Dorothy Garlock (31 page)

“Are you insinuating what I think you are? ”Danger glittered in Joe's blue eyes.

“Not insinuating anything, my friend. Just merely making an observation.”

“Let's get one thing straight. I'm not your friend. Another thing, if I hear one word said about my sister, I'll come after you and put your ass up between your shoulders before I leave.”

The grin left Lloyd's face. “There's something you'd better get straight, Joe, before you give a second thought about jumping me. All I'd have to do is whisper in someone's ear that you're carrying on an incestuous relationship with your sister and a half hundred men in this town would be ready to tear you apart the minute I said the word. Don't mess with me. Understand? ”His eyes reflected his hatred as he turned and walked slowly up the stairs.

“Joe.” Jill pulled on his arm until he finally looked at her. “I didn't understand all of what he said. He thinks you and I are… sweethearts? That's ridiculous. He knows that I'm your sister.”

“Yes, he knows you're my sister, but down in his dirty mind he wants to believe we're sweethearts, ”he finished in a cold choked voice.

“That…that's sick! ”Jill managed to say.

“He doesn't really believe it. He just wants other people to believe it so he can cause trouble for us.”

Jill shivered. “He scares me.”

“Be careful. Don't let him get you alone.” Joe's face was creased with worry. “I'm going to talk to Thad and Blue. I think there should be two of us here with you women all the time.”

“Aunt Justine thinks he wants to kill her.”

“Has she ever given you a reason? ”

“No, but from little things I've picked up, I think she knew him before she came here.”

“It would have had to be a long time ago. She's been here since before the war.”

“Joe, I don't want you to give up your job. You want to earn as much as you can.”

“Not when it means leaving you here where that crazy fool can get at you. Why don't you go help Thad in the kitchen? I don't want to leave you here at the desk with Madison upstairs.”

“Isn't Radna there? ”

“Blue was going to take her for a drive. He'd die before he admitted it, but he likes her. I've not seen him this interested in a woman before.”

Radna stepped up onto the running board and got into the car. Blue was already seated behind the wheel.

“All right, Randolph, where are we going? ”

“Out to say good-bye to Ramon.”

“Are you out of your mind? We could be followed.”

“I'll know it if we are. We'll stop and get in the backseat. They'll think we drove out there to diddle.” He lifted his brows when he glanced at her.

“You've got a nasty mind, Randolph.”

“Is there anything you want to take to Ramon? ”

Without saying a word, she got out of the car and went into the back of the hotel. When she came out, she had an old felt hat on her head and something cradled in a scarf she had slung over her shoulder. Without a word, she climbed onto the seat and looked straight ahead.

Blue started the car, turned around in the middle of the street and headed out toward the vast prairie. The town was almost out of sight before Radna spoke.

“That young policeman from the city was in the kitchen talking to Thad. He might ask Thad where we're going.”

“I told him.”

“Oh, my God, ”Radna shouted. “Stop this car, you fool! ”

“Why? We're not there yet.”

“If they've arrested Ramon, I'll cut your heart out! ”She bellowed the threat, so infuriated her eyes darted wildly about.

“Sheesh! ”he snorted. “You're always wanting to cut somebody. I've never known such a vicious woman.”

“You're about to find out how vicious I am, you blackhearted son-of-a-bitch.”

“Climb down off your thorny high horse, Rose. Jelly said the best thing to do for Ramon was to get him out of the country. I showed him where Ramon was hiding out when we came the other morning. He laughed. Said the yahoos up here couldn't find their asses with both hands.”

Radna was so angry she choked with it. She balled her fist, ready to swing. Blue's hand darted out and grabbed her wrist.

“Don't hit me, Rose. I might run into a tree and you'd have to walk.”

“You …you …horse's ass. There isn't a tree within a mile.”

“True. But one might spring up. And don't shout, Rose. Someone might hear you.” He turned to her and Radna saw deviltry, as well as something warm, glittering in the dark depths of his eyes.

She went perfectly still. For a moment she couldn't breathe, then a shout of laughter suddenly bubbled out of her. She laughed, gasped, laughed again, until tears spurted in her eyes. She leaned back, her hat tilted over her face. She laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach. Finally she sat up straight, moved close to Blue, tilted her head so that she could look into his face.

