At this rate I’ll go crazy within an hour, she thought. Lupe had told her to rest, and Jade was determined to be very well rested by tonight when Jason tucked her in again.
Very well rested.
Jade forced herself to close her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-one
Even in a bamboo tube . . .
Snakes try to wriggle.
“IF YOU WANT ME to do this for you, patrón, I will be happy to.” Xavier, unused to seeing an employer of his—let alone a male—dishing up food for his wife and his hired man, sat uncomfortably at the kitchen table and watched as Jason carefully ladled the steaming albóndigas soup into a bowl. This was the third time he had offered to take over the task.
Jason shook his head. “No thanks, Xavier. Believe it or not, I can do this. I like to cook.”
“Cooking is a woman’s work, patrón.”
“My wife is sick. Should I have her come down and serve us anyway?”
Xavier shrugged. “What about the girl?”
J.T. looked at Quan Yen, who sat at the table smiling vacantly at them, and shook his head. “She’s just a child.”
He still had a hard time accepting the girl’s past. How anyone could sell an innocent child into a life of prostitution was beyond him. His pity for her, coupled with the fact that he could not bear to look at her misshapen feet in their tiny satin shoes, kept him from asking anything of her. He had not even berated her for forgetting to give him the note Jade had left him yesterday.
J.T. finished serving and set the soup on a tray just as he heard the faint sound of a knock on the front door. After a second thought, he took the bowl off of the tray and handed it to his hired man. “You eat this one before it gets cold. I’ll see who that is.”
Xavier pulled the bowl toward himself as Jason went to answer the incessant knocking.
He was more than surprised to find Nettie Parsons on his doorstep. He was speechless.
“Nettie.” He nodded, but failed to respond more hospitably.
“Invite me in, Jason,” she said boldly. “You used to have better manners than this.”
He took in her upswept hair with its intricately woven cascade of golden locks, the rich, deep pink velvet gown that had far too revealing a neckline for modest day wear. That, coupled with the high color in her cheeks and the gleam in her eye, made J.T. hesitate to guess at the purpose behind Nettie’s surprise visit.
Out of courtesy, he stepped aside. As she swept past him, the heavy scent of rose water assailed his senses. She headed straight for the drawing room and paused dramatically before the fireplace until she was certain she had his undivided attention.
“Where’s your wife?”
“You don’t waste words, do you Nettie?”
“No. And I don’t waste time, either.”
“She’s upstairs, asleep I think. She hasn’t been well.”
Her brows arched suggestively. “Really?”
“Yes, really. What do you want?”
“Word around town is that you don’t sleep together.”
He couldn’t believe her audacity, and it showed on his face. “What?”
“You heard me. I hear you two have separate rooms.”
It seemed that someone had a big mouth. He wondered exactly who. “Where did you hear that?”
“It’s all over the city. I heard it from Winslow, who heard it in the smoking room at the Palace.” She studied her carefully buffed nails and then looked up at him from beneath lowered lashes. “Is it true?”
“That, Nettie dear, is none of your business.”
She smiled, smugly satisfied. “Then it is true.”
“My wife is upstairs in my bed right now.”
“But you’re obviously not with her,” she jabbed back.
“Get to the point,” he said without a trace of warmth in his tone. “I have things to do.”
“I just came to let you know that since you and your wife don’t seem to have a real marriage, that I would be willing to give up Winslow’s . . . protection, for yours.”
“You mean you’re offering to be my whore?”
“Don’t you know the word ‘mistress’ has a nicer ring to it?”
“I guess a few million dollars cancels out the fact that I didn’t see fit to serve in the Confederacy.”
“That was years ago, Jason, and as I told you before, I have learned to do whatever it takes to survive. Anyway, I thought you might be following in your father’s footsteps. I’ve done a little digging and found out he kept a mistress ’til he died.”
Even though he knew Peoney was nothing more than that to everyone concerned, he hated to hear Nettie talk about the woman that way. “You seem to like groveling in dirt, Nettie. Somehow I never thought of you that way.”
“Shut up, Jason, and give me an answer. I don’t have all day, you know.”
AFTER THREE HOURS of solitude, Jade was ready for a change of scenery. Jason had not appeared at her bedside all morning, and much as she tried to tell herself that the rumbling of her empty stomach was the reason she wanted to go downstairs, in her heart she knew she was looking forward to his company. She had just gotten up and walked down the hall to change out of her Chinese jacket and pants—now hopelessly wrinkled after a night of sleeping in them—when she heard someone knocking on the front door.
She stopped in her own room long enough to change into fresh undergarments and slip into a long silk robe before she tried to work her hairbrush through the tangled mass of curls that streamed loose about her shoulders and down to her hips. Anxious to see who might have come to call, one quick brushing and the promise of more was all she allowed herself.
Jade tiptoed to the top of the stairs and paused long enough to peer down and ascertain that Jason was not in the foyer. She heard voices coming from the drawing room—one of them decidedly a woman’s. It definitely wasn’t Lupe.
Could it be Babs trying for another reconciliation? From the upper landing she could not quite be certain.
