Dove in the Window (10 page)

Gabe scooted over to make room for me at one of the tables. I shook my head no.

“No, thanks, I’m too tired. You all would get my money in two minutes. I think I’ll get some cake and go in the bedroom. Has anyone seen Elvia?” I wanted to run the whole Wade-Shelby-Gabe thing by her.

“She went home,” Dove said, slapping a card down and picking up another. “One of Sofia’s grandbabies was feeling kinda puny, so Elvia drove her over to see him.”

“I’ll call her, then.”

I went into my old bedroom, full now with sleeping bags, overnight bags, and the various paraphernalia of traveling women. I pushed aside a bunch of heavy sheepskin jackets and wool-lined Levi jackets and rested my back back against the maple headboard. I dialed Elvia’s number and was surprised when she answered.

“How’s the baby?” I asked.

“Fine. It’s Maria’s first, so she’s nervous. It was just a bit of colic.”

“I’m going to kill him if I can ever find him,” I said, lapsing straight into my whining. That’s one of the advantages to having a friend who’s known you since childhood. You don’t need to go into a lot of background detail.

“What did Wade do to Gabe to make him so mad?” she asked.

I told her.

“Greenbroke you? That sounds like Wade, crude and pathetic. And to think he still has the ability to procreate.”

“The thing between him and Gabe I can handle. I’ll just keep them apart while Wade is here. It’s Shelby I’m worried about. She’s young and angry and ...”

“Stupid,” Elvia finished.

“I was going to say stubborn, but stupid works. She thinks she has everything all figured out, but I’m afraid she’s getting in chin deep pitting Kip and Wade against each other. They both have hair-trigger tempers and enough sense between them to buy half a cup of store-brand coffee. Someone’s going to get hurt before this is through.”

If my words had been a poker hand, they would have worn crowns.

3

AFTER A LONG conversation with Elvia, I turned on the miniature television sitting on the dresser and promptly fell asleep in the middle of a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat movie about a malevolent tornado. I woke up at ten o‘clock surrounded by tiny sleeping cousins. Trying not to wake them, I eased out of bed and headed for the living room, where the poker games were still going full force. After refusing another invitation to join, I went outside to attempt once more to find Wade. Never mind the situation between him, Kip, and Shelby—we still had some unfinished business with that foul-mouthed crack he made about me. The yards around the house and barn were quieter now with most of the younger children bedded down for the night in the haphazard array of trailers, campers, and tents. Only a few dozen adults and teenagers were still wandering around. Somewhere a guitar played, and someone sang an old cowboy ballad I remembered from my childhood, used to settle down restless cattle and cranky children. Nostalgia like a thin icicle stabbed my heart. It seemed only months ago that I was one of those sleepy kids, my legs and arms tangled with my equally exhausted cousins, warm and secure in the knowledge that the adults were there protecting us and making sure everything would be okay until we woke in the morning to the smells of toasty campfire coffee and honey-cured bacon.

I walked over to the corral behind the barn to watch the horses settle in for the night, letting the sounds of their wet nickering and hooves pawing the dirt soothe me. A few minutes later I overheard voices inside the barn. Loud, angry voices.

I ran around the corner in time to see the door fly open and Shelby stomp out, pulling hay from her tangled hair, her face dark with fury.

“Shelby, what’s going on?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

She glared at me and didn’t answer. I stared after her retreating figure, turning around when I heard someone come up behind me.

“Shelby ... darlin‘ ... wait ...” Wade sputtered.

“Wade, what did you do?” I demanded.

His face twisted into a frown. “I didn’t do nothing, Benni. I was just giving her what she’s been asking for all evening, and then she gets weird on me. Shit. Women.”

The toxic scent of alcohol caused me to step back. “Wade, you jerk! How much have you had to drink? Did you try to force yourself on her?”

“I didn’t force anything. She just chickened out when we were getting down to business. She told me it was over between her and that other guy.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples. “She’s just a kid, and you were taking advantage of a fight between her and her boyfriend. Can’t you see how despicable that is?”

“She knew what she was doing. She was using me, too.”

I took a deep breath. “Look, just go back to the bunkhouse and get some sleep. And stay away from Shelby Johnson. That’s an order.”

“No problem. That woman is crazy,
loco.
She and that twerp deserve each other.” He shoved his hands deep into his jean pockets and walked off.

I considered following him to make sure he went straight back to the bunkhouse, then decided that I’d had enough of his and Shelby’s love triangle and chose instead to go back around to the corral, climb back up on the railing, and think about how much easier life was when I was ten years old. A few minutes later, Emory’s voice came out of the darkness.

“Hey, sweetcakes, you seemed out of sorts this evening. Are you feelin‘ okay?”

“Just tired.”

He walked over to me and leaned against the railing. “Sick and tired of the trials and tribulations of your fellow human beings?”

From my perch on the railing, I smiled at him. Emory always knew how to get right to the heart of what was bothering me. “No kidding. Let me tell you the latest.”

Wade and Shelby’s sordid tale only took about five minutes, but Emory listened without interrupting, his eyes shadowed in the moonless night.

He grabbed my knee and shook it gently. “There’s not much you can do about folks who are determined to screw up their lives, Benni.”

“I know, but don’t they realize how their stupid sexual games can hurt so many people? For what? I just don’t get it, Emory. Why mess up their lives for such a little thing?”

