"Excited," Jenny said, finishing the thought for her.
"Yeah," Kate admitted sheepishly. "I did. To be real honest, I'm still excited."
"The last time you got excited about going up to Baxter's Draw looking for treasure you got shot," Jenny said, a shadow crossing her face at the memory of that night.
"Nothing up in Baxter's Draw is going to hurt me or you any more, honey," Kate said. "I went up there by myself in the middle of the night knowing there was an intruder with a gun somewhere on this place. I was an idiot."
"Damn right you were," Jenny said, putting her hand over Kate's. "And you're not ever going to do anything like that again."
"No, I'm not," Kate promised her. "I'll be with three other people, and with you if you decide you want to come along."
Jenny frowned in consternation. "I want to," she said, "but I can't. I'm meeting with the potter I told you about in Mason today. I've been trying to see her work for a month, and we both keep having conflicts. I have to drive over there or she's going to think I've just been stringing her along."
"Then you go," Kate said. "I won't let them tear anything up. I promise." She started to stand, but the pressure of Jenny's hand stopped her. "What is it, honey?" Kate asked.
"No good comes of Baxter's Draw, Katie," Jenny said in a serious tone. “That place is bad luck for us.”
"That's not true," Kate said. "That's just old fear talking."
"Every single time we start messing around with that cave, something happens," Jenny said. "Maybe we should just close it up for good."
Kate regarded her silently for a moment and then said, "Is that what you really want?"
Jenny felt a lump come in her throat. Just like that, Katie was prepared to acquiesce to her sister’s wishes. "You'd really do that for me, wouldn't you?" Jenny said.
"Yes," Kate said. "I would, and Jake wouldn't argue with me."
"That's not fair to him," Jenny said.
"Maybe not," Kate said, "but he'd do it anyway."
Jenny took a deep breath. "No," she said, shaking her head as if to drive away her superstitious thought. "There could be something really significant up there. Sorry. I'm getting as bad as Daddy. You all go on."
"You're nothing like Daddy," Kate said. "Get that notion out of your head right quick." She stood up in one fluid motion that Jenny followed with her eyes.
The improvement in Kate's strength and balance was not lost on her sister. "You just keep getting stronger," Jenny said. "I'm impressed."
Kate grinned, obviously pleased. "You really want to see a show?" she asked.
"Sure," Jenny said. "What is it?"
"Come on over to the barn with me," Kate said. "You can help us finish saddling the horses and then you’ll find out.”
The two sisters crossed the open space together, their long legs falling in easy time with one another. When Kate opened the gate to the pen, Jenny followed her in and they each captured a horse, leading the animals to the rail where Amy had deposited two saddles. The women worked efficiently and with practiced ease so that by the time Jake and Chris joined them, the animals were all standing placidly outside the barn ready to go.
Amy, Chris, and Jake all mounted, but Kate remained standing beside Bracelet on the horse's right side.
Jenny stared at her. She had an idea where this was going, but she knew how to be a good sidekick. "Don't you need your mounting block?" she asked on cue.
"Nope," Kate said. "Watch this."
She spoke to Bracelet in a low tone. "Okay, girl. Stand still and don't make me look like a greenhorn, okay?" At that, Kate reached up with her good hand, put her right foot in the stirrup, and without hesitation, pulled herself smoothly into the saddle. Bracelet never so much as blinked.
"Damn," Jenny said, looking up at her sister with a mixture of pride and love. "How long have you been working on that?"
"About three months," Kate said, her face flushed with triumph. "I've been taking Bracelet down to the river where nobody can see us and we've been working on it. I landed on my ass more than once before I got it figured out."
Jenny refrained from pointing out that had Kate landed on her damaged shoulder she could have hurt herself badly. This moment meant too much to her sister for it to be spoiled by unnecessary mother hen clucking, and Jenny knew it. Instead, she said admiringly, "Goddamn, woman, you are stubborn."
Kate grinned down at her, telegraphing her thanks for the recognized lack of fussing. "Listen to the pot call the kettle black," she said.
