The Long Hot Summer

by Rosnau, Wendy

  “Thanks.” Nicole walked down the hall and stopped at the first door she came to. After taking a deep breath, she knocked.

  “Come in.”

  “Sheriff Tucker?”

  He looked up from his desk as Nicole walked in and closed the door. “Miss Chapman, what a surprise.”

  “Is it?” She took a seat in front of his desk.

  He pointed to his coffee cup. “Can I offer you some?”

  “Thank you, no.” Nicole gazed around the dingy room, her gaze falling on the news clippings that covered the wall behind his desk. Some of them were yellow with age, making them look twenty years old or more.

  Sheriff Tucker sat back in his chair and folded his arms over his thick chest. “So what can I do for you, Miss Chapman?”

  “I’m sure you’re aware that three days ago Johnny Bernard was badly beaten. I was wondering what you’re planning on doing about it.”

  “The way it works here, little lady, is if there’s been a crime committed, I get involved. If there’s no proof of one, I don’t. And no one has come forward and pressed any charges. My take on the matter is that Johnny and Farrel went a few rounds at Gilmore’s. It isn’t the first time, and I’m afraid it won’t be the last. I don’t mind telling you that’s why I didn’t think too much of this here deal the parole board set up. Johnny back in Common just doesn’t make good sense. Actually, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt in this instance by ignoring what happened.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Fighting is a parole violation, Miss Chapman.” The sheriff mopped his brow. “I could have him sent back to Angola if I wanted to.”

  “But he was a victim,” Nicole blurted out.

  “Johnny Bernard, a victim? Now that would be a first. I’ve seen the boy in action.”

  “He was defending himself,” Nicole pointed out.

  “You obviously haven’t seen Clete and Jack. Farrel won’t be winning no prize with his looks for some time, either.”

  “You’re saying Johnny defended himself too well!” Nicole couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “No judge in his right mind would look at Johnny’s rap sheet and call that fight one-sided, the deck stacked or not. Johnny got a piece of all three of them boys—a big piece.”

  “Johnny did not start that fight. He was only acting in self-defense. A man would have to be stupid to pick a fight with three men all at the same time. And from what I’ve seen, Johnny Bernard is far from stupid.”

  “You don’t have to convince me of that, little lady. No one said Johnny isn’t smart. Still, if I pursue this thing, it won’t go well for him. Now, you may not like hearing that, but it’s the truth. I think leaving it alone would be for the best.”

  “So there’s no recourse?”

  “Not at this time.”

  “And if it happens again?”

  “Like I said, Johnny’s on parole. He’s supposed to be keeping his nose clean. The truth is, Miss Chapman, he’s been in trouble most of his life. I think the first time he slept over in my jail was age nine. It’s true, some of the things that happened weren’t always his fault, but most of the time they were.”

  He gave her a long look, as if seeing her anew. “The folks in town, frankly, got their bellies full of him years ago. They aren’t feeling too charitable where he’s concerned, and that’s their right. We’re all trying to do the best we can around here. Honestly, I’ll be happy when the summer’s over and Johnny clears out.”

  “I called Johnny’s parole agent and explained the situation,” Nicole announced matter-of-factly. “He said he was going to call you.”

  The sheriff’s blue eyes narrowed dramatically. It was the first time he’d shown any emotion since Nicole had entered the room. “You seem awfully interested in sticking your pretty nose in Johnny Bernard’s business, missy. Does he know?”

  “Actually, no, he doesn’t. But I imagine with the way the gossip in this town flies, he will soon enough.”

  “You can bet on it. In the meantime, I suggest you back off. We’re not ignorant around here. We don’t need to be told what to think, or how to do our jobs.”

  “I have no desire to take over your job, Sheriff Tucker. But Oakhaven has a lot riding on Johnny Bernard’s health and his ability to work.” Nicole stood. “I apologize if I’ve offended you. I just wanted you to know that I’m not any more ignorant than you are, and if Johnny Bernard is flat on his back in bed more than he is on his feet, I’m going to be damn mad. My father was a lawyer, and if I need legal advice, I know one of his associates would be happy to give it to me. Have a nice day, Sheriff Tucker.”

