“Okay, talk.” Paul said when Jimmy arrived. “We’ve been waiting. Is it going to be a long two more months?”
“Yes, it is,” Jimmy said.
“Explain.”
“It’s not working so well. I’m afraid it was a fool’s mission. I’m finding more to like than dislike.”
Paul wiped his forehead in mock horror. “Whew! Backfired, did it?”
Jimmy nodded. “So far that’s the way it’s going, but I’ve got two months to take care of it, and I will. When I come back to San Antonio, you have to buy me a steak. And you two have to set me up with a woman who can endure Amelia, Mother, and Cathy.”
“There’s only Superman, not Superwoman. A woman would have to have super powers for sure to endure that bunch of women,” Mark, Kerstin’s husband, grinned.
Jimmy smiled. “You should’ve seen the way Cathy baited Jodie last night and she didn’t make a single point. She was worse than ever and Jodie held her own so there may be a superwoman amongst us even as we breathe and live.”
Kevin set his tea glass down with a thump. “You are kidding. You found Superwoman on your own and you’re going to toss her out? What’s the matter with you? Mark and I are afraid to introduce you to our friends. They’d hate us after a dinner with your relatives.”
Paul came to the women’s defense. “Ah, they just love him too much. Don’t want him to get tied up with a gold digger.”
“Love. Controlling. It all adds up to smothering,” Jimmy said. “I wish Grandfather was still alive. He kept the balance.”
“Give it up and come back to San Antonio. Tell her you’re tired of the travel. Tell her you are marrying Deanna. Anything. It’s not going to work, man. It’s going to make it harder not easier,” Paul said.
“Not until I’m over the infatuation,” Jimmy said. “Now how about them Spurs? Y’all think they’re going to be any good news this year?”
Back on familiar ground and away from affairs of the heart, the other men all began to talk at once about sports.
The table was set with heavy stone plates in multicolors, good serviceable stainless steel flatware, tea goblets, and oversized cotton napkins. Dinner was served buffet style, right off the kitchen bar: grilled steaks big enough to fill half the plate, hash brown casserole, baked beans, cornbread, and raw vegetables with a smoky dip that Jodie intended to have the recipe for before she left that night.
“Grab a plate from the table and help yourself,” Sara said.
No one had to beg Jodie. She was second in line right behind Jimmy, who wasn’t showing signs of bashfulness either.
She carried her plate to the table and claimed a spot. “This smells scrumptious.”
Jimmy sat right beside her. “Paul has the magic touch when it comes to steaks on the grill.”
“Yes, he does,” she agreed after the first bite.
“Did you tell Jodie that this is our first dinner party in our new home?” Paul asked Sara.
“No, I forgot, but I guess you just told her,” Sara answered.
“My grandmother on my father’s side decided to move out of this place into a condo in town. We all thought she was crazy but she swears it’s the best move she ever made. She and Grandpa inherited this ranch from his father back when they were first married. She sold all of it but the five acres around the house that she gave to Sara and me and we moved in last month.”
“So are you going to like living in the country?” Jodie asked. She should have known Paul before Sara snagged him. He was the tall, dark, handsome one with dark brown eyes set under heavy lashes. His arms were muscular enough to wrestle a good-sized Angus bull to the ground and she liked his smile. Just the kind of man who’d be found on the front of a romance book and who she’d always hoped for but he was branded and she didn’t steal cattle or men.
“We haven’t decided if we’re going to like being so far away from the city but we aren’t going to complain if we don’t,” Sara said. “It’s a better place to raise the children, away from the inner urban influence. And I love this big old ramblin’ house. Lord knows we could never afford anything like this, not even if I went back to nursing work.”
Jimmy’s arm brushed Jodie’s when he reached for the salt. The contact made her suck air for a moment.
“Cornbread too hot?” Sara giggled. “Sometimes I put too many jalapeños in it.”
“No, I just bit into a pepper and it took my breath.” Jodie hoped she covered the gasp.
