Great, My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Still Looks Great

by Dixie Cash

  Inside, he helped her to a chair at the dining table. “You need to get into something softer than these jeans. Do you have some sweats or some shorts you can put on?”

  “There’s a pair of flannel shorts hanging on the back of the bathroom door.”

  “I’ll get them. Be right back.”

  Spur returned with the Stars jersey and the shorts.

  “Thanks. I’ll go change in the bedroom.” Paige rose from her chair.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not risking you blacking out and banging your head against something. Your neighbor would have me in jail. You change right here. I’ll turn my back.”

  Paige didn’t have an explanation for why, but she felt as if she’d known Spur Atwater all her life. His suggestion made perfect sense, and she wasn’t the least bit nervous or intimidated at the thought of being practically naked in his presence.

  She tried to remove the sweatshirt but couldn’t bend her elbows. She tried to remove the jeans but couldn’t bend her knees. Paralyzed by bandages. “Uh, Spur. Could you keep your eyes closed and turn around. I need help.”

  He turned to face her, with both eyes squeezed shut. “What can I do?”

  “Pull my shirt over my head.” Guiding his hands to the banded bottom of the garment she raised her arms. As Spur moved the shirt up, his fingers grazed her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, as if he knew. His touch was as soft as a lover’s, and she could only imagine what, under different circumstances, the outcome would be. “It just tickled.”

  With a small amount of pain, she wriggled into the loose-fitting jersey, glad her elbows were left uncovered. “Now,” she said, “if you’ll just hook your fingers in the waistband of my jeans and pull them off. Then hand me the shorts.”

  He had to stand closer for this maneuver. She could feel her heart rate surge. The house was cool and the task of removing her clothing wasn’t physically challenging, but she could see beads of sweat forming along his hairline.

  He tugged on the jeans, trying to remove them with as little contact as possible. “Wait,” Paige exclaimed. “You’ve got my panties.”

  Spur threw both hands in the air and turned his back again. “Paige, I gotta go outside for a minute. Don’t move. I’ll be back in just a second.” He bolted for the back door.

  She struggled with the jeans and managed to remove them from one leg before he returned. He stood in front of her again, eyes closed, and tugged on the jeans until the other leg was freed. Paige reached for the shorts, worked them over her feet, then stood up and pulled them on. He had been a perfect gentleman, hadn’t peeked the entire time, but she could see he was shaking all over.

  “You can open your eyes now,” she said.

  He let out an audible breath. “You look a lot more comfortable. Just let me check those bandages one more time.”

  He squatted and was in the process of inspecting the bandages on her knees when a honking horn broke the silence. Electra had found the house.

  He looked up at her. “Guess I better go.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for taking care of me,” she said as he got to his feet.

  He bent and placed a kiss on her lips. His mouth played with hers, and the kiss became more urgent. Before they fell into a passionate embrace, the horn sounded again and Spur stepped away. “I’ll check on you later,” he said huskily.

  Paige let him go reluctantly.

  “Paige, I—” He kissed her forehead. “I gotta go.”

  She watched as he showed himself out, feeling as if she had been scooped into a whirlwind. She didn’t even care if the scrapes on her knees and elbows did leave scars. At least she would have something by which she could remember this moment.

  THE WARBLING OF THE PHONE on the bedside table woke Paige. She had propped herself on pillows on her bed to watch TV and had promptly fallen asleep. The clock showed nine o’clock. She had been sleeping for two hours. “Hello?”

  “Were you sleeping?”

  The voice was so soft and oh, so familiar. “No, no, I was just—yes,” she said, laughing. “I turned on the TV, found the show I wanted to watch, and that’s the last thing I remember. Maybe Mrs. Sanders was right. Maybe you did slip me a drug after all.”

  “I just wanted to tell you, it might have been presumptuous on my part, but I called Harley Carruthers and told him what had happened to you.”

  “You did? But, why?”

  “I wanted him to know, and I told him I thought it best you not work tomorrow.”

