Dorothy Garlock (5 page)

“Are you sure you'll be all right? ”Hunter asked gently.

“Yes, thank you.”

Jill turned, lifted her chin and, mustering the fragments of her self-possession, locked her gaze with that of the tall, angry man and refused to look away.

“Are you ready to go? ”Martha touched her arm.

“I'm ready. More than ready.”

With Thad, silent and simmering with rage, walking beside her, they headed for the hotel at the end of the street.

“You're dumb as a cob, ”Jill fumed. “Don't you have brains enough to know when to back off? ”

Not another word was spoken until after Martha said good night and crossed the street to her restaurant. Jill and Thad had gone up the steps to the hotel porch when Jill turned and lifted a hand to slap him. He caught her hand in midair.

“Slap me and I'll slap you back.”

“That was going to be for calling me a slut! ”

“You were acting like one.”

“I was not! I was defending myself. Besides, how do you know what I am? I've not seen you for three or four years. And what are you doing here anyway? ”

“I apologize for calling you a slut. But you sure as hell were acting like one out there, brawling on the street corner with a bunch of roughnecks.”

“It wouldn't be any of your business if I was a slut. You have no claim on me.”

“You think not? If you'd've sunk that low, it would've broken the heart of the best friend I ever had, and that would be my business, little
Miss Wildcat.”
He grasped her upper arms with large, strong hands. “And why were they calling you that? ”

“Get your hands off me, ”she snarled. Then, ignoring his question, she asked again, “What are you doing here? ”

He dropped his hands to his sides. “Joe got a letter from Eudora telling him that you were here. He can't get away right now. I came on ahead to see what you're up to. From the looks of things, it's a damn good thing I did.”

“From the looks of what things, Thad Taylor? ”Jill refused to move. She stood on the step above him, her face level with his.

“Good goddamn! Do I have to spell it out for you? And who was the dressed-up dude coming to your rescue like a highballing freight train? Is he your …protector? ”

“No! He's a very nice man.”

“Ha! No man is nice when it comes to a woman he wants.”

“Speak for yourself. Not all men are like …that.”

It was hard for Jill to believe that she was standing on the hotel steps in Rainwater, Oklahoma, talking to the boy she had known all her life. The Taylor farm in Missouri was a mere half mile from the Jones farm. Thad had been several grades ahead of her in school. He was the best friend of her older brother Joe and had been in and out of their house ever since she could remember.

Thad had grown into a big man and was much better-looking than he had been when he was younger, not that it mattered to her how good-looking he was. He was as bossy as Joe and Jack, her brothers. And Jill had other memories associated with Thad Taylor that, at times, were too painful to recall.

“How is Joe? ”

“He's all right. He's laying pipeline. He'll finish the job in a week or two and be up here.”

“You're staying until then? ”

“Damn right. We're not leaving you here in this wild place by yourself. There's no telling what you'll get into.”

“For crying out loud! I've been here almost a month and nothing's happened to me.”

“Luck. Just plain luck. What's that dude to you? ”

“Nothing. I just met him tonight.”

“I don't think much of a man who would hire bullies to do his fighting for him.”

“Maybe he wouldn't've had to hire them. Maybe they'd have done it because they like him.”

“If you believe that, you'll believe cows can fly. The way I see it, they'd have given it a try or lost their jobs. I saw the gold watch fob on his vest, the ring on his finger and the five-dollar hat on his head.”

“There's no use arguing with you. You're as bull-headed as ever.” She turned to go into the hotel. “Goodbye. It was nice seeing you again … I think. I've got to go in and tell Aunt Justine about the meeting.”

“Yeah, she said that's where you'd gone. Good thing I went to walk you back.” Instead of leaving, Thad followed her into the hotel.

“You've talked to Aunt Justine? ”

“Sure. We had a visit. She's glad I'm here.” He headed for the kitchen. “I'm hungry as a wolf. Aunt Justine said Radna would hash up something for me to eat when I got back from seeing about you.”

“Aunt
Justine? ”Jill turned on him with an angry glare. “I'll not allow you to stay here and freeload off my aunt.”

“Freeload? I rented a room.”

“Rooms are seventy-five cents a night.” She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at him even though he was a head taller. “That will soon add up to real money if you stay very long.”

