by Linda Bridey
“Thank you,” Renee said as her eyelids drifted shut.
*****
Mason Taylor, lawyer and Dawson’s football coach, watched Skip jump into the air to catch the ball that Tristan Cooper, their quarterback, had thrown. Skip’s hands closed firmly around the ball and he brought it down with him. Instead of avoiding the defensive back standing in his way and streaking away like he normally did, the receiver rammed his shoulder into the other player.
Dirk Bradbury was caught off guard and went over backwards onto his rear end as Skip plowed him over and raced for the end zone. He outran a cornerback and made it across the line untouched.
“Whooo!” Skip said, spiking the ball.
Dirk was slow getting up.
“Keller! Come here!” Mason hollered from the sideline. “Get over here!”
Skip ran over to him, breathing hard. “Yeah, Coach?”
“Look, I know you’re goin’ through a rough time, but can you take it a little easy on our guys? We don’t need anyone injured before the game on Friday.”
“It’s not my fault that Dirk wasn’t ready. That’s his job and mine is to get to the end zone. That’s what I did,” Skip said.
Mason’s blue eyes narrowed. “Don’t smart off to me, Skip. You get your head on straight or I’ll bench you. Do you understand?”
Skip nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, Coach.”
“It’s ok.” Mason shouted, “Ok, fellas! That’s enough for today! Good work. See you tomorrow!”
As the boys headed for the school to change out of their uniforms, Skip heard, “Justin!” Recognizing his father’s voice, he turned around and ran over to him.
“Hi, Pa.”
“Hi. After you get changed, we’re gonna go see Renee. She’s asking for you, but you have to listen to me a minute. You can’t fly off the handle like last time. I know you’re angry and so are the rest of us, but you have to be calmer for her sake.” Switch put a hand on his shoulder. “Can you do that?”
Skip smiled at the thought of seeing his sister. “Yeah. I’ll behave. How is she?”
“It’s the dangdest thing. She’s mad and made Hope call Mitch to come see her. She wants to tell him what she remembers. She says she’s scared, but she’s angry more than anything right now,” Switch replied as they walked towards the school.
“Good for her,” Skip said emphatically. “I’ll be right out.”
Switch nodded. “I’ll go get Dash for you.”
“Thanks, Pa.”
*****
Tim quietly entered Renee’s room, carrying a vase full of red roses, which he put on a stand by the windows. It tore at him every time he looked at her swollen, bruised face and he wanted to beat the scum who’d done this to her into a pulp. Swallowing down his rage, he approached her bed and sat down in the chair next to the right side of it.
He didn’t want to wake her, but he wanted to hold her good hand. It bore traces of how hard she’d fought and tears formed in his eyes as he thought of how scared she must have been. He couldn’t imagine what she’d endured and it made him sick to think about it. The need to touch her was too great to resist and he gently picked up her hand, holding it in both of his.
Renee felt his touch and smiled, opening her eyes. “Hi, Timmy,” she said.
“Hi, honey,” he said, wiping away a tear. “How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?”
She reached up to caress his cheek even though her muscles protested the motion. “Don’t cry, Tim. Please don’t.”
More tears fell from his eyes even though he tried to check them. “I can’t help it. I feel so bad about what happened. If only I’d stayed longer, maybe—”
“Shh. Don’t you dare blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
Tim dried his tears on his shirtsleeve. “Ok. I’ve been taking good care of Romeo for you.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Listen, I was going to tell you over a nice dinner that I was gonna cook for you, but I want you to know that I love you, so much, Renee. I’m going to help you get through this. I’ll be with you every step of the way and I’ll do whatever you need me to. You’re not alone and I’m not goin’ anywhere,” Tim said. “I love you and thought it was time you knew it.”
More than anything in the world, his declaration of love comforted her and lifted her spirits. She tightened her hand around his. Ignoring the discomfort it caused, she gave him a big smile. “I love you, too, Timmy, and I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you still want me. I’ve been worried about that today, but Pa said you’ve been here every day. I love you and I’m not letting you get away.”
