A wave of fear traveled down her spine.
Her legs were trembling as Paco helped her down the stairs. She held on to the stair railing and leaned heavily on his arm. People passing gawked as he helped her into his car. She held her head up and didn’t look at any of them.
Jake and Eli were in front of the washhouse when the car stopped in front of the house. Before she could open the door and get out, Jake had charged around the building. His dark face held a worried frown. Eli was behind him.
Paco was getting out of the car as Jake pulled open the door. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m all right.”
“Hola, Jake,” Paco said casually.
“What happened?” Jake demanded again. “Why’d you bring her home? I was about to go to meet her.”
“I fell on the doctor’s stairs and Mr. García was kind enough to give me a ride home.” Mary Lee turned and put her feet on the running board so she could step down.
“Fell on the stairs?” Jake echoed her words. His eyes went to her skinned legs, now dark red with iodine. He clenched his teeth until a muscle danced in his jaw. “Son of a bitch,” he whispered beneath his breath.
She tried to push his hands away when they grasped her under the arms, but he refused to be hindered and lifted her out of the car.
“Everything all right here, Eli?” she asked.
“I’ve rented number five. I don’t think they’ll stay long. We may be able to rent it again.” Then, as he realized what his words indicated, his face turned brick red. “Charged ’em the two dollars too,” he finished lamely.
“Has my mother been out?”
“She came out, cooked somethin’, then went out to number one.”
“Did the man who was there last night come back?”
“I’ve not seen him.”
Paco, watching Jake, muttered, “Yi, yi, yi.” His friend hadn’t taken his eyes off Mary Lee.
The man was down, gravel-smitten with the little widow.
“Thank you, Mr. García, for the ride.” Mary Lee took off her hat. “Excuse me. I need to change my dress.”
Jake didn’t say anything, but he was at the steps with his hand beneath her elbow. Eli was on her other side and followed her into the house. Jake came back to the car.
“Did the doctor see her after she fell?”
“Yeah, amigo. He look her over.”
“Where’d she fall?”
“On the steps comin’ down from Doc Morris. She thinks someone grab her foot and pull it back through the stairs. I was passin’ and heard her yell. Yi, yi, yi. She was holdin’ on to the rail.”
“The hell you say! Jesus, Paco! Did you see anyone under the steps?”
“Thought I did, but not sure.”
“By God, Paco! They’re not wantin’ her to have the baby. They’re afraid Ocie will make it his heir.”
“I ain’t heard Ocie’s so all-fired fond of Lon.”
“She’ll not go to town alone again.”
“You her protector, amigo?”
“Someone should be lookin’ out for her,” Jake said belligerently. “Her mother isn’t fit to shoot.”
“Yo’re it, huh?”
“She’s got no one but me and a thirteen-year-old kid. If Lon’s behind this and hurts her, he’ll wish he’d never set eyes on her.”
“Ya got to be careful, amigo. Let the sheriff handle it.”
“I’ll be careful. If I learned one thing in prison it’s that it doesn’t always pay to fight fair.”
“It’s bein’ spread around town that you held Frank while the girl whacked his pecker with a broken plate.”
Jake’s green eyes glinted at that; his mouth spread in a grin.
“I didn’t touch him and one whack was all it took. I had no idea what she was going to do until she did it. She took the sap outta old Frank. He’ll not be pissin’ in front of a lady anytime soon.”
Paco chuckled. “I’ll do what I can to set the story straight.” He got into the car. “It could be Frank and his cronies who have it in for her because she took over the court.”
“Frank’s a stupid son of a bitch.”
“Gotta be gettin’ back. How’re ya goin’ to keep an eye on that girl and work too?”
“Trudy Bender is comin’ out tomorrow. Between her and Eli, she’ll have someone with her when I’m not here.”
