Ask No Tomorrows (16 page)

But when they
went to the barber shop it was Sam making up stories.

“
He’s meetin’ his kin folks, gotta spruce up a bit, take a bath
and all. He even bought his aunt a dress,” Sam explained to the
barber.

“
That’s right nice…well the bath is in the back, help yourself,
kid.”

He left Riley
to take a bath at the barber shop, while he went back to the hotel.
He knew she was nervous about seeing the lawyers by herself, but it
was best for him to not go with her.

***

So when she
walked out of the back of the barber shop, she was wearing a dress.
Her hair was swept up and back so it didn’t look so short and she
had a hat to hide the lack of hair. She made sure no one saw her
leave.

She stopped
and asked the clerk in the general store where she might obtain a
lawyer and after giving her the eye, he told her. “Oh, you must be
the aunt?” he remarked.

“
Uh…yes, my nephew stopped in here, did he?” she
asked.

“
Yes, he bought that dress here.” The man pointed then looked a
little puzzled.

“
Wasn’t that sweet of him. I had to wear it immediately when I
opened it over at the hotel. He made such a fuss.”

The clerk
smiled and nodded.

She thanked
him and followed his directions to the lawyer’s offices, wondering
if he recognized her.

The brownstone
building was one of the tallest in town and the office was on the
second floor according to the sign in the lobby. People were coming
and going and bumping into her, but she kept her wits about
her.

Riley noticed
the clean scent of polished wood from the staircase. It shone in
the morning sunlight. The smell of lemon oil reeked. At the second
door, she read the name on the door and entered. The office was
furnished with dark cherrywood furniture and lovely vases with
flowers. Riley spoke to the woman at the large desk, and then after
a long wait, she finally got in to see a gentleman. He was middle
aged, with a sagging jaw and beady eyes, but a warm smile. He was
dressed in a suit, and looked as though he had a thousand things on
his mind at once.

He glanced at
her in surprise, noting her pretty dress with the low cleavage.
Problem was, she had a small bust and her cleavage merely hinted
that she was a woman, nothing like Mavis.

“
Well now, Miss Morgan, I’m Frank Cordell. I think we can get
this straightened out quickly enough. I’ll wire for the information
tomorrow. Then we’ll begin to legally sort this out. It should only
take a few days to a week at most until you can return to your
home,” Mr. Cordell said.

“
I
appreciate your promptness. I’ll check with you tomorrow then,” she
said, rising and heading for the door. “But I can’t return until
I’m sure they have left my ranch for good. I’d be in great jeopardy
as they have already tried to kill me.”

“
You let me handle this. I’m sure we can work it all out to
your satisfaction. You being a stranger to our city, would you care
to join me and my Mrs. for supper?” he asked.

“
Oh
no, that won’t be necessary,” she insisted. “Thank you, I’ll see
you tomorrow then.”

“
Alright, I’ll get to work on it right away,” he insisted.
“Come back tomorrow and we’ll see if we can’t get this taken care
of.”

“
Thank you so much…” She turned to smile at him and
left.

Feeling much
more confident than she expected, she returned to the hotel to tell
Sam.

He was waiting
for her in her room, in the dark. For only a moment she stood there
staring at his silhouette and how the very shadow of him made her
heart quicken. She had the urge to run into his arms, but thought
better of it. Thinking about all the kisses he gave Mavis, she
shucked her private thoughts of him quickly.

When she lit
the lamp by the door, she came inside and closed the
door.

Sam stood
staring at her as though he didn’t know her.

“
What’s wrong?” she asked as she came closer, noting his
expression.

“
Nothing…nothing at all. Guess that’s the first time I seen you
in a dress.” He cleared his throat.

“
Oh…” She laughed. “Guess it is.”

Sam’s eyes
traveled her; he even backed up a bit.

“
Do
you like it?” She gulped.

“
That’s not important. So…tell me how it went.”

“
Oh
it went fine, Sam, just like you said it would. The lawyer thinks
he can get everything straightened out very quickly,” Riley
explained.

Riley put the
dark blue shawl around her shoulders on the edge of the chair and
came to stand beside him. “Isn’t that good news?”

“
Yeah, it’s great news.” Sam swallowed, still staring at
her.

“
Where’s Nodog?” she asked flippantly.

He smiled.
“Getting kinda close to my dog, aren’t you?”

“
Maybe…”

She looked up
at him and felt her cheeks grow warm. They were only inches from
each other. She could feel his warm breath tickling her shoulder.
She could smell the combination of leather and all man, and she was
sure he’d taken a bath somewhere.

“
Well.” He cleared his throat. “Looks like you aren’t going to
need me much longer then.”

She shrugged.
“I don’t know about that…I mean…even if they straighten it out
legally, I have to tell you Sam I’m scared to go back there alone.
Just because they say it’s all still legal doesn’t mean they will
leave me alone, and if they arrest them, and they get out it will
be worse. Maybe I should consider a gunman now.”

Sam let
himself slide down to the bed to sit. “I hadn’t thought about that.
I hadn’t thought about anything past you getting this tied up with
the lawyers. But you always think the worst. Look at some point you
are gonna have to handle this yourself.”

“
I
guess you were hopin’ to get back to Mavis pretty quick.” She bowed
her head.

“
Yeah…well, I don’t know about that either, but like I told you
I was headed toward Arizona,” Sam said quietly.

“
Oh…yeah. I forgot.” She sat down on the bed beside him. “I
never even thought about maybe there being a lady somewhere waiting
for you, Sam. I never asked. Is there?”

“
There isn’t, and I gotta find a way to sneak out of here so no
one sees me comin’ out of your room,” Sam informed her as he
glanced about the place.

