Deep Dixie (24 page)

She grabbed the liquid detergent and squirted it into the water, the aroma of the green liquid filling the damp air around her.

If this was a victory, it was a shallow one at best. She was still in as big a mess as she had been before, trying to run three businesses on her own. Everyone in town would still be dependent on her decisions, and she still did not have a lawyer that she could trust to help her comb through the plans left in chaos by Daddy
’
s dying. And then there was Riley

She slid the plates into the sink and turned the faucet off with one hard crank of the handle. Standing with her hands immersed in the steaming water, she stared into the fragile, quivering bubbles.
Riley
. He said he
’
d changed his entire life for Wendy
’
s sake, and now to have this happen. What was the man going to do?

The faintest tapping from the door behind her jarred Dixie
’
s thoughts back to the reality of the moment. She raised her hands from the water, started to wipe them on her apron, only to
remember she
’
d been so worked up she had not put one on. She turned toward the drawer with the kitchen towels in it, but the continued tapping drew her attention away.

“
What?
”
She shook her hands over the sink to fling away the bubbles but they were too thick. Feeling a fool for having acted so impulsively out of her mixed feelings, she thrust her hands behind her back.
“
What is it? Did somebody want something?
”

Slowly the door cracked open, not much, but just enough to allow a small white object to inch through the opening.

Dixie squinted. She cocked her head to try to make out what the peculiar white, and then a bit of yellow, could be. Her grandfather
’
s card, she concluded after a few seconds study, stuck like a flag on the end of...
”
A banana?
”

Riley pushed his way on through the doorway, a grin as wide as the ol
’
Mississippi itself on his face.
“
It
’
s a call for a truce.
”
He held the fruit toward her.
“
From one monkey to another.
”

“
If you think this is funny, Mr. Walker, then...
”
She glanced at the banana in his hand, Dixie couldn
’
t help but chuckle.
“
Okay, it
’
s funny
”

“
Truce, then?
”
He held out his hand, his gaze hopeful but hard.

“
Truce.
”
Dixie returned that gaze with one she hoped he would read as strong but sympathetic. She swung her hand out to grasp his.

Their palms met.

The soap bubbles squished and popped and oozed between their fingers.

Riley glanced down.

Dixie winced.

He shook his head.
“
Well, at least this is going to be a clean break-
”

Dixie straightened her shoulders and let her hand slip from his. With all the suds on their warm skin he could not have held it if he had wanted to, but he did not seem to want to.

That was okay with her. She didn
’
t want to stand here in this cramped but cozy kitchen looking up into Riley Walker
’
s eyes, holding his hand, anyway. With a deep breath she started to wipe her hands dry on her skirt, caught herself and went over to grab a towel.
“
Actually, Mr. Walker, this all could become quite messy, if you think about it. You
’
ve struck a deal that you
’
ve gone to great lengths to assure me, it
’
s airtight.
”

Riley set his improvised flag of surrender aside.
“
No deal is airtight if one of the participants can be proven to have, um, shall we say, sprung a leak?
”

She grabbed a towel shook it so fiercely the soft cotton snapped in the air as it unfurled from its sharp folds.
“
Just what are you implying, Mr. Walker?
”

“
Oh, c
’
mon, don
’
t get all coy with me. You know what I mean. Your grandfather there.
”
He gave a sharp gesture with his thumb in the general direction in which the old man had last been seen.
“‘
Smilin
’
Bob,
’
‘
the Judge.
’
He
’
s a wing and a leg short of a full fried chicken dinner.
”

“
He
’
s eccentric.
”
Dixie would have been the first to have said as much about her grandfather if asked. But she hadn
’
t been asked and hearing it from Riley just hit her wrong. She wadded the soft fabric in both her hands.
“
But he is competent,
mentally
competent, and I don
’
t think you could prove otherwise. Maybe if you had asked some questions before you started signing things Greenhow put in front of you.
”

“
I was desperate.
”
He pushed his hand back through the thick waves of his hair, looked up at the clock, over at the window, then right at Dixie
.
Though he didn
’
t say the words, there was a plea for understanding his eyes and the weary expression on his face.
“
I had to do something to make our lives look normal and as positive as humanly possible, and I had to do it yesterday.
”

“
Wait, Riley, are you saying--
”

“
I thought I knew what I was walking into after speaking to your father. I thought I was helping both our families.
”

“
No. Do not put any of this on me.
”
Dixie put both hands up between them. He wanted her to understand him? He needed to do as much for her. To do that he had to hear the truth
. “
Riley Walker, you worried that in six years of being Wendy
’
s father you had neglected all the
‘
right things
’
.
”

The quotation marks she made in the air sent a splash of soapy water sailing. When it landed on Riley
’
s cheek he didn
’
t so much as flinch.

