. He had evidently unbolted the front seat and moved it to make room for his long legs.
“It isn’t like riding in a Buick, but it’s a shade better than my old truck.” He glanced at her set profile before he started the car. “Do you want to go someplace” and get something cold to drink?”
“No. I’ve got iced tea at home.”
“Will I be invited in, or do you want to talk in the car?”
“You can come in. That is if you can spare the time.” She turned to look out the window and failed to see the frown that puckered his brows.
Nothing more was said until they reached her house and he had parked the car behind her Nash. Kathleen got out and led the way into the house.
“I’ll fix the tea,” she said on her way to the kitchen. Her nerves were a tangled mess, and her hands shook as she threw back the top lid on the small icebox and chipped enough ice from the block to fill the glasses.
He’s made arrangements for the divorce. She should be prepared for it, but she wasn’t. Oh, Lord, help me not to blubber like a baby when he tells me.
Johnny was sitting on the couch in much the same place he had sat when he was there before. In his hand was a page of her manuscript he had taken from the stack on the end table. Smiling dark eyes met hers. He was grinning as if he were terribly pleased. Kathleen drew in a deep breath and tried to remain calm.
“Pretty good,” he said, and replaced the page before reaching for the glass she held out to him.
“That’s one of the exciting scenes. There are several pages of dull narrative leading to that. Writing a book is different from writing a short story. It requires much more detail.”
“I kind of got hooked on Western stories.” When she didn’t speak, he said, “What are these things on the glasses?”
“Socks. My landlady in Oklahoma City knitted them. They help to keep the glass from sweating and the ice from melting so fast.”
“Socks for tea glasses—what’ll they think of next?” He turned the glass around and around in his large hands. Kathleen’s eyes were drawn to them. He was still wearing his wedding ring.
An uneasy silence hung between them. Johnny clasped his hands ’round his glass and looked at it intently. Kathleen was confused. She had prepared herself for what she was sure he was going to say. What thoughts were going through that handsome head?
“What did you want to talk about? Have you seen a lawyer?” She decided to jump in and get the agony of suspense over with.
“Are you in a hurry to break with me?”
“You left me. Remember?” she said quietly. “I’m sure you want your freedom to—”
“—To what?” His body was still except for the slight flicker of his eyelids.
“Marry someone else.” The words almost choked her.
“What gave you that idea?”
“Let’s don’t beat around the bush. Come right out with what you want to say.”
“I don’t know if I should even bother to ask you now. You seem in such an all-fired hurry to get me out of your life.”
“Under the circumstances, what choice do I have?”
“Have you got someone else?” Looking intently at the glass in his hand, he spoke softly.
“No.” Then she added, “Not yet,” in order to keep a little of her dignity intact.
“Does that mean that you have someone in mind?”
Kathleen’s anger flared. “How dare you sit there and question me about my private Me when you…when you—”
“All right. Let’s forget it.” He set his glass on the end table and stood.
Kathleen remained seated. Her voice shook with anger when she spoke. “I can’t forget it. Maybe you can, but I can’t. You came to say something, so say it.”
Johnny sat back down, leaned over, and rested his forearms on his thighs. His hands were clasped together tightly. He seemed to be studying his new boots.
“Tell me this, Kathleen. If you don’t have another man, why are you in such a hurry to divorce me?”
Kathleen looked at him. His face was leaner, harder. His hair had grown during the past few weeks, and he looked more like the old Johnny. She thought of herself. Too much time had been wasted. She should have confronted him years ago, instead of taking his repeated rejections in silence. She didn’t want to wait any longer for fate to make its play.
“How can you ask…under the circumstances? What did I do to you to make you want to humiliate me?”
“I never wanted that.” His head came up. “I know how bad you want…a family. I can’t give you children…not the kind that will make you happy.”
“So you cut and run. You don’t want to risk another Mary Rose, is that it?”
He was silent for a long while, then he said, “You don’t understand me at all, do you?”
“I tried to. Are you afraid that I’ll demand part of your ranch if we get a divorce? If that’s what’s holding you back, you can get that thought out of your head.”
“Goddammit!” Suddenly his shoulders slumped. “I was going to ask if you would be willing to sign papers at the bank so I could get a loan to rebuild my herd. The government will guarantee a loan to a veteran for a home or business; but since you’re my wife and co-owner of the ranch, I needed your signature. But forget it.” He went t
o the door.
“I’ll sign the papers.” Kathleen followed, but stood back so she could look up at him. “Isn’t there enough money in your account to help you get started?”
