Read The Ranger And The Widow Woman Online
Authors: Stella Bagwell
The Ranger And The Widow Woman (2 page)
Charlie put the cellular phone back in its cradle, then after a moment of thoughtful hesitation, walked across the highway to join the two of them.
The child tilted his head back and looked up at him with curious brown eyes. “My name is Sam,” he said with a small measure of shyness. “What’s yours?”
Charlie couldn’t remember the last time he’d been around a child. Except for his cousin Emily’s new baby, who had been born about four months ago, the rest of his family was grown-up. A few of his fellow Rangers had children, but he rarely saw any of them. And the juveniles he sometimes came in contact with through his work couldn’t be compared to this innocent little fella.
Not certain how to greet a youngster of this age, he decided a handshake would have to do. “My name is Charlie. Nice to meet you, Sam.”
“It’s too hot in the car,” he explained. “Mommy says she can’t turn on the air conditioner.”
The boy had a round face, dimples and a sprinkling of faint freckles across the bridge of his nose. As Charlie looked at the child, the detective instincts in him were wondering where his father was and why he and his mother were out here driving across the desert alone.
“Your mommy told you right,” he told the boy. “She can’t turn on the air conditioner now. Maybe you’d like to go sit in that bit of shade right over there.”
Charlie pointed to a single twisted limb of juniper about fifteen feet away from the car. Other than a few clumps of sage and a yucca plant now and then, the sole evergreen was the only thing big enough to cast any sort of shade from the burning sun.
Violet shot Charlie a wary glance. “Do you think it would be safe? What about sidewinders or scorpions?”
It was all Charlie could do not to roll his eyes and curse out loud. As a child, the desert had been his playground. His mother had protected him and taught him about the dangers to watch for, but she hadn’t smothered him. Like Charlie, Justine Pardee had been raised in this high desert country. She felt at home in it, whereas Violet O’Dell obviously didn’t.
Biting his tongue, Charlie reminded himself he’d be home soon and this little delay would be nothing more than a dim, unpleasant memory. “Sidewinders or scorpions could be anywhere out here. Even in your bed. A person just has to be mindful of them.”
Her mouth popped open with shocked disgust. “Not in my bed!”
Charlie’s eyes cut a path over her slender figure. As far as he was concerned having Violet O’Dell in his bed would be far more dangerous than bugs or reptiles. She was the kind of woman that would get inside a man’s head and be hell to get out.
“Look ma’am—er, Violet, the risk of your son getting a serious sunburn is far greater than him getting a snakeor bug-bite.”
Violet had to concede he was probably right, but that didn’t mean she wanted her son traipsing over unknown ground. And she certainly didn’t want a man telling her what she ought or ought not do. Especially a man who made it sound as though her ignorance of the desert was grating on his nerves. She hadn’t flagged the man down and begged for his help!
Not bothering to wait for her permission, Charlie reached for the child’s hand. “Come on, Sam. I’ll take you over to the shade. It’s going to be a while before the man gets here to fix the car.”
The two of them reached the juniper and Charlie examined the ground all around it, then called over to Violet, who was still standing beside the car watching them intently.
In a sardonic voice, he called out to her, “Nothing but dirt. So you can quit wringing your hands. It’s too hot for even a homed toad to be out today.”
Sam cocked his head up at Charlie. “What’s a homed toad?” he asked curiously.
Charlie showed the child where to sit, then squatted down on his boot heels beside him. “Do you know what a lizard is?”
His dark eyes glued to Charlie’s face, he nodded. “I’ve seen one before on the sidewalk. Mommy told me not to touch them.”
No doubt, Charlie thought wryly. To Sam he said, “Well, a homed toad is a type of lizard, but he looks like a frog with horns.”
“Oh! Is he dangerous?”
Dangerous? Good Lord, he felt like going over to Violet O’Dell right this minute and telling the woman she needed therapy or her son was going to grow up frightened of his own shadow. Or maybe the two of them simply needed a man in their life.
“Naw, there’s nothing dangerous about him. When I was a boy like you I use to play with them all the time. I even kept one in a shoe box under my bed and fed him flies.”
