by Tina Leonard
“Okay.” Marsh stood, slowly pulling his injured leg under him. “You can’t say we didn’t try.”
“No. I can’t. Please let Eunice know how much I appreciate her concern. It was awfully nice of you two to come out here to sweet-talk me on her behalf.”
China’s eyes were distressed. Jill couldn’t bear to look at her for long. She didn’t think the woman agreed with her decision and that stung a bit. However, China swiftly leaned over and gave her a hug. “I feel so sorry for you,” she said.
“You shouldn’t. I’m going to be fine.”
“I know.” China broke the embrace and stood straight, but her large eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. “I know you’ve made the only decision you can under the circumstances, but it’s so hard to see this not work out. I don’t think Dustin’s ever had anyone love him just for himself before.”
Jill’s jaw dropped. She remembered Dustin’s gratitude over simple things, and that she had once wondered the same thing.
She did love him, just for himself. In loving him that way, that deeply, she had to let him go.
Marsh wrapped an arm around China. “What are you going to do with all these damn boxes?” he asked Jill.
“I’m about to call a truck rental company so that I can move the boxes to my parents’ garage. The furniture will have to go into storage, but I’m not that far along, yet. Today, I’m just hoping to get the boxes moved.”
“Well, hellfire, Jill. Don’t rent a truck for those few boxes. Let me put them in the truck bed and haul ’em to your folks. It’s on the way to Lassiter, and your mom sure would like to give me another piece of her strawberry bread.” Marsh grinned winningly.
Jill would miss all these down-home people. She would miss Marsh’s looniness. She would miss Eunice’s strength. She would miss Joey’s sweetness. Most of all, she would miss Dustin’s honest loving.
“No, thanks,” she said quietly. “You’ve got a sore leg. You don’t need to be lifting anything.”
“Well, hell, what’s in those boxes?”
“Clothes are in some. My china and day dishes are in others. All the things needed to start a new home.”
Marsh stared at her. “We could save you a bundle of money and time if you’d just let us toss these boxes into the truck and drop ’em at your mom’s.”
“He’s right, Jill. Let us do this,” China said.
It would be such a huge piece of worry off her mind, though she hated to take advantage of their time.
“Heck, this isn’t even that heavy,” Marsh said, carrying a box to the door.
“That one’s got bed pillows in it,” Jill said, going to open the door with a grin. It was plain that Marsh had set his mind on helping her, so Jill decided to fall in with his offer gracefully.
“Here’s the box marked ‘china’. Let’s not entrust it to Tommy,” China said. Jill stuck a box in front of the door to keep it open, then crossed the room to help China lift the box. Together, they carried it out the door and to the truck.
Fifteen minutes later the boxes were all neatly arranged in the truck bed. “Well, that does it,” Marsh said. “Guess will be on our way to Lana’s. Boy, I hope she’s cooking.”
Jill rolled her eyes and laughed. “I think I’ll go on out with you to Mother’s. I’ll call her and tell her we’re coming.”
“Great! Let’s lock this dump up—I mean this contemporary architect’s dream—and get going,” Marsh said happily.
Jill found her purse, sending a last glance through the apartment. All that was left was the slate-gray leather furniture pushed over by the wall, which she now realized she had never liked anyway. That had been Carl’s choice, and it showed. His things were still stacked around, but she wasn’t going to move them out for him.
“Thanks,” Jill said, after locking the door and hurrying to the truck. “I would never have gotten that much done by myself.”
The three of them started to get into the truck’s cab. “I’ll drive,” said Marsh.
“You can’t with your leg,” China pointed out.
“I can. I can’t exactly rest it at an angle like I was doing before, can I? So, I might as well drive.”
“Are you sure I’m not in the way?” Jill asked. She hadn’t considered Marsh might have been resting his leg across the seat while China drove.
“You are definitely not in the way. Get in,” Marsh told her.
He winced as he pulled his leg inside. She didn’t comment on it, knowing Marsh wouldn’t have admitted his leg was bothering him. China placed her dainty, pink-tipped hand on his thigh, and Marsh perked up as he started the truck.