  “But, Spur—”

  “I know, I know, you’re fine. If you had a desk job I’d agree with you. But you don’t. I’ve seen people working around animals contract some pretty nasty staph infections with only a tiny cut on their body. You’ve got some significant abrasions, and I don’t want to see you take the risk.”

  Paige was moved beyond words. No one, other than Daddy, had ever been so caring. She struggled to control her emotions. “Gosh, Spur, I—”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “Oh, no, Spur. I appreciate your worrying about me. I never would have thought of something like a staph infection. I had classes once with a girl who got staph from a botched acrylic nail application. It was pretty nasty, as you say.”

  She heard a deep chuckle.

  “Well, it was. When can I go back to work, Doctor?”

  “Clean the wounds again tomorrow and cover them with the antibacterial ointment I gave you. Leave the bandages off. Day after tomorrow you can return, but be sure you pack each area in salve and double bandages. You understand? Double bandages.”

  “Yessir. I got it.”

  “Do that for several days and look for any, and I mean any, sign of infection.”

  “Yes, sir, and thanks for calling Harley.”

  “Speaking of Harley, we had an interesting conversation. He let the cat out of the bag and told me something I think he didn’t intend to.”

  “Really? What did he say?”

  “He’s an Aggie. He made sure my bank loan went through without a hitch. He and Dr. Miller agreed that I was the one who should take over the vet practice. Harley made it happen. Makes sense to me now. I’ve thought all along the loan went awfully smooth.”

  Remembering Lester’s remarks, Paige hugged the receiver close to her face. “You sound like you’re okay with that.”

  “I guess I am. Truth is, I’m surprised at myself. Maybe I’ve grown up some, but it feels like a hand up isn’t as hard to take as a handout. I know I’ll never let ’em down, so yeah, I’m okay with it. I’ll make sure they never regret their decision.”

  “One hand greasing the other, as my daddy would say.”

  “I guess so. I’m still learning…. Well, I’m gonna let you go now. I got some paperwork to finish before I call it a day. Good night, Paige.”

  She held the receiver long after he hung up. Good night, Spur, she whispered in her mind.

  Replacing the phone, she fluffed her pillows with the intention of returning to sleep, when the phone rang again. Hoping it was him again, she eagerly reached for the receiver and was surprised, but no less thrilled, at hearing Buck McBride’s voice.

  “Daddy! I’ve been thinking about calling you. You beat me to it.”

  “That’s my job, sweetheart, beating you to anything you might be thinking.” He laughed, and she smiled, visualizing him with his head thrown back.

  She spent the next twenty minutes telling him about her job and her new friends. She even told him about Spur, the episode with the dog, and how well she had been treated.

  “It warms my heart to hear you, honey. There’s enthusiasm in your voice I haven’t heard in years.” He cleared his throat, then continued, “Honey, I called to talk to you about something serious.”

  The sudden change made Paige’s pulse quicken. In a matter of seconds dark thoughts rushed through her mind that made her feel sick. Was he ill? Was he in some sort of trouble? Had his wildcatting
ways resulted in some kind of legal problems? Her brow furrowed. “Daddy, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”

  “No, honey. Nothing like that.”

  She exhaled as she smoothed her hair off her forehead. She had wondered often how she would handle hearing disturbing news about her daddy, and now she knew. Not well at all. “Whew, Daddy. You had me so scared.”

  “I’m sorry, baby. I should have made things clear up front.” Again, he cleared his throat. “Paige, when you were just a baby your sweet mother set aside an inheritance for you. It was stipulated that you would take possession when you turned twenty-five years old. That’s two months away, or hadn’t you noticed.”

  A gift from her mother was a sobering thought all right. “Okay” was all Paige could think to say. “Why have you waited so long to tell me about it?”

  “I didn’t think you were ready. That’s part of the reason I forced you to stand on your own. I was trying to prepare you.”

  She had caused him so much disappointment, it was vital that he thought her prepared. “Do you think I’m ready or have we just run out of time?”

  “Yes, baby, I think you’re ready.”

  Her spirits soared. Her mind inventoried her mother’s large jewelry collection, which had resided in a safe-deposit box for years. Then there had been some family land somewhere around downtown Fort Worth. “So, what are we talking about? Her jewelry, her land?”

