Song of the Road (21 page)

Her thoughts were cut off when a big black car turned into the drive and came to a stop in front of the house. Her hackles went up. What was
he
doing here? She stayed on the porch. Ocie got out, leaving the car door open. He wore a big black hat and a wide belt with a large silver buckle. A cigar stuck out the corner of his mouth.

“I heard that ya fell comin’ out of the doctor’s. You all right?”

“You sure have your ear to the ground. Does anything happen in this town that you don’t know about?”

“Not when it concerns somethin’ that’s mine.”

“I’m not yours, Mr. Clawson. I thought I had made that clear the last time you were here.”

“That kid yo’re carryin’s got my blood. That makes you and that kid my kin.”

“It does no such thing. I’d rather be kinfolk to a cross-eyed mule,” she said staunchly. She saw Jake hurrying up the lane with his toolbox.

“I asked the doc if my grandkid was all right.”

“You . . . you nosy old goat! You had no business talking to the doctor about me!”

“Yo’re my business. I told ya so.” He grinned. “I hear ya whacked Frank Pierce a good one. He had it comin’. I done set him straight. He’ll not lay a hand on ya.”

Jake set his tools on the porch and turned. He hadn’t come face to face with Ocie since he got out of prison.

“You still here?”

“You plan to do something about it, you lyin’ son of a bitch?” Jake stood with his hands on his hips, his feet spread. His green eyes were like daggers.

“Didn’t prison teach ya any manners?”

“Yeah. It taught me to watch my back. It taught me that a greedy son of a bitch who has known me all my life will lie like a damn dog, send me to prison and take what little I have.”

“Three of my men saw you brandin’ my cattle.”

“Three of your men lied and cost me two years of my life.”

“The court thought otherwise.”

“The goddamn court was in your pocket. You wanted me out of sight and took the word of a man who’s had a grudge against me since I was ten years old. You wanted that little dab of land I’d filed on.”

“Lon saw ya.”

“Lon’s a damn liar and you know it.”

“Ya can have that patch of worthless land back. Won’t do ya no good. Ya don’t have nothin’ to go on it.” Ocie turned his attention to Mary Lee. His eyes pierced her from beneath beetled brows. “You sleepin’ with him?”

“You . . . you nasty-minded old buzzard!” Mary Lee gasped. “It’s none of your business what I do. Jake has been a good friend. Is it hard for you to understand that I can have a friend?”

“Ain’t natural for a man to friend a good-lookin’ woman less he’s gettin’ somethin’. But the sheriff’s got more trust in the bastard than I do. Said him bein’ here would keep some of the riffraff away.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ya know as well as I do that yore mama draws trash like a fresh cow pile draws flies.”

“And some of them work for you!”

“I’ll fire any man who bothers ya.”

“Does that go for Lon Delano too?” Jake asked.

“Damn right.” Ocie looked long and hard at Jake. “I ain’t carin’ if yo’re sleepin’ with her. I ain’t wantin’ nothin’ to happen to that kid. You see to it.” He jabbed the air toward Jake with a forefinger.

“If you weren’t so damn old, I’d bust you in the mouth!” Anger raised Jake’s voice.

“Don’t let that stop ya.”

“He’d like to get you in trouble, Jake. Don’t let him.” Mary Lee stepped forward and put her hand on Jake’s arm.

Her touch calmed him. He covered her hand with his. “Yeah, I know.”

“Good-bye, Mr. Clawson. Don’t come back. There’s nothing here to interest you.”

Ocie went around the car and stood looking at the two of them over the top.

“Take care of her. Hear?”

When neither Mary Lee nor Jake responded, he got in the car and slammed the door. As he drove out, another car pulled in, making conversation with Jake impossible. Mary Lee greeted the man who got out, took his name and his money. Jake showed him to the cabin.

“One more to go,” Mary Lee said when he returned.

Jake went into the house to look at the door where he was going to put the latches. Mary Lee left the porch and knocked on the door of number one. When she got no answer, she pushed it open to find her mother lying on the bed.

