Sudden Storms

by Marcia Lynn McClure

  Paxton shook his head. “Wouldn’t have mattered to me if I had really been in love with her. I would’ve married her anyway. It was…well, her mother…” He sighed exasperated. “Dang it all, Rivers…I’m confessin’ to ya here! Quit readin’ things in. I didn’t love the girl! I thought I did—thought I should. But I couldn’t. Believe me, I tried. But when I told her daddy I was backin’ out…well, they left that very night. They hired some folks in town to pack up their house and move their belongin’s for them. Nobody heard a word from ’em…until now, I guess.” He looked at her, and Rivers was shocked at the expression on his face. An expression of guilt and shame. “Ya see, I done her wrong.”

  “Marrying her when you didn’t love her would’ve been wrong, Paxton,” Rivers assured him.

  “Yeah? Well, you didn’t see the look on her face when she walked in havin’ overheard what I told her daddy,” he grumbled.

  But Rivers could all too well imagine what Ruby felt and how she had looked when she’d heard she had lost Paxton Gray. All too well did she hold an unspoken kinship with the woman.

  She pressed her fingers to her lips, trying to smooth away the delightful sensation of his kiss lingering upon them. But it didn’t help. She doubted anything ever would.

  Paxton and Weston were unhitching the team when Jolee said to Rivers, “I want to check on Mary Belle, Rivers. Her udder was in sorry shape when I milked her this mornin’. Come with me, will ya?”

  Rivers nodded and followed Jolee into the barn and toward the cow. “That was a nice piece of refreshment for us, wasn’t it?” Jolee asked, kneeling down beside the animal.

  “The storm? Oh yes,” Rivers agreed.

  Jolee giggled. “Well, that’s not exactly what I meant, Rivers. But the storm was nice, too.”

  “Her udder still looks a bit irritated,” Rivers answered, kindly patting the cow on the back.

  “While we’re out here,” Jolee said, standing, “I’m lookin’ for that little hatchet of Paxton’s.” She began rooting through some tools in a wooden box near the stall.

  “Oh, I’ve seen it!” Rivers exclaimed as she walked toward an empty feed bin used for storage. “It’s right down in here.” Rivers groaned, however, as she noticed the silky spiderweb just inside the bin. “Oh! I can’t stick my hand in there! Look at that web! It’s huge!”

  Rivers’s one true fear was spiders. She’d tried and tried to overcome it all her life, but to no avail.

  “I’ll get it,” Jolee giggled, coming to stand beside her.

  “No. I’ve got to get over this,” Rivers whispered, trying to force her hand into the bin.

  “That’s a widder web!” Jolee exclaimed.

  “Black widow?” Rivers choked, quickly withdrawing her hand.

  “Yeah. Looks like a big one! Look at the size of that web!” Jolee whispered. “Paxton would be very impressed. I really should get a jar and catch it for him.”

  Rivers wrinkled her nose and wondered why anyone would think to do such a thing. Then she watched in stunned horror as Jolee stuck her hand into the bin as if there were nothing at all to fear.

  “Jo!” Rivers gasped quietly.

  “Can’t be scared of ’em, Rivers. Just leave ’em alone, and they won’t hurt you.”

  Rivers’s eyes locked on the hatchet’s handle, and terror raced through her veins as Jolee pulled it from the darkness of the bin. A mere inch or less from where Jolee clutched the hatchet with one hand sat an enormous shining black spider.

  Rivers screeched at the sight of the spider, startling Jolee, who jumped, dropping the hatchet. The spider, however, seemed to fly from the handle at the same moment and onto Jolee’s dress.

  “It’s on you!” Rivers screamed.

  “Where? Where? Get it off!” Jolee squealed, swatting madly at her bodice.

  Rivers stood terrified as she watched the spider crawl up Jolee’s sleeve and disappear under a strand of her hair hanging loosely over one shoulder.

  “It’s on my neck! I can feel it!” Jolee whispered.

  The fear was plain on Jolee’s face and finally broke the spell of panic paralyzing Rivers. Slowly, she moved the strand of hair. There, like an evil omen, was the spider. It was perfectly still, and sitting on Jolee’s neck.

  “What do I do?” Rivers asked in a desperate whisper.

  “What in tarnation is goin’ on in here? Sounds like a bunch of screamin’ magpies,” Paxton thundered as he and Weston burst into the barn.