  “No, babe, nothing like that…. It’s cash money.”

  Paige immediately thought of her bare living room. She could finally buy a couch and some chairs. Maybe even a washer and dryer. Patio furniture. She’d love some patio furniture.

  “Ooohhh, I could use some money. I need to buy some things for my house. How much are we talking?”

  “Well, it started out small, but it was invested well and it’s earned some. And…well, honey, it’s now around twenty million.”

  PAIGE WAS BREWING COFFEE when the doorbell rang. She had been awake for hours. In fact, she’d hardly slept at all. The idea of having so much money of her very own in a few months was not just sobering, it was downright scary. She had never known her mother had any substantial amount of her own money. Daddy had always said he had never relied on her mother’s funds. He made every cent he had himself.

  She had worried all night about Spur and his attitude about wealthy people. She wasn’t worried he would become more interested when he learned how rich she was; she was afraid he would flee.

  Looking through the peephole she saw Edwina and Debbie Sue. As if Edwina knew she was being watched, she waved a white paper bag in front of her. “Open up, Paige. We’ve got doughnuts for your boo-boos.”

  Paige opened the door. “Y’all are crazy. Doughnuts for boo-boos?”

  “Jelly-filled, chocolate sprinkles, and powdered sugar,” Debbie Sue said. “Nothing will make you feel better than calories.”

  “Don’t show us your scabs ’til after we’ve eaten,” Edwina said. “I don’t want to spoil my breakfast.”

  “How did you know about my accident?”

  “C.J. called. She’s making you some chicken soup.”

  “Isn’t that for a cold? I don’t understand.”

  “You’d have to know C.J. She thinks chicken soup fixes everything.”

  Paige was touched. In Fort Worth, she could have been out of touch for days and she doubted if anyone would have even noticed her missing. Oh, maybe Sunny would, eventually, depending on what country she happened to be in.

  The three of them sat at the kitchen table and devoured the pastries with cups of coffee while Paige told of her encounter with the dog Sammy.

  “I wish I could have seen that,” Debbie Sue said. “How did Spur react? Was he upset about the dog?”

  Paige began telling of the tenderness he had shown. She retold the episode of changing clothes with his assistance.

  “Damn, that sounds erotic as hell,” Edwina said. “I think Vic and I should try that. He wouldn’t keep his eyes shut, though.”

  “Well, Spur did. He didn’t peek once.”

  Debbie Sue grabbed a glazed doughnut and dunked it in her coffee. “I’m more impressed with that guy every day, Paige. If I were you, I’d be falling in love with him.”

  Needing help concealing the idiotic grin that must be showing on her face, Paige grabbed a doughnut, tore it in half, and stuffed a piece of it into her mouth.

  nineteen

  Paige spent the next few days as unburdened as if an anvil had been lifted from her shoulders. How could she have known Spur’s black-haired “girlfriend” was his sister? Despite all the evil thoughts she’d had before learning Electra’s true identity, Paige liked her.

  She was so happy she even managed to be civil to Lester, though she could hardly wait for him to depart on his planned trip. With him gone, she just might find a legitimate need to ask for Spur’s assistance.

  But as the weekend approached and no phone call came to set a dinner date, doubts returned. She had pressed the On button on her cell phone a dozen times to reassure herself the thing worked. She had even called Information and asked for her own number, just to be certain it was accessible to whomever needed it. Again, she dialed her land line number from her cell phone and got the usual burr. Phooey.

  Life was so much simpler without guys. Guys made you doubt yourself and your sanity. They made you question your sexuality and consider becoming a nun, an unacceptable option, of course, with the wardrobe being so drab and restrictive.

  Thursday evening, she dragged a TV dinner from the freezer and placed it in the microwave for the prescribed six minutes. As she removed it, she peered at it closely, then picked up the box from which she had taken it and studied the picture—a succulent chicken breast, green beans and carrots, mashed potatoes and apple cobbler. The tray in her hand held something that looked like a hockey puck, unidentifiable green and orange objects, a clump of something beige that resembled lumpy oatmeal with a yellow glob in the middle and something gooey and jellified. Yuck.