Dixie fought the urge to reach up and brush it away by pressing on to make her point.
“
Me, I take one look at Wendy, see how she treats others and the way she lights up around you, and I
’
d say you worried for nothing.
”

“
Thanks,
”
he muttered.
“
I think.
”

“
But you had it in your head you had to present the court with some kind of picture book life.
”
She stepped toward him, her fingers flexing to fight the temptation to take care of the damp spot on his face.
“
So when push came to shove, you decided you could waltz into my life and buy those things you had neglected to build for yourself, or to siphon them off of my family and all the trappings of stability and—
”

“
Stability?
”
It came out sounding like he
’
d just scalded himself. He tried to maintain a serious expression but he couldn
’
t hide the spark of amusement in his eyes when he asked,
“
This group?
”

It probably wasn
’
t a good sign that she found the conflicting emotions in him charming. But she was trying to make a point and she hated being charmed when she was trying to make a point
. “
Yes, in many ways my family does seem to have the stability yours lacks. Otherwise, why us?
”

He took a deep breath and let it out, resignation now mixing with his need for her to understand.
“
It was business.
”

“
Well, it turned out to be bad business, didn
’
t it? You think you
’
ve done all this to put all of us on solid ground but what you
’
ve really done…
”
At last she reached up stroked the dampness from his cheek with the side of her thumb. She couldn
’
t help herself, just as she couldn
’
t held adding,
“
What you
’
ve really done is put yourself between a rock and a hard place.
”

* * *

She was right. He knew it. She knew it. But no power on earth was going to make him admit it. Not today, not with so many thoughts crashing together in his mind that he could not concentrate on anything but his own anger and embarrassment.

“
There
’
s no sense in us going over and over my motivations, Dixie.
”
He stepped back, surprised at how much he instantly missed her touch, her nearness. What had happened to him? He was losing his focus. He took another backward step and shook his head, his hands up.
“
I think maybe it would be best if Wendy and I stayed elsewhere tonight.
”

He gave the kitchen door a shove and in two long strides he was back in the dining room.

The door whooshed and clunked, swinging back and forth, back and forth in smaller and smaller increments over the threshold.

A sudden noisy
wham
broke the thumping rhythm. The door swung open and there stood Dixie, eyes flashing.
“
Did you just walk out on me?
Nobody
just walks out on me.
”

It took every ounce of irritation Riley could conjure up just to keep him from smiling at her
response. And from confessing he hadn
’
t been walking out so much as running away, and not from her but from his own feelings for her.
“
You wanted me out of your family
’
s business. I want out. You should be happy.
“

She tipped her head back.
“
You don
’
t know how I feel.
”

He pinned her with a glare.
“
You
’
re just not
content
unless you
’
re contradicting me, are you?
”

“
I
’
m not content unless I am doing the right thing, Mr. Walker. If that happens to make you look like the north end of a southbound mule in the process, well, that
’
s just a happy coincidence.
”
She crossed her arms, smiled slyly and cocked her head.

A neat little row of pearls accentuated her slender neck and complemented the flawless color of her skin. That he could take note of such things when other men might have been contemplating circling that pretty neck with both hands, told Riley something that scared him far more than any business deal gone sour ever could. Dixie Fulton- Leigh had gotten under his time-toughened hide like no other woman had before. Now, more than ever, he knew he had to get out of there.

“
And the right thing is to make you and Wendy comfortable in my home. You are the invited guests of this household, and I will not be any part of you running off with that precious child of yours into the night when we have perfectly fine—
”

“
Into the night? Where do you get that stuff?
”
His laugh came out harder than he intended but he did nothing to soften it when he threw out,
“
You won
’
t allow me to take my child and go? I
’
d like to see you try and stop me.
”

* * *

Dixie stayed on Riley heels as she followed him down the dark and narrow hallway that lead to Lettie
’
s room. She tried to reason with him but she didn
’
t manage to get more than a few syllables out before the sound of Wendy
’
s darling voice reached them, and Riley pulled up.