by Linda Bridey
“Hey, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Luke said softly.
“Fine,” Jamie said.
He sat the two cups of coffee on his chest of drawers and looked at her doubtfully.
“Are you sure? You got drunk as a skunk last night.”
Jamie nodded. “I know. I meant to. I don’t get hangovers, Luke.”
“So it doesn’t bother you if I talk loud like this?” Luke practically yelled.
Jamie laughed at his test.
Luke scowled. “You’re so lucky. If I had tied one on last night like you did, I’d be in a world of hurt.”
Jamie shrugged. “I’ve just always been that way. I’ll have to thank Joe.”
“So you remember what happened last night?”
“I sure do. Joe and I made beautiful music together. I beat him and everyone else at poker. I won a bundle, I think. After that it gets pretty fuzzy, but I’m assuming Joe brought me here because he’s a good guy and would make sure I got home ok,” Jamie said.
Luke smiled. Not a whole lot of people would call Joe a good guy, but like himself, Jamie could see the real man behind the façade. As Luke thought about it, he realized that he had that same ability with Jamie.
“You and Joe are a lot alike. Most people see someone with loose morals when they look at Joe. They may be right in some ways, but when it comes to the important things like loyalty and being kind, Joe is a standup guy. He’s helped me out of some scrapes and been there for me through the toughest times in my life,” Luke said, as he brought Jamie a cup of coffee.
Jamie took it and sipped it. “So let me get this right. Joe is a good guy in your eyes even though he’s a womanizer and gambler?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah.”
Jamie swung her feet as she sat on the side of his bed. “But because I am the same thing in female form, I’m a bad person, right?”
“No. It’s just different,” Luke said.
“Why?” Jamie challenged.
Luke was silent. He couldn’t come up with anything that sounded plausible.
“That’s what I thought,” Jamie said. She got off the bed and sat her coffee down and walked out the door.
Dean sat at the kitchen table looking at some auction catalogs when Jamie walked in. She was dressed in a rather racy gold number and her hair was tousled.
“Hi, boss,” she said brightly.
“Hi,” Dean said, a little hesitantly.
Jamie went over to the stove and poured a cup of coffee and sat down with him. She saw him eyeing her and smiled.
“So how was your night?” she asked.
“Fine.” Dean wasn’t sure where this was going, but asked, “Yours?” anyway.
Her smile got bigger. “It was great! I went to the Watering Hole, sang some songs with Joe Dwyer, played poker, and got drunk as hell.”
Dean’s left eyebrow rose as he took a sip of coffee. “Um, ok. What am I supposed to do with that information?”
Jamie rested her chin on her hands and looked at him. “Does this affect my position as your housekeeper and nanny?”
“Should it?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll never show up drunk. I don’t get hangovers. I’ll never shirk my responsibilities no matter how tired I am, and I’ll always do my job the same as other days when I don’t go out the night before,” Jamie said. “Oh, and I’ve been sleeping with Luke and you know we’re not married yet.”
“Have you been out other nights?”
“Nope.”
Dean swallowed more coffee and sat back. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because there were about twenty guys in the bar last night and I’m sure it’s all over town by now. I just wanted you to hear about it from me and not someone else,” she said.
“I can respect that. Do you and Dwyer have something going?” Dean asked.
Jamie laughed. “No. He and I are too much alike. Plus, I don’t love him.”
“But you love Luke?”
“Yes.”
Dean nodded. “Ok.”
“His mother hates me. I’m a tramp and all that. I know she’s your aunt, but I figure you should know,” Jamie said.
“Yeah, he said that Aunt Pricilla wasn’t too keen on you,” Dean said. “I wouldn’t worry about her too much. She used to not be too fond of us three boys.”
“Really?” Jamie said. She was honestly surprised to hear this. “Why?”