“Randolph Bluefeather, you're the cat's meow. I'd kiss you, but I'm afraid you'd run into a tree.”

Blue's stony face creased in a grin. “Hell, Rose, there isn't a tree within a mile.”

Radna was quiet on the way back to town. She had cried when she told her brother good-bye and for a little while after they got back in the car.

“He'll be all right.” Blue's voice broke the silence.

“He's got more horse sense than you give him credit for.”

“I might never see him again.”

“He said he'd send you a postcard from Colorado.”

“What was on the paper you gave him? ”

“The address of a man I know who'll give him a job.”

“How do you know he won't let you down? And why'd you give him money? ”

“I don't know for sure, but I'm reasonably sure he'll not let me down. I gave him money because a man can't get far on what you gave him.”

“It was all I had, for God's sake.”

“I realize that. He'll pay me back. Now, are you going to bawl all the way to town? ”

“I'm
not
bawling.”

“That's good to know. I've never diddled a woman while she was bawling. They're usually happy as larks.”

Radna made a muffled sound of frustration. “I'm not going to diddle, screw, fornicate or anything else with you, Randolph.”

“Why not? ”Deviltry was dancing in his eyes again. “There's no one else out here for you to diddle with.”

Her lips twitched at the corners as she shook her head from side to side. His cajoling suggestions were having the effect he wanted.

“You're a horny son-of-a-bitch, Randolph, but no, thanks.”

“All right, ”he said with resignation. “But folks back at the hotel are going to be mighty disappointed. They're sure that's what we came out here on the prairie to do.”

Radna's familiar laughter rang out. She moved over close to him, placed her hand on his thigh and left it there until they drove into town.

Chapter 22

H
UNTER WESTFALL HAD NEVER BEEN HAPPIER
in his life.

Laura, Mary Pat and even Mrs. Cole were gradually beginning to accept him. When he went to the house, he was careful to wear clothes that had been through numerous washings, and never did he step on their pride by offering them anything of material value.

One evening he had put a stick of candy in his shirt pocket. Mary Pat had discovered it when he picked her up. Now she ran to him whenever she saw him and searched his pockets for the treat. The feeling of her trusting little arms around his neck had been so overwhelmingly wonderful that he'd squeezed his eyes tightly shut to savor the moment. When he opened them, Laura was looking at him with a quizzical look on her face.

He was surprised to discover that he enjoyed helping Laura coop up the chickens, take the clothes off the line and empty the wash water. One evening he nailed a board over a hole in their chicken house when Laura expressed alarm that a fox or a weasel might get in. He suppressed the urge to offer to send a man down to build her a good tight pen.

Lord, he'd give Laura the world if he could. He hated knowing that she made her living by bending over a washtub. He wished that he had the right to buy her a washing machine like the one they used at the hotel. But if he had that right, she wouldn't be washing clothes, even with a machine.

Hunter had gone beyond thinking of her as a heart-stoppingly beautiful woman. She was beautiful, yes, but she had inner qualities that were equally as beautiful. She was pure, sweet, the epitome of motherhood. He had never even known anyone remotely like her.

Yet during the four evenings he had spent with her, he had never as much as held her hand and had only touched her in passing. At night when he dreamed about her, his sex would become so hard, he'd roll over and lie on it to keep from touching it.

Hunter Westfall, the richest man in Rainwater, was totally, stupidly, irretrievably in love with Laura Hopper, the laundress.

“Yo goin 'to call on Miss Laura t'night? ”

“Yes, but if anyone other than Perry Reade from the office comes looking for me, don't tell them where I am.”

Hunter had gone to the kitchen after he'd finished his meal. Dinah and Casper were sitting at the kitchen table eating their supper. Hunter poured himself a cup of coffee, sat down and looked at their worried faces, “Don't worry that I'm going to do something to hurt Laura. I'm in love with her. I love being with her and her little girl. I'd marry her tomorrow if she'd have me.”

“Ah …law, Mistah Hunter, ”Dinah exclaimed fearfully. “Dat girl ain't use to such as yo do wid dem other women dat come here.”