Jake stood back and watched Paco drive away. He wanted to go in the house and make sure Mary Lee was all right, but he wasn’t sure of his welcome. At that moment a car came in off the highway, and Mary Lee came out onto the porch to greet a heavyset man with a head of thick gray hair.
“Hello,” she said pleasantly.
“Sign says you get breakfast with the room.”
“We serve breakfast between six and eight here in the house.”
“Price is kind of steep, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so. You get what you pay for.”
“I’ll give you a buck seventy-five. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll leave it. Good day.” Mary Lee turned to go back in the house.
“Hold on, sister. I was just funnin’ ya.”
“It wasn’t funny and I’m not your sister.”
“Can I see the room?”
“Sure —”
“Give me the key, Mary Lee.” Jake stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’ll show it to him.”
“Number four.”
“Your wife’s kinda touchy,” the man said as he and Jake walked down the lane to the cabin.
Jake experienced a warm thrill on hearing the man’s words and didn’t correct him. He opened the cabin door and stepped back. The man looked inside, then nodded.
“Looks all right.”
They walked back to where Mary Lee waited on the porch. The man gave her the two dollars and his name for the register. After he drove down to the cabin, Jake stepped up onto the porch.
“Why don’t you sit down? Eli or I can do your legwork tonight.”
“If I don’t move around I’ll get stiff.”
“You can walk back and forth here on the porch.”
“Who, besides Frank Pierce, would want to hurt me, Jake? I felt a hand on my ankle. I couldn’t have slipped backward.”
“I believe you. I don’t know … unless …”
“Unless who? It wasn’t Mr. Clawson. He told me to take care of myself. He wants to raise my baby, not get rid of it. It could have been the man who was here last night, getting even for what I did to Frank.”
“You’re not going to town or anywhere else by yourself anymore.”
“You think someone is really out to hurt me?”
“I don’t know, but we’re not taking a chance.”
Their eyes caught and held. Green into blue. Something in the way he was looking at her brought back the memory of the kiss they had shared. It had been soft and sweet. She had to admit that she hadn’t been kissed like that ever.
“I’ll get my tools and fix your door.”
Later she was to wonder why she hadn’t resented his possessive attitude toward her. You’re not going to town or anywhere else by yourself. He had said that as if he had the right to tell her what to do.
She had known him only a few weeks and had been alone with him not more than four times. She had felt a connection with him the first time she saw him. No, not the first. He had hung in the back of her mind since their meeting long ago as children. And now being close to the tall, dark serious man he had grown up to be made her tingle in places she had believed were immune to sexual stimulation.
Chapter 14
“ELI IS FRYING POTATOES AND MAKING TEA.”
“Are you inviting me to supper?”
“It isn’t much.”
“It’s plenty, but I can’t keep on eating your grub.”
“I need to pay you back for what you do.”
“Why?”
“Just … because I do.”
“You made me a bi
rthday cake.” He smiled. He was really quite handsome when he smiled.
“We all helped you eat it.”
“Will you let me take you to Ruby’s for supper one night?”
“I can’t leave the court, Jake. You know that.”
“You could leave for an hour if the cabins were rented. Eli would be here.”
“What if Frank came back?”
“He’s in jail. He’s not coming back anytime soon. But I get the message.” He stepped down off the porch. “I’ll get my toolbox. I picked up two latches to put on your doors.”
“Jake? What did you mean, you got the message?”
“I understand if you don’t want to be seen with me.”
“That isn’t it! Dammit, why do you have to say such things?”
“Don’t make a big thing of it.”
“I’ll go with you to Ruby’s.”
He shook his head impatiently. “No. I don’t want you to go out of obligation.”
“You can make me so mad that … that I want to kick you!” She glared at him.
“You goin’ to eat with us, Jake?” Eli stuck his head out the door. “I cooked potatoes and onions. We’ve got leftover corn bread.”
“No, thanks, Eli.”
Mary Lee watched him walk down the lane to his truck. She had hurt his feelings. She would like to go with him to Ruby’s, but she really didn’t think that she could leave Eli here alone at suppertime, when folks usually stopped for the night.
