Betting the Rainbow (Harmony)
Page 19
The ranch, which had been meant to be passed down to every generation, was no more than mesquite trees and tumbleweeds now. Fences were down, the roads were barely passable, and he had no idea if the well still functioned. When he was in high school, Noah had dreamed of raising horses here, but sometime over the years he’d given up on that dream.
He set up the old tent he’d used in Boy Scouts and unfolded a chair. It was too hot to even think about building a fire. He decided that when he got hungry, he’d drive into town and bring back takeout. Living real cowboy style, he thought.
Not exactly roughing it like his great-grandfather did, but evidently, Noah wasn’t made of hardy stuff. Last night one woman had stomped on his heart and one blow had knocked him out. With his luck his great-grandfather would rise from the grave and drop by to kick his ass as well.
Wallowing in self-pity seemed to be his only plan for the day.
“Home,” he said aloud as he leaned back in his folding chair. He had enough money in the bank to live in the best hotel around or even buy a house in town, but right now he didn’t feel fit for civilization. Maybe he needed to live off the land for a while. Civilization didn’t seem to want him. If the Texas panhandle had had a few trees, he’d have considered becoming a mountain man for the rest of his life.
“Speaking of living.” Noah grinned at a jackrabbit hopping across the field. “Here comes breakfast. All I have to do is catch it, kill it, skin it, and cook it.” On second thought, he might be dead of starvation before he could do all that.
The rabbit disappeared over the shoulder of the dirt road as a pickup plowed toward Noah.
Noah didn’t move. He just watched as Hank climbed out of his truck. His only brother-in-law was still frowning.
“You didn’t happen to bring breakfast?” Noah yelled.
Hank shook his head. “It’s past lunchtime. Most folks have worked half the day by now.”
Noah nodded, as if that made any sense to his stomach. “What are you doing out here, Hank? Did my sister tell you to drive over here to lecture me?”
“Yep,” Hank answered, as he pulled another folding chair up in the dirt and sat down. “Noah, it’s about time you grew up.”
Noah waited for the rest. About how he should stop drinking, give up the rodeo, and become a family man. Take responsibility for his life, love Reagan like everyone in town thought he should. Hell, Hank would probably throw in “join the volunteer fire department” for good measure.
But Hank didn’t say another word. He just sat there, staring at Noah like he was watching a chipped fender rust.
“That’s all?” Noah finally broke the silence. “That’s the worst lecture I’ve ever had.”
“That’s all,” Hank said. “You grow up and man up, and we’ll all be happy.”
“What about me?”
Hank shrugged. “You happy now, Noah?”
“No,” Noah admitted. He hadn’t been happy for a long time. Not even the wins made him happy. When he was home, all he thought about was getting back on the road, and when he was on the road, all he thought about was getting back home.
Hank finally stood. “Don’t make me drive all the way out here to have this talk again.” He walked to his truck and drove off.
Noah stared at the dust, deciding Hank Matheson might be the smartest man he’d ever met. Some men have to climb a mountain in Tibet to get that kind of advice.
He stood and walked over to what was left of the house he grew up in. Noah knew little about building, but he decided before he could build anything he’d need to haul off the trash, so he spent the rest of the day moving truckloads of broken windows, boards, and a few thousand tumbleweeds to a trash fire in a clearing.
Then, with a dozen tacos from the drive-through in Harmony, he sat on the hood of his truck and watched all the trash burn. Tumbleweeds lit up like Christmas trees while dead branches popped in the fire. He had the feeling his whole life was ablaze and he had no idea how to put out the fire.
As the smoke blended with the night clouds, Noah realized he’d have to fix himself first before he could even try to go back and fix what was wrong with his relationship with everyone in town. Right now he guessed he could win an election as the most hated man in town.
He tossed an unopened bottle of beer in the fire and reached for the water in his truck. Leaning back, he stared up at the stars.
His drinking days were over. That would be his first step.
Chapter 31
DELANEY FARM
DUSTI AND ABBY WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE MAKING PLANS. With her ticket came three nights in a hotel and forty dollars a day for food. If she took crackers and stole food off the breakfast buffet, she could live on one meal a day and save the extra for cab fare to and from the airport.
Abby kept crying and saying how she couldn’t believe her dream of finishing school might really be about to happen. “You can make the top ten, Dusti. You’re good, really good. Just think, you beat Kieran.”
Dusti caught herself brushing her fingers over Kieran’s old camera and thinking that the “beating Kieran” part didn’t make her as happy as she’d thought it might. She wished he were with them to celebrate, but now wasn’t the time.
A little after one in the morning Abby went to bed, but Dusti stayed up, working in her darkroom. It felt so good to be doing something she loved again. The smell of the chemicals, the shadows dancing in the darkroom’s one light, the feel of wet paper against her fingers. When they’d had to sell her cameras she’d thought she’d never use this room again, only over the years she couldn’t bring herself to even rip the paper off the one window. It was like this was her one love and as long as she had this little darkroom in the corner of the basement, she had hope of her dream coming true.
