Stripped Bare (23 page)

We rode in silence for a few minutes and I congratulated myself on distracting Roxy.

Celebrating victory was premature. Roxy leaned over the console, as if conspiring with me. “I'm going to tell you something my mother told me. And it's not PC and it's not women-empowering or anything, but it's the simple truth.”

I didn't want to hear this.

As solemnly as if reciting a prayer, she said, “Have an affair with your husband or someone else will.”

She. Did. Not. Say that. Lava popped and climbed up my throat.

She held up a hand as if I'd started to argue. “No, listen. I know it's not fair. But look at me. I never let Ted see me without makeup. I always dress nice, wear sexy underwear, put a smile on my face. When was the last time you did any of that for him?”

“Stop talking.” My voice came out as a warning growl.

“As I said, you've got some good basics to work with, you just need to—”

I slammed on the brakes and we fishtailed before stopping in the middle of the highway. “Get out.”

The abrupt halt threw her toward the dash, then popped her into the back of her seat. “My God, what are you doing?”

“We're through with this conversation.”

Her pale face was a satisfying sign. “I'm only trying to help.”

“Here's what would help me. You leave me alone. You leave Ted alone. You leave Carly alone. You move to Tibet and pursue enlightenment.”

With the kind of look you'd give to a three-year-old when you're holding the line on bedtime, she said, “I know you're hurt right now. But when you calm down you'll see I'm right.”

I slapped the gearshift into Park and jetted from the pickup. In two seconds I had her door open. “Out!”

“You're crazy!” She clutched the doorframe.

“You get one chance to do this the easy way.” With eight siblings, I knew how to fight. “Get out now or I'll drag you out, and that's gonna hurt.”

“Fine.” She straightened her pink sweater and stepped out of the pickup onto the road. She reached inside and snatched her bag.

I stomped back to my side and climbed in, shoved the gearshift into Drive, and peeled out.

I hadn't traveled a half mile before Mom's disappointed face loomed in my mind. Mom and her damned “Desiderata.” I hadn't acted the least bit placid, and probably it was possible to be on better terms with Roxy than leaving her by the roadside.

What irked me the most was that, when I returned for her, Roxy hadn't taken a step toward town. She stood with her arms folded across her chest and her bag dangling from her shoulder as if she knew I'd be back. I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road and stopped to pick her up.

She climbed inside, way more placid than I'd thought possible, and settled her bag on the floor.

I exploded with all the heat of the volcano. “If you don't want to find yourself hoofing it back to the Bar J, keep your mouth shut about Ted.”

The indulgent smile almost made me stop again. “Sure thing.”

Roxy started several conversations, mostly to gossip about this or that. Finally, she gave up, pulled out her phone, and started texting. No doubt sending love notes to my husband. I ignored her soft giggles whenever she received a reply.

She addressed me. “My mother is stuck in a motel bar in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Her car broke down on her way from Phoenix. I know it's not funny, but the way she describes the people in the bar is hysterical.”

Oh. She wasn't talking to Ted. I still wanted to swat her.

A set of decaying wood corrals and loading chutes marked the turnoff to the old Carson place. The headquarters squatted over the first hill from the highway. I stopped at a wire gate strung tight across the road and waited for Roxy to get out and open it. Normally the gate draped back along the fence, making the road clear. But during calving season the Carsons' new cow and calf pairs lived in the pasture closest to the house, so the gate stayed latched. Live in this country long enough and you come to know how each rancher runs his place.

Roxy tried to wait me out. She glanced down at her crisp designer jeans and fashion boots with two-inch heels, then meaningfully at my ropers and faded Wranglers. When I didn't budge, she huffed and got out to open the gate and hold it while I drove through. She latched it again.

The Carsons' calving lot sprawled in front of their headquarters, straddling the road. I idled through the milling cattle, ever mindful of sleeping calves. Like any good rancher, I studied his herd, noting the body condition of his cows—good—and the health of his calves—also good.

