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

by Dixie Cash

  As she led the second horse toward the walker Lester joined her. A mischievous grin played across his face, and the usual leer showed in his eyes. “Miss me?”

  Saving horses. Paige gave him a tight smile. “Sure. I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Really? Looks like things went fine while I was gone. No problems, huh?”

  “Yeah. I mean, uh…yeah, things went fine and no, I didn’t have any problems.” Paige looked down at the ground, hoping she appeared timid instead of repulsed.

  Lester rested his hand on the neck of the mare she was leading. “Maybe ol’ Harley’ll just turn it all over to you.”

  “He wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t do half the job you do here. I can only groom and exercise these guys.” Saving horses. “You’re the one who trains them.” This time, she gave him a smile meant to dazzle. “But I’m still willing to learn.”

  “Are you asking me in a roundabout way to help you learn more about cutting? I already said I would. There just hasn’t been enough time.”

  “I wasn’t pressing you. I know how busy you’ve been.” She walked around to the other side of the horse. This might be easier if she didn’t have to actually look him in the face. “Did you see the message I left for you on the filing cabinet? It sounded important.”

  “Yeah, I saw it. What did Van Patten say? What did he tell you?” His tone was insistent.

  “Everything he said was on the note.” Paige forced an innocent air. “What is TAR?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m doing a business deal. Let’s get to work.” He walked away.

  If this was a preview of how it was going to be getting him to talk about the mystery surrounding Brooks Van Patten and TAR, Paige could see she had her work cut out for her.

  twenty-five

  Debbie Sue jiggled the key in the front door lock. Even though she owned this house and it had been her home for years, she felt uncomfortable entering with the tenant absent.

  Vic ducked his head as he came through the doorway, followed by the sucker-sucking Edwina. “Where’s the furniture?” Vic asked, stopping to look at the aluminum chairs in the living room. “I thought she was rich.”

  Edwina removed her lollipop. “Her daddy’s rich—”

  “And her mama’s good-looking,” Debbie Sue and Vic chimed in, singing in harmony.

  “Cute,” Edwina said. “As I started to say, she doesn’t have any money. She’s trying to live on her own without help from her daddy.”

  “I’ve noticed that,” Vic retorted. “I’ve seen her around town in that fifty-thousand-dollar symbol of independence.”

  “Now, hon, go easy on her. She’s a good kid. Some kids get used cars from their parents, some get Cadillacs. It’s all in what’s available to spend.”

  “You’re right. I take it back. The only thing my dad ever gave me was a hard time. Sometimes that comes out in me when I’m not thinking.” Vic scanned the room. “Let’s get under way.”

  For the next half hour the three of them worked. Vic decided a wireless listening device the size of a pencil eraser would be best situated on the bottom side of one of the aluminum chairs. He set up a receiver in the empty guest bedroom. After the equipment was calibrated, tested, and with everything in working order, they prepared to leave.

  “Debbie Sue,” Vic said, packing up his tools, “you’re putting a lot of stock in it being Lester who’s the thief. What if it isn’t him?”

  “Oh, he’s guilty all right. How could he not be? I mean look at the facts.” She shot a look at Edwina, seeking an ally. “You think he’s guilty, don’t you? You agree with me, right?”

  “Abso-fuckin’-lutely.” Edwina gave a thumbs-up.

  Vic’s arm came around her, and he gave her a hug. “Cowgirl, you’ve always had good instincts and a nose for the truth. If you say he’s guilty, that’s good enough for me.”

  “No, Vic, that’s not good enough,” Debbie Sue said. “If he’s not the one, then I don’t want to blame him. But I don’t know who else it could be. I just know one thing for sure. The killing has to stop, and we have to stop the killer.” What she thought, but didn’t say, was before he gets to Rocket Man.

  “Now, now, sugar,” Edwina said patting Debbie Sue’s arm. “We’re gonna get him. If it’s not Lester then we’ll find out who it is. Don’t forget we’re the Domestic Equalizers. Men fear us, women revere us and seek our support. Why, if Salt Lick had a phone booth we’d be comic book heroes.”