Her thoughts were cut off when a big black car turned into the drive and came to a stop in front of the house. Her hackles went up. What was he doing here? She stayed on the porch. Ocie got out, leaving the car door open. He wore a big black hat and a wide belt with a large silver buckle. A cigar stuck out the corner of his mouth.
“I heard that ya fell comin’ out of the doctor’s. You all right?”
“You sure have your ear to the ground. Does anything happen in this town that you don’t know about?”
“Not when it concerns somethin’ that’s mine.”
“I’m not yours, Mr. Clawson. I thought I had made that clear the last time you were here.”
“That kid yo’re carryin’s got my blood. That makes you and that kid my kin.”
“It does no such thing. I’d rather be kinfolk to a cross-eyed mule,” she said staunchly. She saw Jake hurrying up the lane with his toolbox.
“I asked the doc if my grandkid was all right.”
“You … you nosy old goat! You had no business talking to the doctor about me!”
“Yo’re my business. I told ya so.” He grinned. “I hear ya whacked Frank Pierce a good one. He had it comin’. I done set him straight. He’ll not lay a hand on ya.”
Jake set his tools on the porch and turned. He hadn’t come face to face with Ocie since he got out of prison.
“You still here?”
“You plan to do something about it, you lyin’ son of a bitch?” Jake stood with his hands on his hips, his feet spread. His green eyes were like daggers.
“Didn’t prison teach ya any manners?”
“Yeah. It taught me to watch my back. It taught me that a greedy son of a bitch who has known me all my life will lie like a damn dog, send me to prison and take what little I have.”
“Three of my men saw you brandin’ my cattle.”
“Three of your men lied and cost me two years of my life.”
“The court thought otherwise.”
“The goddamn court was in your pocket. You wanted me out of sight and took the word of a man who’s had a grudge against me since I was ten years old. You wanted that little dab of land I’d filed on.”
“Lon saw ya.”
“Lon’s a damn liar and you know it.”
“Ya can have that patch of worthless land back. Won’t do ya no good. Ya don’t have nothin’ to go on it.” Ocie turned his attention to Mary Lee. His eyes pierced her from beneath beetled brows. “You sleepin’ with him?”
“You … you nasty-minded old buzzard!” Mary Lee gasped. “It’s none of your business what I do. Jake has been a good friend. Is it hard for you to understand that I can have a friend?”
“Ain’t natural for a man to friend a good-lookin’ woman less he’s gettin’ somethin’. But the sheriff’s got more trust in the bastard than I do. Said him bein’ here would keep some of the riffraff away.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ya know as well as I do that yore mama draws trash like a fresh cow pile draws flies.”
“And some of them work for you!”
“I’ll fire any man who bothers ya.”
“Does that go for Lon Delano too?” Jake asked.
“Damn right.” Ocie looked long and hard at Jake. “I ain’t carin’ if yo’re sleepin’ with her. I ain’t wantin’ nothin’ to happen to that kid. You see to it.” He jabbed the air toward Jake with a forefinger.
“If you weren’t so damn old, I’d bust you in the mouth!” Anger raised Jake’s voice.
“Don’t let that stop ya.”
“He’d like to get you in trouble, Jake. Don’t let him.” Mary Lee stepped forward and put her hand on Jake’s arm.
Her touch calmed him. He covered her hand with his. “Yeah, I know.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Clawson. Don’t come back. There’s nothing here to interest you.”
Ocie went around the car and stood looking at the two of them over the top.
“Take care of her. Hear?”
When neither Mary Lee nor Jake responded, he got in the car and slammed the door. As he drove out, another car pulled in, making conversation with Jake impossible. Mary Lee greeted the man who got out, took his name and his money. Jake showed him to the cabin.
“One more to go,” Mary Lee said when he returned.