The expression on Sam’s face said he didn’t believe Charlie had ever been as little as himself. It also said the outdoors and all it held was an unknown fascination to him.
Back at the car Violet dug a few bills out of her purse, then carried them over to the Ranger. She didn’t especially like the idea of being out here alone in the desert while waiting for a tow truck. But there wasn’t any point in keeping the man here any longer. He’d already gone out of his way to help them. Moreover, Violet didn’t want the lawman getting too friendly with Sam. Her son was usually talkative. She didn’t want him inadvertently telling the man something about their life he didn’t need to know.
“Here’s something for the telephone call,” she said, offering the bills to him. “If it’s not enough, just say so.”
A frown puckered Charlie’s forehead as he glanced up at her. “I don’t want your money.”
She turned away from his probing blue eyes and back to her broken car. “Maybe you don’t, but I prefer to pay you.”
The cool, impersonal tone of her voice irked Charlie. He didn’t deserve it. He’d already gone out of his way to help the woman. Besides, the frosty attitude didn’t suit her at all.
His gaze lingered on the curve of her waist and the flare of her hips. “You don’t like accepting help from strangers, is that it?”
Her back still to him she said, “I simply don’t want to take advantage of your kindness, Ranger Pardee. You’ve already gone out of your way to help. Please don’t feel as if you need to stay until the tow truck gets here. Sam and I will be fine now.”
She was dismissing him, urging him to go. Charlie should be laughing with relief and hightailing it out of here as fast as he could go.
But for some reason, whether it was Sam’s endearing little face or Violet O’Dell’s lovely legs, he decided he couldn’t simply walk away and leave them alone in the desert. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he drove away and then heard later that something bad had happened to them.
“No, I think I’d better stay and make sure the tow truck gets here.” To make his point, he sat down on the hot loamy soil beside her son. “If I were you,” he added matter-of-factly to Violet, “I’d take a seat, too. This heat can sap you before you know what’s happening.”
Carefully taking a seat on the opposite side of her son, Violet gathered her knees to her chest. “Are you here in New Mexico on business, Charlie?”
He propped his elbows on his bent knees. He didn’t want to think about
his business.
He was too tired, too weary of it all. And this woman didn’t really care. She was merely making conversation. Other than his mother, he didn’t know any woman that really cared. “No, I’m on my way home,” he said flatly.
his business.
He was too tired, too weary of it all. And this woman didn’t really care. She was merely making conversation. Other than his mother, he didn’t know any woman that really cared. “No, I’m on my way home,” he said flatly.
“Home? Isn’t Texas your home?”
“Most of the time. But my parents’ place, The Pardee Ranch, is what I call my real home. It’s where I always go when I have a little vacation.” Whenever he needed to get away from the stress and strain of his job, when he needed to get back under blue New Mexican skies, get the earth back beneath his feet and remember why he’d ever become a Ranger in the first place. And this time, he thought wearily, he needed the solitude more than he ever had in his young life.
“Me and Mommy are on an adventure,” Sam spoke up brightly. “We’re gonna see and do lots of new things.”
Charlie glanced at the boy while his mind was turning over all sorts of scenarios concerning Violet. Was she leaving a lover, a husband or simply a bad past? Hell, Charlie, he chided himself, you need to quit questioning this woman’s motives. She was probably traveling to see relatives or simply on a vacation, like he was supposed to be. For the next few weeks he needed to quit being a Texas Ranger and simply be a man.
“That sounds like fun,” Charlie said in afterthought.
“It was fun until we became stranded,” Violet remarked. “The car isn’t but three years old and I’ve taken very good care of it. I never expected something like this to happen.”
Once again Charlie had to stifle the urge to lecture the woman, to warn her to always be prepared for the unexpected. But it wasn’t his place. Her husband or whoever had been the father of her child should have already done that. Besides, she would probably get the idea he was some sort of paranoid maniac. And maybe he was, he thought sourly.
“Heat like today’s can cause things to happen to the best of cars.”
