Chief Cook and Bottle Washer (2 page)

"Rusty starting something again?" Deke asked
one of the men in the crowd hanging outside the door.

"Looks that way."

"Then why aren't you in there stopping him,
little brother?" Deke demanded, grabbing Clint Travers by the
collar and dragging him inside the store.

"I thought it was kinda interesting, Deke."
Clint smiled innocently at his brother, as he held the door open
with the heel of his boot and watched.

"I've had enough of you, Lon. You know
Jennifer's my girl."

Rusty Travers looked like a gun-fighter about
to draw with his feet spread wide and his hands at his sides. Only
he had no gun, and the only advantage he had over Lon Sutton was
about three inches and twenty pounds of muscle.

Lon was building an ice-cream sundae for a
little girl on the one and only bar stool, looking dumbfounded at
Rusty.

"Gee Rusty, I didn't mean to step on nobody's
toes, but she ask me to dance. What could I do? I couldn't insult
her," Lon explained, handing the sundae to the little girl, and
drying his hands on a his make-shift apron.

"You could have said no, that's what you
could've done." Rusty swiped his brow, and narrowed his gaze. "Now,
why don't you stop stallin' and step out from behind that counter
and away from Susie. I'm here to see it don't happen again."

"It won't happen again, Rusty, I promise."
Lon backed himself against the counter.

Rusty pushed back his hat from his forehead
with the tip of a finger, and shot a quick glance over his
shoulder.

Deke frowned, knowing nothing sparked his
brothers sense of humor easier than a building crowd. "I aim to see
it don't. Come on, let's get this over with. I got stuff to
do."

Lon's face turned beet red. Sweat trickled
down his forehead and into his eyes. He didn't swipe the sweat,
Deke noted, his face firming into a instant frown.

"That's right, little brother, you sure as
heck do. You're gonna get your butt to work, and pronto." Deke
grabbed his brother by the back of his jeans and gave him a slight
toss

toward the door. No easy feat considering
Rusty was an inch over six foot and built like a human brick.

"Aw come on Deke," Rusty said turning around
with a huge grin. "I was Just funnin' him a little."

Deke turned to Lon, who looked a little white
around the gills. "Sorry Lon. It won't happen again. The Travers
boys aren't bullies. School's out Rusty. And I got a cure for all
your funnin'. It's called an honest days work."

"Thanks Deke." Lon tossed an hesitant glance
in Rusty's direction.

"But Deke . . . ." Rusty protested as his
brother continued to haul him out the door.

Deke shot him a reproving glance and Rusty
clamped up.

"Finish loading the truck and meet me over at
the Lone Star." Deke left without a backward glance.

"Sure thing, big brother."

Deke headed for the Lone Star Cafe, not
knowing whether to laugh at his brother or stay mad a while.
Although he knew he couldn't stay mad long. Rusty was harmless and
everyone in town knew it. Still, one of these days he was going to
bite off more than he could chew. Deke worried about Rusty, and
Clint who'd ran off to the rodeo the moment a young local girl
broke his heart. Clint hadn't been the same since.

He'd reason that his brothers were grown, yet
not worrying would be down-right unnatural.

Deke heard familiar voices coming from the
cafe. He wondered about the little lady that had been staying with
Bertha. It was all over town. News like that traveled fast. He
hadn't seen her leave town, so she must be there. She intrigued
him. Not many women intrigued Deke these days, but that little gal
he tangled with on the road was full of spit-fire.

Half a dozen farmers and ranchers gathered
about the first few tables, as Deke strode inside. He got a big
whiff of french fries and hamburgers sizzling on the grill, his
mouth watered. After a couple of quick hellos, Deke settled into a
booth. He took off his hat and glanced about. No sign of her. So
why did disappointment linger.

Wiping the sweat from his brow with a
kerchief, he stuck it in his back jean pocket. He'd done a day's
work and it was barely past noon. Sweat trickled down his back and
arms, reminding him how nice a shower was going to feel later. The
loud window units in the back of the cafe worked overtime to cool
the place down and drowned the Clint Black song on the jukebox.