“
It’ll be dark soon, you could wait ‘til then to
leave…”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

“
Wish we could have dinner together…” she whispered. “I hate
eating alone…did a lot of it after dad died.”

“
Nah, they’d think you were havin’ someone here, that wouldn’t
be very lady-like.”

“
If
I ordered up a plate, we could share it,” she suggested.

A whiff of
perfume floated in the air.

“
Got you some of that high falootin’ perfume I guess.” He
sniffed.

“
No, it’s bubble bath. I found it in the room with the tub. I
had to hide under it in case someone came in on me while I was
bathing. I slipped out the back when I finished so no one would
know. The only thing is my hair. It looks so boyish. And the man at
the general store acted as though he recognized me.”

He touched her
hair and she gasped.

“
I’m sorry I had to chop it off…” He looked at her now. “You
sure look nice in that dress.”

She smiled
warmly at him, not flirty like Mavis, but just as though she
enjoyed the compliment.

“
Look…I better go now. I’ll come see ya tomorrow,” he
said.

“
Wait.” She stood up and went to his side. “Take this, you’ll
need some money.”

She put her
hands over his and they both seemed shocked at the
action.

He looked down
at her hand full of money. “I don’t like takin’ money from a woman.
It don’t seem right somehow.”

“
Nonsense, you’re helping me, aren’t you?” She didn’t realize
her voice lowered as they seemed to come closer.

She looked at
him and her eyes went misty. “Aren’t you gonna kiss me goodnight,
Sam?”

“
That’s not very wise…” he breathed heavily.

“
I
didn’t say it was wise, Sam…” she barely breathed at
all.

Then suddenly he
was
kissing
her, with all his might, all his heart, and she returned his
kisses, moaning when he pulled at her bottom lip and his tongue
shot out to delve into her mouth. He clutched her tighter, pulling
her hard against him.

“
Stay with me, Sam…” she murmured against his ear when they
came up for air.

“
I
can’t…I gotta go now…or…goodnight, Riley…” he called as he opened
the door a bit and glanced down the hallway. No one was about and
he didn’t take the money.

“
Goodnight, Sam…” she called breathlessly.

When he left
the room, it seemed so cold and alone. Riley walked the floor. She
was fast falling for Sam and she knew it, but she didn’t know how
to backtrack and change it. The kiss they had shared had stirred
her beyond words and she knew she’d never been kissed so thoroughly
before. She’d tried to get it out of her mind, especially when
Mavis came along and kissed him every night. But secretly in her
heart she had wished she could do that, kiss him every night. That
thought sent strange peculiar feelings through her, but she liked
the feelings.

Loving him was
a new experience. The fact that he was a Negro didn’t bother her a
bit. She was in love and nothing could change that. She wondered
what it might be like to lay in his arms every night and be his.
The thought made her swoon. To touch his dark beautiful skin, and
have his warm lips running rampart all over her. She twirled around
the room, letting the moment fill her.

Still, if
anyone knew, that would change things. She stopped twirling, and
shook her head. There had to be a way.

She wished
he’d say something, do something, but Sam was too smart for that.
He knew how much trouble it would bring and he wouldn’t put himself
or her in that position.

If they were
ever to be together it would have to be her doing it. But how,
when, and where?

Chapter Ten

Late that same
night there was a storm. Lightning danced across the window frame
in her room, followed closely by a thunderclap that sent unwelcome
shivers down her spine. The roll of thunder seemed to reach out
just to her. Riley snuggled down in her bed and put the pillow over
her head to drown out the terrible sounds. She shut her eyes tight
so she wouldn’t see the lightning coming through the windows,
inventing new shadows against her wall. But the unexpected cracks
of thunder pounded in her ears. “Count to ten,” she kept telling
herself so she’d know when the next roll of thunder would clap the
walls like a huge hand of God. She remembered the storm in the
cellar and how Sam had drowned it all out with his kiss. She wished
he was here to do that again. She thought about how effective it
had been.

Even if Nodog
were here, she’d feel better. She’d gotten attached to that
dog.

That same
strange womanly feeling swamped her as she thought about Sam. Not
once on the trail had she had time to think about how that kiss
affected her. She’d enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers, mastering
hers with such ease, coaxing her mouth to open at just the right
time, so he could slide his tongue inside and taste her, a new
experience for her. She’d never kissed a man. It was a mystery to
Riley as there had been no one to school her on how to act around a
man, or how to come into her own womanhood. She had many times had
questions but no one to answer them.

“
Oh
Mama, I so wish you were here…” Riley cried out aloud. “Especially
now that I’ve met Sam.”

Her mother’s
death had haunted her so. Riley had barely turned ten when her
mother came down with a fever. That’s what had her so concerned
when Dorothy came down with one. Her father sent for the doctor for
her mother, but nothing could help her. Riley had sat by her side
the entire week, holding her hand, crying, and promising that she
would get better. But she didn’t get better. Then that next
morning, her mother had died and Riley ran from the room when the
doctor pronounced her dead. She heard her father say she was
finally with God. She had run to the edge of the woods and kneeled
down and cried. She thrashed about the woods like a crazy person,
calling out to God. Why had he forsaken her mother?

No answer
came!

For a month
Riley wouldn’t come out of her room. She barely ate. Her father
became worried that she too might fall ill.

When she
finally came out of her room she saw the worry in her father’s face
and went to hug him. “I’m sorry, daddy. Don’t worry, I’m fine, I’ll
show you…”

After that,
Riley donned pants and shirt and helped her father every day on the
ranch, staying as close to him as she could, afraid that any time
he might leave her too. She became his little wrangler. He seemed
to understand why she so needed to be with him and never once sent
her away. Looking back at it, she realized how tolerant he had
been, and in some strange way they had shared the sorrow of losing
her mother together.