Leaning down, Tim gave her the gentlest of kisses as joy swept through him to know that she returned his feelings. “I love you so much. You make me so happy,” Tim said.
“You make me happy,” Renee said. “How could I not love you? You’re handsome and kind and you make me laugh. And you cook. That’s a big plus.”
“And when you get out of here, I’ll make you a nice dinner. How does that sound?” he asked.
“Wonderful. I’m actually hungry for the first time today,” she said.
Tim kissed her hand and rose. “I know exactly what to get you. I’ll be back in just a bit.”
He left before she could object. She caught sight of the roses and smiled, knowing he’d brought them for her.
“Hey, sis,” Skip said from the doorway.
“Skippy.” She reached her hand out to him and he came over to take the chair Tim had vacated.
He took her hand. “It’s good to see you awake.”
“It’s good to be awake,” she said.
Shyly, Skip asked, “Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Yes, but they’re giving me medicine. I’m going to be all right, but I need the help of my little brother,” she said.
“How about your big brother?”
Renee gasped. “Jethro! What are you doing here?”
Jethro walked into the room, smiling at his siblings even as rage surged through him over Renee’s appearance. While Renee and Skip resembled their father, Jethro looked like Hope with his blue eyes and golden hair. He was tall like Switch, however.
“I couldn’t stay away when Pa told me what happened. He sent a telegram saying that you’d been hurt and I just had to come. So I got on a train immediately and got here as soon as I could,” he said, sitting on the other side of her.
He went to hold her left hand but saw the cast on her forearm and just pat her upper arm instead.
“You shouldn’t have interrupted your play to come here,” Renee said.
Jethro shrugged. “That’s what understudies are for. You’re more important than any play, sis. How are you?”
“I’m better now that I have my brothers with me. Skip, you have to let go of your anger, ok? Please don’t cause any trouble. For me?” she asked.
“Ok. I won’t cause trouble,” Skip agreed.
“Thank you.”
Tim returned. “Oh, good Lord. Look what the cat dragged in,” he said, smiling at Jethro.
Jethro laughed. “That’s right. You better be treating my sister right, Dwyer.”
Renee said, “He is. Don’t worry about that,” as the two men shook hands.
Tim said, “I brought you a strawberry milkshake and Reuben sandwich. Your favorite.”
“That sounds delicious. I need to sit up more,” she said.
Between the three men, they were able to get her propped up comfortably in the bed. It hurt to chew, but the sandwich was so tasty that she was willing to deal with it. The strawberry milkshake tasted heavenly and she was grateful to Tim for bringing her the food.
“That was just what I needed,” she said. “How do you do that?”
Tim grinned unabashedly. “I’m good at being one step ahead of people. Plus, I pay attention.”
“Yes, you do,” Renee said.
Marcus stepped into the room. “Can anyone join the party?”
“Dr. Samuels,
it’s so good to see you,” Jethro said.
Marcus forewent a handshake, hugging Jethro instead. “It’s good to see you, too, Jethro. You’re looking well.”
“Thanks. You’re not looking to shabby yourself.”
Marcus said, “Well, I’m trying to not look too old.”
Renee said, “You’ll always be a handsome man, Marcus.”
“Thanks. I hate to interrupt, but I’d like to check on my patient, gentlemen,” he said.
The three men stepped outside the room and Marcus closed the door.
Chapter Twelve
“You are not going back to your apartment and that’s final,” Switch said to Renee a week later.
Marcus pronounced her well enough to leave the hospital and she insisted on returning to her own place.
“Pa, I’ll be all right,” she said. “I don’t want what happened to taint the happiness I’ve had there.”
Switch was adamant. “I don’t care about that. What I care about is you being safe, so you’re coming home. It’s the best thing for you so that we can take care of you. You’re still weak and in pain. I’m done arguing about this. I’m putting my foot down.”