Jake went into the house to look at the door where he was going to put the latches. Mary Lee left the porch and knocked on the door of number one. When she got no answer, she pushed it open to find her mother lying on the bed.
“Mama? Supper’s ready. Come eat.”
Dolly had sat up, but when she saw Mary Lee, she sank back down on the bed.
“You need to eat, Mama. You’ll be sick.”
“What’a you care?”
“I care.”
“Get outta here. I’m expectin’ company.”
“Frank won’t be coming. He’s in jail.”
“Frank’s not the only man I know.”
“Will you eat a plate of food if I bring it to you?”
“Naw. Ya’d probably put rat poison on it. Yancy’s comin’ and we’re goin’ uptown. Now get out and leave me alone.”
Mary Lee backed out and closed the door. She had thought that she was beyond hurting. Jake was waiting and took her arm. She was grateful because her legs were shaky and her eyes teary. She kept her head down, hoping that he wouldn’t see them.
“She’s killing herself. She eats hardly anything.”
“She’s a grown woman, mi bonita chica.” My pretty girl.
“What did you call me?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” His eyes teased her.
“I’m sure.”
“You won’t get mad and slap me?”
“I won’t promise.”
“Then I’ll not tell you.”
“It was probably something like stubborn mule or stupid girl.”
“You’re close.”
“Oh, you!”
“Eli’s waiting for you to come eat.”
“I think I’ll sit on the porch. Tell him to go ahead.”
“No. You’ve got to eat too. For … Gaston.”
“Gaston?” She lifted a frowning face that changed in an instant to a smiling one. “Gaston?” she repeated. “How did you come up with that?”
“It’s as good a name as any.” He was pleased that he had made her smile.
“I wouldn’t name a sick dog Gaston.”
“Shame on you. The Gastons of the world will be hurt.”
“How do you know it’s going to be a girl? It could be twins.”
“Twins? Wouldn’t that be grand? A boy and a girl. I don’t think I could handle two boys.”
“Yeah. You could have Earl and Pearl, Marge and George or Bonnie and Clyde.” The way his eyes roamed over her face as her laughter rang out sent her senses into pandemonium.
“Oh, Jake, you are the limit. How about Ed and Edna or Maude and Claude?”
“I like Mary and Jerry.” They were standing beside the steps leading to the porch.
Mary Lee saw the teasing light in his green eyes. Deep inside, this rough man was sweet and caring; and because she was expecting a child, he was sincerely concerned with her welfare. They looked at each other for a long time before he said gruffly, “Go on in and eat.”
“Jake …” She hesitated before she turned, her eyes probing his. “Thank you for being my friend.”
He didn’t know what to say. If he said anything, he was afraid that he’d put his foot in his mouth, so he said nothing, nodded and walked away.
Friend, my hind leg!
He remembered in vivid detail the day he’d helped her drag the mattress to the junk pile. Seeing her up close, after so many years, had been like a sledgehammer blow to his chest. It had sent his heart in a wild race. He had feared, as his vision focused on her, that she would hear the mad thumping of his stupid heart.
She hadn’t been merely pretty. She had been spectacular. Her dark auburn windblown hair had been tumbling about her shoulders. Small nose, high cheekbones, tapered chin, and eyes the color of the New Mexico sky went perfectly with her small, almost delicately built body. The faded blue dress with the round neckline had shown her firm breasts and rounded belly where she carried her child. He had been so completely bowled over that later he couldn’t even remember what he had said to her.
Jake shook his head. The fascination that he’d felt that day had increased tenfold. He was madly, crazily in love with her, and she considered him a … friend.
Mary Lee was jarred from a sound sleep when the alarm went off at five o’clock. She swung her legs off the bed and groaned. Tired and sore, she sat for a minute before attempting to stand. After running her fingers over her bruised knees, she carefully got to her feet, holding her hands to her back. The baby had been restless the first part of the night, and it had been late when she fell asleep.
Song of the Road Page 15