  “Paxton!” Rivers pleaded in a whisper, pointing to Jolee.

  Paxton looked at the tears streaming down both female faces and went to his sister.

  “Big ol’ nasty one,” he mumbled upon seeing the spider.

  “Shoot!” Weston exclaimed in a whisper. “She’s raised! She’s gonna bite!”

  Rivers watched in complete astonished fright as Paxton rapidly reached toward the threatening widow.

  “Ow!” Jolee cried just before Paxton smashed the villainous, eight-legged creature between his thumb and forefinger. Rivers wrinkled her nose and clutched at her churning stomach at the gruesome sight of the spider’s mossy green innards apparent on Paxton’s fingers.

  “Did it get ya?” Weston asked, his face stricken with concern.

  “Yes!” Jolee cried as tears continued to stream down her face.

  Rivers watched as Paxton quickly wiped the spider’s remains on his trousers and bent down to scrape a block of cattle salt with his pocket knife. He spit onto the salt scrapings and roughly rubbed the stuff onto his sister’s injured neck.

  “Dang bad place to get bit,” he muttered. “Venom will travel faster now. Let’s get her to the house.”

  Rivers stood frozen with horror and could only stare as Weston gathered Jolee swiftly into his arms. Paxton brusquely pushed by Rivers as he strode out of the barn, motioning for Weston to follow.

  As they entered the house, Rivers clamped her hand over her mouth and raced from the barn. When she’d reached the willow tree near the pond, she stopped and fell to her knees, sobbing. The shock of seeing the horrible spider was enough in itself. She was violently shaking and covered with an unpleasant sort of goose bumps. But to know it was her fault Jolee had been bitten was almost unendurable. As if in answer to her thoughts, at that very moment she heard the distant whistle of a train. She stood and listened intently. She wiped the moisture from her cheeks and took a deep breath.

  “Don’t even think about it now, girl!” Paxton growled as he grabbed hold of Rivers’s arm, turning her to face him. “Jolee’s gonna get mighty sick, and you need to be here to help her through it. It’s a painful and sickenin’ thing to endure…a widder bite. And I need you here to help her!”

  “It’s my fault,” Rivers choked out.

  “No, it ain’t, and I don’t have the time to stand here arguin’ with ya about it. Jolee shoulda known better than to stick her hand in there!”

  “I should’ve done it…”

  “I’m goin’ in to town to fetch some morphine from Doc Roberts. You go on back in the house and get her comfortable. Help Weston try to calm her down.”

  Then he added, “I will find you here when I get back.” It was a command, not a question.

  CHAPTER SIX

  After being bitten, Jolee was painfully ill. The fever, nausea, and cramping caused by the spider’s bite were continuous and miserable. Through it all, Rivers was guilt-ridden. If only she’d been able to overcome her fear of spiders and swat it from Jolee’s sleeve. Rivers tormented herself time and again as she watched her friend endure the terrible consequences of the spider’s venom. Though sweet Jolee continually reassured her, Rivers blamed herself.

  Rivers sensed Paxton harbored his own feelings of guilt, though he had no fault. It seemed he talked with Rivers more easily. She assumed this was because he could not spend more time with his sister. Still, whatever the reason, Rivers couldn’t help being delighted with his company. Any attention he gave her set her heart to fluttering, her skin to tingling
, and left her breathless.

  Weston was at Jolee’s side every moment he could spare, their time together drawing them closer. It was obvious Weston felt helpless and angry. He silently endured his own pain as he watched Jolee endure hers.

  At night, Rivers slept fitfully. She wished she had had the courage to leave before the incident occurred. She convinced herself Jolee would never have been in such a state were it not for Rivers’s presence. She knew she should have left, hopped a train, and given Jolee and Paxton their lives to live without her interference. She hadn’t, and now having to watch Jolee suffer was her punishment. Even after two long weeks, when Jolee was out of bed and nearly back to a daily routine, Rivers bathed in the anguish of guilt.

  One morning, Jolee and Rivers stood at the sink working at the breakfast dishes. Weston came through the kitchen door and tipped his hat in greeting to the two women. Yet instead of speaking to Jolee as Rivers expected, he went directly to the table where Paxton sat reading a letter he’d received.

  “I talked with Ruby Dupree today, Pax,” Weston said in a lowered voice.

  “Well, that’s right nice of ya, Weston,” Paxton grumbled.