“Anyway, we moved here from a small two bedroom apartment in the city and it’s been an adjustment,” Paul said.
Sara pointed down a long hallway. “Four bedrooms on that end. The master suite on that end.” She pointed the opposite direction. “And this great room that houses the living room-den combination, country kitchen and dining area. Thank goodness she left some furniture or there would be echoes in the house since we had so little to put in it.”
Jodie wondered if Jimmy would inherit the Fleming mansion? What would his wife think of the winding staircase, the need for a domestic staff? Would she bring her own things into the marriage and toss part of Amelia’s out in the yard for a garage sale?
That visual brought a smile to her face. Amelia would rise up out of her grave and come back to life if Jimmy’s wife set up a garage sale in her front yard. It might just be the very thing that made Cathy walk again. She’d run out the front door and put a bullet between the new bride’s eyes and Jimmy would be a grieving widower before the honeymoon was over.
“Whatever are you thinking about?” Kerstin asked.
Jodie jerked her thoughts back to the present. “I was just listening.”
“Sugarcoating, are you?” Jimmy teased.
“Actually my mind was drifting and suddenly I had an image of Deanna on the back of a big black bull, one hand around the bull rope, her free hand up with diamonds sparkling and a pink cowboy hat on her head,” she lied.
That brought on full-fledged laughter. Paul had to wipe his eyes with his napkin. Sara put her hand over her mouth and got the hiccups. Mark slapped Jimmy on the back and declared that he liked Jodie. Kerstin and Marsha both looked stunned.
“Now that is an impossible visual. Deanna would never wear pink. She’s a powder blue girl,” Kevin said.
More laughter and this time Kerstin and Marsha joined in, nodding their heads the whole time.
“I hear that she’s already hired a wedding planner, and they’re working on a summer wedding so she can have those new light blue roses everywhere,” Paul said.
Jimmy flinched ever so slightly but Jodie saw it.
“Bobby Jack know about that?” Marsha asked.
“Bobby Jack won’t care. He’s got a boot on the ladder going up. If she wants to get married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas, he’d be all for it. What he wants is a marriage license with no prenups, right, Jimmy?” Paul teased.
Marsha came to his rescue. “Leave Jimmy alone. He’s trying to outrun the woman. He’s not interested in her, are you, Jimmy?”
“What about them Spurs? You think they’ll have a good season?” he asked.
“And that’s that about Deanna,” Mark said.
“Tell me, Jodie, how do you judge a bull riding event?” Kerstin asked.
She gave them the longest version she could think of so Jimmy would have time to digest the gossip. Maybe he really did have feelings for the woman and hadn’t even realized it until confronted with another man on the scene. He’d have to sort it all out on his own, but a few minutes to regain his composure would be helpful.
“Why do they wear those vests with all that writing and advertisement on them?” Mark asked.
“Cody Lambert invented that vest. He is a former professional bull rider. It is designed to prevent injury when a rider gets stomped on or gored by a bull. It’s made of Kevlar, the same material used to make bulletproof vests. It helps protect bones and internal organs that could be vulnerable to injury if crushed by a two thousand pound bull,” sh
e explained.
Sara raised her hand like a school girl. “I’ve got a question. What is it that they’re putting in their vest pocket right after they get off the bull?”
“His or her mouth guard.”
“You mean like a football mouth guard? Why would they wear one of those?” Sara asked.
“To keep from knocking their teeth out when they fall,” Jodie explained.
“So are you going to get back on a bull? I mean after you get your arm broken on one, it would be tough to get back on one, wouldn’t it?” Marsha asked.
“I’ve been riding since I was too young to have fear and never got a broken bone. Lots of bruises, but no major problems. I didn’t break my arm riding a bull. I slipped on ice out by the barn and fell. I can ride a bull. It don’t mean I’m graceful,” she said.
Jimmy silently disagreed. No one could be more graceful than Jodie in that black dress last night. The way she floated down the stairs beside him, her back straight, hair slicked back, she looked like she’d taken ballet lessons her whole life. Her poise and elegance couldn’t have been outdone by anyone in the whole state of Texas.