We pulled up in front of his well-kept brick ranch house, probably built in the sixties. Tall cottonwoods shaded the yard and a wide front porch held a swing and old metal outdoor chairs. The kind that bounce when you sit on them.

Jack walked from the barn about fifty yards south of the house. He wore his usual stern expression but seemed curious to see us there. I couldn't blame him for that. Folks in the Sandhills are friendly but not given to dropping in unannounced. Unless they were a neighbor and you happened to live within access to one of their pastures. If you shared fences and roads with neighbors, you oughtn't mow your grass topless or you might get caught. Just making a hypothetical comment; not as if Tank Cleveland caught me doing that. Twice.

Afternoon was punching its time card while evening waited to take the next shift. A chill threatened, which would turn into frost by morning. Jack would be on his way in for about two hours.

He would likely relax, watch the weather report, eat a hearty supper his wife prepared, put his feet up for an hour or so, then head back out to check the cows and do evening chores. If no cows were calving, he'd grab a few hours' sleep and trudge outside every two hours to check the herd. After about six weeks of this schedule he'd be worn so thin that, if he was given to temper, he'd be a bear, and if he was prone to depression, his wife better hide the guns.

I stepped from the pickup onto the ground, which was damp from the afternoon shower. “Hey, Jack.”

He eyed me. “Kate.” He raised his chin in a Sandhills wave. “Roxy.”

Roxy rounded the pickup to stand next to me. I waited for Jack to make his way to us.

“Did you get a good rain?” I asked.

He rubbed his peppery face, which looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. “Not more'n two-tenths.”

“Any rain is good,” I said.

Jack landed in the age range “middling,” between my folks and me. His kids were grown and gone, but not by long.

He looked down at his mud- and manure-caked Carhartt coveralls, his feet encased in boots stretched with rubber overshoes. “Sad doings about Eldon.” He brought his eyes up to mine. “How's Carly takin' it? She was pretty close to her granddad, wasn't she?”

I wish I knew Carly's state of mind. “She's a tough kid.”

He nodded. “Will she move out to the ranch after graduation?”

I didn't have to lie. “We haven't talked about it.”

I couldn't come out and ask if he'd killed Eldon. I threw Roxy a panicked look.

“When's the services?” Jack asked after a moment of silence.

I looked toward the house. Enough shadows fell that the light shone from inside, silhouetting a figure looking out a window. It had to be Aileen. I waved. The figure waved back but didn't move away. She must have something on the stove or she'd probably be out here greeting us, too. “Friday.” I let that sit, trying to come up with something to say.

Roxy jumped in. “That's why we're here. Carly and I are making some decisions for the funeral. I wanted to ask if you'd consider being a pallbearer.”

His forehead crinkled in puzzlement. “You could have called. You didn't need to drive all the way out here.”

Roxy sighed. “It's so sad at the ranch, thinking about Eldon and Brian and everything. Kate, bless her heart, came out and insisted fresh air and sunshine would do me good. So I thought we might as well come see you. She was right. I'm feeling better now.”

He looked from Roxy to me and I almost saw a dialogue bubble form over his head, which said, “Does Kate know about Ted and Roxy?” Ted and Roxy might have been discreet, but no bag could hold the cat now. Everyone knew.

He rubbed his scruffy face and seemed agitated. “Why me?”

“Well, I know how close you and Eldon were.” She sounded sincere to her bones.

His hand traveled from his chin to the back of his neck. “Me and Eldon didn't have much to do with each other.” If he raged about an unfaithful wife, he hid it well.

Roxy raised her eyebrows. “Didn't you have a land deal a while back?”

His hand flopped from his neck down to his crusty coveralls. “I thought only us knew about it.”

Roxy looked solemn. “Family business.”

Jack gazed over our heads.

Clouds had vanished, leaving the sky a deep violet, the exact color of Ted's eyes. Those eyes that used to drink me in and warm with passion for me.

“It was bad business. And I'm sorry I dragged Eldon into it.” His vehemence surprised me. I tried to weigh his outburst against the calving season personality disorder. It still seemed over the top.

I waited for him to elaborate.

