Dorothy Garlock (26 page)

“Mistah Hunter? Yo all right in dere? ”Dinah's worried voice came through the closed door.

“I'm all right, Dinah.”

“Yo don't never take no bath 'fore supper.”

“I… ah … wanted to cool off. I'll be out in a minute.”

He heard Dinah mumbling as she went down the hall to the stairs. Hunter got out of the tub, reached for a large fluffy towel and dried himself. After wrapping it around him, he went across the hall to his room and searched in the drawers of his bureau for clean underwear and socks.

When he went downstairs he was wearing a pair of freshly washed but worn cord trousers and a blue shirt open at the neck with sleeves rolled up to his elbow. He had given a lot of thought about what to wear when he called on Laura. He didn't want her to see him as the head of the oil company or the owner of various other businesses. Most of all, he didn't want to appear as the richest man in town. He wanted to be just a man who had finished a day's work, calling on a woman he was interested in.

He ate the egg salad sandwich and the sliced cantaloupe, thankful that Dinah stayed in the kitchen while he ate. He knew that she and Casper were concerned for him. On Casper's daily trips uptown he must have heard the rumors.

Hunter took his glass of iced tea to the front porch and sat down in the porch swing to wait until it was time to walk down the street to Laura's house.

When finally the sun settled for the night, Hunter rose to take his tea glass back into the house. Lloyd Madison's Ford roadster was coming down the street. As it approached, Hunter wondered about the man who disliked him so much. The car passed, with Madison looking toward the house. Hunter raised his hand to see if the lawyer would respond. He didn't.

In the hope that Madison would be out of the area when he went to Laura's, Hunter waited until dusk to leave the house. His palms were damp, but his mouth was dry. The tightness in his chest was the result of his anxiety as well as the anticipation of seeing Laura again.

The hope for a different life he harbored was surely the emotional backlash from Carsie's murder. Hell! He was reaching for the moon. He had always been alone and would always be alone except for Dinah and Casper. He was half ashamed of his naïveté, his secret need, his quiet desperation. The thought crossed his mind that he should turn around and go back home.

But he kept walking.

Hunter was not confident about his ability to explain to her or to himself why, after two conversations with Laura, he was obsessed with the desire to come here. When he reached the house, a light shone from the kitchen window and squeals of childish laughter came from the back. He went around the house and stood, silently taking in the scene on the back porch.

Laura's daughter sat in a washtub, splashing happily. With a washcloth in her hand, Laura jumped back from the tub.

“You little rascal! You're getting me wet.” There was laughter in her voice.

“Ma-ma.” The child squealed and pounded on the water with her small hands, spraying it out onto the porch.

“Mama is going to snatch you out of there if you don't calm down and let me wash you, ”Laura threatened.

“Ma-ma! ”Mary Pat continued to splash happily.

“I guess you deserve a little fun. It was hot today, wasn't it, sugar? ”Laura crooned and backed away. It was then she saw Hunter standing at the end of the porch. “Oh, my goodness — ”

“I scared you again, ”he said quickly “I'm sorry. I heard the baby laughing and I knew where to find…”His voice diminished to softness, then faded completely.

“I can't talk to you now. I've got to give Mary Pat a bath and put her to bed.”

“I understand. I'll not get in the way.”

He walked toward the tub, smiling down at the beautiful little girl. Mary Pat thought he was someone else to play with her. Laughing at him, she hit the water with her hands, splashing it up onto his shirt and into his face.

He laughed.

Laura gasped. “She'll get you wet.”

“I'll dry.” He sat down on the edge of the porch beside the tub. “This is a treat for me.” He lifted his eyes to Laura. The front of her dress was wet, her bare feet snuggled in the grass growing beside the porch, her glorious hair tangled about her face. Hunter thought she was beautiful, beyond beautiful. But it went deeper than that. Her violet eyes shone with warmth and kindness, love for her child and …apprehension.

“I don't want you to be afraid of me. I'll go if you want me to, but I'd like to stay.” When she said nothing, he retreated into the safety of silence until a splash of water hit him in the face. His laugh rang out. “You want to play, do you? ”

Hunter took a folded handkerchief from his pocket, dipped it in the water and draped it over the child's head.

