[Desert Roses 03] - Beneath A Harvest Sky (8 page)

Rainy shook her head. “But I’m tired. I don’t feel like doing the trip in reverse.”

“I think it will be good for all of us. I’m going to let Duncan drive part of the trip and get some practice in.”

Duncan looked rather surprised at Sonny’s announcement. “I beg your pardon?”

Sonny shrugged. “Everybody has to jump in sooner or later. You might as well do it now. Rainy’s a great guide. She can help keep you up and running, and I’ll be sleeping right behind you,” he said with a grin.

“Not if I can put some pesky four-year-old in the seat beside you,” Rainy said, letting her frustration get the best of her. “Or better yet, some teenage girl who thinks you are the most wonderful, most handsome man she’s ever seen.” She put her hands together under her chin and batted her eyelashes in imitation of the young women who fawned over her brother.

Sonny laughed and got to his feet. “You aren’t that mean. Besides, it’s not my fault we have to work our way back home. Just remember, we get two weeks to rest up. Look beyond the trip to the goal. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go down to the garage and make sure the car is in order for tomorrow.”

Rainy watched him go and sighed. There was no sense trying to cover up her obvious disappointment.

“I was just going to take a walk,” Duncan said softly. “Would you care to join me?”

Though rather disheartened at Sonny’s news, Rainy decided to accept since she’d had so little time alone with Duncan. She smiled at him. “I probably can’t stay out long, but yes, it sounds like a nice way to end the day.”

Duncan came around and helped her up from her chair. “I found the trip quite fascinating. You have a real gift for dealing with the tourists.”

“Sometimes I think I could trade it all,” Rainy said, looking beyond Duncan to the street outside.

“But for what?”

Rainy continued walking, considering his question for a moment. “There’s no easy answer to that question. There’s a part of me that would walk away, without a second thought, for the right incentive.” She thought of marriage or the chance to work with a company like the National Geographic Society. Her days at the university had put an end to that, however. Half the staff were members of the Society, and they knew very well why Rainy had left her position.

They walked down the stairs of the hotel and into the twilight of the Arizona skies. The temperature was much cooler than what they’d endured in the open desert lands. Rainy shivered, and before she knew it, Duncan had draped his coat around her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she whispered. The golden glow of dying sun against a turquoise sky left her rather breathless and inspired. Or maybe it was just the smell of Duncan’s cologne as she hugged his coat close. “I tend to forget that it gets much cooler here at times.

I’ve even been here when there was snow on the ground.” She fell silent, uncertain of what else to say.

“So what kind of incentive?” Duncan asked.

“What?” she asked. Though she knew he was referring to her earlier statement, she was hoping to stall for time to formulate an answer.

“What kind of incentive would cause you to leave the Detour business?”

She knew the answer but found it difficult to voice.

“I know it might sound funny, but I’ve always wanted to settle down, maybe start a family.”

“I wondered why you hadn’t already married and done just that. I thought perhaps you didn’t want to have children—or a husband.”

Rainy tensed and looked to Duncan but instantly relaxed as she saw the warmth in his expression. He cared about her answer; she could see that much in his eyes. “No, it’s not that. I went to school and the years just kind of slipped away. I thought I’d meet someone at school, but that never worked out.”

“Why not?” Duncan asked, the breeze blowing strands of wavy black hair across his forehead.

Rainy stared at his hair momentarily. She wanted to reach up and push the tousled strands aside but instead turned back to face the narrow street, lest she give her heart away. “I seemed to intimidate the men in my classes,” she finally answered. “I was a very strong student—I caught on quickly and studies were easy for me. They resented that. Especially when they added to it the fact that I was working in a field few women found of interest, much less excelled in.”

Feeling uncomfortable, Rainy began to walk back toward the hotel. Duncan followed, easily coming up alongside her. “Some men are fools,” he said.

Rainy looked at him, thinking perhaps he was saying more with his words than what was actually spoken. “Some women are too,” she replied. Slipping from his coat, she handed it back. “I’d better go inside. I need a hot bath and a chance to get my clothes washed for the return trip. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She hurried away from Duncan Hartford. Uncertainty dogged her heels. Why had she grown uncomfortable so quickly? What was it about Duncan’s quiet manner that had put her so off guard?