  Debbie Sue managed a laugh. Edwina could always pull a laugh out of her. “I got news for you, Ed. Some people think we’re comic book characters anyway.”

  Debbie Sue didn’t like being a drama queen, but before this minute, she hadn’t considered that Lester might not be the culprit. She didn’t have a plan B. She didn’t know what to do if Paige couldn’t seduce Lester into a confession.

  One thing she couldn’t let herself forget. She had promised Buddy she wouldn’t do something dumb or get in over her head. To her dismay, she could already feel icy water inching up her spine.

  PAIGE LOOKED at her watch again. Ten minutes until four o’clock. She didn’t want to “be nice” to Lester any longer than she had to, but if she intended to invite the horse thief to her house she had to hurry up and do it.

  She had been able to stay away from him and keep space between them all day. Luckily he was accustomed to her aloofness, so he didn’t appear to see her distant behavior as anything new. Was he really seeing a woman in Abilene or had he been scouting or collecting the other four horses Van Patten had mentioned on the phone? Whichever, he had apparently been successful, because his mood was upbeat. From her safe distance, she had even heard him singing.

  Steeling her resolve and rehearsing the invitation in her head, she walked toward the office, wiping her palms on her jeans as she neared the doorway. When she peered through the partially open door, she was surprised to see the office empty. She could have sworn the singing had been coming from here. She started to leave, but the phone halted her. She looked around for Lester to appear and answer it, but when she didn’t see him she scurried inside and picked up the receiver. “Flying C Ranch.”

  “Hey, Paige. I’m glad it’s you who answered.” The sound of Spur’s voice sent her heart aflutter.

  “Hi, Spur.” She kept her reply short. She had to, because she longed to say “hi, sweetheart” or “hi, baby,” but she didn’t have the confidence to act on the desire.

  His voice came across the wire soft and sexy. “I’ve been thinking about you all day, darlin’.”

  After what she had learned about him from the long talks they’d had last night, she knew he had taken a giant step with making that statement. It was all she could do to keep from sighing. “Honest? I’ve been thinking about you, too…. I, uh, Spur?”

  “What, sugar?”

  “I—I had a good time last night.”

  His intimate chuckle teased her ear. “Oh, yeah? That’s all? Just a good time?”

  Paige lowered her voice to the same level as his. “Well, no. I mean, gosh, I’ve never had this conversation before. I’m sorry I’m so dumb, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”

  “Just say what you feel, darlin’.”

  Paige closed her eyes, remembering the night and the morning. Looking around once again for any eavesdropper, she hugged the phone receiver to her lips. “I loved last night, Spur. I’ve never felt like that before. No one’s ever—I mean, you’re so amazing. When you took your tongue and—”

  “Whoa, sweetheart. I’ve got a patient due any minute now. I can’t be listening to this kind of talk. I won’t be able to do my duty.”

  “Hah. Afraid your roommate will make an appearance?”

  “My roommate has become a persistent pest. Lord, what you’ve done to him. Are we getting together this evening?”

  His question yanked her back to the reason she had walked into the office in the first place. “Oh, Spur! Oh, no. Spur, I can’t. I promised Debbie Sue I’d
help her with something. She’s coming to my house later tonight. I’m so sorry. I can’t get out of it and—”

  “Hey, you don’t need to apologize. It’s all right. I’ll just call you tomorrow if that’s okay.”

  “It’s sooo okay. Please believe me when I say I’m sorry.”

  “I believe you, Paige. I’ll always believe you. You couldn’t lie if you tried. Gotta go, now. Bye, sweetheart.”

  Paige stood welded to the floor with the receiver in her hand. His words circled her head like the rings of Saturn. No man, save her daddy, had ever called her sweetheart. No declaration, short of ‘I love you and I can’t live without you’ could mean as much to her. No doubt about it. She was in love, and she didn’t intend to put on the brakes.

  SPUR SAT on a stainless-steel stool in his exam room, his hand on the phone receiver. When he called Paige, his intention had been to say hello, but the moment he heard her voice he slipped into another mode altogether. He had never met a female who turned him on so completely. Earlier today he had preg-tested a small herd of heifers, vaccinated a couple of dogs and one woman’s flock of ten cats. Through it all, last night had hung in his mind. The time and place had been right, and a passionate partner had made it even better.