“Gone, gone, ”he said, then jerked it off her head. “There she is! ”

Mary Pat squealed with laughter, clearly enjoying the attention of the man. He draped the handkerchief over her head again.

“Gone, gone.”

“On, on, ”she echoed.

“There she is! ”When he jerked the handkerchief from her head, she grabbed it and slapped it in the water.

“You've started something.” Laura stood beside the tub holding the washcloth.

“On, on.” The baby put the wet handkerchief on her head.

Laura's merry laugh rang out. “It didn't take her long to catch on to that.”

“She's a humdinger, ”Hunter said of the daughter, but he couldn't take his eyes off the mother. She was so slender and delicate. Yet he instinctively knew that she would be as fierce as a cornered cat if her child was in danger. This was motherhood as it was meant to be.

“It's a game Dinah played with her little girl.” Hunter found his voice.

“I didn't know she had a little girl.”

“It was a long time ago. During the war.”

“She's never mentioned her. Does she live around here? ”

“She died during the influenza epidemic.”

“Mother's folks died then, too.”

Laura took Hunter's handkerchief from Mary Pat, wrung it out and handed it to him. After wiping the washcloth over the little girl's face, she placed it on the rim of the tub and attempted to lift Mary Pat out of the water. The child had other ideas. She shrieked and held out her arms to Hunter.

“No, no, sugar. Come to Mama. I'll dry you and get you ready for bed.”

Mary Pat's face crumpled. She let out a piercing cry; tears appeared and rolled down her face. She held her arms out to Hunter. At first he didn't understand that she wanted him to take her. When he did, his heart leaped in a surge of gladness. He reached out and lifted the dripping baby from the water. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, snuggled against him and laid her wet little head on his shoulder.

Never in his life had he experienced such a joy. Had he been able to feel anything except the wonder of the moment, he would have felt the water from the baby's wet little body soaking his shirt and running down over his trousers. With his hand beneath her bare little bottom, he closed his eyes and hugged the child to him, wishing to savor every second of this wonderful experience.

“She's just discovered that there are people in the world besides her mama and grandma, ”Laura said by way of an apology. “Thad spoils her. He's the man who came to work at the hotel. Every time she sees him, she squeals and he picks her up.” Laura couldn't take her eyes from Hunter's face. She was dismayed by the expression of love and longing that she saw there. He held her child as if she were the most precious thing in the world. “You'll be wet through, ”she said lamely.

On hearing Thad's name, Hunter had felt a sharp pang of jealousy but hurriedly crowded it out of his mind. He wanted nothing to spoil this wonderful moment.

“I don't care how wet I get.”

Laura held up a towel and Hunter could do nothing but hand the child over to her. She folded the baby in the towel, stepped up onto the porch and went into the house without saying a word.

Chapter 18

S
HE HADN T TOLD HIM TO LEAVE.

Hunter waited anxiously beside the porch for a minute or two, then walked out into the yard. With shaky fingers he lit a cigarette, drew the smoke deep into his lungs and looked toward the lit kitchen window. Mrs. Cole, Laura's mother, was at the ironing board. She had murmured something to Laura when Laura went into the house. Hunter hadn't been able to make out the words, but there was no mistaking the tone of her voice. It was disapproving.

After what seemed an eternity to Hunter, Laura came out of the house. Ignoring him, she picked up a bucket and dipped it into the water in the tub. Hunter threw his cigarette to the ground, stepped on it and went to the porch as she was lifting the bucket. He took it from her hand.

“Where do you want this? ”

“On the Rose of Sharon bush.”

“Which one is that? ”

He followed Laura's pointed finger and dumped the water on a bush beside the clothesline pole. When he returned to the porch, Laura had dragged the tub closer to the edge. Without words, he grasped the other handle of the tub and they carried it to the bush. Then he took it from her and carefully poured the water on the shrub.

“Where does this go? ”Hunter asked after the tub was emptied.

“On the nail on the porch.”

