This Cowboy's Heart (2 page)

      
Adjusting
the shower to the hottest water she could stand, she stepped inside and let it
sluice over her body.
 
Pure heaven, she
thought, as the steam rose and soothed her.
 
She grabbed the soap, the scent spicy, and rubbed it between her hands
until the suds were dripping to the bottom of the shower.
 
She washed three times before she felt clean,
and then used the shampoo and washed her hair twice, wincing when her hands ran
over the bump on her head.

      
For
awhile she just stood under the spray, letting the tears come, letting them
fall, and be rinsed away by the water, until there was no hot water left.
 
She turned off the spigot, stepped out,
grabbed the towel hanging on the rack, and dried off.
 
When she picked up her clothes, she wrinkled her nose.
 
His scent, his sweat, was still on it.
 
She couldn’t abide putting them back
on.
 
She wrapped the towel around her;
pulled open the door, peeked out, and finding she was alone, walked to the
dresser and pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans.
 
They would be way too big, but would do until she got her clothes
washed out and dried.

      
After
she completed the task of dressing and hanging her clothes on top the shower
door to dry, she walked back to look out the door.
 
The tractor was gone and she glanced to the field on the right
and saw Jace driving it with a wagon or something hooked behind it.
 
There must be a lot to do here, she thought,
glancing around at the open fields that surrounded the cabin.
 
She wondered if he owned all this, and her
instincts told her did.
 
It was well
cared for land.
 

      
Stepping
out onto the porch, she walked down the couple steps and around to the
back.
 
A big garden with ripe tomatoes,
cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, and all kinds of good stuff beckoned to her.
 
She quickly picked a few tomatoes, pulled up
some lettuce, radishes, white and red, and pulled Jace’s shirt out of the
rolled up waistband of his pants and made a makeshift sack to carry the produce
back inside.
 
She dumped the contents on
the sink and began washing them.
 
Even
though she was still frightened her uncle would return, she felt safer here
than she ever had in her home since her adopted parents died.
 
Sadness assailed her.
 
She missed them with all her heart.
 
Her father, especially, since he always
cared for her, showing a father’s love, and teaching her right from wrong, how
to be a lady, and how to respect others.

      
Sometimes
she thought she learned that lesson too well, for she had never fought back
when her uncle bullied her or made her life miserable.
 
Of course, he’d never done that around her
father, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him because she knew he loved his
family dearly.
 
She couldn’t be the one
to break his heart or cause him any stress.
 

      
After
her parents passed within a year of each other, things changed.
 
She couldn’t inherit the farm or her money
until she was twenty-five.
 
She knew her
father thought that to be an age where she would know what she was doing and
have a good set of values.
 
He worried
with the way the world was today her inheritance would be too alluring to taste
the world with all its temptations.
 
He
should have known he had taught her better than that.
 
Leaving his brother to manage her inheritance and her life was a
living nightmare.
 
Harold Dawson was
pure evil and never worked a day in his life.
 
She figured her dad felt he had taken care of him enough.
 
Sure, her dad left him money, but he
squandered it away on women and booze, always accusing her of being devious and
that she wasn’t a Dawson by rights and should have none of it.

      
She
tossed the salad, looked in the freezer and found a package of hamburgers.
 
She ran some hot water over then, took the
paper off, and soon had them frying in a cast iron skillet.
 
Even though she was bruised and heartsick,
she owed Jace for taking her in and caring for her.
 
She was also grateful he didn’t call the police or take her to a
hospital.
 
That would have made matters
worse.
 
She only had four more days and
her inheritance was hers.
 
Then she was
going to take control of the farm and kick Harold’s ass out the door.
 
She could care less what happened to him,
and though, she had a conscience that sometimes wouldn’t quit, not allowing her
to do something wrong, she steeled her heart and mind to the fact that he
deserved what he got.
 
She wouldn’t have
to be dependant upon him or have him in her life any longer, if he didn’t come
back and kill her first.

***

      
Jace
drove the tractor to the barn and jumped off.
 
He sniffed the air.
 
Something
sure smelled good and he was ravenous.
 
The only person who could be cooking in his cabin was the woman.
 
Heck, he didn’t even know her name yet.
 
Maybe she was feeling better and more at
ease.
 
Leaving her alone by herself to
come to terms with what happened to her was probably for the best.
 
Several times he’d berated himself for
taking off like that, but he wanted to get that gate up.
 
No one would be driving into his place again
without him opening the padlocked gate.

      
He
walked to the cabin, stepped up on the porch and went inside.
 
“Is that hamburgers I smell?”
 
He watched as she turned from the sink.
 
She’d cleaned up and his clothes hung on
her, but she looked some better.

      
“I
hope you don’t mind.”

      
“Not
at all.
 
Smells really good.”
 
He went to the sink when she stepped away
and washed his hands and face.
 
Grabbing
the towel hanging on the knob of the cupboard, he dried off.
 
“Are you feeling better?”

      
“Yes,
thank you.”

      
“You’re
welcome.
 
Least I could do to help you
out.
 