  “Is that what you wanted, cherie?” Johnny asked that night as he slowly entered the study to find her sitting at the desk going over the figures he’d worked on that afternoon.

  Nicole glanced up, surprised that she hadn’t heard him enter the room, and even more surprised at how well he was moving. “You did all this in one afternoon?”

  “A few hours.”

  “That’s amazing.”

  He smiled, then stepped through the door and closed it behind him. Holding onto his smile, he moved slowly across the room and rounded the desk. Leaning over her shoulder, he began to point out the additions he’d made on repairs and the cost of each. “The kitchen floor is soft,” he said. “It’ll need a new underlayment. And you’ll need to decide if you want another wood floor laid down or linoleum.”

  “Wood.”

  “It’ll cost more.”

  “But it would look better, don’t you think?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then if Gran says yes, it’s all settled.”

  “I found several ceiling cracks in the upstairs rooms,” he told her. “I added those repairs to the list, and the material to fix them, too.”

  He was so close, Nicole could feel his warm breath on her neck. One of his big hands rested on the desk, and the size of his arm was twice that of hers. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried not to think about what it felt like being in those powerful arms.

  She gazed up at him. “You really are a carpenter, then? It’s what you want to do with your life?”

  He arched his dark brows as he looked down at her. “Right now Oakhaven needs a carpenter, so I guess that’s what I’ll be.”

  “And if we need a plumber?”

  “Then I’d go find a wrench,” he drawled.

  And if I needed a lover? Nicole would never let him know what she was thinking, but since the kiss on the porch she had been thinking about it more and more. It was crazy—insane, in fact—yet she couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like with him.

  They stared at each other for a moment. Nicole felt her heart skip a beat. She wet her lips, her gaze drifting over his face, inspecting him slowly. The cut on his forehead was no longer an angry red gash, and his black eye had faded. He certainly had a tolerance for pain, she thought.

  Nicole envied that about him. She wished she could store her pain in a neat little box in the back of her head and open it only when she needed a reality check. Instead she was haunted by it daily, forced into reliving it nightly.

  “What are you looking at, cherie? What are you thinking?”

  Nicole realized she’d been caught staring and musing. “I— You didn’t overdo today, did you? Clair told me you went for a walk and that you went alone.”

  “You worry too much.”

  He really did look fine in more ways than one, she decided. None of what had happened to him had diminished his sex appeal. He was still affecting her breathing, still making her nervous. Still making her yearn for things she would be better off without.

  Nicole shoved the chair to one side and stepped around him. She walked to the French doors and gazed outside. It was another sweltering night, the air heavy, filled with the scent of magnolia blossoms. She’d changed back into a pair of cutoffs and a yellow T-shirt the minute she’d gotten back from town. Her feet were bare. “I’ve been concerned with the amount
of money Gran will need for the restorations. I wish there was some way to recoup the expense.”

  “Want one?”

  His quick reply surprised her, and Nicole turned to look at him. “You have an idea?”

  “Why not put cane back in the fields? That way, Mae’s savings would stay intact. And Oakhaven stands on its own feet again. It’s a profitable business.”

  The idea had never occurred to Nicole. “A sugar plantation, like when Grandpa Henry was alive?”

  “Why not? Griffin Black is making money at it. Why not us?”

  Us. He’d said us. Nicole’s heart started to pound. “But I don’t know anything about running a sugarcane plantation. I don’t even know that I want to.”

  “It’s just a thought. I could look into it, at least, if you’d like. It’ll be a pile of work, and this first year all we’d do is get the fields in shape. But by next spring everything would be ready to go. Before I leave I could check out who might be interested in working for you. That way, they’d be lined up for next spring.”