  Perhaps five TV dinners for a dollar was a bargain she should have passed up. Now, her only other choices were the four remaining TV dinners or Mrs. Sanders’s aged casserole. What she wouldn’t give for a visit from Sunny, testing her latest recipe.

  A Hogg’s burger was the only solution. Paige grabbed her purse and left the house.

  SPUR LISTENED as the phone rang. For some reason he was counting the rings, and after seven, he hung up. “Well, that’s that,” he mumbled. He had said he would call, and he had called.

  He had mixed emotions about not reaching Paige. Part of him was relieved that her soft voice didn’t materialize on the other end of the phone line. Another part was disappointed and annoyed that no answering machine had picked up. Did he hang up too soon? Had she seen his name on caller ID and ignored the call? A covey of boyfriends, old and current, was bound to exist in her life. Well-to-do studs with trust funds who could take her to the places she was accustomed to going.

  To hell with it, he told himself. Life was simpler without women. The only real thing he needed now, the only warm and enticing object he wanted to hold, was a burger from Hogg’s. Pulling his boots back on, he left his trailer.

  As he entered the brightly lit eatery and made his way to a booth, he remembered he had left his wallet on his dresser. Fortunately, to eat at Hogg’s, he didn’t need much money. At under two dollars, burger prices were cheaper than he had ever seen. He dug into his pockets for change and found a crumpled bill. He tossed it on the table and added a handful of change. Counting his money, he was oblivious to everything around him.

  PAIGE SPOTTED Spur’s rattletrap pickup the minute she drove into Hogg’s parking lot. For an instant, she thought of not stopping, but hunger was a powerful motivator. Besides, she could go through the drive-thru and avoid seeing him altogether.

  She sat second in line at the order window, which gave her a good view of the dining area. She immediately spotted Spur standing at a table. He was engross
ed in something, and the longer she watched the more apparent it became that he was counting change on the table and patting down his pockets. Watching this moment, a creepy feeling of embarrassment settled within her. He had made it clear his finances were rocky, but this was much worse than she had imagined. Before now, it hadn’t occurred to her that money might be the reason he hadn’t called and invited her to supper. Was she so spoiled she had overlooked his dilemma? Then, her embarrassment turned into pity.

  And it was the pity that pushed her. She was possessed with a new strength she didn’t know she had. She wasn’t a woman looking for an opportunity to spend time with a hunky guy; she was on an act of mercy. Saving a life. After she paid and received her meal, she made a wide swing from the window to a parking spot in front of the building.

  Spur was moving to the order counter when she stepped into Hogg’s dining room. Well, at least he had scraped enough money together to order. She walked up behind him and gently touched his shoulder. “Hi, Spur,” she said softly. “How are you?”

  He jumped as if she had yelled. “Paige!…I’m sorry. I didn’t see you come in. How’re you? How’re your knees?”

  “They’re terrific. See?” Paige lifted each knee waist high. “I’m sure I’d still be in pain if you hadn’t taken such good care of them.”

  Spur looked down at the handful of coins in his hand and closed his fist. His hands dropped to his sides. The motion wasn’t wasted on Paige, and it was all she could do not to weep. “Listen. I was thinking about your invitation to dinner—”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m sorry I haven’t called. I was—”

  “You don’t have to apologize. I know you’ve been busy. Me, too. I just wanted to say instead of going out to eat somewhere, why don’t you come to my house Saturday night and I’ll fix supper for us?”

  “Your house?”

  “Yes. It’s so hard to cook for one. Debbie Sue’s house has a great kitchen, and she left a lot of cooking stuff behind. I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me try it out. You can be my first guest.”

  “You cook?”

  The incredulity in his question couldn’t be mistaken. Okay, so maybe it was obvious cooking wasn’t something in which she took an interest. The truth was worse than that. She had flunked every homemaking class she had ever taken. Oh, she could boil water, but she didn’t know what to do with it afterward. But she had the confidence to learn.