Carrying his precious burden, Jake followed. He stopped once, kissed her soft mouth and whispered his love for her.
Mary Lee opened eyes that refused to focus. Someone was holding her tenderly and lovingly, cradling her against his chest. She wasn’t afraid. I’m dreaming, she thought tiredly. Then she heard a beloved voice crooning to her. Jake’s voice. He had come when she called to him.
Jake heard the motorcycle when it started, and kept walking toward it. Deke circled the machine and headed it back in the other direction before he stopped, then got off and reached to hold Mary Lee while Jake got into the sidecar. When she was settled in his arms, Jake gave Deke directions to the highway.
Knowing the bumpy ride was hurting her shoulder, he held her close, his head bent over her, his lips close to her ear. He told her that he loved her and that he had almost died until he found her. He murmured to her that Gaston was all right and they would be at the doctor’s soon. Once he thought he heard a sound come from her, but he couldn’t be sure because of the roar of the motorcycle.
When they passed the Santez gas station, Deke slowed and honked the horn to let the man know that Mary Lee had been found. When they reached the motor court, Deke turned in. Trudy and Eli were on the porch, and a deputy sheriff’s car was there.
“Lock the door and come to the doctor’s office!” Jake yelled.
The deputy yelled back, “I’ll bring ’em!”
They roared down the main street of town and stopped beside the stairs going up the side of the building. Deke jumped off and bounded up the stairs to see if the doctor was there. He was back a minute later.
“Doc’s gone out to Clawson’s. Lon Delano shot up Ocie, and old Ben killed Delano with a shotgun. The nurse said to bring Mary Lee in and she’ll do what she can until the doctor gets back.”
People had gathered on the sidewalk, all offering helping hands. Paco was there. He came to lift Mary Lee out of Jake’s arms so he could get out of the sidecar. Then, as if he couldn’t bear to be parted from her, Jake reached for her and carried her up the stairs. Deke stayed behind to answer questions from the curious crowd.
The nurse was waiting and led him to the back room and a high sheet-covered table. As soon as Mary Lee was on the table, she took her pulse and lifted her eyelid.
“You’ll have to help me with this. Go over there and scrub your hands.”
Jake obeyed without hesitation. For the next half hour they worked as a team, the nurse giving the orders. The man who had shot Mary Lee had pressed the gun barrel against her shoulder. The shot had gone in and out and probably into the dirt floor where Jake had found her. The wound itself was not so serious, the nurse explained, but the loss of blood was.
Several times Mary Lee rolled her head and groaned as if she was trying to awaken.
“A few more hours and she would have bled to death.”
“Why doesn’t she wake up?”
“Probably because of the blow to her head. The doctor will have a look at it.”
After asking him to leave the room for a few minutes, the nurse bared Mary Lee’s belly and with the stethoscope listened for the baby’s heartbeat. Jake took the opportunity to speak to Deke, Eli and Trudy, who were in the waiting room.
“Jake,” the nurse called to him, and he hurried back into the room. “She’s trying to wake up.”
Mary Lee was moving her legs and rolling her head.
“She told me once that it was hard for her to lie on her back,” Jake said. “Can we roll her over on her side?”
“I don’t see why not. Take a good hold on the sheet she’s lying on, pull her over, then up to roll her over. I’ll hold her arm so that the wound doesn’t start bleeding again.”
When she was on her side with her knees drawn up, she seemed to settle down. Jake pulled up a stool and sat down so that he was close to her face.
“As far as I can tell, the baby is snug as a bug in a rug. He has a strong heartbeat. We’ve done about as much as we can do, Jake. Watch her to be sure she doesn’t wake, thrash around, and fall off the table.”
“I’ll be right here.”
The nurse put her hand on his shoulder as she passed behind him. “You love her?”
“With all my heart.”
“Does she love you?”
“She says she does and I believe her.”
“I’m glad for you, Jake.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as he was alone with Mary Lee, he took her hand and, leaning over, kissed her still lips tenderly. He whispered to her that he loved her, over and over. He spoke reassuringly of their future together.