  When I leave. To hide her disappointment, Nicole quickly turned to gaze outside. Funny how unexpectedly things change, she thought. A week ago all she wanted was Johnny Bernard out of their lives. But now… Now she couldn’t imagine him gone. Suddenly she was angry. Angry that he had disrupted her life in the first place. Angry that she had let him.

  She faced him. “It wouldn’t work. Not without a foreman to keep it all running smoothly. No, forget it. I’ll get the money another way.”

  “At least let me check—”

  “I said no!”

  He slanted her a puzzled look. “What’s wrong, cherie? A minute ago you acted like the idea was worth checking out.”

  “I was being polite.”

  He started toward her. He looked a little angry, or maybe disappointed. When he finally stopped, he was so close that Nicole could see his pulse throbbing at the base of his throat. So close, she could smell his musky male scent. She took a step back and felt the window against her spine. “Let’s just drop it.”

  She turned her head to avoid his eyes, but he reached out, cupped her chin and turned her face back to his. “Let me help you.”

  “Me? How can you help me when you can’t even help yourself? Half the town hates you, and Sheriff Tucker isn’t going to do a damn thing about those men who—” Nicole knew in that brief second she’d said too much.

  “You talked to Tuck today?” He was frowning.

  “Yes.”

  “Where?”

  “At his office.”

  “You went to see Tuck after I told you to keep out of this?” He released her chin. “Why?”

  “Gran and I have a stake in your well-being. If you can’t work—” She didn’t go on. He was glaring at her, so angry he was clenching his teeth.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I get the work done,” he told her.

  “That’s not what I meant. I only—”

  She clamped her mouth shut as he turned and headed for the door. After swinging the door open, he turned back to look at her. “I warned you to keep your opinions to yourself. If you make enemies in this town, cherie, you’ll have them for the rest of your life. Take it from someone who knows.”

  “I’m not afraid of the people in this town,” Nicole snapped, feeling defensive.

  “Well, you should be. These people are a crazy bunch, some more than others. But if they decide not to like you, you won’t have a chance in hell of changing their minds later.”

  “And what would make them not like me? Speaking out on your behalf? Facing Sheriff Tucker and telling him I think Farrel Craig and his ‘boys’ were out of line and should be arrested for assault?”

  “Dammit, cherie, do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  “Don’t tell me, I’ve just been condemned.” Nicole clutched her throat as if someone had ahold of it and was choking the life out of her. “Will they beat me up, too?”

  Johnny’s answer to her theatrics was dead serious and final. “If anyone lays a hand on you, I’ll kill them.”

  Chapter 9

  Two days later Johnny moved back to the boathouse and found a rat snake nailed to the front door. He removed it, tossed it in the bayou for fish bait, then went up to his room. He was getting tired of the harassment. Still, there was more than one reason to keep his cool. There were too many people depending on him right now.

  Feeling surly, he scanned the small apartment, found it unchanged, then headed back outside. On the dock, he untied the boat and climbed in, ready to spend Sunday afternoon by himself. He’d had enough of Mae’s fussing and Clair’s oversize meals. And he’d played so many hands of cards with Bick, the man had nearly lost his entire stash of White Horse.

  Mostly, he’d had enough of Nicole and her newfound silence. She hadn’t spoken to him since the night they’d fought. Of course, he hadn’t tried to speak to her, either. He was still mad as hell at her for deliberately going against his wishes.

  The afternoon heat had steadily climbed into the nineties. Johnny stripped off his T-shirt and tossed it in the bottom of the boat, then picked up his pole and thrust it deep into the water. Giving a solid push, the boat surged forward, cutting through a thick patch of spider lilies and pickerel weeds.

  He closed his eyes briefly as the familiar bond he shared with Belle wrapped its magical fingers around him, and for a moment he was a kid again, exploring the narrow channels leading everywhere and nowhere. He’d gotten lost a hundred times as a small boy, but eventually he’d learned every secret channel and switchback Belle owned. He’d even braved the black bog long before he’d known it was the nesting ground for monster alligators like old One Eye.