What’s your name?”

      
“Mia.”

      
“Well,
nice to meet you, Mia.
 
If the food’s
ready, lets eat.”

      
He
sat down at the table that was already set and waited as she poured them each a
cup of coffee and joined him.
 
He bowed
his head and said grace, then reached for the plate of burgers with onions and
potatoes.
 
“This is a real treat for
me.
 
Usually I just open a can of soup.”

      
“You
don’t know how to cook?”

      
“Didn’t
say that.
 
I do, but usually don’t take
the time unless it’s for Sunday dinner.”
 
He watched her put some food on her plate and start eating.
 
He knew her lip made it hard because she
chewed slowly, wincing once in a while.
 
He wasn’t going to ask her what happened until they’d eaten.
 
He wanted her to feel at ease and he figured
if he brought last night up, she would push her plate away.

      
“My
dad always cooked.
 
He was the best.”

      
“My
Ma was too.
 
Your folks gone?”
 
He saw her nod and noticed the sadness in
her sky blue eyes.
 
“Mine too,” he said,
knowing how she felt.

      
They
ate in silence until they were both done.
 
He watched her get up to clear the table.
 
“I’ll do the dishes.
 
I’m
sure you still aren’t feeling too good.”

      
“I’m
fine, really.”

      
Jace
watched as she worked.
 
“Want to tell me
about it?
 
I don’t mean to pry, but it
isn’t every day that I find a woman beat up on my property.
 
By the way, I put up a gate today and no one
can drive in here, so you don’t have to be scared.
 
The fence has barbed wire on top and the gate too, so be at ease
and don’t worry.”

      
Mia
sighed and felt the tears fall down her cheeks.
 
No one had done anything to help her before, even though a few
people knew her uncle was beating her.
 
She flopped down on the chair and cried.
 
She was grateful he didn’t embrace her, but just sit and wait for
the tears to ebb.
 

      
“Take
your time, Mia.
 
You’ve been through a
great deal.
 
I’ll pour us a cup of
coffee.”

      
She
nodded.
 
“Thanks.”

      
Jace
set a cup before her and sat down with his.
 
“Sugar and cream?”

      
“Yes,
please.”

      
“My
Ma always took her coffee that way.
 
Wouldn’t drink it black or with just cream or just sugar.
 
Had to be both.
 
Guess you are a woman just like Ma was.”

      
“I’ll
take that as a compliment,” she said.

      
“She
was a fine woman.”
 

      
“My
uncle beat me and threw me out of his truck,”

      
Jace
listened without interrupting as she told him the whole story.
 
His heart broke at what she was going
through.
 
When she finally fell silent,
he decided to ask what was on his mind.
 
“Did he ever take advantage of you?”

      
“He
tried several times, but only when he was drunk.
 
It was easy to get away from him because he drank until he could
hardly stand up.
 
I’d trip him and he’d
fall, or scramble out of his way and he’d run into the wall.
 
I’d run to my room, lock my door and push
the dresser against it.
 
He’d rant and
rave for a while, but would always stumble to his room and pass out.
 
I guess that is the only times that I was
grateful that he drank so much.”

      
“Why
didn’t you go to the police?”

      
“I
thought about it, but he watched me all the time.
 
I had no car or anything.
 
It was like I was a prisoner in my own home.”

      
Jace
sipped his coffee.
 
“Why did he beat you
and bring you here?”

“I don’t
know.
 
I don’t know where I am
exactly.
 
I think when he hit me and I
hit my head on the television and I passed out, he thought I was dead and
panicked and drove me here and dumped me out.

Jace got up and
refilled their coffee.
 
He still had
work to do before supper, but he wanted to know one more thing.
 
“Who is your uncle?”

“Harold Dawson.”

Jace’s heart
almost stopped in shock.
 
“Harold is
your uncle?”

“Yes.
 
Do you know him?”

He sat back down
and slid her cup in front of her.
 
“Yeah, and you live that way from me.”
 
He pointed past the barn.
 
“He’s
a mean one.
 
I was at a restaurant, bar
one night with my friends and he came in drunk.
 
He’s nasty.
 
We went there
to get supper after a long day of putting up hay.
 
My friends never charge me for helping out when I need it, and I
repay them by buying them a big dinner.”

“Did you know my
dad?”

“From all I heard,
he was a nice man.
 
He took care of your
mom who was blind.
 
Some people said
they had a love that went beyond time.”

Mia smiled, then
groaned when her lip hurt.
 
“Yeah, they
loved each other more than anyone I know and I like to think of them in heaven
together.”

“That’s the way
that I think of my Ma and Pa too, and my grandparents.”
 
He smiled and stood up.
 
“I need to get back to work.
 
We can eat leftovers for supper.
 
If there is anything in those cupboards you
want to fix, feel free to.”

“Thanks for being
so nice.
 
This is the first time in a
long time that I haven’t been scared to death and knowing you put up that gate
makes me feel better too.
 
If we make it
‘til Monday, my inheritance is mine and my farm.”

“Do you have to go
to a lawyer or anything?”