Jolene Watson stood up. "You may think you're somebody in this town because the town council appointed you sheriff, but I grew up with you, Josie Raintree. You were trash as a child, and you are trash, now. I will see that your foster-care license is revoked. You are not going to run over top of me. Do you think getting an attorney for the boy makes any difference? It won't. It's my report that counts, and I'm recommending that Alex be placed back in the custody of his mother. That boy will be living with Marcy as soon as I can make it happen. Meanwhile, a charge of sexual assault will put an end to your foster-parent career, and it might even be enough for the town council to reconsider your job as Sheriff. Marcy is my friend, and I promised her I'd do whatever it takes to get her son back with her."
"How on earth did you get hired as a social worker with the lives of children depending on you to make the right decisions for them?" Josie demanded, getting to her feet. "I knew it wouldn't take long for your true nature to show through."
She plucked a cell phone out of a vase of flowers sitting on the coffee table only inches from where Jolene sat. "Mrs. Tarry, did you hear that clearly? Good! Yes, I have recorded it. Yes, thank you, I'll be glad to meet with Mr. Shorey any time, I'll match my schedule to his. Please have him call Mrs. Eileen Foster, Alex's child advocate attorney. Her number should be in his file if not, call me. Thank you again, of course, you may."
Jolene's eyes were flashing with anger as Josie handed her a cell phone. "Your supervisor would like to speak to you."
"You set me up, you bitch," Jolene snapped as she took the phone. However, as she listened, Jolene seemed to deflate. "Yes, ma'am... yes, Mrs. Tarry... your office this afternoon. I'll be there. Ma'am, I only wanted to say... yes, ma'am, this afternoon."
Josie plucked the phone from the fingers of one of her worst childhood tormentors. "I didn't set you up, Jolene. You set yourself up by not doing your job and not protecting an eleven-year-old child. The only thing I care about is protecting Alex Carter, from you, from his mother and anyone else that might jeopardize his future. I hope your meeting with your supervisor goes well. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tarry has assigned Mr. Shorey as Alex's caseworker. I'll see you to the door."
Josie watched at the door until Jolene Watson got into her car and left her property. A nemesis from her school days, Jolene Watson was still a nasty piece of work, and she had not improved with age. She'd been a bully, and selfish to the bone as a teenager, and it appeared she had not changed. Although Jolene had trapped herself with her own words, she did not leave gracefully. The air was tinged blue from her swearing.
Josie leaned her forehead against the doorframe and closed her eyes.
"Is she gone for good?"
Josie whirled around to meet the worried face of a troubled boy. "Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?"
"Yeah, but I knew you'd be talking about me. I've got a right to know when it's me you're talking about," Alex grumbled.
"Well? What did you hear?" Josie asked.
"Not much," Alex admitted. "What's going on? Why are you wearing your uniform? I thought you were taking the evening shift today because you asked Georgina to come over to stay with me tonight. Not that I need a babysitter. I'm too old for a babysitter."
Josie gave a sigh not wanting to get into that particular argument again. "I'm wearing my uniform for the purpose of intimidation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. As our meeting is over, and you are not going to Centreville, I might as well take you to school and get some work done myself."
"Yeah," Alex exclaimed punching his fists into the air.
"Yeah," Josie repeated pulling the boy into a combination headlock and hug. "You are going to do two hours of extra chores for disobeying me and eavesdropping."
"Aw, Josie, I couldn't get close enough to hear much of anything, so it shouldn't count," Alex grumbled. "And why do I have to go school? I'll be really, really late."
Josie grinned. "For the same reason I have to go to work, because it's where we're supposed to be right now. I'm supposed to be at my job, and you are supposed to be at school. That's how it works in the real world. When you make a commitment, you need to follow it through to the end. Don't argue and put me into an ornery mood. I'll pick you up after school. We're going to attack the wallpaper in that upstairs tower room tonight."
"I'm going to have extra homework, on account of I've missed some classes," Alex said with a conniving look.