She wanted to be able to give Kieran one finished picture to take back. He’d taught her to play. She owed her one chance to him, and maybe a picture would let him know how grateful she was.
He’d said he was having breakfast with his grandmother at the Blue Moon Diner before driving to the airport. Dusti guessed if she could be at the diner by eight, she’d catch them. Even if they came in at opening time, Cass would never get them served and paid out before eight.
As she worked, the last hand she and Kieran had played turned over and over in her mind. Kieran had started the third round out strong, winning more hands than he lost. About the time Dusti was thinking she’d have to go all in sometime soon, she’d finally started winning.
And she’d kept winning.
It occurred to her that she hadn’t even seen his last two pocket cards. Not that it mattered. He couldn’t have had two aces with another showing on the table. That would make five aces in the deck.
He’d looked more tired than unhappy when he lost, she thought. Maybe because this was something he did often. Maybe losing at the very end was something that had happened before. Despite all the chips on the table, each man who walked away lost only twenty dollars and a long-shot chance of more. So Kieran had really only lost the buy-in.
Dusti closed her eyes and swore. She wished he’d at least kissed her before he left, but he’d walked out with some of the others. He wasn’t likely to kiss her at the diner in the morning with half the town watching. Just her luck, the first guy she’d thrown herself at in two years and he’d slipped like egg yolk from her grasp.
If she didn’t keep her mind on something else, she’d wear out her imagination thinking of what making love to him would be like.
The sun was coming up when she finished the picture she wanted to give him. An enchanting shot of Kieran leaning against the side of the barn with the orchard reflecting off the metal sides as the sun went down. She’d played with it until the shot looked like it could have been taken last night or a hundred years ago. Timeless, she thought, and beautiful. The strong profile of an adventurer resting for a moment.
Lips she’d probably never taste, Dusti reminded herself as she hung the picture to dry and ran upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.
In the shower she decided he might be a bad kisser. That might be why he didn’t even try.
No, that was impossible. Not with lips like that.
Maybe he didn’t know how? If he traveled he might not have had much opportunity.
If that was his problem, she’d teach him to kiss. After all, it would be only fair. He’d taught her to play poker.
Stepping out of the shower, she decided getting her mouth on Kieran’s would be her next goal in life. Some might think that shallow, but Dusti could do shallow.
As soon as she reached her gambling goal, she had the next project lined up. If he didn’t call for the date, she planned to start delivering eggs to his grandmother and pumping the old lady for information.
Even taking extra time with makeup and her hair, she still got to the diner before seven thirty. She waited a while, then went in, deciding she needed coffee to stay awake.
At nine, Kieran and his grandmother still hadn’t come. He’d said he had a morning flight. With the drive, he’d have to start before ten to make any morning flight.
Dusti paid her bill and walked out of the diner. Five minutes later when she drove up to Kieran’s grandmother’s house, his rental car wasn’t there.
Worry filled her more than anger. Something must have happened. Maybe his grandmother got sick or fell? The old lady had been living in the same house all Dusti’s life. Years ago, when their mother delivered eggs in town, Kieran’s grandmother was one of their sweetest customers.
Dusti knocked on the door, thinking of a dozen things that might have happened. He might have had a friend take the rental car in or planned to get Derwood to fly him over to catch his flight. Or maybe Kieran had flown himself to Harmony. He was a pilot, after all. She’d never even thought to ask if he had his own plane.
When Kieran’s grandmother answered the door, Dusti let out a sigh of relief.
Mrs. Mills’s hair had turned completely white and she’d rounded, but she still looked healthy and she was upright.
“Morning, dear,” she said, as if it had only been days and not years since she’d seen Dusti. “How may I help you today?”
“Hello, Mrs. Mills, I’m looking for Kieran. I brought him a gift and wanted to give it to him before he left.”
“Oh, he’s gone, dear, but he said if I saw you to tell you to keep the camera. His father had others.”
“All right. I’ll take care of it until he comes back.”
Mrs. Mills shook her head. “He won’t be back until Christmastime, dear.” She smiled. “He says he has to come in for my cooking, but I know it’s more likely he doesn’t want to spend time with either of his parents and their new spouses. I sometimes think when they left the marriage neither one remembered to take him. Maybe that’s why he never seems to land anywhere for more than a week.”
“He seems happy, though.” Dusti wasn’t sure what to say. She felt she’d just learned more about Kieran than he’d told her all week.
Mrs. Mills nodded. “I guess he is, but it seems to me he’s waiting to land somewhere he can belong. Until then, he’s just drifting, not getting attached to anyplace or anyone.”
Dusti walked away thinking about what Mrs. Mills had said. Maybe the old girl was right. It somehow fit. Maybe he wanted the pictures to make his place seem like home. But if that was true, even with all the world to pick from, Harmony must be the closest thing to home he had.
She fought down tears. The man she’d thought had it all figured out had nowhere to land.
She’d send him all the pictures of the farm last night and a hundred more of Harmony. If he wanted to feel at home, she could give him that, if only in pictures.