“With Eli and Gaston, honey, we’ll have a good start on our family. Later we may be blessed with a couple of little girls who will look like their pretty mama. We’ll have big gatherings on Christmas and birthdays. I’ll teach our boys to be cowboys and you can teach our girls to cook and sew.”
Minutes passed into an hour. At times he heard voices coming from the waiting room, Deke’s or Trudy’s. Several times the nurse came in and took Mary Lee’s pulse. Jake left her side only to dampen the cloth the nurse had placed on her forehead.
He sat with shoulders hunched, eyes bleak, not caring how much he might be exposing his human frailty. They had taken off the bloody shirt and put Mary Lee in a gown that opened all the way down the back. She was covered with a light blanket.
Jake felt an urge to know if Gaston was all right. He slipped his hand beneath the blanket and felt her tight belly. Gaston was moving, but not boisterously as he sometimes did. Jake withdrew his hand and tucked the blanket behind Mary Lee’s back and around her neck.
Shortly after that, she began to flutter her hands restlessly. He changed the wet cloth on her head and noticed that her lips were moving and a frown puckered her brows. She jerked her head suddenly and let out a little cry.
Jake became alarmed. “Nurse!”
The nurse came and listened to her heart. “She’s trying to wake up. Hold this pillow to the side of her head so that she can’t turn it.”
Mary Lee tried to lift her hand but didn’t have the strength to bring it out from under the blanket.
“Oh,” she murmured. “Oh, my head.”
The words filled Jake with hope. Her eyelids quivered; she opened her eyes, shut them, opened them again and blinked as if she were trying to wake up.
“Don’t move your head, querida.” Jake’s voice trembled with tenderness. “Can you wake up, sweetheart?”
“Jake …” Her lips trembled, and she began to cry. Tears squeezed out from under her closed lids. “I want … Jake.”
“I’m here, querida. Don’t cry. I’ll not leave you.” He brought her hand to his lips. “Lie still, my love.”
“Am I dreaming that you’re here?”
“No. Open your eyes and you’ll see me.”
“You came for me.”
“Didn’t you know that I’d cross the earth to get to you if you needed me?” He gently wiped her cheeks with a corner of the blanket.
“I called you.”
“I heard you calling me.”
Her eyes flew open. “Jake! You are here!”
“Yes, mi vida, and I’m not leaving you for the next fifty years.”
“Can’t you stay longer than that?” Her eyes drifted shut.
“I’ll try, sweetheart. Stay awake and talk to me.”
“Where are we?”
“In Doctor Morris’s office.”
“Is my baby all right?”
“He’s fine. The nurse listened to his heartbeat.”
“Why did they do that to me? I thought I was going to die there and … and I’d never see you again.”
“If you had, my world would have ended.”
“The man told the boy he had to shoot me. Later, he said, he’d think no more of it than shooting a squirrel. I looked up and saw the boy looking at me. He didn’t want to do it.”
“He shot you in the shoulder.”
“I wok
e up after they’d gone, and called you.”
“I came as soon as I could, sweetheart.”
Her eyes drifted shut. He could tell by her breathing that she was sleeping. After a few minutes he removed the pillow and stroked her hair.
It was near dark when the doctor returned to his office. The nurse briefed him on Mary Lee’s condition before he came into the room. She was sleeping soundly, her hand in Jake’s. He released it and stepped back.
“Hello, Jake,” the doctor said wearily. “This little girl has had it rough since she came back to Cross Roads. I still haven’t got it straight in my mind why someone would kidnap her.”
“The truth will come out sooner or later. I think Lon Delano was behind it. He was afraid Ocie would leave the ranch to Bob Clawson’s child. He wanted to get rid of the baby before it was born.”
“Well, Lon’s dead. The shotgun blast almost tore him in two. Too bad Ben didn’t let him have it sooner. Ocie will never walk again. That’ll be hard for a man like him.”
“No charges against Ben, I hope.”
“I wouldn’t think so. Sheriff Pleggenkuhle is a commonsense kind of a sheriff. Ben saved Ocie’s life, although Ocie may not thank him for it. It looks like my nurse did a good job on the shoulder wound.”
