Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (12 page)

“Of course not! I know what I am.”

“Then why care what they think?”

“I care because of…myself and what it does to the girls.”

“Why didn't Andy marry you if he wanted you to stay here and take care of his children? My God, he should have known that it would make things difficult for you.”

“Don't you dare criticize Andy! He's the best man I've ever known. My sister loved him dearly.”

“How about you? Do you love him?”

“Yes, I love him. He and the girls are the only people in this whole wide world that I love and who love me. Satisfied?”

“Yeah. I guess that says it all except why he lets your brother treat you the way he treated you today.”

“You ask a lot of questions that are none of your business.”

He was quiet for so long Leona thought maybe he was going to leave. Then suddenly, he said, “If Deke Bales shows up on Sunday, we can go to the city to see Andy.”

“Why are you bothering with us?”

“I told you that I owed Andy, and this is one way I can pay my debt.”

“You told me that, but you didn't say why you owe him.”

“And you are wondering what a nice, gentle man like Andy would do for a hard case like me. Is that it?”

“You said it.”

“A long time ago Andy helped me out of a tight spot.”

Time ticked away as silence fell after his words. They looked at each other openly from across the churn. Finally Leona spoke.

“Andy is always willing to give a helping hand.”

He looked at her quietly, trying to read her thoughts. The silence stretched between them like a taut thread. The moment came to an end when she drew in a ragged breath and stood.

“I've got to take the churn in.”

Yates got to his feet. “Leona? Wait. I came to tell you that…well—” He hesitated. It had been years since he'd been so unsure of himself. He felt awkward and tongue-tied and he didn't like it.

“Well, what, Mr. Yates?”

“I just wanted to say there was no need for you to be embarrassed because I heard what your brother said.”

“I wasn't just embarrassed by what he said, Mr. Yates. I was mortified, and I've heard that same sermon a hundred times since I was fifteen years old. I knew what to expect when he drove into the yard.”

“You were embarrassed because I was there.”

“Well, of course. Wouldn't you have been if the situation were reversed? Few people want their family's dirty secrets aired in public.”

“It didn't seem to bother your brother.”

“Virgil is an exception to the rule. But then again, he's an exception to a lot of rules.”

“Don't be embarrassed. I never for a minute believed what he said.”

“Maybe not now, but as more accusations pile up, you will start to wonder if there isn't some truth in it. That's just a natural reaction.” Leona was rather proud that she could speak logically in spite of her shortness of breath and the heavy pounding of her heart.

“How does Virgil justify taking Andy's girls?”

“He's convinced himself that he'll be saving their souls, but it's really for spite. Andy took Irene out from under his thumb and then he lost me to Andy. I came to stay with her when he lost his foot, then stayed on when she took sick.”

“And that's why he hates Andy.”

“He thinks he lost face with some of his cohorts because he can't control the women in his family. And he enjoys a confrontation. It keeps him in the limelight. What you did to him will be told time and again to his fellow fanatics. He'll squeeze out every drop of sympathy he can get.”

“Now, I wish I'd really given him something to tell about.”

“You did enough.” She bent to pick up the churn.

“I'll carry it in for you.”

“I can do it. I brought it out.”

“I wasn't here then. I am now.” Yates lifted the churn and waited for her to open the door. “Will we have fresh butter for the biscuits in the morning?”

“If I get around to working the milk out of it.” They entered the darkened house. Leona caught the screendoor to keep it from slamming and waking the girls. “Set it on the table,” she whispered. “And thank you.”

Leona's heart stopped in her chest while she waited for him to leave after he'd eased the churn down onto the table. She gave a silent prayer for the darkness, so that he couldn't see how nervous she was being here in the dark with him. Seconds ticked by. He moved a step closer to her. His breath smelled of tobacco and mint. She attempted to move back and came up against the kitchen cabinet.

His hand, warm and firm, clasped her shoulder. He left it there for a minute, then moved it up to stroke her hair.

“You have pretty hair.” He moved his face closer to hers. “Open your eyes,” he whispered.