Renee knew from the stubborn set of his jaw that it was futile to fight him further on it. He wasn’t going to let her go back to her place and there was no way she could physically defy him about it.
“All right, Pa, but I’ll go back there at some point.”
His face tightened for a moment and then relaxed as he got a hold on his temper. “We’ll see.” The idea of her going back to that apartment at all repulsed him and he didn’t want her staying there alone.
Hope arrived with her clothes and Switch left so Hope could help her change.
*****
Later that day, Renee was grateful to have come home. Leaving the safety of the hospital had been traumatic and she’d been grateful that she’d had so many people around her. Jethro and Skip had ridden in the back seat of their car with her, each of them putting an arm around her. She’d held their other hands tightly as she’d looked out the windows.
Now, as she sat on the sofa in their parlor, Renee was able to doze off and on. A knock came on their door and Hope opened it.
“Oh, hi, Tim,” she said. “Come in.” She eyed the basket he carried.
“Thanks. How’s she doing?”
“Leaving the hospital was a little scary for her, but she’s better now.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I don’t know how you feel about this, but I brought Romeo. He really misses her and I know she misses him. I thought it might help her to have him around,” Tim said.
Hope smiled. “I think that’s a good idea. I know she loves him. She’s in the parlor.”
“Thanks.” Going into the parlor, he saw her on the sofa and stopped a moment. Her bruises were fading and much of the swelling was gone now. It was a relief to him to see her healing. “There’s my Snuggle Bunny,” he said.
Renee brightened immediately. “There’s my handsome cowboy.”
“I brought someone to see you.” He opened the basket and lifted Romeo out.
“Oh! Look how big he got.” Tim put Romeo on her lap and she pet him. He meowed and walked up to rub his face against her chin. Renee cuddled him and he purred happily.
“Sounds like he’s happy,” Tim said.
“Me, too,” she said.
Tim sat down on the floor by the couch and they talked for about a half hour about normal, everyday subjects. Renee had told him this helped her focus on something else other than her traumatic experience. When he was ready to leave, he kissed her goodbye and stopped in the kitchen to say goodbye to Hope, who was fixing supper.
She surprised him by embracing him. “Thank you.”
He returned her hug. “What for?”
“For standing by her and supporting her the way you have,” Hope said. “Some men wouldn’t.”
Tim said, “I love her and that’s what you’re supposed to do for the people you love. I have some work to do tonight, but I’ll come over in the morning, if that’s all right?”
“Of course it is. You’re welcome anytime, Tim,” Hope said.
“Thanks. I’ll see you all then.”
When he left, Hope checked on Renee, who had fallen asleep with Romeo on her lap.
*****
That afternoon, Randall told Joe that Jake had come to see him and Joe could immediately tell that something was very wrong.
“What happened?” Joe asked without preamble.
“They shut us down, Joe. They closed the Watering Hole. We’re done, Joe.” Jake’s face was pink and sweat stood out on his forehead from stress. “What are we gonna do? I don’t know how to do anything else but run a bar. It’s been my life’s work.”
Joe sat down and ran a hand through his hair. “We knew it was comin’ after they passed the state law last year banning alcohol. We’ve been lucky. I thought that we might be all right until it gets passed nationally, but I guess not. Don’t panic, Jake. Sit down. It was the same with the gambling. A lot of the smaller towns like us were getting away with the gambling, but they’ll be checkin’ on a regular basis now.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. That puts an end to that, too. The police who came said that the Howler got shut down today too, so it’s not just us. I guess that’s a little consolation. They confiscated all of our inventory except for my private stash. We lost a lot of money.”
Joe felt terrible about the closing of their beloved saloon, but more so for Jake than himself. The horse ranch was the Dwyers’ main source of income, but for Jake, the Watering Hole was the only way he made a living. He’d done some investing at Joe’s urging the past several years, but it wouldn’t be enough to live on for very long.