“Will I be able to take her home?”
“It’d be the best place for her if there’s someone there to take care of her.”
“There will be.”
Doctor Morris put his hands under the blanket and felt Mary Lee’s abdomen.
“The baby has dropped …”
“Dropped? What does that mean?”
“It means that it won’t be long until she’ll be delivering. Step in the other room, Jake, and send the nurse in. I’m going to check and see if she’s dilating.”
Only Deke was in the waiting room. Eli and Trudy had gone back to open the motor court.
“They said they could help Mary Lee more there than sitting here.”
“Have you heard any more about what happened at Clawson’s?”
“Only that when Ocie Clawson fired Lon and ordered him off the place, Lon started shooting. Big slugs from that forty-five tore up the man’s knees. They’ve taken him to Santa Fe to the hospital. The old-timer, they said, was calm as buttermilk. He told the sheriff that when a rattlesnake strikes, you shoot it. And that’s what he did.”
“Ben was there when I was a kid.”
“As soon as Mary Lee is all right, I’m going hunting for a man in a black sedan and a kid wearing boots with a star.”
“If he’s smart, the kid will ditch the boots.”
“If he was smart he’d never have got mixed up with Lon Delano.”
The doctor came in, leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest.
“She may be starting to dilate a bit. You can take her home; but if her pains start or her water breaks, come get me. I’m going home to get a bite of supper, then on to the hospital in Santa Fe to see about Ocie. I’ll take you by the motor court unless you want another ride in that motorcycle car.”
“Now, Doc,” Deke said. “Don’t be knockin’ my cycle. It got us where your car couldn’t’ve. Ain’t that right, darlin’,” he said to the nurse when she came in.
“You promised to take me for a ride.”
“I’m not forgettin’ it, darlin’. You’ll have to tie down that perky little white cap on your head.” Deke winked at the doctor, slammed his hat down on his head and headed for the door.
Chapter 32
“WAKE UP, QUERIDA.”
Jake, kneeling beside the bed, put his hand under Mary Lee’s head and lifted it a little. His other hand was on her arm.
“Wake up. The doctor said to wake you about every few hours.”
“Jake?”
“I’m here, sweetheart. Look at my hand. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Two, silly man. Did you wake me for that?”
“Go back to sleep, honey. I’ll not wake you again until morning.”
“You’re tired. Lie down by me and get some sleep.”
“I might bump your shoulder. I’ll catch some sleep when Trudy gets up.”
When Mary Lee wakened again, light was coming in through the windows, and Eli was sitting beside the bed, staring at her intently.
“Mornin’, Eli.”
“You’re awake!”
“I think so.”
“How do you feel? Does your shoulder hurt where that pile of horse hockey shot you? I’m sorry I didn’t protect you like I promised.”
Mary Lee reached for his hand. “It pains me a little. I’m so glad you and Trudy were not in the house. They would have hurt you.”
“If I ever see that kid that shot you, I’ll blow his head off!” The boy’s voice trembled in anger.
“The man with him told him to kill me, Eli, but he didn’t. He saved my life. It was wrong of him to help the man take me, but when it came right down to it, he couldn’t kill me.” She held his hand up to her cheek. “Sometime during the night, Jake told me the reason they found me so fast was because you remembered the boots the man was wearing. If not for you they’d not have found me, and … and my baby and I would have died.”
Eli swallowed the large lump in his throat, and his eyes filled with tears. Unable to speak, he held tightly to her hand and looked out the window.
Trudy helped Mary Lee to the bathroom, where she could wash her face and brush her teeth. Unable to get into a nightgown because of her shoulder, she put on one of her daddy’s shirts and went back to bed.
The doctor came shortly after breakfast and put a fresh dressing on her shoulder wound. Jake was waiting in the kitchen when he came out of Mary Lee’s room.
“Shoulder’s healing. I’ll leave supplies so you can change the dressing. She had a mild concussion from the blow to her head. It was mild or she wouldn’t have drifted in and out of consciousness. If she runs a fever or has labor pains, call me. I expect her to deliver in the next few days.”