  “She asked about ya, Pax. How ya was, about your health, and if there was anybody particular puttin’ the twinkle in your eye.” Rivers listened intently, pretending to be fully engrossed in washing the dishes. She knew Jolee listened too, also feigning indifference.

  “What did ya tell her, Weston?” Paxton asked. His voice revealed his annoyance. “Did ya tell her I got me my own little bit of a girl pinned up in the house against her will?” Rivers glanced over her shoulder. Paxton pointed at her. “Did ya let her know my affections are directed somewhere else now?” he shouted. Jolee turned to look at him.

  “Paxton!” she scolded. “Weston is just trying to…”

  “I know, I know,” Paxton groaned. He quickly stood up, knocking his chair over in the process. “But that’s the past. I don’t want nothin’ to do with any of them Duprees.”

  “Maybe it would be better for everyone concerned if you were to go over there and just greet them in a friendly manner, Paxton,” Jolee suggested. “It will clear the air, and ya won’t have such hard feelin’s toward Ruby and her family.”

  Paxton shook his head and chuckled in disbelief. “Jo…I love ya. Ya know I do. Usually I wouldn’t hide somethin’ like this from ya—’cause ya don’t know all that went on in this situation. Ya don’t know, and since ya don’t…ya can’t…” He shook his head, stumbling over his words.

  “Hey, I’m sorry, Pax,” Weston apologized. “I didn’t mean to upset ya. I just thought…”

  “You’re a good friend, Weston,” Paxton said, patting Weston on the shoulder. “I guess it’s time the wash was out for everyone to see.”

  Rivers watched as Paxton slowly ran a hand through his dark hair, picked up his chair, and sat down once more.

  “I told Rivers this already,” he began. “And I suspect ya already guessed at part of it, Weston. Still, for your sake, Jo…ya oughta know that the night Ruby and her family left town…well, I’d gone to her daddy that day, and I told him I couldn’t marry his daughter. I told him I didn’t love her and I would only be doin’ wrong by her if I married her.”

  “I do know that, Pax,” Jolee said soothingly, sitting down in a chair next to her brother. “You told me.”

  Paxton shook his head. “There’s more, Jolee. I didn’t figure ladies oughta be hearin’ of it, and I admit to ya, Weston…I was ashamed to tell ya, until now.”

  It unsettled Rivers as Paxton’s gaze fell to her. He looked to her, not Jolee or Weston, as he continued. “Ruby came into the room when I was talkin’ to her daddy. She’d heard everythin’ I’d said to him, and she was cryin’. I hurt her. I should’ve ’fessed up long before I did. Anyway, she begged me and begged me…promisin’ to make me a good wife. Promisin’ to have as many babies as I wanted her to have…but I knew then, more than before even, that I couldn’t marry the girl. Well, her daddy was the vision of controlled anger. He shook my hand and thanked me for comin’ to him…for my honesty. He told me they held no hard feelin’s and that I wasn’t to worry about it. He said he admired my integrity.”

  Rivers swallowed with difficulty, thinking of Ruby and the heartache Paxton’s confession must have caused her. Paxton picked up a fork still lying on the table and began fidgeting with it as he continued. “So…I left and went out to their barn where I’d left my horse. I’m gettin’ ready to mount, and I hear someone come in behind me. I figure it’s Ruby, but I turned around to see Mrs. Dupree standin’ there for all the world to see in nothin’ but her nightdress.”

  “You’re kiddin’ me?” Weston exclaimed.

  “Tell tales I do not,” Paxton confirmed. “She walks up to me and puts her arms around my waist all snugly and says, ‘I knew you’d see through her to me, Paxton,’ and I just stood there not knowin’ what she was talkin’ about.” Paxton shifted uncomfortably in his chair and tossed the fork to the other side of the table. “She thought I called off my weddin’ to her daughter ’cause I had my eye on her.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Pax. Why would she think that?” Jolee asked.

  “’Cause she’s completely mad,” Weston answered, staring at Paxton intently. “Why didn’t ya tell us this before?”

  “There’s more,” Paxton said. Releasing a heavy sigh, he said, “So, I’m standin’ there, not sure what to make of the lady, and she takes hold of my face all of a sudden and kisses me square on the mouth.”

  Jolee gasped, put a hand to her mouth and whispered, “Oh, Paxton!”