“She gave me a weekly rate.” A look of smug satisfaction covered his face. “And ”— he paused — “I'm going to give you some help around here to pay for my meals.”

“Help around here? Sheesh! We'll just see about that.” She gazed into his eyes, astonishingly green and luminous, and drew a quivering breath.

“Go talk to your aunt.” He was now good-naturedly amused by her anger.

“I'm the manager of this hotel. Aunt Justine put me in charge and no one gets a weekly room rate or hires on to help around here unless I say so.” With that, she tossed her head, dismissed him and spoke to the man sitting behind the counter.

“Everything all right, Mr. Evans? ”

“Right as rain, miss. When ya wasn't here, the young feller wanted to see Mrs. Byers. Hope it's all right that I let him in.”

“I don't think you could have stopped him with a steam engine, Mr. Evans. He's a bullheaded Missourian.”

“Rooms are all full, miss.”

“What room did you give Mr. Taylor? ”

“Mrs. Byers said give him the little 'un up on the third floor. And she said that he could have it for a dollar a week if he lent ya a hand around the place.”

“A dollar? Well, we'll just see about that.”

Casually, with an outward calm belying both the ache behind her forehead and the dancing devils in her stomach, Jill headed for her aunt's room.

Chapter 3

J
USTINE WAS PROPPED UP IN BED
against a stack of pillows. Light from the single bulb that hung from the center of her room gave her skin a yellowish cast. She was smiling.

“Were you surprised … to see Thad? ”Justine's eyes were brighter than usual.

“I sure was. I haven't seen him for three, maybe four years. I want to talk to you about him, Aunt, but first let me tell you about the meeting.”

Jill pulled up a chair, trying to put off the unpleasant subject of Thad Taylor until she had cooled down. She told her aunt about meeting Mr. Westfall on the way, but left out the part about the drunk bothering her and Martha.

“The mayor is concerned about what the town will do when the oil plays out. One man, a lawyer, argued with Mr. Westfall about how the oil wells were ruining the land for grazing. The man had a red birthmark on his face and wore glasses.”

“That would be Lloyd Madison. He doesn't care about the land. He hates Hunter Westfall because he's every-thing that Lloyd wants to be. If Hunter said white was white, Lloyd would say, 'No, it's black. ' ”

“Mr. Westfall is going to oil Main Street.”

“Oh, my. They did that once before and… oil was tracked up onto the porch and into the lobby. It was a mess to clean up.”

“I can scrub the porch. It's the carpet in the lobby that will be hard to keep clean.”

“Honey, ”Justine said, with a distressed look on her face, “Hunter Westfall runs things around here. He doesn't make a show of it and most folks don't even think about it. Be careful of him.” Justine paused to catch her breath. “Be especially careful of Lloyd Madison. He's smart; he's hard as nails and ruthless as a rutting steer. If you see him coming, head the other way. Don't have anything to do with him. Promise me, now.”

“Of course I promise. Mr. Westfall was nice to me and Martha.”

“Hunter is a businessman. He's nice as …pie when he wants something. He wanted to buy the hotel…. When I refused, he backed off.” She paused to take some deep breaths. “He knew that I was sick and thought he'd get it soon or later anyway. I bet he was surprised when a young, pretty girl like you showed up to run it for me.” Justine's face was flushed, and her quavering voice caused Jill concern. “Now tell me, were you surprised to see Thad? ”

“We can talk about Thad Taylor later, Aunt Justine.”

“Tell me now, Jill. I can't put things off like I used to do.”

“Thad's from back home — ”

“He told me. We had a long visit while he was waiting to go walk you home.” Justine tried to move her hands. Jill lifted them up onto her chest. “He told me about the neighborhood ball games at Jethro's and that Jack wanted to play professional baseball.” Justine paused again, looked toward the picture of her late husband, then back to Jill.

“Jack still loves to play baseball.”

“Thad told me that Jethro's new wife is real nice. I'm glad. He was almost crushed when your mother died, leaving him with a houseful of youngsters to raise.” She paused, then said, “Thad reminds me of the boys I knew back on the farm in Missouri.”

“Aunt Justine, Thad isn't a boy. He's Joe's age or older … at least twenty-five or -six. He said you gave him a weekly rate and that he'd work for meals. I wish you hadn't done that.”