Jenny shrugged helplessly. "Family failing," she said. Then, in a more commanding tone, she added, "Alright. Get going. You're burning daylight."
"That's my line," Kate said, urging Bracelet forward, "but you're right. Wish us luck."
"Always," Jenny said, as she watched the little group ride away. "Always."
68
Jolene Wilson stood just inside the door of the workroom and watched with growing impatience as the new library volunteers slowly shelved books in the stacks. "How the hell am I supposed to be gone for two weeks and leave them to take care of my library?" she asked Mandy in a low voice. "Do you have any idea what a mess this place is going to be by the time we get back?"
Mandy scrunched the wax paper under the order of French fries in the middle of the table and said in a threatening tone, "I'm eating your fries."
"No, you're not," Jolene said, wincing as the woman in her line of sight put a book on a shelf, and walked three steps away only to reconsider her action, remove the book, and stand staring at its spine with a perplexed expression.
As Jolene made a motion to step out of the room, Mandy ordered, "Stop. Get yourself back over here this instant and eat your cheeseburger."
"She's going to put a book in the wrong place," Jolene hissed.
"No," Mandy said. "She's not. She may be double-checking herself, but only because she's scared of the librarian who eats volunteers. You know? Volunteers? The people who are working here because they love books, not because they get paid?"
"I work here because I love books," Jolene said, reluctantly re-joining Mandy at the table. "And I have the pitiful paychecks to prove it. We can't afford this vacation. I keep telling Rick that and he keeps making me feel guilty because the girls want to go so much."
"Be glad you have children who want to go ride horses in the Big Bend with their Daddy," Mandy said. "When we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon, I thought Joe was gonna pop a gasket over all the spoiled rich kids wasting their parent’s money."
"Uh-huh," Jolene said, picking up her cheeseburger. "This from the man who was honeymooning with his heiress wife in a rented luxury beach house — complete with private beach."
"Oh, stop," Mandy giggled. "Joe had a fit about me spending the money on the honeymoon, too — until he realized we also had a private hot tub."
Jolene snickered. "I hope the neighbors didn't have a view of that hot tub."
Mandy blushed. "There were no neighbors. Let me show you." She wiped her hands, propped open her iPad, and started a slide show.
As the two friends finished their lunch, they watched Mandy's honeymoon pictures slowly display one at a time. Mandy kept up a running narrative of the trip, tapping the tablet screen every few images to pause and tell a longer story.
"You get to spend two weeks in a tropical paradise with an adoring new husband," Jolene groused. "I am being dragged to the deserts of West Texas to read while my adoring old husband and our children do outdoorsy stuff in the heat."
"Aw, come on, Jolene," Mandy said. "You know it's cooler out there in the mountains, and Big Bend is real pretty in its own way. Aren't you all driving up to Carlsbad Caverns, too?"
Jolene bit off half a fry, using the other end to stab the air for emphasis. "Oh! I left out the part about where I get to go down into a big ole hole in the ground full of bats!"
"And from there you get to go to Ruidosa and see the horse races," Mandy said. "You love the horse races."
"Yes, I
do love the horse races, but I'm not gonna love keeping up with those girls of mine at a race track," Jolene groused. "I wouldn't put it past Sissy and Missy to figure out how to put down bets."
"They're eight years old!" Mandy laughed. "You make them sound like they're going to grow up to be bookies or something."
"You try raising twins and see how fast you readjust your notion of what two little fertile minds can come up with in tandem," Jolene countered darkly.
Mandy looked down at her lunch, toying with her own fries, and said softly, "I don't know if it's going to be twins or not."
Jolene stopped in mid-chew, realized her mouth was too full to talk, swallowed with a big gulp and gasped, "You're not!"
Lifting her eyes, Mandy said uncertainly, "I might be."
"I thought you were on the pill," Jolene said.
"I am," Mandy said, "but I missed a couple on the trip and then I got confused and couldn't remember when to start back up. We thought we were being careful, but I'm late."
"Have you told Joe?"