Finally Jack shook his head. “No, I don't s'pose Eldon would want me as pallbearer.”

Since no one seemed inclined to continue, I asked, “Why's that?”

Jack turned his attention to Roxy and gave her a mournful look.

She let her lower lip tremble slightly. “It's not my story to tell.”

Jack shoved his hands into the pockets of his coveralls and stared at his muddy boots for several seconds. Without raising his head, he started to speak. “I'm sorry to say that I got myself into some money troubles. This fellow from Mississippi was doing some of God's work. At least, that's what I thought. Still do, as far as that goes.”

He glanced up quickly, then down.

“He heard this old Bible prophecy about a perfect red heifer being born in Israel. It's sort of a long story, why there hasn't been one in over two thousand years and why there needs to be one. I can tell it to you, but I suspect you'd laugh at me.”

I didn't say anything. Roxy made an
uh
sound, so he knew she was listening.

“Being as how I raise Red Angus and how I'm part of the Christ Almighty church, I heard about this man's mission. He needed someone to help him put together this perfect herd of cows, and a place to keep them until they could be shipped to Israel. He had some backers and it all seemed on the up-and-up. So I started to go to sales and buy up the best of the breeding bulls. And you know, that ain't cheap. This guy, he said the money was coming but it'd been held up. He showed me how the devil was working against us. But I know God is on our side.”

I cringed, guessing what was coming next.

“I talked to Aileen about it and we agreed the good Lord was testing our faith. So I got a loan on the ranch and bought the cattle. But the man in Mississippi couldn't get the project going. Not on time, anyway. He's still working on it. But for us, time ran out. We were in debt and about to lose the ranch.”

“How does Eldon come into it?” I asked.

He looked up. “I'm gettin' to it. So I figured if I could sell that south piece I could pay down the debt and maybe keep from having to lose the whole place. I'd heard the Webers was looking for a bigger place, so I approached them.”

He let out a hiccup that might have been a choked sob. “I felt so desperate. I priced it where I needed it to be, not necessarily what it was worth, and I prayed that if it was God's will that they'd accept the terms. They did.”

“But then Eldon pulled the cash and ruined it,” Roxy said, as if she'd wrapped it all up.

Jack stared at her. “You know that's not what happened.”

Her eyebrows shot up, but she said in a normal voice, “Of course not. But it's what the devil would have wanted.”

I could tell he didn't buy her version of things, but he didn't seem to care. “Before the sale was finished, the elders came to me and did a laying-on of hands to bring out the devil. You see, I'd given in to the lies and deceit and tried to take the easy way out. They made me realize that I couldn't sell to the Webers. They are fornicators. They cheated on their spouses and aren't even married to each other to this day. I had to cancel the sale, and that meant I'd lose it all.”

He swallowed and paused. “But Eldon come by. He said he'd agreed to loan the Webers the money but he wanted to know why I was selling. I confessed all, and told him I didn't know how to get out of the contract I'd signed.”

Roxy made another sound of interest.

“Eldon made it all good. He canceled the loan to the Webers. He bought the land from me, then went on and gave me a loan to pay off the bank.”

Roxy's face turned a curious shade, sort of like a rusty nail.

“Wow, that's generous,” I said.

“That's not all. He gave me a low rate and all the time I need to pay it back.”

Roxy drew in a sharp breath and grew even more colorful.

“I always heard Eldon was a tightwad,” I said.

Jack's eyes watered. “There was some bad blood with us Carsons and Edwardses, but Eldon always treated me fair. After he helped me out like that, I heard he put it in his will that meadow goes to Rope Hayward's boy.”

“Mick?”

Jack shook his head. “Naw, I think we all know he's a lost cause. It's that other boy, the grandkid. He's been in trouble hisself, but I figure Eldon hoped to stop him before he went the same as his daddy. Kind of give the kid a reason to straighten up.”

Roxy spun around and marched to the pickup. She launched herself inside and slammed the door.

Jack looked at her. “Guess she didn't know the particulars. But now she understands why it wouldn't be right for me to carry Eldon's coffin.”