Hunter hung up the tub and turned to see that Laura hadn't followed him to the porch. In the semidarkness he could see her standing beside the bush. She had made no attempt to make herself presentable. Her dress was still wet, her feet still bare. Her hair was a tangled mass of curls around her white face. In quick strides, he crossed the yard to her.

“You've got to go, ”she said as soon as he reached her. “And … don't come back.” She turned her head and stared toward the house.

“Why? What have I done? ”

“You make my mother nervous.”

“She's heard the rumors that I may have killed that woman? ”

“That…and more.”

“I swear to God, Laura, I didn't kill that woman. If the sheriff thought I did, he'd have me in jail.”

“Folks think you did.”

“I can't help what folks think. I've never killed anything but a deer, and the look in the animal's eyes before I shot it haunted me for weeks.”

“Why did you come here? There isn't enough money in the world to make me go to bed with you.” Unsmiling, she stared into the night.

“I don't know if I have the ability to explain to you why I came here, why I looked forward to it since last night. I swear that it was not to pay you to go to bed with me, ”he said, unaware that there was a pleading tone in his voice.

“Men swear to a lot of things. Most of the time it doesn't mean anything.”

“I mean it, Laura. May God strike me dead if I'm lying. Can't you think of me as just a man who enjoys your company and that of your little girl? ”he asked desperately. “I've never had a child lift her little arms to me, wanting me to hold her. I will treasure that moment for as long as I live.”

“You've got plenty of women to choose from, ”she said stubbornly. “Rich men don't waste time with poor girls unless they want something rich girls won't give them.”

“You think I'm here because I want something? ”

“Don't you? ”

“I admit that I do, Laura. I want to be with you and Mary Pat. I want to get to know you and have you know me.”

“There's not much for us to talk about, Mr. Westfall. I wash clothes for a living, while you — ”

“Don't hold it against me because I have money. Please, Laura, ”he said quickly. “I'm a flesh-and-blood man who hurts and bleeds and gets lonely the same as any man. I just want to come here, talk to you, tell you my dreams and hear about yours. That's all.”

“I don't have anything to talk to you about, ”she said again in a quiet, resigned voice. “I've not been anywhere. I've never been out of Oklahoma. I've not had much schooling. My daddy moved from town to town looking for work.”

“You can tell me about Mary Pat. I'll tell you about growing up with Dinah and Casper. They were about the only family I had. We can talk about the weather, ”Hunter added with a smile. He sensed that she was relenting.

Laura looked up at the millions of stars that blazed from horizon to horizon, beautiful but unreachable, shedding little light in the small yard where they stood.

“I'll not hurt you, nor will I bother you with my presence if you don't want me here. I'll go if you tell me to go, but I want to stay. Lord God! I've never wanted anything so badly in all my life.”

“Mama would worry if I went off in the dark with you.”

“I understand that. Both of you need to be extra careful right now. Don't go outside the house alone at night. Promise me you won't.” When she didn't answer, he asked, “Can we sit on the front porch? ”

Hunter held his breath waiting for her to answer. While she hesitated, his empty, lonely heart skipped a beat, then thudded painfully.

“Go around to the front. I'll go through the house and tell Mama where we are so she'll not worry.”

The man who stood amid the hollyhocks that surrounded the outhouse strained his ears to hear the words that passed between Laura and Hunter Westfall.

The son-of-a-bitch has been here for the second night in a row. He's being the nice guy, playing with the kid, emptying the water
—

Lloyd Madison lifted a hand to the birthmark on his face. He had a habit of fingering the mark when he was angry or anxious, as another man would crack his knuckles or whistle through his teeth. He didn't have to be reminded of the mark. He was never unaware of it or of whom he blamed for its being there.

He walked along the lot line of the property adjoining Mrs. Cole's. The lot, including the house that sat in the middle of it, was for sale. Although he had no intentions of buying it, he would pretend that he did should he be discovered lurking around. He fumed as he made his way back to his car, parked several blocks away.

He had chuckled when Laura Hopper went into the lit kitchen, spoke to her mother and Westfall had walked around the house. He had thought she had sent him on his way. But moving toward the street so that he could watch Westfall, he had seen her come out onto the front porch and sit down beside him in the swing.