  Even more astonishing was the fact that he had made a plan to see her tonight and was eager to do so. Apparently his subconscious had severed communication with his brain. He was playing this all wrong, he was sure. But then, what did he know? He had never played anything but sports. With that in mind he had to acknowledge that last night had been the Super Bowl of sex. The World Series of eroticism.

  A frantic exclamation came from the reception room. “Oh, I hope Dr. Atwater can save her.”

  Uh-oh. An emergency. Time to put last night behind him and tend to matters at hand.

  “I’m sure he’ll be able to help her,” Electra said.

  Spur rose from his perch, walked to the lavatory, and pumped globs of antibacterial soap into his cupped hand. Before he could rinse his hands and shut off the water, Electra led a woman who had to weigh three hundred pounds into the exam room. And she was howling in a high-pitched whine.

  “This is Mildred Montgomery,” Electra said. “And Prissy.”

  Limp as a dishrag, a French bulldog lay in Electra’s arms. Spur detected a snore coming from the dog.

  “It’s not an everyday thing with me,” Miz Montgomery said between sobs. “It’s just that it helps my pain to have one every now and then.”

  Stupefied, Spur glanced from Prissy to her owner. “What helps your pain?”

  Miz Montgomery threw her hamlike arms in the air. “My hot toddy. Prissy drank all of it.” She broke into sobs again and looked up with a contorted mouth and tear-covered cheeks. “Is she going to die?”

  Spur looked down at the exam table where Electra had laid the sleeping Prissy and now stood rubbing her hand down the dog’s small back. Prissy was drunk?

  Seeing nothing telling in Electra’s expression Spur looked from her to the hysterical dog owner. “Now, now, Miz Montgomery. Tell me, what was in the toddy and how much did, uh, Prissy…consume?”

  “Well, uh, because I don’t drink one very often, I usually have a large glass, you see. I’ve got one of those thirty-two-ounce plastic cups Hogg’s gives out when you buy their Chuck Wagon Meal. I put in some honey and some warm water and six ounces of whiskey. It takes that much, you see, to ease the pain.”

  Spur nodded as he pressed the stethoscope to the dog’s chest and listened to its heart. “Hmm. Well, honey and water is not something I recommend for a dog, but it won’t kill her. How much whiskey do you think she had?”

  Miz Montgomery’s voice began to hitch. “I guess…it was the whole six ounces…. She dr-drank it all.” She leaned down and placed a teary kiss on the small black nose. “Oh, Dr. Atwater, you should…have seen…the way she was acting. I had to carry…the poor little thing in here.” She began to wail again.

  Spur took over the stroking of Prissy’s body. The dog grunted and twitched. He pried open her mouth to examine her gums and throat. The dog’s breath reeked of alcohol. “I think she’ll be okay, but she has to sleep it off. Sugar’s not good for a dog, so you need to keep an eye on her. She may not be herself for a day or two. If I were you, I’d be careful about leaving your drink around. She might develop a taste for it and want more.”

  “Oh, Dr. Atwater, I don’t know how to thank you. I’ll take her home and watch her. I’ll make sure it never happens again. Thank you so much, doctor.”

  The woman picked up the limp dog and covered its face with kisses. Spur watched as she left the clinic talking baby talk to the snoozing dog. He shook his head. Poor Prissy.

  He wasn’t truly worried about Prissy learning to crave whiskey. He was more worried about himself. He could relate too well to wanting more of something because that was exactly how he felt about Paige. He had to see her. He didn’t know why. He just knew he had to. “Electra,” he called.

  She stuck her head into his exam room. “Yes, Doctor.”

  “Just so you’ll be happy, I’m telling you now, I’m gonna go see Paige.”

  His sister’s grin lit up her whole face.

  “Let’s lock up so I can get you home and come back and clean up before I go over there.”

  PAIGE’S REVERIE was broken by Lester’s voice. “I said, who was on the phone?”