“You need a man around here, honey. You know what? Radna was trying to help me out of that chair. He came in and lifted me as if I were light as a feather and carried me over here.”

“How did that happen? ”

“He was just passing the door.”

“Of course he could pick you up. You don't weigh much more than a feather, ”Jill scoffed.

Justine sighed. “I feel so much better with him here.”

“We have Mr. Evans — ”

“How much can a one-legged man on crutches do, honey? Thad said he'd stay until Joe comes.”

“He and Joe are thick as thieves. He'll be here as long as Joe's here.” Jill stood up. “I've worn you out. Can I get you anything before I go? ”

“No, dear. You can turn out the ceiling light. Thad said that tomorrow he'd fix the light here by the bed.”

“Good night, Aunt.”

After Jill closed the door, she stood for a minute and fumed.
Thad would fix the light by the bed.
Darn him! He was wasting no time making himself useful and endearing himself to Aunt Justine. She went down the hall toward the kitchen, then paused when she heard Radna's voice and Thad's deep rumbling laughter.

“I sure do like this cornbread, Radna. Will you marry me? ”

“Watch your mouth, boy. If I said yes, you'd wet your drawers. You'd better work your charm on Jill or you'll be out of here on your ear.”

“Yeah, she's a mouthy little spitfire and has the guts to go with it. She was no more than knee-high to a duck when she flew into a couple of tough kids for making fun of her brother's limp. I had to pull them off her. Even with a bloody nose, she came up scratching and spitting like a pussycat.”

“She's not afraid of dirtying her hands. She works hard here.”

“I don't doubt that. All the Joneses are hard workers. Julie Jones was in school when their mother died. She quit and took over the raising of the younger kids. Jill had a good teacher.”

“I'm glad there's something about me that you approve of.” Jill leaned against the doorjamb, a rebellious look on her face.

Thad looked at her with an unabashed grin. “Have you still got your tail over the line, kitten? ”

“You didn't waste any time getting in good with Aunt Justine, did you? Now you're working on Radna.”

“I'd forgotten how bullheaded you are, little sis. I thought you'd be glad to see someone from home. Aunt Justine was.” His green eyes gleamed with amusement.

“I'm not your sister, Mr. Taylor. Justine Byers is not your aunt. It was low of you to go in there and butter her up in order to get yourself a cheap place to stay.”

Across the green eyes that had been liquid and warm with amusement spread a steely, cold glaze. For moments that pulsated with tension, they stared at each other. Jill remained perfectly motionless.

“She set the price for the room, ”Thad said, with only a touch of anger in his voice. “If she'd said five dollars I would have taken it. Someone's got to keep an eye on you. Joe asked me to do it, and I intend to do just that, whether you like it or not.”

“I don't like it.”

“That's too bad. Mrs. Byers said I was welcome.”

“Of course she would. You got to her before I did.”

“Radna says the only man around here is that old man out at the desk.”

“That
old man
at the desk lost his leg in the war. I doubt that he's ten years older than you are. If you'd been through what he has, you'd look old, too. Aunt Justine said that he can work here as long as he wants, and I agree.”

“I wasn't suggesting that you fire him. But he's limited as to what he can do.”

“Amazingly smart of you to realize that. Mr. Evans is at the desk all night and if he needs help he rings for me or Radna.”

“Pull in your horns, Jilly Justine. I'm here to make things easier for you. He can ring for me now.”

“Bull-foot, and don't call me that silly name! ”Jill looked away from Thad's smiling face, opened a cupboard door and spoke to Radna. “Laura and her mother will be here tomorrow to do washing. Do we have enough soap? ”

“Tomorrow's Sunday, ”Radna replied.

“Oh, gosh. I've got my days mixed up.”

“Have I upset you …Jilly Justine? ”

Jill spun around. Thad was smiling, his white teeth cutting a gash in his sun-browned face. His hair, full and thick and black as midnight, framed an intriguingly handsome face. Tanned skin stretched over high cheekbones. But his eyes irritated her, clear green knowing eyes, laughing eyes, secret eyes.

“You flatter yourself, Mr. Taylor.”

“My brother Roy had a terrific crush on you, did you know that? ”

“Another one of your made-up stories. Roy and I were friends. He liked Ruby Mae from the time we started school.”