Cowboy Sing Me Home (13 page)

Dusty made a face at the photos and filed
them.  But maybe she was on to something.  Maybe a new hairstyle would shake
things up a little and get her out of her funk.  Maybe she needed a change in
her own scenery, and then she’d quit feeling like her life was just one dreary,
lonely day after another. 

Someone knocked at her door, and she
jumped at the unexpected sound.  She opened her door to Luke Tanner, wearing a
coat and tie.

“What is that thing around your neck?” 

He ran his hand down the tie and grinned. 
“Pretty snazzy, huh?  I thought I’d come by and see if you want a ride to the
Jubilee.”

“You thought you’d come by and see if I’m
still hacked off at you about this morning.”

“Guilty.”

“Yes, I am.  You’re wearing a coat and tie
for the Jubilee?”  He hadn’t said anything about a coat and tie.  No one had
said one word about a coat and tie.

“Well yes, but you’re not expected to wear
one.”  He grinned, but stopped when she didn’t return it.

“I thought this was just going to be some
casual thing outside on the square.”

“It is casual.  You don’t have to dress
up.”

“But you’re dressed up.”

“It’s not like I’m wearing a tux or
anything.  And besides, I just put it on to impress you.  Since you’re still
hacked at me and all.”  He waited a beat, then said, “And from that look in
your eye that says you want to slap me, I’m guessing it’s not working.  Can I
come in?”

She glanced at the clock.  It was 4:30
already.  She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.  She had
known agreeing to play this Jubilee was a bad idea.  People like her didn’t
hang out with the folks singing hymns and communing with each other’s spirits. 
“Sorry, no.  You can’t come in, and I don’t need a ride.”

He chewed his lip and studied her face. 
“You’re not going to pull a no-show on me, are you?”

“Of course not,” she said crossly,
although she’d contemplated that very thing.  The only thing that stopped her
was the voice of her parents, who’d both drummed into her head the importance
of always doing what she said she was going to do.

He stepped up into the doorway and cupped
her cheek.  “You’re sweating this Jubilee too much, Dusty.  It’s just another
gig.”

“Easy for you to say.”

He nodded.  “Yeah, it’s easy for me to
say, because it’s true.  Which are you madder about?  Kissing you this morning,
or dragging you into this Jubilee?”

“Both.”

He laughed softly, his breath on her lips,
then kissed her.  “Then I don’t have much to lose, do I?”

“I’m probably going to get stoned for
showing my heathen face at this stupid revival, you know.  I know, I know, it’s
a Jubilee.”  She stepped back and pushed him away.  “Get out of here.  I have
to get ready.”

“I’m going.  But Dusty?  Seriously, don’t
sweat it.  No one cares what you wear.  You could show up naked and I’ll bet no
one would even notice.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was laughing
when she did so.  “If you’re trying to reassure me, you need to work on it a
bit.  I’ll see you on the square.  And don’t be late.”  She didn’t want to be
sitting around up there by herself.

Dusty grumbled as she sifted through the
clothes in her closet, taking in nothing but wall-to-wall jeans.  What did a
person wear to a ‘Jubilee,’ anyway?  The compartment under her bed held the
clothes she considered dress-up.  They were for performing and all wrong for
tonight, with fringe or rhinestones or something else flashy enough to get her
labeled a Jezebel. 

She cussed Luke Tanner out loud, standing
in her small bedroom with one hand on her hip.  She made a face, said, “What
the hell,” grabbed her purse, and headed for Corinne and Toby’s house.

She wasn’t exactly sure which house was
theirs, until she saw Toby tiptoeing down the sidewalk in bare feet, his shirt
untucked and unbuttoned.  He smiled and waved when he saw Dusty.  “Hey, go on
in.  Corinne’s in the house.  Don’t tell her I’m leaving, though, okay?  I left
my tie down at the office and I have to go get it before she finds out and
wants to strangle me with it.”

He drove off and Dusty knocked on the
door, still unsure what lie she was going to tell Corinne. 

She heard a shriek from inside.  She
cupped her hands and pressed her nose to the glass, but she couldn’t see
anything.  She opened the door and stuck her head in.  “Umm…knock knock?”