"No, because I'm not sure."
"What about your sisters?"
Mandy shook her head.
"Did you take a home test?" Jolene asked.
"Yes, but it was inconclusive," Mandy said. "I don't want anybody to get all excited until I know for sure."
"Have you ever skipped before?"
"Sometimes," Mandy said, "if I get real stressed about something, but what would I be stressed about? I just married the most wonderful man in the whole world."
Jolene looked at her with consternation. "Really, Mandy?"
"What?" Mandy said, obviously confused. “Am I missing something?”
"Well," Jolene said, "let's just run down the list, shall we? In the last year and a half, your Daddy committed suicide, you and your sisters inherited $8 million, and you moved back here from Houston because to get the money you have to live on the ranch for the rest of your life. Then you promptly fell in love with the mayor and got yourself knee deep in his pet economic revitalization campaign, which you are now running like the former head cheerleader that you are. Then you all find out Langston was hiding an Aztec treasure on the ranch and Jenny's abusive ex-possibly-mob-connected boyfriend wants it. Oh, and then there's the part about how Langston was in love with a dead woman, who turned out not to be dead at all. Two fellers have gotten shot in Katie's living room. She managed to go and get her own self shot and crippled. And, 'cause the fun out at the Rocking L never ends, Langston isn't your Daddy, but Jenny's fiancé is your first cousin. And you threw a wedding . . . but you're not stressed."
By the time Jolene finished her recitation, Mandy was laughing so hard she had to wipe the tears out of her eyes. "Oh my God, nobody but you could put it all like that," she giggled. "It has been kind of an eventful homecoming."
"That's putting it mildly," Jolene said sardonically, but then she reached across the table and took Mandy's hands. "And if you are pregnant, it's wonderful news because you and Joe will be fantastic parents."
"Do you really think so?" Mandy asked. "My family was so screwed up. Daddy was just awful, and I hardly remember Mama. Katie and Jenny raised me."
"And they'll help you raise your kids," Jolene said, "and so will I. My God. Sissy and Missy will be fighting to babysit. If the way my girls adore you is any indication, you’re already a shoo-in for Mother of the Year. Quit your worrying. Wait another month and do the test over. We're not leaving on our vacation for six weeks. You can take the test here if you're scared to do it by yourself."
“Thank you,” Mandy said, with tears in her eyes. “I am absolutely scared to death, Jolene.”
"Hey," Jolene said, concern filling her voice. "Wait a second here. You do want kids, don't you?"
"Yes," Mandy said, and then added. "No. Maybe. I don't know."
Jolene squeezed her hands. “Lord, honey. Every woman who ever got pregnant felt exactly the way you’re feeling right now. What does Joe want? Surely you all talked about this before you decided to get married."
She waited, but Mandy didn’t answer. In fact, she wouldn’t look up and meet Jolene’s eyes. Finally comprehension dawned. “Oh my God. Mandy! You all didn’t talk about kids, did you?”
Mandy shook her head. "Joe is thinking about running for the legislature. I guess we just kind of assumed we'd talk about having a family when everything settles down."
"Honey," Jolene said, "life doesn't ever settle down, it just happens."
“What do I do now?” Mandy asked, sounding miserable.
“You wait,” Jolene said. “You don’t say anything to Joe or your sisters. You keep me from killing these volunteers. You live your life and you wait. We’ll know in a month and then we’ll decide what to do. Either way, it’s gonna be fine, honey. I promise.”
“Thank you, Jolene,” Mandy said, wiping her eyes. “I just don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” Jolene said. “I’m like a cockle burr. I’m not going anywhere. And you’re welcome.”
“Whew,” Mandy said. “I feel better just for telling someone. You’d think with everything we’ve found out, I’d get it by now that secrets don’t do a person any good.”
“True,” Jolene agreed, “but this could be a really happy secret. You all are overdue for one of those.”
“Actually,” Mandy said, “I may ask you to keep one more little secret for me. Just for now.”
Jolene eyed her suspiciously. “Okay,” she said. “Dare I ask?”
