by Sara Orwig
Vivian sat in cutoffs and a T-shirt, with her hair falling loose over her shoulders. Staring into space, she seemed to think over his offer. “Is it dangerous?”
“No, it’s not. It’s dusty, dirty and noisy.”
“We might do that.”
“You’ll hear us because of the noise. I’m guessing we’ll be here in about an hour.”
She nodded and watched him stride away. He wore a fresh T-shirt and jeans and his long-legged stride covered the ground swiftly. He climbed into his pickup and drove away.
It was two hours before they were ready, but Mary Catherine was as excited at the prospect as Vivian was. Lita was there to stay with Julia. Vivian took Mary Catherine’s hand and they stepped outside into hot sunshine.
Matt had been right. She could hear the bawling of cows, and if Mary Catherine showed the slightest concern or fear, they would come right back to the house. As it was, she could barely hold Mary Catherine back from running off toward the corral. As soon as they rounded the barn, she saw them working in a cloud of dust. It was noisy with the sound of animals moving around, the jingle of harnesses, the yells of cowboys and the slamming of the gates to chutes. She spotted Matt on a large black horse and they moved closer.
As they drew near the rail fence, Mary Catherine became quiet and Vivian thought she might be afraid. The horses were big, the men were yelling, and animals were moving constantly. Matt was bare-chested, with a red bandanna tied around his head. He looked wild, as foreign to men she had known as if he had come from another planet. She thought of his Native American ancestors because now he looked like one of them.
“Want to go back to the house?”
“No.” Mary Catherine shook her head vigorously. “Can we sit on the fence like you do when I ride Molasses?”
Vivian watched a few minutes and decided it would be safe to sit and watch, so she helped Mary Catherine to the top rail where she clung tightly. Vivian perched beside her with an arm around Mary Catherine’s waist. Matt was busy, and if he knew they were there, he didn’t acknowledge them. She suspected he hadn’t seen them because he was working his horse with a cow and a calf that were trying to avoid him.
Vivian watched him wheel the horse around, heard him yell as he got the calf separated and drove it into a chute. He turned his horse, saw them and rode over to them. Rivulets of sweat had cut through dust covering his shoulders and chest.
“Been here long?”
“No. A few minutes.”
A cowboy’s deep yell caused Matt to turn. Vivian followed his gaze and saw a cowboy in a battle of wills with a balky horse. The horse reared, pawing the air, but in seconds the cowboy brought the animal under control and was working, trying to cut a calf from a cow.
“Like this, Mary Cat?” Matt asked Mary Catherine, and she nodded her head. Her blue eyes were enormous as she watched all the milling animals.
“The language may not be great,” Matt said to Vivian.
“It’s so noisy and so much is going on, I don’t think it will matter. It’s too hot and dusty to stay here long.”
“I wouldn’t stay if I didn’t have to,” he said with a flash of white teeth, which were an even sharper contrast than usual because of the dust on his face. “I better get back,” he said, and turned away.
As Vivian watched him work, she realized that while this didn’t seem so dangerous, a lot of his work must be. He dealt with animals and elements of nature and she knew a lot of the time he must encounter hazards.
In half an hour Mary Catherine was ready to go. Vivian helped her climb down and took her hand to return to the house, where she showered and changed after bathing Mary Catherine. This afternoon they were going to Dakani with Matt to get her car, and Vivian was looking forward to it.
After lunch Matt told Lita she could take the afternoon off. Vivian and the girls left to ride with him into Dakani to get groceries and supplies. When they walked to the pickup, she saw one of the men waiting.
“Royce’s going to ride in with us and drive your car back.”
Vivian laughed. “I can drive my car back, Matt.”
“I want you and the girls with me and he wants to go into town, anyway. C’mon, you’ll like meeting him.”
“I know I’ll like meeting him,” Vivian said. “Why wasn’t I consulted about this? Why do I bother to ask?”
Matt grinned. “You’ll get used to my high-handed ways in a few more weeks.”