Cade streaked through the room, screaming
and laughing hysterically, wearing only unbuttoned pants that sagged around his
hips.  Corinne rushed by in pursuit, holding a shirt.

“You get back here, right now!”

“Umm, hi,” Dusty said, not entirely sure
she could be heard over the ruckus.

Evidently Corinne was accustomed to people
just walking in her front door, because she didn’t seem surprised in the least
to see Dusty standing there, and smiled and invited her in.

Dusty smiled back, because for once
Corinne looked absolutely awful.  Rollers stuck out from her head, and a few
were sliding out and hung precariously on strands of hair.  She wore a white
blouse that sported a fresh-looking blue stain, and despite her smile looked
frazzled.

She’s not perfect, Dusty thought.  For
some selfish reason, the thought comforted her a great deal.  “I was getting
ready for Jubilee and found a stain on my dress that the drycleaner missed.” 
So what if it was a lie?  Corinne wasn’t perfect, after all.  “I think we’re
about the same size.  Do you have anything I could borrow?”

“Sure,” Corinne said breathlessly as she
made a grab for Cade on his return pass.  “If there’s one thing I have, it’s a
lot of clothes.  Just ask my husband.  Was he outside, by the way?”

“Mmm, yeah, I think I saw him.”

“He’d better get in here and help me with
this little wild child.  After all, it’s his genes that are making him act like
this.  I was never this uncooperative when I was a kid.”  She followed Cade
back down the hall.  Dusty wasn’t sure what to do, so after a moment of
standing in the middle of the living room by herself, she went after them. 
Corinne looked in the bathroom, bent over and came up with Cade’s pants. 
“Great.  He got his pants off.”  Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she turned
to Dusty conspiratorially.  “Next comes the diaper, and believe me, nothing
good comes after that.  He’s going through a hiding stage.  Help me look for
him, would you?  And try to be quiet.  Hearing people call his name just
encourages him.”

Dusty went quietly through the bathroom,
opening cabinets and looking behind the shower curtain.  She went back into the
hall, where she could see Corinne on her bedroom floor, looking under the bed. 
Dusty went through Cade’s room, but came up empty.  She went back into the
bathroom, simply because she felt weird going through someone else’s house. 
She was about to search the bedroom again when the clothes hamper lid flew up
and screamed “Boo!”

Dusty screamed and jumped, which delighted
Cade to no end.  His little white teeth flashed as he giggled so hard he tipped
the hamper over.  Dusty caught it before he hit the ground.  “Found him,” she
called to Corinne.  Little cretin.  Still giggling – and still diapered, thank
goodness – Cade crawled into Dusty’s arms.

“Great, “ Corinne said.  “Okay, I’ll make
a deal with you.  You hang on to him and I’ll get you some clothes.  Dress or
slacks and a blouse?”

Dusty eyed Cade warily. He grinned at
her.  “You want me to hang onto him?”

“Yes, please.  Just keep him corralled
while I get dressed and find something for you.  Dress or slacks?”

Dusty wasn’t altogether sure this was a
good idea.  She hadn’t bargained on the squirmy body in her arms.  While she
sifted through ideas of getting out of this gracefully, he put his palms to her
cheeks and kissed her, his lips flat against hers, saying “Mmm-wha!” as he did
so.  He patted her cheeks.  “Pitty.”

“That’s ‘pretty’.  See, he’s a little
flirt just like his dad.  I am in so much trouble with him, I’m afraid.  I’ll
be right back.”  And Corinne was off.

Dusty straightened and stared at Cade, who
looked delightedly back at her, apparently mesmerized by her face.  His gaze
roamed over it unapologetically, and he put his chubby hands in her hair and
patted again.  “Pitty.”

Dusty cleared her throat.  “Umm...
thanks.”

“You never said.  Dress or slacks?”
Corinne called from the bedroom.

“What are you wearing?”

“A dress, but no pantyhose, not in this
heat.  Just a light summer dress and sandals.  I have plenty of sandals you can
borrow, too, by the way.”