Jake followed the doctor to his car, where they spoke for a few minutes. When he came back in, he went to Mary Lee’s room and hunkered down beside the bed, leaned over and kissed her lips.
“The doctor said Gaston will be here in a few days.”
“He told me. I’m anxious to get it over.”
“Will you marry me, querida?”
“I want to, more than anything.” She laughed nervously. “I don’t think I could make it to the door, much less to a church to be married.”
“I’ll get the license and bring the preacher or the justice of the peace here. Later we can be married in a church if you want to. I want so much to be this baby’s papa.”
“So Ocie Clawson won’t have a claim to him?”
“That, but not as much as I want him to be mine, carry my name.”
“Poor Mr. Clawson. Trudy said that he’d never walk again.”
“He should have seen through Lon a long time ago. My regret is that now I may not be able to clear my name of the rustling charges. If you marry me, mi tesoro, you’ll be a jail-bird’s wife.”
“Are you trying to talk me out of it? If you are, you’re not going to succeed.”
“Will this evening be too soon for you?”
“Right now wouldn’t be too soon, my love.”
“I want to hold you, but I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.” He spoke in a kind of desperate whisper, then lowered his head and kissed every inch of her face.
Her palm caressed his cheek. “You shaved.”
“Of course,” he said happily. “This is my wedding day.”
After Jake announced that he and Mary Lee would be married that evening, the house became a flurry of activity. Trudy issued orders to Eli and Deke, and they jumped to obey.
Deke was sent to Ruby’s to spread the word that there was going to be a wedding, and to ask her to bake the wedding cake. When he returned, he stayed with Mary Lee while Trudy and Eli cleaned the cabins in record time.
&nbs
p; Then it was Eli’s turn to stay while Deke and Trudy made a hasty trip uptown. They returned with a box that Trudy took in to Mary Lee.
“It’s beautiful, Trudy!” Mary Lee exclaimed when Trudy opened the box and took out a white satin housecoat trimmed with fluffy white lace and tiny covered buttons. The sleeves were wide and the body of the garment generous.
“Jake said to get something white. We saw him uptown,” she added by way of explanation.
Mary Lee looked at the price tag hanging from one of the sleeves and winced.
“It didn’t cost that much. It was on sale. Deke and I want it to be your wedding present.”
“Oh, Trudy, no. I can’t let you …”
“Are you goin’ to chase me around the house?” Trudy snipped off the price tag and carefully folded the garment and put it back in the box. “A girl doesn’t get married every day.”
“Especially a girl so pregnant she can’t bend over and could have the baby at any moment. And one with a lump on her head the size of an egg.”
“Just think of the story you can tell your grandkids. We saw Mama while we were gone. She’ll ice the cake after she gets here. She got one of the Johnson girls to come serve the evening meal at the café. ’Course, she’ll cook it this afternoon.”
“Where did you see Jake?”
“He’d just come out of the mercantile store. He bought new shirts for him and Eli. He was smiling from ear to ear. I’ve never seen a man so happy, and I don’t think anyone else has either. He looked as if he had the world by the tail and was grinning like a jackass. Speaking of jackasses, I’ve got to set up the ironing board. Deke is pestering me to iron his shirt.” She giggled. “Mama is bringing my dress. Deke is supposed to go get her about five. Jake said the ceremony would be at six.”
“How could I have ever felt sorry for myself? I have the most wonderful friends in the world.” Mary Lee choked on the last few words.
“Well, darn. You don’t have to bawl about it and get your eyes all red and puffy,” Trudy sniffed, and hurried back to the kitchen.
Jake and Mary Lee were married in the living room. Mary Lee, beautiful in the white satin robe, sat in a chair. Jake squatted down beside her, holding her hand. At the proper time, he slipped a wide gold band on her finger. After the words that made them man and wife, he kissed her tenderly, then winked at a beaming Eli in a white shirt and blue tie, who bent and kissed her cheek.
Song of the Road Page 32