"Which you will do before you start the first of your two hours of hard labor," Josie warned. "Come on, buddy, you're putting me behind schedule!"
Jack watched as the team of four workers carried the last of the furniture out to their trucks. He had cleared out the house with the exception of a few pieces he had shifted into a room in the one usable barn. Those pieces he didn't want to discard.
He had been driving by the Raintree house daily and watching the transformation. The outside painting was completed, a new fence was up and there were signs of landscaping. He'd run into Josie a few times while she was on duty. She smiled and was friendly, but was not making any advances toward him. He had not put any moves on her, either. She seemed preoccupied. She did have a lot going on—house renovations, raising a kid, not to mention her job. He'd heard a rumor that she'd gotten the boy's social worker put on suspension, but he hadn't heard the details of why. Rawlings was too small to support a local newspaper, and news traveled faster on the phone gossip lines. Nothing about that had changed in nineteen years, except the upgrade from telephone lines to cell towers.
Jack was not sure of his next move. His father and grandfather had given him two choices when he left for college. He was to study agriculture, to take over the ranch or attend seminary. Neither choice suited him, so he'd gone his way studying architecture until he'd been given the ultimatum to buckle down to one of those courses of study or have his funding cutoff. Jack didn't take well to ultimatums. He'd joined the Navy.
He had completed his degree class by class as his assignments took him to various bases and countries. On-line courses were often his only option when deployments took him into foreign countries. Nevertheless, he had completed his degree. For years, he had drawn designs and kept them in a portfolio, but eventually that went by the wayside as his military duties, responsibilities and assignments became his primary vocation in life. Being a Lieutenant Commander, Officer in Charge of a SEAL unit was light-years apart from a boy's dream of designing buildings and houses. Except for a portfolio of forgotten dreams, he had never formally designed anything bigger than a deck or a small addition to a friend's house.
Knowing the busy schedule Josie was keeping, Jack had offered to take over the care of her horse, Ozzie. He enjoyed grooming and occasionally taking him out for a ride. Apparently, Josie was busy because she had only been out to the place one time in the past week. She had called to remind him each day, and although he was annoyed that she thought he needed reminding, Jack found himself looking forward to those phone calls. That was why he was surprised when he saw Josie's truck drive down his lane. She and Alex got out and headed straight for the barn.
Josie was saddling up Ozzie when Jack entered the barn. Alex was watching her intently as she patiently explained the process of saddling a horse, demonstrated it, and then removed the saddle to allow the boy to do it.
"Hi," Jack called, announcing his arrival.
Josie's face lit up with a smile. "Hi. You'll be glad to know that at the end of the week I'll be moving Ozzie and boarding him down the road. I'm loaning him out to the training school in return for board until I get the permits to build a small barn. My friend trains young riders, mostly little girls, so Ozzie will get a ton of attention, which is something I haven't had time to give him lately. When I get Alex trained up, he can take over exercising Ozzie when I get busy, and I may or may not get him a horse, depending on how he continues to take to riding."
Jack gave Ozzie a scratch on his ears. "Take your time. He's the only company I've had in days. When you're finis
hed with your lessons, come in for a minute. I've got something to ask you."
"Sure," Josie said. "After we get Ozzie saddled up, I'm taking Alex out so he can get a feel of riding."
Alex moved between Jack and Josie, and glared up at him. Staking out his territory, Jack thought, giving the boy a nod. He didn't blame him.
A few minutes later, Josie knocked on the back door and pushed open the screen.
She looked around, surprised at the empty house. "Been housecleaning?"
"More or less," Jack said, offering them bottles of water. He walked through the kitchen, and they followed him into the living room.
"What do you need, Jack?" Josie asked.
"You," his brain responded, and he almost said it aloud. Instead, he gave a wave around the room. I'm trying to decide if I want to bulldoze this place or if it's worth upgrading, like what you've done at your place."
"Oh, no," Josie wailed. "This house probably dates back to the late 1890s. My God, Jack, look at the details, the moldings, the fireplaces, the floors!"