“Well, I don't. . .” It was all she managed to say.

“They're pretty, too. You're trembling. Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You …make me nervous.”

“In what way?”

“Well…” She leaned her head back, but didn't tilt it to look up at him. “You're awfully big and … I don't know you,” she finished in a rush.

His hand moved from her hair to cup her cheek. His thumb rubbed back and forth across her lips.

“I won't hurt you. And as long as I'm here I'll not let anyone else hurt you … or the girls.” His fingers moved down beneath her chin to tilt her face up toward his. “Will your brother come back?”

“Oh, yes. He'll come back …sometime.”

“You're worried that he'll bring the law and try to get the girls, aren't you?”

“Yes.” Her voice was a breath of a whisper.

“Don't worry about it. I won't let it happen.”

His fingers caressed the skin beneath her chin. It seemed inevitable that he would kiss her. With the logical part of his mind screaming
don't do it,
Yates bent his head and gently kissed her. Her lips were parted in surprise, and for a moment he tasted the sweetness of her mouth. It produced an almost overwhelming ache deep inside him; one that jarred his emotions as well as his body.

He kissed her again, deeper this time. An intimate manhungry kiss. He felt the wetness of her mouth, the sharp edges of her teeth and the softness of her breasts pressed to his chest. She whimpered softly into his mouth.

He wanted more.

But before he gave in to that impulse, he came to his senses. With a muttered obscenity, his arms dropped from around her, and he backed away from her as if he had touched a hot stove. Without giving her a second look, he quickly left the kitchen.

All the way back to the garage, Yates cursed himself for giving in to the impulse to kiss her. Lord, what was the matter with him? He didn't have a lick of sense when he was around her! By kissing her he had probably given her the crazy idea that he had some romantic interest in her. Didn't she know that a man hungered for a female without the problems of an engagement or marriage?

He'd sure as hell be careful from now on. He had made up his mind long ago that he'd not take on the responsibility of a woman until the way was clear for him to go back home. Then and only then, he would choose a woman to keep his house, take care of his kids and keep out of his way, so that he would be free to come and go as he pleased.

Standing in the dark kitchen after the door closed behind Yates, Leona held her hands to her flushed cheeks. An engagement and marriage were the furthest things from her mind. She had been completely seduced by his soft, sympathetic words of reassurance and her own longing to have someone to lean on, to care about her.

He had taken the liberty of kissing her because he believed she was what Mr. White and Virgil claimed her to be …and she had stood there like a dumb ox and let him.

She didn't know if she was more angry with Yates, because he'd had the audacity to kiss her, or at herself for …liking it.

Chapter 11

D
AWN WAS STREAKING THE SKY
when Leona came from the barn and saw that the Olivers were loaded and ready to pull out of the campground. She set the bucket of milk on the porch, stood beside the house and waved to them. The old car filled with children, with hope and with perseverance, turned onto the highway and headed west. Leona hoped that whatever awaited them in California was better than what they'd had here.

She stood for just a moment and looked longingly down the long ribbon of highway that was Route 66. Leona wished with all her heart that she could take to the road and visit the far-off places she'd heard about: Amarillo, Santa Fe, the Painted Desert, Carlsbad Caverns and the Grand Canyon. She would like to see the orange groves in California and stand on a sandy beach and look out over the vast ocean.

At times the hopelessness of her future was almost more than she could bear. Leona refused to recognize the tears that for an instant dimmed her eyes. She was done with crying. It accomplished nothing.

“Leona.”

Yates's voice brought her head up and straightened her back. She turned to see him standing close to the milk bucket on the porch. She nodded to him, stepped up onto the porch and picked up the bucket.

“There's a man out front who wants to know if there's a bit of work he can do for a bite to eat.”

“Tell him to come around to the back porch, and I will fix him something.”

“Do you feed every hobo who comes along?”

“If they are decent, I do. I'll ask him to shovel out MaryLou's stall. If he goes right to it, I'll make him up a food pack.”

“You're a wonder.”