“When do you get the cast off?” Kerstin asked.
“Next week. I’m friends with the rodeo doctor who’ll be in Yuma at the Jaycee’s Silver Spur Rodeo. He’ll remove it and make sure everything is working all right. And it won’t be a minute too soon. It itches something terrible.”
“I broke my ankle when I was about ten,” Marsha said. “Momma finally gave me a plastic fly swatter. It worked wonderful to scratch the itch. You got to have had a broken bone to know what we’re talking about.”
“You got that right,” Jodie said.
The rest of the evening bonded her into their friendship and she was sorry when it was time to leave. They invited her to come back anytime and she promised if she decided to ride at a televised event, she’d let them know so they could watch.
“I like your friends. I really enjoyed the evening,” she said.
“Good. Maybe it will make up for last night,” he said.
“Oh, it wasn’t so bad now that I look back. I’ve been in worse situations. They wouldn’t be so catty if they didn’t love and want to protect you from gold diggers.”
“Is that what you think they thought of you?” He frowned.
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Gut feeling.”
He parked the Thunderbird in the garage and they went into the house through the back door and the kitchen area. Jodie gasped when she saw the man behind the huge island in the middle of a room bigger than most restaurant kitchens. He was six feet four inches at least because he looked down on her. A rim of bright red hair circled his otherwise bald head. Crystal blue eyes glittered in a bed of wrinkles and underneath almost burgundy brows.
“Jodie, meet Mohin,” Jimmy said casually.
“Mohin?” She repeated the name. The chef. He was supposed to be from the Far East and have dark skin and black eyes that matched his equally black hair which would be covered in a big white hat. Not wearing faded jeans, a tie-dyed T-shirt and cowboy boots with silver-tipped toes.
“Ah, that’s a crock. My name is George and that’s what you call me, lassy. George Mohindovitch. Part Polish. Part Irish. Miz Amelia likes the Mohin because it sounds all fancy. But I’m just George to my friends and you are going to be my friend. I can tell because you eat a decent breakfast.”
“Thank you,” Jodie smiled up at him. Well, didn’t the world turn ’round. She was glad she’d stayed around and hadn’t let Cathy run her off. What other miracles were ready to be discovered in the next week?
When they reached her bedroom door, Jimmy stopped. “I really did enjoy the evening. I plan on catching up on writing tomorrow but please feel free to go out to the stables and ride or explore the grounds. There’re lots of staff members who’ll answer questions or give you directions.”
She looked up into his mossy green eyes and for a moment saw straight into his soul. She looped her free arm around his neck and leaned forward. Mouth met mouth in a kiss that did more than send tingles up her spine like his hand touching hers had done earlier that day. It dang sure wasn’t boring, and she had no desire to cross her eyes during the process either like she had done with Chris. She wanted the kiss to go on forever; she wanted it to lead to more.
With a moan she stepped back and opened the door with her free hand. “I’m sorry. It was the moment.”
He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m not sorry. Good night, Jodie. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”
Chapter Nine
Jodie looked down at her castless arm. The skin looked like it needed a major scrubbing to get rid of the scales and her wrist was stiff. She’d almost panicked until the doctor assured her that three or four weeks of therapy would put the movement range back into play.
“I know these exercises look silly but they’ll work. That and your everyday life. Brushing your hair. Buttoning a coat. Tying your shoes. It’s all therapy. You’ll be surprised by how much the muscle will return in a few weeks. Are you planning on riding this season?” the doctor asked.
She held up the hand and stared at it glumly. “No. Are you sure that this is going to work again?”
“I’m very sure.”
An hour later she was dressed and in the judges’ box at the Yuma Jaycee’s Silver Spur Rodeo. February in Yuma was a pleasant change after Denver and Lincoln where they’d frozen in the snow drifts. The temperature was a nice seventy-five degrees and Jodie had worn a pink Western shirt with fitted sleeves, slim-fitting jeans, and her highly polished eel cowboy boots. She’d tried to sweep her hair up into a twist but the left hand refused to cooperate so it hung loose, framing her face.