“Mama? Supper’s ready. Come eat.”

Dolly had sat up, but when she saw Mary Lee, she sank back down on the bed.

“You need to eat, Mama. You’ll be sick.”

“What’a you care?”

“I care.”

“Get outta here. I’m expectin’ company.”

“Frank won’t be coming. He’s in jail.”

“Frank’s not the only man I know.”

“Will you eat a plate of food if I bring it to you?”

“Naw. Ya’d probably put rat poison on it. Yancy’s comin’ and we’re goin’ uptown. Now get out and leave me alone.”

Mary Lee backed out and closed the door. She had thought that she was beyond hurting. Jake was waiting and took her arm. She was grateful because her legs were shaky and her eyes teary. She kept her head down, hoping that he wouldn’t see them.

“She’s killing herself. She eats hardly anything.”

“She’s a grown woman,
mi bonita chica.
” My pretty girl.

“What did you call me?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” His eyes teased her.

“I’m sure.”

“You won’t get mad and slap me?”

“I won’t promise.”

“Then I’ll not tell you.”

“It was probably something like stubborn mule or stupid girl.”

“You’re close.”

“Oh, you!”

“Eli’s waiting for you to come eat.”

“I think I’ll sit on the porch. Tell him to go ahead.”

“No. You’ve got to eat too. For . . . Gaston.”

“Gaston?” She lifted a frowning face that changed in an instant to a smiling one. “Gaston?” she repeated. “How did you come up with that?”

“It’s as good a name as any.” He was pleased that he had made her smile.

“I wouldn’t name a sick dog Gaston.”

“Shame on you. The Gastons of the world will be hurt.”

“Besides, who ever heard of a girl named Gaston?”

“How do you know it’s going to be a girl? It could be twins.”

“Twins? Wouldn’t that be grand? A boy and a girl. I don’t think I could handle two boys.”

“Yeah. You could have Earl and Pearl, Marge and George or Bonnie and Clyde.” The way his eyes roamed over her face as her laughter rang out sent her senses into pandemonium.

“Oh, Jake, you are the limit. How about Ed and Edna or Maude and Claude?”

“I like Mary and Jerry.” They were standing beside the steps leading to the porch.

Mary Lee saw the teasing light in his green eyes. Deep inside, this rough man was sweet and caring; and because she was expecting a child, he was sincerely concerned with her welfare. They looked at each other for a long time before he said gruffly, “Go on in and eat.”

“Jake . . .” She hesitated before she turned, her eyes probing his. “Thank you for being my friend.”

He didn’t know what to say. If he said anything, he was afraid that he’d put his foot in his mouth, so he said nothing, nodded and walked away.

Friend, my hind leg!

He remembered in vivid detail the day he’d helped her drag the mattress to the junk pile. Seeing her up close, after so many years, had been like a sledgehammer blow to his chest. It had sent his heart in a wild race. He had feared, as his vision focused on her, that she would hear the mad thumping of his stupid heart.

She hadn’t been merely pretty. She had been spectacular. Her dark auburn windblown hair had been tumbling about her shoulders. Small nose, high cheekbones, tapered chin, and eyes the color of the New Mexico sky went perfectly with her small, almost delicately built body. The faded blue dress with the round neckline had shown her firm breasts and rounded belly where she carried her child. He had been so completely bowled over that later he couldn’t even remember what he had said to her.

Jake shook his head. The fascination that he’d felt that day had increased tenfold. He was madly, crazily in love with her, and she considered him a . . .
friend
.

Mary Lee was jarred from a sound sleep when the alarm went off at five o’clock. She swung her legs off the bed and groaned. Tired and sore, she sat for a minute before attempting to stand. After running her fingers over her bruised knees, she carefully got to her feet, holding her hands to her back. The baby had been restless the first part of the night, and it had been late when she fell asleep.