  The sky was clear, and there was just enough breeze to keep the heat moving. The bayou branched off in a maze of tiny channels. Johnny maneuvered around the cypress knees, chose the hidden gate most often missed, and in an instant disappeared through a veil of Spanish moss.

  Around the next bend stood the old farmhouse. He pulled the boat into the shoreline and tied it to an old post left over from what had once been a dock. Holding his ribs, he hiked the overgrown path, stopping when he’d made it to the top of the hill.

  Funny how, standing there, so many memories rushed back to him. The strongest were the Sunday afternoons he’d spent with his mother and father on the hillside. He closed his eyes, remembering how they used to lie side by side and look at the sky. How they would take turns telling each other made-up stories. Once they’d gotten talked out, they would doze off, holding hands.

  His family had been beggar-poor, Johnny admitted, but what they had shared so briefly had been worth gold. They had loved one another honestly and completely. God, how they had loved one another.

  He took a deep breath, then eased down on the hillside to sprawl in the tall grass. The sun felt good on his face, and he let go of the tension that had been keeping him restless the past few days. After a time he turned his hands palm-side up and pretended they were once again beside him holding his hands. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, allowed the sun’s rays to seep into his bones, and damn if he didn’t fall asleep just the way he’d done back when he was a kid.

  Only, it wasn’t his mother’s voice jarring him awake an hour later. It was Nicole’s.

  “Johnny?”

  “Mmm…”

  “Are you all right?”

  Her sweet voice sent pure desire snaking through Johnny’s blood. Through half-open eyes, he watched her sink to her knees in the fragrant grass a foot away. After noticing she had on those too-short jean cutoffs again and a skimpy red T-shirt, he reminded himself he was still angry with her, and she with him.

  “Johnny, wake up.”

  “I’m awake. I heard your car a mile away,” he lied, rolling slowly to his side and raising up on one elbow to rest his head in his hand. His booted feet, he crossed at the ankles. “So we’re talking again, is that it?”

  “You walked out on me, remember?”<
br />
  “With good reason.”

  She rolled sideways onto one hip and tucked her feet close. “I’m not going to say I’m sorry, because I’m not. You told me if you’re not sorry, you shouldn’t say it. So it goes for me, too.”

  Hearing his words thrown back at him made him frown. “Sometimes I should keep my mouth shut,” he grumbled.

  She smiled, then gazed at the farmhouse. “Are you going to fix it up?”

  “The house? Hell, no. There’s no point. It needs to be leveled.”

  She shoved a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and directed her interest to the bayou. “It’s beautiful here. Belle is picture perfect.”

  The bayou was beautiful, Johnny agreed silently. But not as beautiful, nor as perfect as the woman sitting next to him. He couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed looking at her. How much he liked being close enough to smell her womanly scent. She was driving him crazy, making him want her more and more with each passing day. It was ironic how one small woman could do so much damage to his insides in such a short amount of time.

  Frustrated, feeling suddenly reckless, he reached out and grabbed Nicole’s ankle, jerking her off balance and onto her back.

  “Johnny! What are you doing?”

  She tried to shake off his hand, but he hung on while he got to his knees. Flattening out his hands on either side of her tiny waist, he effectively pinned her to the ground. “So you like me, is that it?”

  “What! Are you crazy?”

  Grinning, he said, “Why else would you pay a visit to Tuck? Don’t be shy, cherie. You can admit it to me. It’ll be our secret.”

  A defiant gleam sharpened her blue eyes. “Me, like you? An arrogant ex-marine, ex-con, ex-who knows what else. I don’t think so, Johnny Bernard. Now get off me and let me up.”

  “I’ve caught you staring,” he goaded.

  “Neanderthals are rare in California,” she reasoned.

  Johnny hooted.

  She scowled at him. “It’s really nothing to be proud of. Or don’t you know what a Neanderthal is?”

  “So are you interested in kissing this Neanderthal again?”