She shook her head and smiled, wondering if she was going to get too used to his ways.
When they drove into Dakani, Vivian looked at a town that was larger than Atwater, but had similar wide streets, cars angled in front of the stores and a center strip for parking in the middle of the main street. There were more shops, more early-1900s brick buildings.
Matt turned off Main along a side street to a large car dealership, where Vivian paid for her car and gave the keys to Royce to drive it home. When she climbed into the car, Matt drove back to Main Street.
“You’ll have more choices here because Dakani is bigger than Atwater, but not like Enid,” he said as they drove along Main Street and he turned into a parking place. “I’ll take y’all to get ice cream this afternoon, and it’ll be the same as Atwater. Everyone in town will want to meet you and see Mary Catherine and Julia.”
“That’s fine. Everyone was nice in Atwater,” Vivian said, wondering how many ex-girlfriends Matt had in these parts.
They parted, agreeing to meet at Addie’s Grill. Matt stood on the hot sidewalk and watched Vivian walk away, his gaze lingering on the sway of her hips. She wore the red skirt and blouse again and had her hair in a long braid that hung down her back. She was bare-legged and wore sandals, and he wished she were in her cutoffs. She twisted to look over her shoulder, her gaze meeting his, and then she turned and went down the street. Wondering if she was checking to see if he was watching her, he was amused. She was something to look at, all right. And she would be here four more weeks. Just the thought of having her around the next month made his pulse race.
He bought his supplies, including a new sandbox for Mary Catherine, met them at Addie’s Grill and waited patiently while people met Vivian and Mary Catherine and looked at Julia. They kidded him about the delivery, but he didn’t mind. Then he took Vivian and the girls to the grocery store, where Mary Catherine once again rode in his cart.
When they were back in the pickup, he drove to the hardware store, running in to purchase one thing. He got back in the pickup and drove down Main Street.
“That was fun today,” Vivian said. “There are several ladies here, too, who had endless questions about you and your house and how I like staying there.”
“Probably Caitlyn and Becky.”
“You guessed right,” she said, noticing he was barely listening and kept watching the rearview mirror. And then she realized they were doubling back where they had already driven along Main. “Did you forget something?”
“Just a minute, Vivian,” he said, suddenly stopping. Before she could reply, he was out of the pickup. She turned to watch him run to the black car several yards behind them. Traffic moved slowly and the car turned to go around Matt, but he blocked its path and the driver stopped. Matt dashed to the door, jerked it open and yanked the driver out of the car.
Stunned, Vivian glanced at Mary Catherine, who was happily buckled up and playing with a new sticker book in her lap, oblivious of their stop.
She looked back as Matt confronted the stranger. Matt stood with his feet apart, his fists doubled, and he looked ready for a fight. Had Baker found her? Vivian wondered.
Chapter 10
Fury burned as hot as the sun beating down on him as Matt faced a square-jawed, thick-shouldered man who was several inches taller and at least sixty pounds heavier than he was. “Why are you following me?”
“Hey, mister, I wasn’t following—”
Matt took a step closer. “We’re going to settle this here and now,” he said quietly.
“Okay. You can find out easy enough. I’m following the woman in your car.”
“Why? Are you Baker Ashland?” he asked, eyeing the man who looked like a linebacker for a pro team.
“No. I was hired by Ashland to follow his wife.”
“Ex-wife—right?”
“Yeah, ex.”
“Why?” Oblivious to cars creeping past them on the wide street or the stares of people, Matt knew there would be a thousand questions from the locals later, but at the moment he didn’t care.
“Look, get outta here. I can charge you with assault.”
“There will be assault if you don’t answer my question. I’ll get the sheriff. He can think of ten reasons to lock you up and lose the key and you’ll be buried here in Dakani. You’re not in Denver now—you’re in a little town where we protect our own.”
“Hey! I’m just doing a job.”
“What’s the job? I want to know if she’s going to be abducted, harmed in any way—”
“Hell, no. You know we’re blocking traffic.”