“Well, she liked me better than Seth and Marcus, but we all kind of got into trouble when we were younger,” Dean said. “Then Sarah and I got married and I calmed down. My priorities changed. A lot of people’s priorities change when they settle down and have kids. Look at Seth. He was a confirmed bachelor until a few years ago when he met Maddie. Who do you think Dwyer learned a lot of his ways from?
“He used to go along on some of our cattle drives and Seth taught him everything he knows about womanizing, drinking and gambling. Now he’s married and they had a baby. He hasn’t done that kind of stuff since his accident.”
Jamie said, “What about you?”
Dean said, “I started dating Sarah when I was fifteen and there was never anyone else for me. Oh, I’ve had my share of rowdy nights, but I was never into the ladies like my brothers. I was way too shy for that. Plus, I’m not real good at holding my liquor and I don’t like being sick the next morning. I envy you not getting hangovers.”
“So you’re not worried about me corrupting your children?” Jamie asked.
Dean laughed at that. “If I was worried about that, I wouldn’t have agreed to hire you, Jamie. Marcus told me what you were like and I didn’t see a problem with it. People deal with grief in their own ways.”
Jamie gave him a sharp look. “What do you mean?”
“I lost my wife and child all at one time, Jamie. My brothers weren’t around and my parents were dead. Sarah’s folks had moved out of state and couldn’t get here for the funeral. I had two small children to raise by myself. Lydia and Charlie were the only people I had in the world. I spent two weeks in bed because I couldn’t get up the gumption to face each day without the woman I loved and the mother of my children.
“If I hadn’t had them to prod me and push me, I would have stayed in that bed. This place would have been sold and my kids would have been shipped off to their grandparents in Texas. By the time a month went by, I was able to get up in the morning and make Sadie and Jack breakfast. I had to come back to life little by little. Losing a spouse is a terrible thing, as you know.”
Jamie’s eyes filled with tears by the time Dean had stopped speaking. “Yeah. Bobby was so funny. Marcus reminds me of him sometimes. We went drinking and singing all over the place. We always said that when I got pregnant we’d settle down more, but until then we just wanted to keep having fun.
“So when he died, I think that was my way of keeping him alive in my heart. When I was having fun like that, I didn’t feel so alone. But gradually I began to realize that all those things we did that were fun had damaged my reputation and that people in town were whispering behind my back or sometimes confronting me outright, like Luke’s mother.”
“See? You just said it. Priorities change when it comes to having kids and the like, Jamie,” Dean said and grasped her forearm. “I don’t think you’re a tramp or that you have loose morals or any of that other crap. What I think is that you dealt with things the best you knew how and lived life on your own terms. The same way I did. You buried your grief with having fun and I buried mine by working and raising my kids. Different ways of doing things. That’s all.”
“What about the fact that I’m not always sleeping in my own bed right now?” Jamie said.
“I think you’re a twenty-six-year-old woman who’s been married before and can make up her own mind about that kind of thing. Besides, it’s not as if Luke’s complaining or anything,” Dean said with a smile.
Jamie’s smile dimmed a little and Dean sat his mug down. He just kept looking at her but she didn�
�t meet his eyes.
“Thanks for the talk, boss. It really means a lot to me. You’re a great guy. I can see why both of your wives fell in love with you,” Jamie said. Then she left the room.
Dean crossed his arms over his chest. Tessa came into the kitchen and stopped at the dark look on his face. When he looked that angry, she knew that someone had done something very bad indeed.
“What’s Marcus done this time?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Seth?”
“Nope.” Dean got up from the table and kissed Tessa. “Don’t worry about it, honey. I just have something I need to do.”
Tessa’s concern didn’t diminish, even though her husband had tried to brush it off as nothing. She sighed and wondered what calamity they were going to deal with this time.
“Why, Dean! What a surprise to see you,” Pricilla said, and stood aside so Dean could enter their house.
“It’s nice to see you, Aunt Pricilla. It’s been a while,” Dean said, and let her kiss his cheek.