————

“Rainy!”

It was Sonny, and he was knocking on her door loudly enough to awaken the people in the rooms on either side of her.

“What?” she asked, opening the door.

“Are your bags ready?”

She yawned. As much as she’d tried to sleep and rest up for the day, it had been a fruitless effort. “They’re ready. I just finished packing them. I washed my things out last night and had to wait until they were dry. I needed to iron out my skirt at the last minute.” She motioned to the brown skirt that fell just below her knees.

Sonny looked at her hard, almost as if he were trying to figure out how to deliver some kind of horrible news. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Did I miss a spot?” She tried to twist and turn to better see her skirt.

“I need to tell you something, but you aren’t going to like it.”

She stilled in her actions and looked her brother in the eye. “I haven’t liked much you’ve come to tell me these last few days.”

Sonny nodded. “I understand that, but you’re going to like this even less.”

Rainy yawned again. “Just tell me, Sonny. You know it’s the best way.”

“The Driscolls are among our passengers today.”

“Please tell me this is a bad joke,” Rainy said, shaking her head. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am, I’m sorry to say, and Chester is traveling with his parents. If it’s any consolation, we have a famous movie star traveling with us too. Phillip Vance.

Remember? He’s the one who starred in that western movie you liked so much last summer. Anyway, he’s with his sister. She happens to be a writer who lives in Santa Fe.”

“Why is this happening?” Rainy said, putting her hands to her head. Chester Driscoll was one of those ill-fitting pieces of her past. A piece that she had tried to force into place, only to have it pop back up.

“I’m sorry, sis. If I could do the trip without you, I would.”

“Maybe I could tell them I’m sick. Surely there’s another courier around here,” Rainy said, desperately trying to think of how she might get out of this situation.

“I don’t know. I suppose you could check into it.”

Rainy doubted there would be anyone who could take her place, however. Most of the other couriers were short-run girls. They wouldn’t want to drive all the way to Santa Fe and spend five days out on the road.

“No, just take my bag,” Rainy said in resignation.

“I’ll be down shortly. I still can’t believe this is happening.” Sonny nodded, seeming to realize further conversation would be useless.

After Sonny had gone, Rainy sat on the edge of her bed and prayed. “Lord, I don’t want to talk with those people. I don’t want to be with them. I don’t want to pretend to be friendly after the way they stabbed me in the back.”

Rainy was momentarily taken back to Marshall Driscoll’s office at the university. His position gave him a great deal of authority, and he’d had the final say on what happened to Rainy after valuable Indian artifacts were stolen and later found in her office. She could still picture the look on his face.

“If you leave quietly, the board has agreed not to press charges,” Driscoll had told her.

“But I’m innocent. Someone placed those artifacts in my office. I didn’t steal them.” Rainy had protested her innocence for half an hour until finally Driscoll had to leave for another meeting and quickly dismissed her. He didn’t care about the truth, and it was for this that Rainy faulted him.

“I’ll need your answer by morning,” he had stated without emotion or even the slightest hint of compassion.

Of course her answer had been to leave. She had no choice. To push the situation would have brought shame upon her family, and her father was a professor at the university. She couldn’t allow him to bear any of the blame. Worse yet, Mr. Driscoll had suggested her father’s position would be in jeopardy if this matter were brought to public attention.

So she left. Quietly. She left without a word to anyone— except Chester Driscoll. Chester had purported to be in love with Rainy, but all that changed when the artifacts were found in her office. He had come to say good-bye to her, promising that in time this would be behind them and they could start their love anew.

“I’m not in love with you, Chester. I have no desire to start anything—anew or otherwise,” she had told him, even as she packed the bits and pieces of her life into a small box.

“Darling, you’re just upset. Don’t worry about this mess. No one really believes you stole those artifacts.”