“My patience is going,” Matt said, raising his fist slightly.
“I’m hired to see where she is and where she’s going. That’s it. No abduction, no harm. Damn, her ex is a suit. He just wants information.”
“Yeah, so do I.”
“That’s it. I’m legit and I was just hired to follow her and report back. Simple.”
“You get out of Dakani.”
“While you can’t tell me what to do, I’ll be damn glad to get out of this two-bit flea trap that doesn’t even have a movie theater.”
“What’s your name?”
“Rocky Thornton and I’ve never met the woman.”
“Look,” Matt said, leaning close, his voice dropping and becoming deadly quiet, “stay off my place. It’s within my rights to shoot trespassers.”
“Hey, buddy,” the man said, throwing up his hands. “I don’t want on your place. What the hell would I do there except watch cows chew grass? I’m outta here.”
Matt walked away, half wishing it had been Baker Ashland, yet surprised at how angry he had been to discover they were being followed. He usually didn’t have cause to lose his temper except on occasion when he’d had too many beers and someone wanted a brawl at Taylor’s Bar. Even then, he had never burned with rage like he had just now.
The thought of anyone threatening Vivian, Mary Catherine and Julia pushed him over the edge. The guy had known who Matt was, and from his reply to Matt about staying away from his farm, Rocky Thornton must have already checked out his house.
The black car passed Matt, and Thornton didn’t glance around. At the next corner, he turned and disappeared. He’d been either careless or stupid about following them. Matt had been aware of him for some time, but he wanted to be certain he was being followed before he confronted the guy.
Matt climbed into the pickup, glancing at Mary Catherine, who was happily pulling stickers out and didn’t seem aware that he was back or that he had been gone. He looked at Vivian, whose face was white, her eyes wide and filled with worry.
“Should I ask when we get home?”
“Probably. There’s no need to talk about it right now,” he said, wanting to avoid alarming Mary Catherine.
He picked up the cellular phone, punched in a number and in seconds had Sheriff Gonzales on the line. “I just met Rocky Thornton.”
While Vivian listened to Matt’s phone conversation, her curiosity was rampant. She had been shocked by Matt’s actions. The man had been larger than Matt, but that hadn’t seemed to make any difference to either one of them. She looked at Matt, who sat listening quietly, a muscle working in his jaw, and she realized he was still angry. She remembered her own anger when she thought she was being followed, but it was nothing compared to Matt’s. For once, he had made his feelings plain.
Would the private detective quit now? Vivian wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Unless Baker was paying an exorbitant amount, which he might be doing. When Baker wanted something, he put himself totally into achieving it.
“He was right behind us,” Matt continued telling Gonzales. “I just wanted to ask him what he was doing.”
That was putting it mildly, Vivian thought, yet the sheriff might know Matt well enough to guess what had just transpired.
“I don’t know where he is now. I think he’ll stay away from my place. Okay. Thanks.” He switched off the phone and dropped it beside him.
Questions swirled in Vivian’s mind, but it wasn’t until Vivian had tucked Mary Catherine into bed at nine o’clock that night that she and Matt were able to discuss what had happened that afternoon in Dakani. Vivian had changed to cutoffs and a T-shirt. She found Matt sitting in the dark on the back porch and she came out to join him. He had shed his T-shirt and boots and sat with his feet propped on the porch rail. His hair was combed back from his face and tied with a strip of rawhide.
“Finally, I can hear what that was all about.”
“It was the guy you thought you saw following you down here.”
“I never really got a good look at him, but today I saw it was the same black car with Colorado tags.”
“He’s Rocky Thornton. Said Baker Ashland hired him to follow you and find out where you settle. He’s as dim as a burned-out bulb to follow us like he did and drive a car here with Colorado tags.”
“Wasn’t that a little drastic today?” she asked, studying Matt.