“I want you to help me find my real father,” Mandy said, clearly summoning her courage to say the words.
“Why do you have to do that in secret?”
“I don’t have to,” Mandy said. “I just don’t want to upset Katie and Jenny, or Josh either for that matter. He doesn’t even know if his uncle is alive. But if he is, I want to meet him.”
“Does your father know about you?” Jolene asked.
“Elizabeth says Mama never told Phillip that she was carrying me,” Mandy said, and then added in a hopeful voice. “Don’t you think if he knew he would have stayed in touch with Mama?”
Jolene hesitated and then said, “Please don’t go getting your hopes up over this, honey.”
“What do you mean?” Mandy asked, a little note of hurt in her voice.
“Well, he might not even be alive,” Jolene said reasonably, “and if he is, he might not want his life disrupted. Sometimes people would rather let an old sleeping dog just lay out there on the porch.”
“Did you just call me an old sleeping dog?” Mandy asked suspiciously.
Jolene laughed, “No. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like that. Some folks just like the past to stay where it is.”
“Okay,” Mandy said, “I get that. I don’t want to mess up his life or anything. I just want to know something about him. I mean . . .,” she faltered. “I still feel like a Lockwood, but I’m a Baxter. I don’t really know what that means. I just want to know who my people really are. Can you help me? Please?”
“Yes,” Jolene said, “I’ll help you.” She crumpled up the remains of her lunch and stuffed them in the white take-out bag, which she tossed in the corner trash can. “Come on. Let’s get you set up with an Ancestry.com account.”
69
Jenny could have chosen a smoother route for her drive to Mason, but she preferred the tiny two-lane country road that wound through the rolling backcountry. Ranch Road 1221 took her through a “town” that was little more than a wide place in the road called Hext.
There, on a whim, she took a detour to an isolated country cemetery where two sets of her great-grandparents were buried. She hadn't visited the graves since her girlhood, but to her surprise, the burying ground was well-tended, and the stones, dating back to the turn of the last century, were all in good shape.
She found the family plot by memory and stood at the foot of her great-grandfather's grave looking down at the red granite tombstone. It hel
d a well-preserved, oval photo of Weston Lockwood wearing a broad-brimmed Stetson, the smile on his face mostly hidden by his prodigious handlebar mustache.
Unlike his son, Milton, and his grandson, Langston, Weston was reputed to have been a good-natured and humorous man. He was, however, fond of a bottle of whiskey, much to the horror of his hard-shell Baptist wife. And if Weston had a choice between working the ranch or riding off to guide for the Texas Rangers, adventure won over the chores every time.
It was Weston's grandfather, Collins Lockwood, who originally settled in this part of Texas when the land still belonged to Mexico. Collins fought for Texican independence, serving with General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto. Had the Lockwood girls chosen to do so, they could have been members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Daughters of the Confederacy.
When local historian and busybody, Ida Belle Banners, approached them recently to triumphantly inform them of this fact, Kate drily declined the offer, observing that being one of the Daughters of Langston Lockwood was enough of a "membership" for her. Ida Belle had puffed up a bit at that, only to be put in her place by Clara Wyler who happened to be visiting the ranch that day.
"Loosen up, Ida Belle," Clara vigorously informed her. "It's the 21st century. We need to get the hell over the Alamo."
"There is no need to blaspheme," Ida Belle declared in crisp retort. "Good day, ladies," she barked, stomping down the front walk and stirring up a cloud of dust as she drove out the gate of the Rocking L.
Jenny turned to Clara in confusion. "I thought blasphemy was speaking against God," she said.
"God . . . the Alamo . . . six of one, half a dozen of the other in Texas," Clara said, holding out her glass. "Can I get a little more bourbon in this, honey?"
Now, as Jenny shielded her eyes against the hot afternoon sun and looked down at Weston Lockwood's grave, she thought, "I bet you never turned down a drink of whiskey in your life, did you, Grandpappy?" Something about that idea made her grin, and a feeling of warm kinship with a man she'd never known washed over her.
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