June was barely over and the temperature had
already hit one hundred. July and August would be scorchers. Deke
didn't want to think about that, though. He was already thinking
along the lines of selling part of his herd to cut down expenses.
He didn't want to think about the irrigation system he hadn't
finished installing, either. He didn't want to think of the water
shortages that would prevail once summer really kicked in. Tired of
worrying over everything, he just wanted to kick back.

Through the small cut-out window at the
kitchen, he spotted a young woman. It was her! Damn if his blood
didn't heat up just looking at her. He barely got a glimpse of her,
she was moving about so much. But it was her. Steam rose around
her, creating a ghost like appearance. Wisps of dark red hair
pulled back in a long braid, caught his attention. She swiped the
sweat from her brow, and then big, whiskey brown eyes met his gaze.
Deke's heart did a bounce in his chest. Just a glimpse, just a
moment out of time. A shy, smile curled her lips as she looked
away.

Not flirting, just being friendly, Deke
reasoned. So why did he have such a jackass grin on his face? She
was the same woman who'd knocked his headlight out on his truck
months ago. The same woman that set his loins afire every time he
thought about her perfectly formed breast peeking from beneath a
wet t-shirt. "2l and up for grabs", dangled in his mind. Naturally
at the time, his mind shouldn't have been on her anatomy, but some
things went beyond a man's control.

Pretty, unmarried girls were hard to come by
these days in Devil's Corner. Whether she was married remained a
mystery.

That thought gave Deke a spark of an idea.
Why hadn't it occurred to him before? His dad had teased them about
it, over the years, but no one had taken him seriously. No one
listened. Till now. Deke wrestled with the notion for a minute,
deciding he'd hit on something. Something big.

Things never happened on their own, Deke
decided that long ago when his brothers started wandering away from
the ranch every summer. You had to give them a little push.
Sometimes you had to make things happen. What better way to make
things happen than a romance.

But first he needed some information, and the
information highway of Devil's Corner was on her way over to his
booth now. Bertha Martin, owner of the Lone Star Cafe was a big
beautiful woman with a heart the size of Texas on her sleeve. She
swallowed Deke with her big green eyes and welcoming smile. Tossing
her salt and pepper curls away from her eyes, she headed straight
towards him.

Deke glanced through the dusty plate-glass
windows, as he picked a tact to follow with Bertha.

He stared out the window for a second. Dust
blew down the main street like a silent ghost. You could almost
hear the wind through the glass whistling. It sent a chill through
him, and he knew the reason. It reminded him of the loneliness he
faced every day out on the ranch.

He dashed those thoughts. This time giving
the small town the once over. Devil's Corner wasn't even a town,
officially. Just a community. Didn't have a mayor, a sheriff or a
jail. Didn't need one. It was too small, and everyone knew everyone
else's business, anyway. Especially Bertha. No secrets here, no
strangers, and no crime rate.

No, he corrected himself, there was one
stranger.

"Deke, did ya bring Cal into town with
ya?"

Taking her pencil out from behind her ear,
she placed a hand on the booth and perched a generous hip against
the seat behind him.

"Yeah, he's over at the Feed & Grain.
We're all here to pick up supplies."

The clatter of dishes being gathered
distracted Bertha for a moment, then she turned her smile on Deke
again.

"He'll be in directly. So what's new Bertha?"
Deke tried not to blurt out his curiosity too quickly. Anyone with
a lick of horse sense knew you had to go through a few friendly
formalities before you started asking any real questions. It was
only polite.

"Not much, Deke. Jonesy sold out and moved to
Dallas with his kids."

"Figured that would happen."

"Talbot got elected deputy sheriff over at
Sweetwater."

"I'll be damned. Don't tell Jake about it, he
had his eye on that job too, you know."

"He should have gone after it. Jake would
have beat Talbot any day."

Deke nodded a slight frown lining his
sun-tanned face. "Jake's needed elsewhere, right now. But he'll get
his day, I'll see to that. As soon as I get those other two settled
down."

"Having a time keeping them tied down to the
ranch Deke? Well, you know the saying, 'some was born to ranch,
others weren't'."

"Don't tell my two youngest brothers
that."

"I guess you done seen, I hired a new cook."
Bertha nodded toward the kitchen.