Forcing herself to the bathroom, she washed, dressed and hurriedly combed her hair. This was the first morning that the Cross Roads Motor Court would be serving breakfast, and she wanted to look fresh.

Feeling as if she were being poked in the back with a pitchfork, she was now grateful that she and Eli had set the table the night before. Trudy would be arriving shortly, but Mary Lee wanted to have the biscuits made and the first pan ready for the oven by the time she got here.

It was six-thirty before the couple in number three came to breakfast. After that came the man who had thought her price was too high. He ate as if he were starved, and only grunted a good-bye when he left. The couple Eli had rented to had left in the night. After the guests had eaten, Jake knocked on the back door.

“Anything left?”

“Howdy,
amigo.
Come in.” Trudy flounced around and put a clean plate and utensils on the table. “Got a pan of biscuits left. Thought I’d have to hide them from that one hog who ate everything in sight.”

“He’s the one who thought the price was steep,” Mary Lee added. She had remained seated and looked at Jake for the first time.

“How do you feel this morning?” he asked.

“Oh, fine.” She looked away from him. “Eli was in earlier. He was afraid that there wouldn’t be anything left for him.”

“I know. I saw him coming out of number five with an armload of things to be washed.”

“Bless his sweet little heart,” Trudy exclaimed. “If he was a little older, I’d marry him.”

“You’d have a heck of a time getting him away from me.” Mary Lee’s dancing eyes went to Jake. He was looking at her with that expressionless face of his that always caused her to wonder what he was thinking.

His thoughts were about her.
Did the fall hurt her more than she let on? She stays seated while Trudy bustles from the table to the stove. It isn’t like her to let someone take over her work. I’ve got to find out if she’s all right before I leave to go out to Quitman’s.

Last night after Mary Lee had gone to bed, Jake had told Eli he would be gone for a while and went over to the Benders’ to see if Trudy could spend the day. He told Ruby and Trudy about someone grabbing Mary Lee’s foot, causing her to fall on the stairs.

“Somebody doesn’t want her to have the baby and tried to send her headfirst down the stairs. I think I know who, but he’s too much of a coward to do it himself. If I have to kill him to keep him from hurting her, I will.”

“Lon Delano.” Ruby spit out the name. “He expects to inherit the Circle C. It would put a crimp in his plans if Ocie takes a liking to Mary Lee’s baby.”

“Ocie has an interest, all right. He was out to the motor court tonight because he heard that she had fallen on the doctor’s stairs. She doesn’t want anything to do with him, but he doesn’t pay much attention.” Jake grinned. “She called him a nasty-minded old buzzard. I think he likes it when she talks back to him. He even told me to look out for her. He wants nothing to happen to her until that baby is born.”

“Well, glory! That’s somethin’, isn’t it? That old skinflint didn’t have any use for his own son. Now he wants Mary Lee’s.”

“I have to say in defense of Ocie that Bobby wasn’t a son a man could be proud of.”

“I agree. He shoulda put his foot down on him when he was a tadpole. After Bobby got to be a frog, it was too late.” The silence that followed was broken only by the squeaking floorboards beneath Ruby’s rocking chair.

“Trudy can spend the day out at the court, that is . . . if she wants to. I can get along without her until the evening meal.”

“I want to, Mama. It tears me up that someone wants to hurt Mary Lee.”

“I’ll pay you something, Trudy,” Jake said. “But I don’t want her to know about it. She’d have a cat-fit.”

Trudy laughed. “She’d go up in blue smoke is what she’d do. You’ll not pay me anything, Jake Ramero. Mary Lee was my staunch defender all the while we were in school. It’s time I paid her back.”

“You got feelin’s for her, don’t you, Jake?” Ruby asked bluntly.

“We’re friends.”

“Hockey!” Ruby snorted, then laughed when she saw the red come up under the tan on Jake’s face. “You don’t have anyone, Jake. Mary Lee has only that good-for-nothing mother. You need each other.”

“I owe Scott Finley a favor for what he did for me a long time ago. That’s all there is to it.”