“No, I'm not. I'm a human being, no better or no worse than anyone else. It could be me walking down the highway, hungry and not a soul in the world caring.”

“I can't see that. I'll send him around and stay until he goes. I'm going into town this morning and get a tub, a tank or something to take a bath in. I'll put it there beside the barn where I can use the conduit to fill it from the pump.”

She turned to face him. “You'll take a bath …right out in the open? I hear there's a nudist colony in New Jersey in case you want to join.”

He laughed. “I'd consider it, if it wasn't so far away. Don't worry, little prude, I'll bathe at night.” It was so unusual to see him smiling that she stared. “I'll fill the tank in the afternoon and let the sun take the chill off the water. The girls will enjoy it.”

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Suit yourself.”

“Leona—”

“What now?” she barked impatiently.

“I'm not going to apologize for kissing you.”

“I never expected you to. I doubt you've ever apologized in your life.” She went into the kitchen and set the milk on the table. Much to her chagrin, he followed and stood just inside the door. She wanted to scream, to kick him, to …cry.

“A kiss between two adults doesn't mean much these days.”

“You don't need to tell me that.”

“I don't want you to think—”

“Think what, Mr. Yates? That I thought you might be interested in carrying on an affair with me? Don't worry, I understand that it meant absolutely nothing to you … or to me.” She began to dip the chunks of butter from the milk she had churned the night before.

“It meant something. It was very pleasant.”

“Pleasant?”

“Yes, pleasant.”

“And handy, too, wasn't it?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I may be a country woman with a less than lily-white reputation, but I'm not stupid.”

“What's your reputation got to do with it? Oh, I get it. You think that I kissed you because Virgil said you were a woman who would welcome a man's advances, is that it?”

“And because of what Mr. White implied. But I want to set you straight about something while we're on the subject—from now on keep your hands to yourself or—you'll be cooking your meals over the campfire—while nursing a busted head. You may be bigger than I am, but you've got to sleep sometime.” She kept her voice steady.

“I never gave a thought to what Virgil said. You're a pretty woman. I wanted to kiss you and I did.”

“It must be nice to be big and strong and take what you want.”

“You didn't exactly fight me off,” he snapped.

The accusation whipped her pride and robbed her of speech for a timeless moment. When she spoke it was in the tone a schoolteacher would use to dismiss a student.

“Excuse me. Go tell the man to come to the back. I'll call you when breakfast is ready.”

Her dismissal irked him. He took the hobo to the barn, showed him the stall and the shovel, then stomped off toward the woodpile where he picked up the ax and began to split stove-wood.

And handy, too.

Her words stuck in his mind like a burr. Damn. She considered his kiss an insult, and all night he had worried that she might think it meant that he had romantic feelings for her. Horseshit! She needn't worry that it would happen again. He sank the ax into a stump and went to wait on a customer who had stopped at the gas pump.

Later Yates ate his breakfast alone on the front porch. When he finished he carried his plate and cup to the kitchen, where Leona sat with the girls at the table.

“I'm going to town when he leaves.” He jerked his head toward the hobo on the back porch. “Need anything?” He placed the soiled dishes in the dishpan.

“No, thank you.”

“Can I go, Mr. Yates?” JoBeth asked.

Leona answered. “No, honey, you can't go. I'm going to wash your hair this morning.”

“Can't ya do it later?”

“No, I can't.” Leona gathered biscuits, meat and cheese into a bread wrapper and took it to the man on the porch.

“Thank you, ma'am.”

“You're welcome and good luck to you.”

When she returned to the kitchen JoBeth was still grumbling. Leona was getting irritated.

“Don't you want to be here when the postman comes? He may have a letter from your daddy.”

“You can go another time, sugar.” Yates patted the child's head as he passed her. “I'll not be gone long,” he said over his shoulder as he went out the door.

“Why er ya mad at him?” Ruth Ann asked.

Leona forced a smile. The question surprised her. “What makes you think I'm mad at him?”

“Because your mouth gets all tight and you don't look at him. I don't want him to go away till Daddy comes back.”