A tractor trailer rig appeared on the eastern horizon. It whizzed by Violet’s car and Charlie’s truck without so much as a slack in speed, then less than five minutes later a car approached from the west. When it obviously slowed and started to pull onto the shoulder, Charlie stood up and waved it on.
“Mommy, I’m thirsty,” Sam whined. “Are we gonna have to stay here much longer?”
“I don’t know how much longer we’ll be here, Sam. But sit where you are and I’ll get some water from the car.”
Violet left the pitiful excuse of a shade and headed to the car. Sam picked up a twig and made a long scratch in the dirt. “My mommy is nice.”
Sam’s words of adoration didn’t surprise Charlie. At his age, he’d thought his own mother was wonderful. He still did. He loved and respected his father, and the two of them had always gotten on splendidly once his father had discovered he had a son. But when Charlie needed to spill his troubles, it was his mother he went to.
“She seems very nice,” Charlie absently agreed as his thoughts drifted longingly to his quiet little cabin on the ranch. It had been months since he’d been away from ringing phones, faxes and pagers, city traffic, smog and the never-ending weight of a heavy workload. The solitude of the place would be like sheer heaven.
“She hasn’t cried at all today,” Sam spoke again. “And I’m glad.”
The child’s statement jerked Charlie out of his wishful thinking. From the corner of his eye, he watched the boy continue to dig a miniature trench in the sand. “Does your mother cry a lot?” he asked carefully.
Sam nodded, and Charlie was surprised at how much the child’s grave expression touched him. For the past year he’d been numb. He’d thought he’d gone beyond feeling much of anything for anybody.
“Yeah,” Sam answered. “Since my daddy went to heaven to live with the angels. Before then she only cried a little.”
Charlie was at a loss for any sort of suitable reply, and when Violet returned with a bottle of flavored water, he figured it was just as well. Being a detective for the past three years, he knew how to get information from people. But he had no desire to pump this child. Sam had already told him enough to make him feel like an interloper, and he didn’t want to care about these two. He really didn’t want to care about anyone. It was too much work, too much pain.
Fifteen minutes later a wiry little man in greasy, striped overalls and no shirt arrived in a wrecker. Charlie assisted him as best he could while he replaced the broken belt, but when the mechanic tried to start the engine it refused.
“Just how hot was this car?” the little man directed at Violet.
She glanced helplessly at Charlie, then back to the mechanic. “All I know is a bell started dinging and steam poured out from beneath the hood.”
The man shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Can’t say right now, ma’am, but I’m afraid you’ve busted your heads.”
“My heads?” she repeated blankly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about engines. Are you talking about something serious?”
“Sure enough. A two-day job at the least,” he took off his greasy cap and thoughtfully scratched the top of his head. “And that’s if the heads don’t have to be shipped from a dealer in Albuquerque. But I’m bettin’ they will. This is not your everyday make of car runnin’ down the road.”
Violet’s heart sank as she watched the older man jab a cigarette between his lips and stick a lighter flame to the end. “This sounds like it could be expensive,” she said.
He nodded grimly. “Might as well warn you, the heads alone, I’m figurin’, will cost six or seven hundred. That’s not countin’ me takin’ the cracked ones off and puttin’ the new ones on.”
“Oh, dear.” Violet hadn’t counted on anything like this happening. She was carrying a fairly large sum of cash with her, but not enough to pay for repairing the car. She had money in the bank back in Amarillo, but she’d planned on waiting as long as she could before she drew on it. She didn’t want any sort of transactions showing up and tipping Rex off to her whereabouts.
“I suppose I’ll have to let you tow the car into Ruidoso. But after that—I just don’t have the money to pay for such major repairs. Is there some place I can store the car for a while?”
Other books
Todd, Charles by A Matter of Justice
Forget The Zombies (Book 2): Forget Texas by Spears, R.J.
The Takeover by Teyla Branton
Is This Acid In My Applesauce? by Josh Kraus
Pirate Island Treasure by Marilyn Helmer
The Tao of Natural Breathing by Dennis Lewis
Fugue State by M.C. Adams
Deadman Switch by Timothy Zahn
Poppyland by Raffaella Barker
Sandman by J. Robert Janes