“It sure has. To what do I owe the pleasure? Would you like some coffee or something?” Pricilla asked.
“No, thanks. I don’t really have time for that. I came here to talk to you about Jamie,” he said.
“Oh, her. I heard about her wild night last night out with Joe Dwyer. Two of a kind there, I’d say,” Pricilla said.
Dean smiled. “Yeah, they’re pretty rowdy, but they’re good hearted.”
“A womanizer and a-“
“Watch it, Aunt Pricilla,” Dean said.
There was a hard glint in Dean’s eyes that made Pricilla a little nervous.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You’re bad mouthing her and probably spreading gossip about her, and you don’t even know her,” Dean said.
“Well, you don’t either, not really,” Pricilla said.
“I know that she’s an excellent housekeeper and wonderful with our kids. She’s fun and kind and jumps in to help whenever needed. I know that she makes Luke happy,” Dean told her.
“Right now she does, but it’s only a matter of time before she shows her true colors,” Pricilla said.
“You know, my pa used to tell us boys tales of his misspent youth,” Dean said.
Pricilla said, “I’m not surprised. He could be wild.”
“Yep. He could. And often in these stories, your name would come up,” Dean said.
“What do you mean?” Pricilla said. She seemed very uncomfortable now.
“I think you better remember that Bible verse about casting the first stone, Aunt Pricilla. It seems that while you were going out with Uncle John, you were also having a good time with Pa. That is until he met Ma. This isn’t common knowledge I don’t think, because Pa was always too much of a gentleman to tell it to a lot of people. But he told us about it. I’m not really sure why, but I’m glad now that he did.”
Pricilla’s face was red with embarrassment. “Don’t you go telling anyone about that.”
“I won’t, as long as you behave where Jamie is concerned. I won’t hesitate to tell Uncle John if you don’t change your tune and as far as I know, he never knew any of this. I’ve got two brothers who can back me up on that information. Are we clear?” Dean asked.
Pricilla nodded. Dean kissed her cheek and said, “Nice talkin’ with you Aunt Pricilla. Have a good day.”
As Dean pulled the front door shut behind him, he grinned from ear to ear. It had felt good to put his aunt in her place.
Luke tried to talk to Jamie over the next two weeks, but she ignored him as much as possible. She didn’t go out to the barn unless she absolutely needed to and made sure to sit as far away from him as possible in the cookhouse or took her meals at Tessa’s house. Jamie kidded around with everyone else but Luke, which cut him to the quick. She played with the kids and made sure to do her job very well.
She went out twice with Joe and they had a great time. The Watering Hole crowd was happy to have her and Joe perform. Joe was happy to help her beat the pants off of almost any card player that went up against them. They split these pots, which were significant amounts. On the outside, it looked like Jamie was having the time of her life, but on the inside her heart was shriveling because she didn’t have what she really wanted.
One morning, Dean walked into the barn to find Luke sitting on a hay bale staring into space. He called Luke’s name but Luke didn’t answer. He went over and shook Luke.
“Hey. What are you doing?” Dean said.
“Huh? Oh, hi, Dean,” Luke said. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I know. What are you doing?” Dean asked again.
Luke shrugged. “Just thinkin’.”
“About what?”
Suddenly Luke got up, walked over to one of the stalls and back to Dean again. He put his hands on his hips and simply looked at Dean.
Dean said, “Luke, I can do a lot of things, but reading minds isn’t one of them.”
“It’s Jamie. I’ve lost her. She won’t even talk to me,” Luke said.
“Why? What did you do to her?” Dean asked.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” Luke said.
“Ok, then what did you say to her?”
Luke’s misery showed on his face. He didn’t want to admit to Dean that he had hurt Jamie, but he had and he had to face up to it. “I said something really stupid to her.”
“Such as?”
Luke felt overwhelming guilt when he said, “Did you know that we have been…” he couldn’t finish.
“Jeez, Luke, you’re worse than I am. She slept in your bunkhouse sometimes? Yes, I knew that,” Dean said.