When she looked into his eyes, she suddenly knew the startling truth. Chester knew she hadn’t stolen the artifacts. He knew it for a fact. His eyes betrayed the truth even as she stood there with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“What do you know about this, Chester?” she had asked angrily.

“I don’t know what you’re implying. I know nothing about the theft.”

“Then how are you so certain of my innocence?”

He smiled. “That’s easy. I know your character. I know you’d never do this thing.”

“Then why didn’t you tell that to the board?”

He’d had no answer, just mumbling about how no one would have taken seriously a man who was in love with the defendant.

“Why must I endure this man again, Lord?” Rainy now prayed, pushing the memories aside. “Why must I face his father and mother and the others? I’ve no desire to be their courier. I’ve no desire to make a pretense of enjoying their company for the sake of the Detours. Oh, God, please help me with this. This is so hard to deal with.”

Thirty minutes later Rainy found herself face-to-face with the Driscolls. Mrs. Driscoll, a dour little woman, had not changed much in the three years since Rainy had last seen her. Marshall Driscoll had put on at least fifty pounds, however, and Chester looked quite sporty in his top-of-the-line single-breasted coat of brown check.

“Why, Rainy Gordon,” he murmured, “you look simply marvelous. If I weren’t a married man, I would definitely be in pursuit of rekindling our romance.”

“We never had a romance,” Rainy said, refusing to shake his hand. “I congratulate you on your marriage.

I understand you married Bethel Albright, the niece of my father’s good friend Professor Albright.”

“I should have known you’d keep track of me,” Chester said with a hint of a smirk.

“Like I would any other snake,” she murmured.

“I absolutely insist on being introduced to this marvelous young woman.” The voice came from a dashing blond-haired man who came up to stand at Rainy’s left side.

Chester laughed. “This is Rainy Gordon, an old love of mine. Rainy, this is Phillip Vance, famed legend of the silver screen.”

Phillip smiled warmly and lifted Rainy’s hand to his lips. “I’m positively charmed to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Vance,” she said, barely keeping herself from adding that she’d never been a love of Chester Driscoll’s. She allowed herself a moment to study the screen star’s smooth jaw, straight nose, and startling eyes.

“I’m hoping you can help me,” Phillip said, his voice honey smooth.

“I’m not sure I can,” Rainy replied, “but I’ll certainly do my best.”

Phillip beamed her a smile. “I’ve come to the Desert Southwest to learn more about the Indians. If you’re familiar at all with my work, you’ll know that most of my films are westerns. I want to make them more realistic. I’m starring in a new film called
The
Mystery of Navajo Gulch
. I’m hoping to see the real Navajo people—to learn about them and better understand them. I want the movie to be as accurate as possible because I’m putting some of my own money into the making of this project.”

“How very noble of you,” Rainy said, not feeling at all interested in his cause.

“You think me insincere?” He looked genuinely hurt and Rainy immediately regretted her reply.

She was grateful that Chester had lost interest and had now joined his mother. He was deep in an animated conversation that included all kinds of hand gestures.
Same old Chester,
Rainy thought. Turning back to Phillip, she drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I didn’t sleep well last night, but that is still no reason to be harsh with the guests. Please accept my apology. I’ll do what I can to help you.”

Phillip immediately perked up. “Wonderful. Now, you must come and meet my sister, Jennetta. She lives in Santa Fe and is one of those madly tortured authors who sleeps all day and writes all night. Some day she’ll be famous—but right now she’s just grumpy.”

Phillip immediately put her at ease and Rainy couldn’t help but giggle at this reference. She’d met many of the writers who frequented Santa Fe’s cafes and other gathering places. Artists and writers made up a growing number of people who had embraced Santa Fe as their undisclosed place of residence. The community was branded as positively inspiring for those of an artistic nature.

Phillip led Rainy to where his sister stood talking with Marshall Driscoll. “Jennetta, dear, this is our guide, Rainy Gordon. Miss Gordon, this is my sister, Jennetta Blythe.” The woman looked mousy compared to Phillip’s vibrant appearance. Plain brown hair had been bobbed short and she wore a gray wool skirt and jacket that allowed only a hint of a blue blouse to peek from the top.