“I know that.” Hunter cupped his coffee mug with his hands. “I'd lose her if I tried to take her to bed, Dinah. I wish to God I could take back the last ten years of my life and start fresh with her. I'm tired of meaningless sex, bored with neurotic, money-hungry women and completely disgusted with the life I've been living. I'm not half good enough for Laura, but it doesn't keep me from wanting her.”

“Yo is a good man, Mistah Hunter. Ain't nobody tellin 'me yo ain't.” Casper was a man of few words, but when he spoke up, it was strongly. “I ain't never heared of a mean thin 'yo ever done.”

“Thank you, Casper. Unfortunately, some wouldn't agree with you. Lloyd Madison is still out there trying to stir up my men against me. He'll sway some of them into thinking that I'm a greedy bastard. I've inquired around. We pay as well as any company in the state. I don't know what else to do.”

“Yo is doin 'more'n most, ”Casper said. “I hear dat what yo pay is what's makin 'dem other oil fellers pay more.”

“I'm careful to pay the men who do dangerous work as much as the company can afford and still make a profit. I wish I had been as careful with my personal affairs as I have with business. I took my pleasure with available ladies like a kid in a candy store. Now that I've met a girl that I love, I'm afraid she'll turn away from me when she finds out.”

“Dat girl ain't no fool, Mistah Hunter. She knows how yo been dallyin 'with dem womenfolk. She come here with yo shirts when Miss Carsie was here. Miss Carsie, she took one look at Miss Laura, seed how pretty her was an 'let her know yo was her man.”

“Was Carsie mean to her? ”Hunter asked sharply.

“She sho wasn't nice.”

Hunter groaned. “I wish I'd known that. I'd have sent her packing. That girl and her baby mean the world to me.”

Later, as he walked down the street toward Laura's house, Hunter thought about that conversation. He still hadn't convinced Dinah that he was finished with the life he had lived before. He wanted her to know that he didn't view Laura purely as a sexual object. He saw her as a sweet woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He wanted to be a father to her daughter and for her to be the mother of his children.

Hunter tried not to hurry as he neared the house. He had looked forward to the evening since he awakened that morning. The closer he came to the house, the faster his feet moved and the faster his heart beat. He went around to the back of the house as he had done the first time he came to call. Tonight Laura was in the garden and Mary Pat was playing in the dirt nearby.

As soon as Hunter rounded the house, he stopped, cupped his mouth with his hands and hooted like an owl. It was a noise he'd made one night that had delighted the child. Mary Pat saw him and squealed. She got to her feet and toddled across the yard to meet him as fast as her chubby little legs could carry her.

His heart flooding with happiness, Hunter squatted down on his heels and opened his arms.

“Come on, sweetheart. Come on.” His face wore a broad smile. He had eyes only for the child. When she reached him, he enclosed her in his arms and stood up. “How's my girl? ”he whispered and nuzzled his nose in her neck. She giggled and searched in his pockets for the treat that she knew she would find there.

Hunter carried her, sitting on his arm, across the yard to where Laura was picking beans. He squatted down on his heels again and set the child on his thigh while he took the paper wrapping off the candy stick.

“You're spoiling her.” Laura paused to watch her daughter suck on the candy.

Hunter looked up. His eyes, alight with pure happiness, met Laura's astonishing violet ones. He took a couple of deep breaths before he could speak.

“I love spoiling her, ”he blurted. He hugged the child closer. Mary Pat reached up and patted his cheek with her little hand. “I've looked forward to this all day, ”he said with such sincerity that Laura had to believe him.

“She's getting you all sticky and dirty. Her diaper is wet and she's been sitting in the dirt.”

He laughed with undeniable delight. “I'll wash. Do you need some help? ”

“This is my last row. I've got two buckets of beans. Tonight I'll snap them after I get Mary to bed. Mama and I will can them in the morning.”

“I'll help you snap them.”

Laura laughed. “You've never snapped a bean in your life.”

“No. But I know how. I've watched Dinah. She's an expert bean snapper.” Hunter stood up. Mary Pat, sitting on his arm, laid her cheek against his shoulder while sucking happily on the candy stick. He bent until he could reach the handle of one of the buckets of beans and carried it to the porch.

“Evening, Mr. Westfall.” Mrs. Cole opened the door leading to the kitchen.