  “Huh? Oh, uh, it was a wrong number.” God, it was scary how quickly she could follow Spur’s touching assessment of her ability to tell the truth with a lie.

  “Okay, then,” Lester said and followed with a wide yawn. “If you don’t need me for anything I’m headed for the house. I’m beat.”

  “Lester, I did want to ask you something before you leave.” Paige placed the receiver in its cradle, her thoughts centered on butchered horses. “Would you like to come to my house this evening? Maybe have a couple of drinks, a bite to eat? We could just sort of hang out and talk.”

  Lester came to life. “Hey, you did miss me, didn’t you?” A cocky grin played across his thin lips. “You jealous of the time I spent with my lady in Abilene?”

  All that kept Paige from picking up a handful of horse droppings and rubbing them across Lester’s grin was her pledge to Debbie Sue. Her invitation might be innocent, but his intentions weren’t. She hoped things would get out of hand this evening, which would prompt Vic to burst into the room and take matters into his hands. That is, if he could get ahead of Debbie Sue and Edwina.

  “I want to get to know you better,” she said, forcing her mouth into a smile. “We work together all day every day, but we never really talk. I might have been a little hard on you. I’d just like to make a fresh start.”

  “You bet,” he said with a wink. “What time do you want me to come over for this, what’d you call it, talk?”

  “Seven?”

  “Seven it is.” Lester started to leave but stopped, turned back, and walked close. He leaned and placed his lips near her ear. “I’ve always known you wanted me, sweet thing. I just didn’t think it would take this long for you to see the light.” He planted a peck on her cheek and walked out humming.

  Paige glared at him until he disappeared from sight. The only light she wanted to see was the headlamp of the oncoming locomotive that would run over Lester Clinton’s slimy, horse-stealing body.

  twenty-six

  Within half an hour of Paige’s arrival at home she was joined by Debbie Sue. Edwina and Vic weren’t far behind. Vic went over the placement of the listening device with Paige and gave her instructions where to sit and stand. The only person who wasn’t edgy was Edwina. She was sitting on one of the folding chairs with a bottle of fingernail polish gripped between her knees, streaking a blaze of red down one of her talonlike nails.

  “I’ll just be glad when this is over,” Debbie Sue said. “Paige, you’re great to help out. I hope we aren’t interrupting other plans you had.”

  “Huh? Oh, no. No plans. I was just going t
o wash some bed linens.” Paige felt ill at the thought of what she could be doing tonight instead of helping catch a horse thief.

  “Ed,” Debbie Sue said, “why are you polishing your nails now? There had to have been a hundred times you could have done that earlier today.”

  “Well excuse the hell out of me, but this is the way I handle stress. You turn bitchy, I paint my nails.”

  “I’m not being bitchy,” Debbie Sue said defensively. “I’m just ready for this to be over, that’s all.”

  “I say you’re being bitchy and we need a drink. Paige, can you mix us up one of those pretty red things we had last night?”

  “That’s a great idea. Four cosmopolitans coming up.” Paige headed into the kitchen.

  “None for me,” Vic said, his tone serious. “I’m working tonight. I never mix liquor with work.”

  “And I,” Edwina announced, “never mix a drink when someone else will. That’s why Vic and I are so compatible. We’re practically identical in our thinking.”

  Paige returned to the living room with drinks for Edwina, Debbie Sue, and herself.

  Debbie Sue took a sip from her cosmopolitan, then pointed a finger at Vic and Edwina. “Promise me one thing. Once Lester gets here, promise me y’all will be quiet. We want to do this only once. And I don’t want to get caught and try to explain why the three of us are hiding in the spare room.”

  “No one wants this to end tonight more than me,” Edwina replied. “No offense, hon, but you haven’t been yourself for weeks.” Edwina lifted her glass. “Now, I propose a toast.” She faced the two women. “To men who steal horses and the ones that break our hearts. May they all burn in hell.”

  “May they all burn in hell,” Debbie Sue and Paige echoed. They clinked glasses and consumed the last of the vodka-heavy cosmopolitans. Paige held her breath for an instant, hoping they didn’t throw the glasses.