  “I tried pushin’ her away, and she starts goin’ on and on about what a great lover I’ll make for her…and I tell you this, Jo…she weren’t talkin’ about writin’ secret letters and sparkin’ on the front porch.” Paxton paused, shaking his head. “I took her hands and held them tight in front of her and said, ‘Mrs. Dupree, I think you better go on in the house.’ But she kept grabbin’ at me and tryin’ to kiss me again. In a minute, Mr. Dupree walks in the barn, and I think I’m wolf bait, but he just says, ‘Come along, Marianna. It’s time you were in bed.’ That’s all he said. I tried to explain, but he just shook his head at me and again told her to come in. Everything happened so fast then. I guess she had the knife hidden in her nightdress pocket or somethin’ ’cause the next thing I know she’s screamin’ at her husband at the top of her voice somethin’ about how he’s not gonna take her from her lover. How she’s worked so hard to get me and all…and she runs at him, plantin’ that knife square in his right shoulder.”

  “Dang!” Weston exclaimed softly, shaking his head. “Why didn’t ya tell us all this mess, Pax?”

  “I promised Mr. Dupree I wouldn’t. I figured I owed their family that much after what I done,” Paxton answered. “So ya see, Weston…I have less interest in that girl and her family than I do a swelled-up tick on a dead dog.”

  “I always wondered why ya were so quiet about what happened, Pax,” Jolee said.

  “Well, now ya know, sis. And now ya know why I kept it from you.” Paxton looked at Rivers, quirked one eyebrow, and asked, “So, what do ya think of me now, girl?”

  “I think you’ve borne a heavy burden for a long time that wasn’t yours to bear,” Rivers answered plainly. Paxton seemed startled at her reply, and Rivers turned her attention to the sink once again. Somehow she felt greatly relieved. She didn’t know what she’d expected to hear, but it wasn’t the fact Paxton really didn’t love Ruby. She’d feared perhaps the opposite were true—that maybe he had only lied to her before.

  “I’ve gotta get in to town today,” Paxton said. Sighing and standing, he added, “Some fresh air oughta clear my head a bit. I’m sure you can entertain the womenfolk while I’m gone, can’t ya, Weston?”

  Weston and Jolee glanced to one another then back to Paxton. Weston finally stammered, “Well, shore. I suppose.”

  “Well, go on ahead,” Jolee said, clearing her throat. It wa
s obvious to Rivers that Paxton’s story had greatly unsettled his sister. “Take Rivers with ya though. She needs a good airin’ out.” Jolee smiled at her friend. “It’ll get her mind off me for awhile. She still spends too much time worryin’ about me. She blames herself for things about as easily as you do, Pax.”

  “Oh, no! I need to stay here with you, Jo,” Rivers insisted.

  “Weston can take me for a short ride this afternoon. You don’t mind, do ya, Weston?” she asked.

  “My pleasure, ma’am,” Weston answered, grinning slyly at Jolee.

  “Why don’t you two just say ya wanna get off in the bushes and spark awhile, Jo?” Paxton grumbled.

  “Okay. I just wanna get off in the bushes and spark with my beau, Paxton. So you two be on your way. Go to town and get some fresh air, Rivers,” Jolee giggled, winking at Weston, who winked back.

  Paxton stretched and ran his fingers through his hair again. “Well, come on, girl,” he said to Rivers. “Let’s get goin’. Maybe I’ll play ya a tune on the way,” he added.

  “I’m not going. I’ll just stay here and darn some socks,” Rivers sighed.

  “Nope,” Paxton yawned. “Jo wants us gone so she can love all over Weston, so we’re goin’. I think we owe her that much.” Taking Rivers’s arm, he pulled her out of her chair and to her feet.

  “Pick up some brown sugar, Rivers. We’re runnin’ low,” Jolee called after them.

  Rivers waved to a smiling Jolee as Paxton pulled her out the door. She smiled to herself, happy Jolee was well enough to spend time with Weston again.

  Over the past few days, Jolee had confided in Rivers about her developing relationship with Weston. Rivers was happy for her. Jolee’s smile, the twinkle in her eyes was radiant whenever she spoke of Weston. Still, when Rivers realized Jolee had never experienced an intimate moment the like Rivers had shared with Paxton, she felt guilty somehow—undeserving when Jolee deserved so much. She also felt somewhat fearful about Jolee finding out Paxton had kissed her—as if Jolee might think less of her for allowing herself to be so beguiled by Paxton’s charms. Yet what woman could resist him? Even the mad Mrs. Dupree had been captivated by his allure.