He leaned back against the railing and looked out into the dark field beyond us. “Because it isn’t a little thing. Sex is a very, very big thing. Of course, our society has chosen to trivialize it by using it to sell everything from toothpaste to family vans. I’ll wager if you quizzed your husband he’d tell you that a good percentage of the crimes committed in your fair county involve sex in some way. It is by no means a little thing. There’s nothing bigger or as all encompassing in our lives except for death.”

“Why, Emory Delano Littleton,” I exclaimed. Behind me the horses stirred, nervous and snorting. “It sounds like you’ve been involved in some deep philosophical contemplation. Are you getting serious on me in your old age?”

His soft laugh rumbled through the cold air. “Keep that under your cute little Stetson, dear cousin of mine. Don’t want to ruin this decadent southern Lothario image I’ve worked so hard to create.”

I laughed in return, hopped down off the railing, and hugged him.

“Emory,” Gabe said, coming around the corner, “if I caught my wife like this with any other man but you, he’d be
carne asada.”

“Is the poker game over?” I asked. “Did you win?”

Grinning, he pulled out a small wad of bills. “Arnie was royally pissed at my royal flush.”

Emory
tsked
under his breath. “Chief Ortiz, I could report you for illegal gambling.”

Gabe winked at me. “Brave words from a man just caught behind the barn in the arms of another man’s wife.”

“And on that note, I’ll leave you two to your good night ritual. See you in the bunkhouse, Cousin Gabe.”

I watched Emory walk around the corner. “I’m so glad he’s here. I’ve missed him.”

“I can tell.” Gabe pulled me to him, and I inhaled his musky, gingery scent. “And I’m going to miss your warm body tonight. I think you might have become a habit with me.”

I nuzzled his neck. “More addictive than jogging?”

“No contest,
querida.”

We kissed until it was too tempting to continue, then started back toward the main buildings. Just as we reached the bunkhouse, the pine door flew open, and two male bodies fell to the ground, swinging fists and cursing. Sam, Bobby, and Emory followed. It only took a moment in the light from the open bunkhouse door to figure out it was Wade and Kip rolling in the dirt.

“Sam, Bobby, grab Kip. Now!” Gabe yelled, jumping into the fight. He wrapped an arm around Wade’s neck and hauled him backwards. Sam grabbed the tail of Kip’s shirt while Bobby tried to capture his friend’s flailing arms. Emory stood back, watching the fray, an amused half smile on his face.

Wade struggled against Gabe’s hold until Gabe tightened his forearm enough to show Wade he meant business.

“All right, all right,” he croaked to Gabe. “Let me go.”

“Then cool down,” Gabe snapped and released him with a small shove. He planted himself between the two panting men. “I’m only going to say this once. If this happens again, I’ll escort you both off the ranch myself. If you two want to beat the crap out of each other over some woman, that’s your business, but it’s not going to happen here. There are kids and ladies here, and they don’t need to be subjected to this. Are we clear on this?”

Neither answered.

Gabe’s voice dropped an octave. “Are we
clear
on this?”

They both nodded, their eyes fixed on the ground. Uncle Luke and Daddy stepped out of the camper parked next to the bunkhouse.

“C‘mon, Wade,” Daddy said, shaking his head in annoyance at his disturbed sleep. “We’ve got a spare bunk in the camper here. You ’n‘ Kip just need a bit of distance between you.” Uncle Luke grinned and winked at me. He and Daddy were old hands at diverting the attentions of squabbling cowboys.

Wade shot Kip another angry look before following Daddy and Luke into the camper.

Gabe walked me back to the house where the living room lights were still blazing. Though it was past midnight, I knew the women in my family; they’d be up until the early morning hours gabbing.

“I hope Wade isn’t planning on staying long,” Gabe said when we reached the front steps.

“I’m sure he won’t,” I said. “He’s got a ranch to run.”

“He’d better watch himself. I’d just as soon lock him up as look at him, to be truthful.”

“You’ve spent too long playing poker with Dove. You’re beginning to sound like her.”

He looked down at me, his irritation gone for the moment. “I think your whole family is starting to rub off on me.”

“And this is a bad thing?” I laughed softly, put my arms around his waist, and slipped my hands in the back pockets of his Levi’s, pulling him against me.

He groaned under his breath. “Woman, you are killing me.”

“Just wanted to make sure you dream about me tonight.”

“Guaranteed,” he said.

Inside the house I was forced to replay the latest in the Kip and Wade war. I purposely left out the part about seeing Wade and Shelby come out of the barn together, realizing I’d forgotten to tell Gabe about it. My guess was that somehow Kip had found out about Wade and Shelby’s tryst, and that’s what set off the latest fight.

“You tell them for me,” Dove said, wiping off the counter, “that any more of their shenanigans, and I’ll be driving ‘em into the chute and rubberbanding them myself. That oughta calm them down some.”

“She’d do it, too,” Aunt Kate said, sipping a mug of hot cocoa.

We spent the next half hour poking fun at the general stupidity brought about by testosterone, getting settled down to sleep at about one A.M. Stepping over the minefield of sleeping bodies, I crawled into my childhood bed next to two of my cousin’s little girls. I fell asleep, my last thoughts before unconsciousness being about the huge country breakfast we’d all enjoy the next morning.

The one we’d eventually get around to making when all the crime scene personnel had left.

4

“HONEYBUN,” DOVE WHISPERED. “Wake up now.”

I jerked up, disoriented for a moment. “Jack!”

A flash of memory mixed with troubling dreams about my late husband and his brother washed over me, and for a moment it felt like a dam broke in my chest. Dove’s voice had awakened me in the same way it had on that early morning Wade had come to the ranch to tell us Jack had been killed.