"I have," Jack groaned, running his hands through his hair. "All I see are lots of rooms where the last updates were in the 1970s, which wasn't a particularly tasteful era. The kitchen and bathrooms are hideous. Your house was built around the same time as this one, but you've changed it, opened it up and brought it into this century."
"I've tried to keep the historic feel of the place while making it work for our lifestyles today. I've kept every piece of the original trim and millwork that I could salvage. It's been brought up-to-date and up to code, but it's a long way from being modern," Josie objected. "I like to think of it as eclectic, a little bit of everything I like."
Jack nodded and looked around. "Like the house itself. Your house has a unique character. This place doesn't. It's ostentatious and grandiose, more fitting to San Francisco than on a crumbling ranch in Oklahoma. It would probably be easier to rebuild?"
Josie looked disappointed. "It might, but we would lose a piece of history that can never be regained. At least contact someone and try to salvage as much of the architectural pieces off the house as possible."
"Can we go?" Alex interjected.
"Go outside and wait for me, but stay away from Ozzie," Josie said. "Remember horse's bite, especially surly eleven year old boys!"
"Hurry up," the boy whined as the door slammed behind him.
"Sorry, he's impatient."
"Would you be willing to give me some advice, tell me what I need to change to make this place look like what you're doing at your house?" Jack asked.
"Why are you asking me all this stuff, Jack? You studied architecture in college. You should know a lot more about this kind of stuff than I do," Josie asked.
"That was a lifetime ago," Jack said. "I finished my degree while in the service, but I changed my life course when I joined the SEALS. Twenty years is a long time to set aside an adolescent dream and then try to pick it up again."
Josie bit down on her lip. "How are you set financially, Jack? Estimated costs for my renovations are going to come in at about three times the value of the property when I started. That's with me doing a lot of the inside detail work. Restoring the Raintree house has been a journey for me, and it makes me feel like I belong here, but it's been a major commitment. If you've lost that creative part of you, if you're not a project guy or don't love the place, you'll hate the whole process."
Jack looked around the room, bare except for an outdoor lounge chair and a flat screen TV. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. I thought I hated it. Now that it's cleared out, I'm beginning to see the beauty in the style. At least, I don't feel like I'm suffocating."
Josie nodded in understanding. "I know that feeling, plus I was dealing with a hoarder's garbage. I threw out thousands of empty liquor bottles, and each one was a memory of something I'd rather forget. In the end, I tossed out a lot of bad memories or came to terms with them. I was neglected as a child because Mason Raintree was an alcoholic, but I had a roof over my head and food to eat. He never hurt me, not intentionally. It wasn't ideal, but at least it was safe. So many children have it worse, and at least he never tossed me into the system.
"There's one good thing about renovating. You can scream, and swear and get rid of a lot of aggressions. Sledge hammering a wall relieves a lot of stress and tension.
"If you want advice, I'll make time to help you. I worked construction for years putting myself through college, so I can pretty much do everything from electrical and plumbing, to drywall and general building." She laughed. "Only now, I can afford to pay someone else to do the hard, dirty work while I concentrate on what I enjoy, which is the decorating end of it. I don't have the degrees, but I do have an interest and I think a knack for it. If I can ever get the mayor to find a new sheriff, I might have the time to finish my house. Put a lot of thought into it, Jack. Don't put your money and time into something that will anchor you here, if that's not what you want for the long haul."
"Are you anchored here?"
Josie nodded. "Anchored and rooted. I can live with the memories of my past, the good and the bad. Rawlings and the Raintree house are the only home I've ever known."
Josie kicked Ozzie into an easy gallop. "Are you okay back there?" she said loudly over her shoulder.
"Faster," was Alex's answer, his thin arms around her waist holding on as they rode double.