“I won’t use that.” It was his tone of voice more than the words that wounded her.
“You don’t want even that from me,” she said, throwing back at him words that he’d said to her previously. Her control broke like a dam being pushed by flood waters. She balled her fist and pounded him on the chest to emphasize her words. “You make me so damn mad!” Tears of frustration filled her eyes when she realized what she had done.
“Still the fiery redhead. You can’t hold your temper any better today than you could seven years ago.”
“You, more than anyone else, can cause me to lose it. Why won’t you use the money?”
“Pride, I guess. I can’t explain it. I don’t have a way with words like you do. I only know that I can’t take the money you saved when you don’t want anything from me.”
“It was the allotment money the government sent me as your wife.”
“Not all of it. I can add. Think about it; and if it’s something you’re willing to do, stop by the bank and ask Mr. Wrenn for the papers.” He slapped his hat down on his head and stepped out onto the porch. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be obligated, because if I can’t make the payments, they’ll come after you.”
“I’ll go in tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” He looked at her for a long while, then headed for the car. Before he got in, he turned. “’Bye.”
“’Bye, Johnny.”
He lingered by the car, Kathleen on the edge of the porch. She was thinking that he might come back to the house when he finally spoke.
“Isabel is out at the ranch. She’s sick and didn’t have any place to go.”
“Your sister?” Kathleen’s breath caught in her throat, and she felt the heat come up her neck to her cheeks.
“My half sister. I told you about her.”
“I remember. What’s the matter with her?”
“I’m not sure. I’m going to try to get her into the clinic to see Jude.”
“Does the doctor know her?”
Johnny snorted. “Oh, yes.”
“Was she the woman with you…the other day?” The Is came even as she thought them.
“Yeah. She came in on the bus. She’d called Sheriff Carroll before she left the city. He sent word out to me.”
“I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
He snorted again. “You’d not be able to stand her.”
“Why didn’t she go to Henry Ann?”
“She hates Henry Ann. She hates me, too, but hates Henry Ann more.”
“Poor miserable thing.”
“She’s hard. I’m sorry to say, I’ve never known a woman as hard and as selfish. Whatever is wrong with her, she’s brought on herself.” He got in the car and started the motor. He continued to look at Kathleen standing on the porch as he backed out. On the road he lifted a hand and drove away.
Kathleen could do nothing but smile. A weight had been lifted from her heart. He hadn’t been taking a woman out to her house. The one in his car had been his sister.
“Where have you been? I’ve been here all day by myself. You knew I wanted to go to town and you slipped off without me. You’re a son of a bitch, Johnny.”
Isabel began raving at Johnny the minute he stepped upon the porch carrying a chunk of ice. While Isabel continued to berate him, he slid the block into the icebox and shut the door.
“Did you bring me any cigarettes? This place is so damn quiet I heard a bird fart when it flew over. I don’t see how you stand it out here without electricity or an indoor toilet. Talk about backwoods! I thought Mud Creek was back in the sticks, but here there ain’t even any sticks, for Godsake.“
“You didn’t ask for cigarettes.’
“I told you last night I only had two packs left. Jesus Christ!“
An ashtray with a dozen butts in it was on the table, the dishes hadn’t been washed and the dish towel was on the floor. He picked it up.
“This place is drivin’ me crazy.” Isabel’s breathing was uneven. “I’ve been stuck here for over a week. I want to go to town. I’ve not seen a soul but you and that old coot that works for you. I can’t understand a word he says. He’s not got a tooth in his head.”
“Don’t take your spite out on Sherm. It isn’t his fault that you’re here. I told you to listen to the radio all you want. I’ll keep the battery charged up.”
“All you can get is that old station down at Vernon.” She grasped the back of a chair to steady herself.
Johnny was embarrassed to look at her. She wore only I a single sleeveless garment, the armholes so big that her flat breasts were visible. Her trembling legs were so thin they looked like sticks.
She was thirty years old and looked fifty.
“You’re sick, Isabel. You should see a doctor.”
“Hell, I know I’m sick. I’ve seen a doctor. He told me to rest. Why do you think I came here? There’s nothin’ to do here, but rest. I’ve had about all the rest I can take.”
“You’re not in any condition to go anywhere. You couldn’t walk fifty feet.”
“Ha! Just give me the chance.”
Her voice was weak, and she was breathing hard; but there was defiance in her eyes. The skin on her bony face a yellowish tinge, and dark circles surrounded her peep-set eyes. Her dry, straw-colored hair had come out fin patches, revealing her scalp.