“That sounds great.”  Right now anything
that would get her out of here sounded great.  Cade stared up at her, and Dusty
decided she couldn’t just stand here and stare back at those big brown eyes and
soft blonde hair.  She picked up the pair of pants Cade had shed. “Let’s see if
we can get these back on.”

She stood him on the counter and used her
body to brace him from behind while she picked up his foot to put into the pant
leg.  He knew the drill, and it didn’t take long to get them on.  When they
were buttoned and zipped, he turned and looked in the mirror and smiled at his
reflection.  “Pitty.”

“Yes, pitty,” Dusty agreed softly.  Geez,
he was gorgeous, with soft round cheeks and tiny white teeth and eyes that
sparkled under dark lashes.  She swallowed, and pictured Corinne standing over
her child’s crib, watching him sleep and thanking God for the miracle that now
lived in her house.

Dusty shook her head and brought herself
back to reality.  “Okay, where’s your shirt?”

Cade bent and picked up a washcloth and
held it up.

“Umm, I don’t think so.”  She carried him
into his bedroom – she was afraid to let his feet touch the floor, at this
point – and saw a blue shirt on his bed.  “I think this is what Mommy wants you
to wear.”  She stood him on the bed, and Cade helpfully stuck his head out for
her to slip the shirt over, and threaded his arms through the sleeves like a
pro.  “Good job,” Dusty said.

“Oh, thank you so, so much,” Corinne said
as she breezed back into the room.  “I don’t know why he always fights getting
dressed for me.  He’s an angel for everyone else.”  She wore a sleeveless mint
green dress with white polka dots, and was brushing the curls out of her hair
as she moved around the room, finding Cade’s shoes and socks.  “I laid a couple
of dresses on the bed, and the sandals are on the shelf in the closet.  Thanks
a million for helping me.  After a year and a half, I still don’t know how
other mothers do it.  I am absolutely overwhelmed every minute of every day.” 
She turned and smiled at Cade, then turned back to Dusty.  “But isn’t it
wonderful?”

Dusty bit her lip and swallowed.  “I
wouldn’t know.  I’ll go get dressed so we can get out of here.”

A car door slammed outside.  “There’s your
daddy, the rat.  Of course he shows up now, when most of the work is done.  He
can put your shoes and socks on.”  She tickled Cade’s tummy and carried him
from the room.

Dusty chose one of the dresses Corinne had
lain on the bed, intensely aware that she was in someone else’s house.  The
items in the room told the story of a couple, and she felt mildly voyeuristic
as she slipped the dress over her head, studying the intimate array of perfume
bottles, cufflinks, hair clips, scraps of paper, and various daily objects that
littered the dresser top.  Her mind touched on the short time in her life when
she’d shared such a space with another person, then shied away. 

            She left the bedroom as quickly as she
could, but the scene that greeted her in the living room left her no more at
ease.  Corinne was straightening Toby’s tie, then she pulled him close to give
him a quick kiss.  “There.  Perfect.”

            He kissed her back before bending to pick
up Cade.  “Gotta be, to fit in with this handsome family.  Dusty, you look
great.  Corinne has a dress just like that.”

            Corinne held onto the tie and led him out
the door, smiling at Dusty over her shoulder.

            Dusty tuned her guitar and watched as
people milled around the brown grass of the courthouse square, talking and
visiting.  Rows of white folding chairs stretched out before her, most of them
still empty.  At first glance, the scene was remarkably like the revival she’d
told Luke about, when she’d played with her parents.  Girls in light cotton
dresses, boys with button-down shirts and slicked back hair.  Not everyone was
dressed up.  She saw several women in slacks, and even a few people in shorts. 
But she was glad she’d borrowed the dress anyway, even if she did still feel
out of place.

She picked up on threads of tension here
and there, resentful glances and whispered conferences in tight little knots of
people across the lawn.  She watched with interest and a feeling of
‘I-told-you-so’ at the undercurrent of hostility snaking through the crowd.

            Luke sat on the stool beside her and
warmed up on a few scales.  He was watching just as she was, she noted.  He
mumbled something under his breath, then turned to her. “I hope we get through
this first night without a cat fight.  Have you seen Mavis?”