She descended halfway and paused again. Although Jason’s voice was recognizable, she could not hear his words clearly. Nor could she identify the woman.
When it sounded as if they were moving toward the door to the foyer, she turned and crept back up to the upper landing. She had no business greeting anyone the way she looked. Besides, she refused to be confronted by Babs again.
Hidden in the shadows at the top of the stairs, Jade pulled the edges of the robe together at the base of her throat and stood immobilized, listening to the exchange between Jason and the woman whose soft southern drawl she now easily recognized as Nettie Parsons’. The voices of the pair echoed up the open entry.
“You know what I wanted the last time I was here, Jason,” Nettie said. “You should be glad it’s not too late.”
The last time I was here? Jade wondered exactly when Nettie had been at Harrington House. It must have been before she and Jason were married. She looked down at her bare feet, at the robe she had hastily tied around herself. Her long hair hung around her in curly disarray, even though she had brushed it just moments ago. The image of Nettie Parsons as she had seen her at the Palace, impeccably dressed and coiffed, looking every inch the southern belle, made Jade cringe when she thought of what she must look like compared to the striking blonde.
She listened to the sound of their footsteps as they neared the door and chanced a hasty peek down at them. Jason towered over Nettie, who stood with her shoulders back and head high, as if challenging Jason to turn down whatever it was she had requested.
“Well?” Nettie asked him when he failed to answer. “Aren’t you interested? Do you know how many men have approached me, begged me to leave Winslow for them, since I arrived in San Francisco? And here I’ve lowered myself to come beggin’ to you, Jason Harrington.” She
paused long enough to bat her long lashes at him.
Jade wished she could see Jason’s reaction, but he had his back to her as he stared down at Nettie.
When Nettie reached out with familiarity to straighten Jason’s collar, it was all Jade could do to keep herself from running down the stairs and throwing the woman out. It suddenly became quite clear to her exactly what Nettie was offering.
Would Jason accept?
The question burned in Jade’s mind. After what he had been through with her, it would not be a surprise if he chose Nettie. Nettie and Jason had been together in the past and that, coupled with the fact that the woman was still a beauty, made Jade uneasy. Besides, why wouldn’t any man succumb to the charms of an obviously experienced woman?
Why? Jade took a deep breath and instantly knew the answer to her own question.
Because she wasn’t about to let Jason Terrell Harrington III do any such thing. Not if she had anything to say about it.
Their relationship had made great strides in the past two days, and she refused to let it slip backward because of Nettie Parsons.
She cinched her belt tighter, shook back her hair once more, and then, barefooted, walked down the stairs as if she were a queen.
Both Jason and Nettie immediately turned toward Jade. Nettie’s face wore a look of shocked disdain. Jason did not appear the least bit surprised to see her. In fact, he appeared to be biting back a smile.
Jade walked directly to her husband’s side and slipped her arm about his waist. She relaxed a bit when he accepted her by resting his arm across her shoulder and drew her near.
“Nettie, I believe you know my wife, Jade?” Jason said.
Nettie nodded, her eyes cold blue chips of ice.
Jade spoke without preamble. “Miss Parsons, I’m afraid my husband won’t be able to take you up on your generous offer. You see, we’re moving to New Mexico Territory in a few days, and I just don’t see how he’ll have much time. What do you think, Jason?” She turned to him with as innocent an expression as she could muster.
He shook his head, a wry smile twisting his lips, then he shrugged in resignation. “I’m afraid she’s right, Nettie. As you can see, I’ve got my hands full.” He pulled Jade closer.
Jade watched as Nettie’s complexion went from pink, to white, to mottled red. The blonde balled her hands into fists and then, head high, turned around and tried to open the front door. Her cascading curls bobbed furiously with every yank.
“Allow me.” J.T. reached around Nettie, unbolted the lock, and pulled the door open wide.
Nettie left without turning around.
Jade pulled away from Jason. “Allow me,” she said, and slammed the door on the sight of Nettie’s retreating figure.
As the slam echoed through the house, the smile she had managed for Nettie’s benefit faded. “Just when was she here before?”
Jason just stood there and laughed.
“Well?” Jade prodded. “When? Don’t stand there laughing at me, Jason Harrington.”
“Am I crazy, or could it possibly be true that you are actually jealous?”
“Of course not.” Jade glanced at her toes, uneasy with the speculative way he was looking at her.
“No? What other reason would you have for coming down here and practically tossing that poor thing out of the house?”
Her eyes narrowed as soon as the words “that poor thing” were issued. “Now listen here, Jason,” she began, but before Jade could say another word, he swept her into his embrace.
Nose to nose, they stared into each other’s eyes.
“She was here before we were married,” he said softly. “The day after we saw her at the Palace Hotel. I was planning on turning her down today the same way I did then.”
“Really?”
He didn’t answer at first, just stared down at her with a slow-burning warmth creeping into his deep blue eyes. Finally, he pulled her to him, lowered his lips to hers, and kissed her until there was no room for doubt.
“What do you think?” Jason whispered after she had been thoroughly kissed.
Jade smiled. “I think I’m starving. Is there anything to eat around here?”