It was a good thing that two of the Hendersons’ three kids were employed outside of the saloon, but their son, Andy, worked alongside Jake running the bar. The Henderson men weren’t the only ones the closure affected, though. Four bouncers were now out of work, although Rick Westlake had plenty of money to fall back on.
However, for Jamie Samuels and Zoe Dwyer, playing in the band was their only job. Luke, J.R., and Nate only worked to make a little extra money and have some fun, but they all had full-time jobs. In Seth’s case, he was semi-retired from the ranch because of his leg, but he had his own money from his share of the ranch and also Maddie had her income from the boutique.
Joe asked, “How are you doin’ on those investments?”
“Fine, but it won’t last forever,” Jake said.
“Talk to Tom Sebastian, but if I were you, I’d sell whatever you can right now. He handles all of our stuff now, too, so I’ll be doing the same thing. I got a bad feeling that things are only gonna get worse. There’s gonna be a lot places out of business, not to mention breweries and such. With all these boys comin’ home from the war lookin’ for work and all, the economy is gonna take a big hit. You mark my words.”
Knowing Joe had his eye on such things, Jake didn’t take his friend’s advice lightly. “Ok. I’ll do that when I leave here.”
“We’re gonna figure something out, Jake. There’s gotta be something we can do with that place to make money. We’ve come up with creative solutions in the past and we will this time, too,” Joe said with more heart than he felt right at the moment. He wanted to bolster Jake’s spirits as much as he could.
“Wait a minute!” Jake shouted, startling Joe. “Just because we can’t sell alcohol doesn’t mean we have to shut down. People can still come to dance. We might not get as many customers, but it’ll be better than nothing. We can still serve sarsaparilla and punch. The place is free and clear now, so there’s no mortgage to worry about, either. We can still make some sort of profit.”
A grin spread across Joe’s features. “Yeah! Great idea! We’ll have to see whether it’s worth staying open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’ll depend on how big a crowd we get those nights. We’ll keep Reckless and Patch on as bouncers. Rick doesn’t need the mon
ey; Reckless and Patch do.”
Jake said, “I hate to lay Brody off, but I won’t do that to Reckless. He’s been with us too long. And Patch doesn’t have any family to fall back on the way Brody does.”
“Oh, I hate this crap!” Joe shouted. “Havin’ to pick and choose who gets to keep their job. I haven’t had to do that for years, but it might be comin’. You’re right, though. Patch is on his own and needs that job.”
“Yeah. I’m keeping us closed for tonight,” Jake said. “I’ll get Andy to help me write up an ad for the newspaper announcing that we’re just strictly a dance hall now. We’ll reopen on Thursday and see how it goes. I’m gonna go tell everyone.”
Joe said, “Save yourself some trouble. Go see Tom and I’ll call around and set up a meeting for tonight with our gang. I’ll go talk to Brody privately, though. I don’t want to tell him in front of everyone. It’ll be hard enough on the both of us as it is.”
“Ok,” Jake responded. “Make it for seven.”
Joe nodded a little absently as Jake left and then went to spread the disturbing news.
*****
The supper table was quiet that night. For most of the people assembled there, the Watering Hole had figured prominently in their lives. All five of Joe and Lacey’s kids had gone there when they were little for short visits with Jake and the bouncers. Of course, if Lacey hadn’t been with Joe and he got talking with someone, the kids had been good at sneaking off to observe a card game or play on the stage.
All manner of celebrations had been held there over the years and it would be a huge loss for the community if it couldn’t be kept going in some form or another.
Edwina, Randall’s wife, spoke up. “Joe, I know this may sound like a crazy idea, but I’m going to suggest it anyway.”
Joe smiled at her. “Go ahead. I like crazy ideas.”
“Not only do you own the Watering Hole building itself, but you own a lot of land around it,” she said. “You’d have to check into the specifications, but it could be turned into a golf course. The sport is starting to take off now and women enjoy it as well as men. The Watering Hole could double as a club house during the day and a dance hall at night.”