Josie laughed, but kept the same easy pace. It was the Alex's fourth time on a horse. They'd gotten past his initial fear of Ozzie, and he was developing a better seat and not bouncing around so much. She was pretty sure she'd be buying him a horse soon, but she was going to wait until she got the small barn built on her property. Her land was zoned for horses, and she had room since the Raintree house stood on six acres. But she also had a neighbor that was objecting, so her proposal would have to be cleared through the town council.
They had ridden for about a half hour before she headed back over his protests. They were almost to the barn when suddenly there was a streak of lightning and a loud crack. Ozzie shied, changed his pace and bucked a bit. Storms and sudden loud sounds had always upset him.
Looking to the sky, Josie realized they were under a fast-moving storm cloud. She had noticed it earlier but deemed it too small to be dangerous. She should have known better. In Oklahoma and throughout the 'tornado alley' part of the mid-central and southwest, atmospheric conditions could change and become dangerous at the drop of a hat, or so it seemed to the residents. Lightning was common with storms, so they needed to get out of the open and take shelter. She turned Ozzie toward the barn area in an easy lope, and they were almost to the paddock when a lightning strike hit a nearby tree. A large limb dropped to the ground with a deafening crash making Ozzie weave and balk. He stumbled and went down sending Josie and Alex sprawling to the ground. Josie slammed into the fallen tree branch, and Alex fell on top of her. She felt the initial pain and then nothing.
Alex rolled off as Ozzie regained his feet and ran away. The boy saw blood on Josie's face, and he panicked. He jumped to his feet and ran screaming for help.
Jack heard Alex screaming before the boy reached the house. He caught him in a tight grip on both arms. "Where's Josie?"
"She fell off and is bleeding. Ozzie fell down, and we rolled off him!" the boy cried.
Jack gripped the boy's arms, "Where? Calm down and tell me where?"
The boy pointed, "Behind the barn at that old tree."
Jack ran and went to his knees beside Josie. He did not touch her, but pulled out his phone and called 911. "Help is coming," he told the boy.
Alex nodded but never took his eyes off her face as Jack scanned the distance. At best, it would be ten minutes or more before help arrived.
"She's moving!" Alex yelped.
"Don't move!" Jack commanded as Josie groaned and very deliberately moved.
"Oh!" she moaned. "Uh!"
"Don't move!" Jack repeated. "You may be hurt."
"Trust me, I know I'm h
urt," Josie said through clenched teeth, "but I'm not paralyzed. I feel every muscle and nerve in my body, and every single one of them is screaming OUCH!" She moved her head slightly.
"Damn it, don't move," Jack ordered.
"Damn it. Don't tell me what to do!" Josie snapped back. This time she ignored his hands trying to hold her in place and sat up. "Major ouch! Alex, are you okay?"
"I'm fine; I fell on you. You hit a tree branch," Alex said.
"Yeah, I remember that part," Josie agreed. "Is Ozzie okay?"
"I haven't checked, yet," Jack said. He also realized it wouldn't do any good to scold her now since any damage caused by her moving around was already done. She seemed to be okay and was systematically checking out her body parts. "Alex, stay with her," he ordered. "I'll check Ozzie if you'll promise not to try to get on your feet."
"Okay," Josie agreed as they heard sirens in the distance.
Jack waited until the rescue squad arrived, explained briefly that she had taken a tumble and told the paramedics to check out both of them while he checked on her horse. Ozzie was standing outside his stall and appeared to be in good condition. Jack unsaddled him, put him into the stall and quickly returned.
Josie was arguing with the paramedics. "I'm fine!" she repeated several times.
"What's going on?" Jack demanded.
"She won't let us take her in," one of the EMTs complained. "We can't take her against her will."
"Josie!"
"Jack!" Josie snapped back. "I know when I'm okay and when I'm not."
Jack grabbed her arm and in spite of her hiss of pain marched her about twenty feet away from the rescue vehicle.
"Let go!" Josie complained.
"I'm not going to let go," Jack said furiously. "If you don't get in that vehicle and let them take you and Alex into the clinic to be checked out, I'm going to blister your backside and add a sore ass to all your other pains!"
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