Good medicine, Jill thought. At one time she had thought she was good medicine for Dustin. Unfortunately, she had turned out to be toxic for him.
China and Marsh talked about mundane matters as he headed the truck north. They made sure Jill was included in the conversation as much as possible, but her heart wasn’t really in it. Having repeated her feelings to them had only stressed why her decision to leave Lassiter had been the right one. Taking her things to store at her parents’ underlined the finality of the situation.
“There’s the turn-off to my folks up ahead,” Jill said, pointing. “You’ll want to go east, so you have to circle under the highway.”
Marsh nodded. He didn’t ease his foot off the pedal. Jill watched them getting closer to the exit with some concern. If he didn’t slow up soon, they were going to take the turn-off dangerously fast.
“Uh, Marsh, this is the turn-off.” They whizzed past it and Jill turned to stare at the sheriff. “You just missed it. But up ahead there’s a place where you can hang a U-turn.”
Jill’s gaze met China’s. The two stared at each for a second as Marsh passed by the section in the highway. Then they looked questioningly at Marsh.
He looked sheepish. “Well, hell. I can’t let my best friend be a lawless renegade by himself, can I?”
“I think the sheriff has taken you into custody, Jill,” China said with a grin.
“Marsh, I hope you’re turning this truck around. I don’t want to go to Lassiter. You can’t just Shanghai me.” Jill froze him with a glare.
“Guess I’ll have to arrest you, then,” he said cheerfully.
“For what?”
“Willful abandonment of a man’s heart.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Marsh’s blithe statement didn’t set too well with Jill, never mind how truthful it might be. “All I have to say to that is if you don’t turn around and take me to my parents’ house, I’m registering a complaint with your supervisor. Then I’ll call a taxi from Dustin’s house to bring me back home, at which point I will send the bill to the Lassiter police department.”
“You’re kidding, right?” The carefree smile slid off Marsh’s face.
“No, I’m not.” Jill shook her head. “I’ll be very upset with you if you do this.” She didn’t know if the threats she’d thrown out would worry the sheriff, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t to go to Lassiter.
“You’d better go back, Tommy,” China said softly.
“Aw, hell,” Marsh complained. He turned the truck around at the next break in the intersection.
“I appreciate the thought, Marsh, but there are some things you can’t make happen, even for your best friend. Or his mother.”
Didn’t he know it. “I guess you’d say the word if you changed your mind. I’d be happy to drive out and give you a ride back, any time.”
She reached across China to pat him on the arm. “Yes. I would tell you. Now, turn right at the next street ahead. My mother’s is the red brick house with the white shutters.”
Marsh pulled into the drive. The front door opened almost immediately. Lana and Bob came out onto the porch, and once they saw who was getting out of the truck, they hurried over.
“Jill!” Lana threw her arms around her daughter’s neck.
“Sheriff,” Bob said amiably. “It’s nice of you to come out.” He s
tuck his hand out for Marsh to shake.
“This is China Shea,” Marsh said, amazed by how easily he nearly tagged “my girlfriend” onto the end of his sentence. He wondered how that would have gone over with her. “China, this is Bob McCall, and his wife, Lana.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, China. Please come in,” Lana invited.
“Actually, we can’t stay. We loaded some of Jill’s things up that she wanted to store in your garage. If you don’t mind, I guess we should take care of that.”
“Oh, certainly.” Lana stepped to the side of the truck to examine the boxes inside. “I can get the box of pillows, I believe. Bob, you get the sheets and towels.”
China and Jill reached for the box of dishes, smiling at each other as they slid it over the truck gate Marsh had let down. He rubbed his leg before reaching in to grab another box. For a minute there he’d thought his plan was going to work. He hadn’t counted on Jill’s resistance. Sadly, Marsh realized there was nothing else he could do to make the old lady’s wish come true. Maybe something more had happened between Dustin and Jill than he knew about. As China came around the corner to take another box, Marsh decided he wasn’t going to make the decision Dustin and Jill had been forced to make.