Jimmy had a camera slung around his neck and a clipboard in his hands, taking notes and snapping pictures alternately. He’d left his boots at the hotel, along with the warm socks. He loved the weather. Maybe someday he’d relocate to Yuma. According to the Internet it was one of the fastest growing towns in the United States. Most likely that was due to the weather which was a wonderful change from all that snow and ice in the north. He aimed the camera at the judges’ box and took another picture of Jodie. She’d been so disappointed in her wrist that afternoon. If he could’ve brought down a miracle from heaven he would have done so and made it perfect in an instant.
The gate opened and the first rider and bull exploded from the chute. Almost a ton of black rage tried to get rid of the man on his back. The rider slipped after three seconds and touched the bull with his free hand. In the next second the bull changed directions and the rider landed in a puff of dust. The bull fighters kept the animal occupied while the rider dusted himself off and stood to the applause of the crowd.
At the end of the evening he expected Jodie to want to go to breakfast with her friends, but she surprised him when she wanted to go back to the hotel. At midnight they were sitting in her room eating fried chicken from Wal-Mart.
“You’re moody tonight,” he said.
“I am not!”
“Then why aren’t we in a pancake house with a bunch of people?”
“Because I didn’t want pancakes. I wanted fried chicken and potato salad.” She wasn’t about to tell him her true feelings. The past few days have been wonderful but she had spent very little of it with him. After that kiss, she’d almost pouted when he stayed in his room most of the time. Sure, she’d gotten to know the staff. She and George exchanged recipes in the kitchen and he’d even allowed her to help him prepare her own breakfast a few times. That was quite a concession since no one touched George’s kitchen. Then there were the guys out in the stables and the upstairs maid who befriended her and asked advice about a boyfriend.
And all the while the kiss was the foremost thing on her mind. How to deal with the emotions it set off? Was it really just the moment or could she possibly be falling for Jimmy—the worst choice on the face of the great green Earth?
Jo
die didn’t see any more of Cathy but the last day she did talk to her on the phone. Cathy coolly told her goodbye and Jodie just as coolly thanked her for her hospitality. Granny Etta would have had her hide tacked to the smokehouse door if she’d been rude, even to a catty woman like Cathy.
Jodie started humming an old Charley Pride tune, “It’s Gonna Take a Little Bit Longer.” Where the tune came from, she had no idea, but the words began filtering through the tune as she ate. Charley sang about it taking longer for him to ever get his woman off his mind because he’d been loving her a long, long time.
It might take a long time for Jodie to get over that kiss but she could do it. The arm would heal and so would all the emotions rattling around in her body like a marble in a tin can.
Jimmy had grown up with a grandfather who listened to country music out in the garage while he worked on his old cars. He’d had a radio on the shelf and kept it cranked up as loud as it could go. He recognized the tune the minute Jodie started humming but when he began to remember the lyrics, it was an omen from a prophet.
It was taking longer for him to get Jodie off his mind because he had been loving her a long time. When the words came to mind about wanting her more and more every day, he realized he wasn’t going to get over her. It was a futile attempt and that one kiss they’d shared back in San Antonio had done nothing but prove what Charley sang in his song. Truth was he’d flat fallen in love with Jodie Cahill, the adult, even more than he’d been in love with Jodie, the five-year-old, and he didn’t have any idea what to do about it.
“You sing that song when you’re entertaining?” he asked, surprised that his voice was normal.
“Sometimes,” she said. “Folks like some of the old romantic songs thrown in amongst the new, faster, upbeat ones.”
“Such as?”
“They love George Jones,” she said.
“My grandfather liked him. He loved ‘Walk Through This World With Me.’ What would it take in a man for you to take his hand and walk through the world with him?”
To Hope Page 10