His head swung around and he looked at her. He lowered his feet from the porch rail and turned to her, making her pulse jump. He picked up the thick braid and untied the ribbon around the end of it, beginning to loosen her hair. “I don’t think it was drastic. He’s lucky I didn’t flatten him. I’m not one of your suits, Vivian. People out here live close to the earth and they’re forthright and plain about their feelings. He’s scum to follow a woman and two little babies.”
“I don’t want you to fight someone over me.”
Matt unbraided Vivian’s hair, combing his fingers through it. Placing one arm across the back of her chair, he drifted his hand over her nape as he leaned closer. “You don’t, huh?”
“No, I don’t,” she answered, aware of Matt watching her and conscious how close he sat. “You could get hurt and you could hurt someone needlessly. He hasn’t harmed me.”
“I’m not worried about getting hurt.”
“I’m sure you’re not,” she said, thinking how fierce he had looked today.
“So just let him follow you?”
“Well, I don’t like that, either, but you might just talk to him.”
He grinned and she could see his white teeth in the darkness. “That’s all I did today. Just a question or two.”
“After you yanked him out of the car.”
Julia’s cries came over the intercom and Vivian started to stand, but Matt squeezed her shoulder. “Stay where you are,” he said. “I’ll change her and bring her to you. I’ll turn my back so you have privacy while you feed her.”
“You don’t—”
“I know I don’t need to. Stay put.”
“Yes, sir.”
He grinned and was gone and she shook her head. He was going to do what he was going to do. She would like to see him changing a diaper. What would the P.I. think if he could see Matt now?
Vivian waited to hear a call for help from him, but in a surprisingly short time he reappeared holding Julia, with a thin cotton baby sheet spread between her and his shoulder. He lowered her carefully, holding her head, to hand her to Vivian.
She took the baby and he moved his chair, pulling it closer to the porch rail and turning away from her. “You don’t need to leave, Vivian. I’ll turn around and give you privacy. Just stay here where we can talk.”
She shifted Julia, who was hungry and began to suck greedily. Matt’s voice was quiet and deep as they talked.
“Think the P.I. will quit now?” she asked.
“Why would he quit? He gets paid for dealing with situations far w
orse than today. I didn’t scare him off. I think he’ll hang around and try to see where you go when you leave. I imagine he’s keepmg tabs on your car.”
“Have you asked Jake Claiborne if he’s contacted him?” Vivian asked.
“Thornton hasn’t contacted Jake, but he contacted one of Jake’s mechanics. He knows your car was repaired. He’ll inform Baker and probably hang around and keep watch on the farm.”
“Watch us here?”
“Sure. He can park on a section line with some high-powered binoculars and see us come and go. Or he can risk trespassing, but Pete’s told the other farm hands to watch for any stranger. I don’t think Thornton will set foot on my farm.”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, unable to imagine the man trespassing after the encounter today. “You weren’t afraid of him at all, were you?”
“No, I wasn’t. Fear is the last thing I would feel with someone like that.”
She gazed into the darkness beyond the yard and goose bumps broke out on her arms in spite of the summer night. “I don’t like to think about someone out there watching us.”
“Forget it, Vivian. You’re safe here and all Thornton can do is watch. He won’t do that if I catch him.”
“Matt, please don’t resort to violence.”
He laughed. “That guy only understands violence. A punch in the nose isn’t violent.”
“It is!”
“Is this another difference between us? Sheriff Gonzales promised to keep watch. He and his deputies are going to drive by the farm fairly often, so he will handle it if he catches Thornton. I won’t promise no violence if I catch him on my land. He’s not going to trespass on my property and spy on you and Mary Catherine and Julia. No way.”
“I give up.”
“You might as well.”
They sat in silence for a time. When she had finished nursing Julia, she put the baby against her shoulder and heard a tiny burp. She smoothed the thin batiste shirt Julia wore and cradled her in her arms.
“Want to hold her?” Vivian asked Matt.
He twisted around and stood, moving his chair back beside her, and then he leaned down to take Julia in his arms. “What a sweetie,” he said softly to her, and Vivian again was amazed at the gentle streak in him.