Marsh wasn’t going to let anything stop him from getting China Shea to the altar. He could just see himself pulling the wedding garter off of one of those long legs. He was going to take his time, nice and slow, doing it, too.
He wondered if she’d go for a Christmas wedding and a honeymoon in Bermuda. Seeing that woman in a bikini would probably kill him—but it sure would be worth it.
“We’re so glad you’re going to stay the night with us, Jill.” Lana smiled at her daughter and started putting cookies on a tray. Marsh and China had departed for Lassiter, leaving Jill feeling strangely out of sorts. A big part of her felt like she should have been in that truck, heading north with them.
The practical side of her nature knew she’d made the right choice, though it hurt. “Thank you for letting me store my things here for a while, Mother. It shouldn’t be for long. I’m planning on getting an apartment I can afford, and then I can get my stuff out of your way.”
Bob cleared his throat. Lana’s hands stilled as she looked at Jill. “There’s no need for you to put yourself through that right now. For heaven’s sake, Jill, it’s only a few more days until Christmas. Can’t you stay here until then, and wait until after the holidays to find something? Your father and I think you need some time before you go jumping into anything else.”
Jill started to shake her head. Then she thought about how devoid of love and warmth the place she’d rented with Carl had been. She wasn’t going to find anything that measured up to what she’d had at the Reeds’ house; everything she looked at was going to seem stark in comparison.
Maybe her parents were right. Maybe a little time would distance the way she felt about the household where she could not be. After Christmas, she could start all over. Again.
Dustin stopped in the middle of poking a needle through a piece of popcorn. This wasn’t working. He was all thumbs at stringing, and his finger was getting sore from being pricked. This was a project for Jill. Leaving the needle and string on the kitchen counter, he carried the bowl out to the parlor, smiling for Joey’s sake. His mother reclined on the antique divan, snoozing lightly while the fire kept her warm. Joey’s eyes were huge when he saw the bowl of fluffy popcorn.
“What do you say we just eat this stuff, son?” Dustin sat cross-legged next to Joey and put the popcorn in front of them.
Joey looked a bit sorrowful for a moment, then he shrugged. “Maybe…maybe you call Jill and ask her how.”
“Uh…” Dustin was trying to think of how to get himself of that trap as the doorbell rang. “Just a second, son.”
Opening the door brought a chill in from the outdoors. The expressions on China’s and Marsh’s faces didn’t warm Dustin’s spirits too much, either.
“Well, look what the weatherman brought us, Joey,” he called, pointing China and Marsh into the parlor. “Two human popsicles.”
“You did it,” Marsh said when he saw Joey. “You brought him home.”
“Said I was,” Dustin said gruffly.
“Maxine didn’t…”
“No.” Dustin didn’t want Marsh to say anything more. No sense in Joey knowing that his father and grandmother had been locked in an emotional struggle over him. “It went just fine.”
“I’m not going to have to arrest you?”
Dustin sat down on the floor next to Joey again, shrugging. He couldn’t really have cared less what might have happened if his plan had gone awry. He’d been too desperate to worry about the consequences, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to go over the what-ifs now.
“Hi, Sheriff,” Joey said. Dustin patted his son’s little shoulders. It felt like heaven having him and Eunice back.
It would have felt even better if Jill could have rounded out their family circle, but that wasn’t to be. The ornery woman had packed herself off, just when the going had gotten rough. He had asked her in the beginning if she was the type who fled when things got tough and Jill had given him that sassy smile and said he should just put combat pay in her stocking.
Well, she hadn’t even hung around long enough to collect.
Eunice’s eyes flew open. “Goodness me,” she said, sitting up. “Please pardon my manners. Sleeping in front of company. My mother would have sent me to my room for such behavior.”
China laughed as she sat down in the queen’s chair next to the pie table. Marsh took the king’s chair next to it. “Don’t worry about us, Eunice. We’re not really company. At least, Tommy thinks he’s part of the family.”