AFTER A LIGHT MEAL they all ate together in the kitchen, Jade promised Jason she would rest. But then after a short nap, she collected the pages of Chinese writings, her own notes—keys to translating Chinese—and two books on the language, and moved downstairs to the library.
There was something about the close, dark room that was comforting. She lit the lamps, started a fire behind the grate, and then, before she became too exhausted, spread her work out on the massive cherry wood desk. She pored over her notes for a good hour, copying characters and searching for identical ones in her guidebook. Quan Yen appeared with a pot of fresh tea and hovered over her for a while, trying to persuade her to go back upstairs and sleep, but stubbornly, Jade refused. She felt far more rested than she had in days, and her stomach had calmed considerably.
The tea was rich and warm. She had hesitated to ask Jason to make it earlier, knowing he cared little for tea, and took coffee with the noon meal. Now the tea and the comfortable room offered her peace and quiet. The afternoon sun had dipped low enough to come streaming into the windows, highlighting the wood-paneled walls with a rich warmth. Jade paused to study the way the sunbeams played across the patterned Turkish carpet before she set aside her work and tried to relieve the tension in her neck by rotating her head and shoulders. After a second cup of tea, she decided she had been sitting long enough and stood up, stretched, and walked over to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jason in the paddock area behind the house, but he was nowhere to be seen.
When she experienced another bout of nausea, Jade attributed it to being up and about too soon, and so poured herself another cup of tea, determined to fight off this irritating illness.
“LET’S BRING OUT one of the Arabians, Xavier. How about that little mare? Let’s see how she takes to the bit today.” Jason stood at the door of El Sol’s stall and absently rubbed the big stallion’s nose as he waited for Xavier to lead the other animal out of its stall. The proud little beauty would make an excellent mount for Jade.
He glanced up when he caught a flicker of movement at the other end of the long, open building and noticed Quan Yen walking toward him in her strange, weaving gait. Crossing to her, he saved her many yards of walking as he wondered at her sudden appearance at the stables. As far as he knew, she had never left the house before. Suddenly worried that something had happened to Jade, he questioned the girl at once and prayed she would be able to communicate more than a giggle.
“What is it? Is Jade all right?” He tried not to frighten her, towering over her as he did, but his one concern was his wife.
Her almond eyes widened, but the expression in them was as unfathomable as always. “Missee good. She sleep. This come for you.” From the wide sleeve of her quilted jacket, Quan withdrew an evenly creased note and handed it to him.
Jason read it quickly. The brief note asked that he meet Jon Chang immediately at the apothecary shop on Washington Street in Little China. He smiled appreciatively at Quan Yen, thankful that she had not forgotten to give him the note.
J.T. called out to Xavier. “I have to go meet Lieutenant Chang in Little China right now. Saddle El Sol for me, then I want you to work where you can watch the house, all right?”
“Si, patrón.”
“Better yet, go into the house and wait there until Cash and Lupe come home. I don’t want to have to worry about Jade while I’m gone, and I don’t think Quan offers much protection.”
“Si, patrón.”
“And Xavier, I don’t want her worried. Don’t tell her I’ve gone to meet Chang if you can help it.”
Within moments, J.T. had strapped on his gun, swung himself into
the saddle, and headed down the drive. As he rode through the front gates, he hoped that Chang had finally found whoever was behind Jade’s near-abductions. He sincerely hoped so, because his fist was aching to connect with the scoundrel’s jaw.
“CAVES IN THE EARTH houses circles of the sun.”
The words made absolutely no sense. Jade stared down at the translation she had penned and shook her head, immediately regretting the motion. She had been poring over her thick book of Chinese characters for hours, until her headache had returned and with it, her lethargy. She had finally given up her post in the library and had taken to her bed again. She wanted to blame her relapse on inactivity, but recognized her symptoms as the same ones she had suffered for two weeks. She looked up in surprise when Quan Yen entered the room. Jade set the page down beside her on the bed.
“There was no need for you to climb the stairs,” she told the girl. “It must be very uncomfortable for you.”
“No pain for me, missee. Always walk, chop chop, since little girl. No pain now.” She pointed proudly at her feet. “Most beautiful feet. Small as hummingbirds.” Quan moved closer to the bed and bowed, then held out a note to Jade. “Melican captain send one kine carriage. Driver say this for you.”
Jade took the note and opened it. She squinted, trying to bring the words into focus. “I’m afraid my headache has returned,” she told Quan, who immediately became solicitous.
“You likee tea? Someting eat?”
Absently, Jade told her no and then read the note. It was from Emery Lennox, explaining that he had found a guardian for Quan Yen and that he would like Jade to accompany the girl to the adobe. He extended an invitation to her and Jason for dinner, and promised he would have them home by early evening.
Quan helped her out of bed. Jade washed her face and hands, changed into a long skirt, blouse, and fitted jacket, put on her many-buttoned boots. Quan fastened the buttons with the silver handled hook while Jade wound her hair into a figure-eight twist. With a final straightening of the hem of her jacket, she picked up her reticule and was ready.
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