"I got a glimpse. Who is she?" He wasn't
about to tell Bertha he'd been staring at her backside for ten
minutes or longer this morning.

"Her name's Emma Smith."

Deke's rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Surely
that wasn't her real name. Bertha would swallow anything.

"Oh I know what you're thinking, it don't
sound too original does it. But that's her name. Saw it on her
driver's license when you sent the Sheriff out."

"Sorry 'bout that Bertha. I just thought it
odd, you selling that truck after all these years."

"Gotta let go sometime, Deke. It's way past
that time, you know."

"I guess."

"Anyway, she stayed with me about a month.
Seems she gave you all of her first paycheck, to pay the damages on
your truck."

Deke swallowed hard. He never meant to put a
hardship on the little lady.

"I had no idea Bertha. I wish I could figure
a way to make it up to her."

"She's as survivor. Anyway, she moved into
the old Gilmore place. She's a sweet little thing. Do almost
anything to repay me. Told her it wasn't necessary. She keeps to
herself these days. Kinda mysterious little thing, but polite as
all get out. She got off the bus a couple of months back and had no
where to go. Kinda stranded I guess. Looked a might desperate so I
gave her a job and a place to stay."

"What would a gal like that want with an old
beat up truck?"

"Said she's got business in Sweetwater and
she don't want to stand out on the highway waitin' on a bus."

"Business in Sweetwater?"

"Yeah, somethin' about a lawyer . . . I
didn't pry."

"A lawyer. Divorce, maybe?"

"I don't know."

"So what happened to Andy?" Deke settled back
in his seat.

"Andy took off again."

Deke glanced through the hole again, but
couldn't see her. "What's her story? I mean, people don't just
suddenly show up in Devil's Corner. This ain't Sweetwater or
Abilene."

"That's true enough but she don't offer much
information. Kinda quiet. Nervous little thing too."

"Nervous?" Deke found himself asking,
curiosity aroused.

"Bites her nails right down to the quick.
Always lookin' over her shoulder. I'd bet she's running away from
something or somebody."

Deke's jaw tightened, seeing her as a
possible abused person, or running away from a bad marriage. Poor
kid. The thought of Emma Smith being abused didn't set well with
him, but he pushed it from his mind. The way she'd thrown that
money at him, shocked him. He hadn't expected her to do a fool
thing like that. He'd picked it up, took it home and put it in a
jar and never gave it another thought, till now. "So what happened
to Andy?" His eyes drifted back to the kitchen. Darn it all, he
couldn't keep his eyes off Emma.

Bertha chuckled. "Got the hots for some
little filly over in Abilene. Same old story. Took off after her.
He'll be back, though. Always comes back with his tail between his
legs. Trouble is, I ain't sure I wanna hire Andy back. I mean, Emma
is the best cook I've ever had. You should try the chicken fried
steak, and her gravy is better than mine. Must've been born in a
kitchen."

"Emma?" Deke rolled the name off his tongue
as though he could taste it. Damn, it was just a name, but he liked
it.

"You interested, Deke?"

"Not me. I've got enough to ride herd on.
What with Cal smoking all the time, and Rusty jumping every man who
even looks at his girl, and Clint with his broken heart and
rodeos."

"Too bad Clint didn't grab Abby."

"Yeah, she probably wised up and took
off."

"She sure loved that boy."

"Everybody knew it but Clint. Funny thing
though, he's quit going over there so much any more."

"Too bad. Heard she went to stay with some of
her folks for a while. So you losin' Jake too?"

"No, he's the only one I got to depend on.
Makes me feel downright mean for holding him back from doing what
he really wants to do. With his education he damned sure don't need
to be herding cows. But you know as well as I do, it'd take a stick
of dynamite to get him off the ranch when I need him so bad."

Bertha nodded sympathetically. "You got your
hands full, you and Jake. But you ain't gettin' any younger Deke.
It's high time you were settlin' down with a brood of your own, if
you ask me."

"I didn't ask."

"One of these days, Deke Travers, you're
gonna be so knee deep in love you won't know what hit you."

When Deke refused to acknowledge her keen
insight, she took out her pad. "You wanna order now, or wait on the
rest of 'em."