“Yes, I know.” Eunice’s eyes gleamed brightly as she peered into the hallway. “Did you bring me anything, my handsome, good-hearted, extra son?”
Dustin grunted at this exchange. He wondered what his mother thought Marsh might have brought her.
Marsh sighed, sticking the leg he favored slightly out in front of him. “I’m afraid it’s just you and Joey and your ugly boy, Dustin, for supper tonight.”
“Oh.”
At Dustin’s puzzled expression, Marsh said to him, “She invited me to eat today but I can’t make it. I’ve got some paperwork to do to wrap up the Lynch case.”
Dustin was surprised by his mother’s downcast expression. For heaven’s sake, there was no reason to be sad just because Marsh was finally going to miss eating a meal at the Reed Ranch.
“Well,” China said brightly. “I’m certainly glad to see you feeling better, Eunice. Joey, what is Santa going to bring you for Christmas?”
His son looked down. Dustin pressed his lips together. China was trying hard to dispel the sudden gloomy air in the room, but he knew what Joey was thinking when it came to Christmas presents. Seemed like he’d had only one wish—and that had been Jill.
When Joey didn’t answer, China looked at Dustin. “You still up for that hearing on Thursday?” At his nod, she said, “Good. I know you’re ready to get this thing over with.”
“You can say that again.”
“I’m ready to get home, China,” Marsh said suddenly.
“Is your leg bothering you?”
“No. I’m just ready to get home, if you don’t mind taking me.” He got up slowly, and made his way to kiss Eunice’s cheek. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Mind like a mule, you know.”
“It’s okay. I know you did what you could.” Eunice laid her head back against the pillows. “China, you come out here any time, all right? You’re always welcome.”
“Thank you, Eunice.” She went to pat her hand. The shrug she made for Eunice’s benefit confused Dustin. It seemed they were all talking a conversation he wasn’t part of. Unfortunately, he had too much on his mind to give it much thought.
“Good night,” he called as China and Marsh walked to the truck.
They waved. A few moments later they were gone. Dustin st
amped his boots on the porch, already feeling the cold stealing into his body. Telling himself that Monday night football would be a good thing to watch tonight, he went inside to join Joey and Eunice.
He wondered briefly if Jill liked football, then decided he wouldn’t have cared if she hadn’t. The woman was enough to make a man turn the television set off for good.
Unfortunately, he’d be looking at a twenty-seven-inch glass screen tonight, watching grown men chase a pigskin. He sighed, wondering how long it would take before he started enjoying the things again he’d always loved before.
Maybe after the custody hearing Thursday, his good mood would return.
The sun dawned bright Thursday morning, almost as if it were trying to warm the icy air blowing into people’s coats as they walked into the courthouse. Dustin walked slowly, letting Eunice set the pace.
His mother was feeling better but still taking it easy.
He hoped that a ruling in his favor today would cheer Eunice up. He wasn’t sure her health could continue improving if the stress didn’t let up.
Joey was being looked after by a friend of Eunice’s from church. With all the wonderful innocence of a child, Joey’d had no idea his fate was being decided for him today. Dustin’s heart had nearly broken as he’d said goodbye. All he could do was pray that everything would turn out for the best.
Inside the courthouse, Dustin sat down heavily on a wooden bench. His stomach felt tight, the muscles cramped until it was painful. He took a deep breath, trying to relax. Across the room, Maxine eyed him. He could feel her stare on him, as well as David’s. He sat in his wheelchair in the aisle, looking like he didn’t feel any better than Dustin did. Jeez. This bitterness of Maxine’s had torn everybody apart—and practically obliterated the chance of anybody having a chance to mourn Nina.
Dustin’s mouth twisted. Maxine had been right when she accused him of not thinking of Nina. He hadn’t had half a chance to remember the good times before Maxine filed her lawsuit. The months after Nina’s death had been spent worrying about Joey; Dustin hadn’t possessed spare emotional energy to mourn his wife the way he might have if his mind had been free from the trap Maxine had sprung on him.