Luke shifted his feet again. “Why is this so hard for me? She told Ma that we had been together like that and I know how Ma feels about that kind of thing. So I told Jamie that we shouldn’t do that anymore until we were married.” Luke felt like his face was on fire, he was so embarrassed.
Dean said, “Bend down here a second.”
Luke did and Dean slapped the back of his head. “Ow! What was that for?” Luke said and rubbed his scalp.
“What’s the matter with you? What did it matter? You’d already slept together however many times. I don’t want to know a number,” Dean said. “You made a mistake that a lot of people make in regards to the person they love. You let your ma’s opinion color your own opinion of Jamie.”
Luke said, “I know. I should have never done that. I love her and I wouldn’t want her to be any different.” He smiled. “She had me hooked from her first letter.”
Dean laughed. “I know that feeling.”
“I regretted those words to her as soon as they were out of my mouth and saw the look on her face. I can’t believe that I hurt her like that,” Luke said. “I want to make it up to her, to tell her how sorry I am, but it’s hard to do that when she won’t even stay in the same room with me.”
“Yeah, that’s a tough one. Listen; if you get her to forgive you, you’re going to have to show her that you really mean what you say. I had to learn that lesson. Show and tell them how you feel. If you really accept her, then you can’t change your mind about it and you have to defend her to anyone who puts her down. Even your own mother,” Dean said.
“Thanks, Dean. How’d you get so smart?” Luke asked.
“I’m not so smart. I just pay attention and put what I learn to use. You will, too,” Dean said.
“How do I get her to listen to me?” Luke said.
Dean said, “You’ll think of something. Now get to work.”
Chapter Sixteen
“You want me to what?” Joe said to Luke. He looked at Luke as if his best friend had lost his mind.
“You heard me,” Luke said. “Can you do that?”
Joe’s expression continued to be skeptical. “Yeah, I can. I don’t know why you want me to take her out again. I mean, we have fun and make a lot of money together, but that’s as far as it goes. So if this is some trick to see if I’ve slept with her, I
haven’t.”
Luke laughed. “I know you haven’t. Just take her out tonight, ok? I’m asking you as my friend to do this for me.”
“Ok, ok, I’ll do it,” Joe said. “Does it matter what time I pick her up or anything?”
“Nope.”
“All right. I’m still confused, but what the heck? I can stand to win some more money,” Joe said.
“Great,” Luke said. “I appreciate it.”
Joe knocked on Dean’s door that night. Tessa answered and stared at him blankly. “Can I help you?”
“Howdy, ma’am. I’m Joe Dwyer, a friend of Jamie’s. I was wondering if she was here,” Joe said even though he knew she was.
“Oh, yes. Please come in,” Tessa said.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Joe said.
Tessa thought that he was a very handsome man with his chestnut hair and hazel eyes.
“I’ll let her know you’re here,” Tessa said and left him in the kitchen. Upstairs, she knocked on Jamie’s door.
“Hi, Tessa,” Jamie said.
“Hello. There’s a Joe Dwyer here for you,” Tessa said.
Jamie squealed a little and clapped her hands. “Please tell him I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
Tessa was even more perplexed, but she agreed and went back downstairs.
“She said that she’ll be down in ten minutes,” Tessa said.
“Which is woman talk for twenty,” Joe said with a wink at her
Tessa was used to Marcus winking at her, but this man was a stranger to her and she didn’t know what to make of him. There was a slightly predatory air about him that unsettled her. She was further unsure of the situation when Jamie came running into the kitchen and threw herself at Joe.
“Joey! My savior!” she cried as she hugged Joe.
“You better believe it, Jamie girl,” Joe said. “Nice to meet you, Tessa,” he said as they left.
Tessa stood in the kitchen just staring after them. Dean walked into the kitchen and spied her. “What are you doing, Tessa?”
“I just had the oddest experience,” she said.