Chapter 32
HAWK HOUSE
RONNY WOKE WITH THE SUN BLINKING THROUGH THE CURTAINS of an open window. She’d slept the night away next to Austin Hawk and he hadn’t killed her . . . or made love to her, for that matter.
Looking over at him, she thought he seemed peaceful. His arm lay across her middle, loosely holding her near. When she wiggled, he didn’t move. Didn’t even seem to be breathing.
He’s dead! she thought, sitting up in bed as his arm lifelessly fell away. I’ve been sleeping with a dead man. No wonder he didn’t have nightmares or make love to me. He’s dead!
She poked him with a stab of her finger as if testing roadkill for signs of life.
Austin opened one eye and said, “No, I’m not dead.”
“You read my mind.” Ronny considered the possibility that mind reader might be worse than dead guy.
“It wasn’t that hard. You still look about to have a heart attack. Let me guess. This is the first time you’ve woken up with a man?” He laughed. “You’re so adorable, Ronny. You’re always on edge waiting for the worst-case scenario to tumble on top of you.”
“I spent my childhood living with Dallas Logan. She wouldn’t let me go to school because there were too many germs at school. I was ten before I realized other children weren’t called germs. Every time I left the house, she quoted facts about the numbers of stolen and murdered women each year. Based on what she said, I thought my first job would be in human trafficking, and if I lived through that I’d move right into unidentified victim.”
“That explains it.” He pulled her back down. “You’re safe. My fangs only come out at night.”
“I slept here with you all night.” Ronny needed to state an obvious fact. “Right here, with you.”
“I know, honey, I was right here too. Remember me? I’m the guy on the other side of the bed.” He raised one eyebrow. “Am I going to have to introduce myself every morning to you? If so, that could get rather boring because I’d really like last night to become more of a routine than a shock to you every morning.”
She giggled, something she couldn’t remember doing for a very long time. “You didn’t have a nightmare. You didn’t fight in your sleep.”
He rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling. “That hasn’t happened since the fire. I fight sleep every night because I know what’s coming, but you’re right. Last night I don’t think I dreamed at all. I do remember waking up a few times and patting on you, hope you didn’t mind. The feel of you in the darkness is like returning to a memory logged into every cell of my body. It feels so right.”
“I touched you too, hoping to calm you so the nightmares wouldn’t get in. And they didn’t. What do you think that means?”
She leaned against his shoulder. He’d dressed last night, saying they’d have a date, and they hadn’t even left the bedroom.
“It can only mean one thing. You’ve got to sleep with me from now on. It’s the only polite thing to do.”
“Is that an invitation or an order, Hawk?”
“An order,” he snapped.
“I don’t take orders.” She smiled and waited.
He reconsidered his order. “A standing invitation. Any night, just come on over. I’ll share the bed with you.”
“That I’ll consider.” She climbed out and tried to straighten her once-starched shirt. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Ten, I’m guessing.” He stretched, silently telling her he didn’t care, because watching her was his only plan for the day. “My leg feels pretty good this morning. I guess the doc was right. I’ve been totally off it since you walked in last night. Maybe we should stay in bed all day to finish the healing.”
“We forgot supper last night and you took a shower and got all dressed up so we could have a date.” She glanced over at Austin. In jeans and a knit shirt, he looked pretty much the same except for morning stu
bble, but she looked like she’d slept in her clothes. Which she had. “Want some dinner now? I set it in the fridge before I came to check on you. Supper sounds good about now.”
He reached for his crutch. “I’ll race you to the kitchen. I’m starving.” He used the crutch one step, then carried it the rest of the way.
Fifteen minutes later they were on the porch eating cold fried chicken and potato salad out of storage containers when Mr. Carleon walked up from the direction of her cabin.
Ronny stood and introduced the two men, feeling as if she’d been caught cheating.
Mr. Carleon was formal, as always, and polite. “I’m sorry to interrupt your brunch, but I need to talk to Miss Logan about a matter that won’t wait. If you will excuse us, Captain Hawk.”
Austin nodded but didn’t look happy.
Ronny set down her plate and followed Mr. Carleon back to her cabin. She’d lost her appetite. It had to be terrible news or he wouldn’t have hiked down from the main road. Someone had died or had an accident.
Maybe her mother had been arrested again. No, he wouldn’t come down for that. Everyone in town knew no matter what Dallas Logan did, she’d be out within an hour. Last time the deputies took up a collection for her bail.
“I’ve e-mailed and called several times but couldn’t reach you,” Mr. Carleon began. “I wasn’t aware you were helping care for Captain Hawk until I stopped by the Delaney place.”
“We’re all pitching in,” Ronny said, not wanting him to think that she’d adopted Austin. “Why do you call him Captain?”
“That’s his rank. I don’t believe he’s retired yet, just on medical leave.”
She wasn’t surprised Mr. Carleon knew all the facts about Austin. “What brings you out here?”
“I have news that won’t wait much longer. Also, I said I’d come if I was unable to reach you by phone.”