“Remember Jude Perry?” Johnny hurried on before she could interrupt. “He’s a doctor now. A good one. He just took over the clinic in town. You should go see him.”
Isabel hooted. “Jude, Hardy Perry’s smart-mouthed, sissy-britches kid? How’d he ever get to be a doctor? Well, never mind. I’d not let that flitter-headed ninny treat my sick cat, if I had one.”
“He left medical school at the head of his class and went into the army with a commission. He was wounded at Anzio. He’s a long way from being a flitter-headed ninny.”
“Anzio? Where’s that?”
“Italy. He was shot in the thigh while tending a wounded man.”
“If it’d been his head, it wouldn’t hurt him. All he wanted to do was read his damn books. He wouldn’t even help with the still unless Hardy threatened to beat the tar outta him. God, it was funny seeing him dancing with Hardy.”
“When you’re young you do things you don’t want to do to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly,” Johnny said tightly.
“Yeah, well, he’ll never be the man Pete was. That man knew how to dance.”
“I remember that you lied about your age to be in the dance marathon with Pete and got both of you thrown out of the competition.”
“He was madder than a pissed-on snake.” Isabel laughed. “It was probably a good thing that the sheriff got me out of there. Pete wanted to kill me.”
Johnny went through the living room and paused in the doorway leading to the bedroom. Letters, pictures, and mementos from his rodeo days that Kathleen had saved lay scattered over the unmade bed. A bureau drawer hung open.
“Goddammit,” he swore. “I told you to stay out of my things. You were to use the bed and that was all.”
“Hell, what’er you riled up about? I was just looking at your old pictures. There’s nothin’ else to do.” Isabel watched as Johnny put the pictures, rodeo clippings, and souvenirs back in the drawer.
“You could do some cleaning around here.” Even as he said it, he knew that she hadn’t the strength even to keep herself clean. She made him so angry he had to say something.
“Did you go to see your wife while you were in town? Is she a whore? Bet that red hair in the picture came out of a bottle at the five-and-dime.”
“You would try the patience of a saint.”
“Saint? I ain’t no saint. Is the redhead givin’ you a little tail now and then?” She laughed nastily. “You didn�
��t go without it while you were gone. I’d bet my life on that! Ain’t no man I ever heard of can go without it that long.”
“Shut up, Isabel.”
“God, I don’t blame her for leavin’ you. This place is deader than a graveyard.”
Johnny picked up the drawer and walked out of the house. Isabel followed him to the porch.
“What’er you goin’ to do? You afraid I’ll tear up the pictures of your darlin’ Kathleen? I want to go to town, Johnny.”
On his way to the barn, Johnny turned. “Not until you agree to go to the clinic and see Jude.”
“You…horsecock!” Isabel yelled, before she went back into the house and slammed the door.
Inside the barn, Johnny looked at his and Kathleen’s wedding picture for a long while before he turned it facedown in the drawer, then slipped the drawer into a gunnysack and tied the end securely. He climbed a ladder and carefully placed his burden on the support beams, where it would be safe from Isabel’s prying eyes.
Chapter Six
Dr. Jude Perry sank down in the chair behind his desk and rubbed his aching thigh. The open house had been a success. According to the mayor’s count, more than a hundred people had showed up to give him a warm welcome. He was tired, but elated too.
He had Grant Gifford to thank for arranging the purchase of the clinic. This is what he’d always wanted. He’d had no desire for a big-city practice. Being in the same area as Johnny was an extra bonus. It had been good to see him. Grant had told him about Johnny’s war record and that he suspected that Johnny’s marriage was breaking up. According to Grant and Karen, Johnny and Kathleen had been terribly in love when they wed. Jude wondered what had happened to drive them apart.
Kathleen was a pretty woman. Jude could understand why Johnny was still in love with her. Now how did he know that? he asked himself. Was it the way Johnny’s attention had been drawn to voices in the reception room while they had been in the office, and the fact he’d not mentioned a separation? Grant had said they’d lost a child before Johnny went to the service. He wondered if that had anything to do with the rift between them.
Jude hadn’t thought of Isabel Perry in years. When she first came to Mud Creek, a fourteen-year-old who didn’t have the brains of a flea, he sensed she would come to a bad end, just as her mother had. Johnny had said that she was sick and had come to stay with him because she didn’t have anyplace else to go.
After the Parade Page 7