Queen (9 page)

Queen heard him leave as she busied herself with cleaning up the breakfast dishes and the boys went to make their beds and clean their room. It was obviously a long and steadfast rule that needed no reminders from her. Reluctant as she was to admit any kind of admiration for Cody Bonner, she was impressed by a man who made rules and stuck to them.

A loud thump overhead told her that the boys were getting out of hand. She took a deep breath and made for the stairs, once again taking charge before the situation escalated out of control.

"Hey!" she yelled as she burst into the room, surprising the three boys, who were in the midst of a free-for-all scuffle on the bedroom floor. "Let's play ball instead of staying cooped up in here."

Her announcement stopped the wrestling match but brought renewed grumbles from Donny as he unwound himself from the clutches of his two younger brothers.

"Don't have enough players," he muttered. "We're out here in the middle of nowhere. No malls, no movies, no nothing." He sat in the middle of the floor, his chin resting on bent knees, the picture of abject abandonment.

Queen grinned. "Oh, but we do," she said. "Ever played one-eyed cat?"

Three pairs of blue eyes looked up at her in interest.

"What kind of game is that?" Will asked, curious in spite of himself. He'd been all ready to follow Donny's lead and complain.

"If you're through cleaning your room, I'll show you," Queen said. "'Course…
you've got to face the fact that I'll probably beat all three of you at once.
After all, I'm a whole lot older and taller. You guys can't expect to keep up
with—"

"Shoot! Come on, guys. Let's show her. No girl is gonna whip a Bonner, right?"

Her taunt and Donny's cheer had the effect that she'd hoped for. For the moment, boredom, fighting, and unwelcome visitors were forgotten.

They filed out of the house like goslings behind Mother Goose. In no time the game had been mapped out on the front lawn, with a pitcher, a catcher, and a player waiting to bat.

Learning that the entire purpose of the game consisted of hitting the ball and then having to run to only one base before heading back home made it seem easy—too easy, until they tried outrunning Queen Houston's long legs. They hadn't taken into account her lean body or her speed… or her willingness to get as dirty as hell.

Whatever it took, she went all out to beat them back to home base. She ate, wore, and spit dirt in an effort to retrieve the ball, then she would spin on a dime and break into a sprint in a heartbeat, determined to outrun the runner back to home base and tag him out, thereby earning Donny's undying admiration as a woman of merit.

But what won their hearts forever was when Will and J.J. ran headlong into each other. Blood spurted from two different outlets—Will's nose and J.J.'s lip—and she didn't even flinch when she doctored their wounds and cleaned up the mess.

The entire backseat of the Blazer was full of bags, some containing food, some containing extras like special soaps and bath powders. Cody knew he'd probably overdone it, but he'd be damned if he'd be accused of being lax by his in-laws. While they were here, he was determined to prove that he could provide everything necessary for common comfort.

He turned in the driveway leading to his house and found that the knot in his stomach was starting to relax. Whether it was because he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do or because he had something and someone to come home to was irrelevant. He was ready for anything now.

And then he saw them.

The play erupted as Donny swung and the ball flew through the air. Cody watched, spellbound, as Queen turned and jumped, as graceful as a cat, and caught the ball in midair. Then he heard their shrieks of laughter as the race began. She and Donny collided on base in a tangle of long arms and legs. Cody watched them roll onto their backs, hysterical with laughter, covered in blood and dust, and knew that he wasn't ready at all.

He parked and got out, wishing that his arrival would not stop the game. Wishing that he could join in and be the next one to roll Queen Houston on the ground. Before the thought could become deed, he heard the arrival of another vehicle and turned, knowing before he looked who it would be.

"Oh, no."

There was nothing else he could say. They were here. Just as he'd suspected. Just as he'd feared. They'd come at the worst possible time, unannounced, and in the middle of something they'd never understand.

It was the unnatural quiet after so much hilarity that first alerted Queen that something was wrong. That and the fact that suddenly she was the only one laughing. Startled by the abrupt silence around her, she began wiping at the dust in the corners of her eyes. Then she looked up.

The two younger boys stood soldier straight above her, their faces strained and pale beneath the grime. Will and J.J. moved aside as Donny bolted to his feet and began brushing at his clothes in an unusually frantic motion.

"What in…?"

Her gaze collided with Cody's stern expression. He was back, but something was wrong. Surely a simple ball game would not cause all this concern. She looked beyond him, and in that moment her heart sank as she watched a stately, graying couple emerge from a Lincoln and gawk in disbelief at the sight before them.

The grandparents were here. And from the expression on the elder woman's face, Queen could tell they were none too happy about what they'd just witnessed.

Nothing like a good first impression, she told herself.

Sonofabitch! The word kept replaying itself over and over in Cody's mind, but he knew that giving voice to it, as well as to his frustration, would not be wise. He was in a quandary as to what to do or say first when Lenore Whittier spoke and the decision was no longer his to make.

"Who… are you?" Lenore asked, staring in glacial disgust at the long-limbed, buxom beauty sprawled at her feet in an ungainly fashion.

The tone of her voice hurt Queen; it was an echo from her past, when the gambler's daughters had often been judged unfairly. Anger overwhelmed any embarrassment she might have felt as she reached for the ball bat lying by her side.

Lenore Whittier gasped and took a step backward, as if expecting the woman to assault her.

Queen's eyes narrowed as she read the woman's expression. Lady, for two cents I'd give you a reason to be afraid. But the fear on the boys' faces changed her mind. Something had to be done to end this stalemate.

Her fingers closed around the bat. She gripped it tightly and then tipped it on end, using it cane fashion to pull herself up.

"She's our aunt Queenie," J.J. said defiantly, and then looked away, unwilling to bear the brunt of his grandmother's disapproval.

Lenore's eyebrows rose. Aunt indeed! She gave Cody a look he tried to ignore, and when he would have offered an excuse, Queen saved him from having to lie. She dusted her faded jeans and shirt, brushed the
tumbled curls away from her face, and swung the bat up onto her shoulder as she spoke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Whittier, I presume?" Then, without giving them time to affirm her supposition, she continued. "My name is Queen Houston. I'm Mr. Bonner's housekeeper. Boys, get your gear and put it up, then come back outside and help your father with the groceries." She handed Will the bat as she addressed the elderly couple again. "Please, follow me. I'll show you to your room."

For all her dignity, she might have been wearing a black uniform, white starched apron, and hat instead of a bloodstained shirt, jeans, and scuffed tennis shoes. Queen led the way into the house with a bearing as calm and regal as her name.

Cody was amazed at Queen's refusal to be intimidated by someone like Lenore Whittier. He smiled in spite of his own misgivings about their visit. He'd already mentally prepared what he would say about the arrest fiasco. Now he was going to have to face questions about a woman like Queen living in the house with him and his boys.

"Hell," he muttered, and thrust his fingers through his hair.

He watched the seductive sway of her hips as she walked away and wondered what had possessed him to assume that a redhead like her would make his life respectable. He stifled a grin and began carrying in the groceries. God help him, but if he was going to lose what was left of his reputation and sanity, losing it over a woman like that would be the curse of choice.

"Hop to it, boys," he said, handing each of his sons a bag. "You heard the lady."

The boys quickly obeyed, glad to be doing something besides standing pinned beneath the disapproving stare of their grandmother. And so the visit began.

"Surely she's not sitting down to a meal with us?"

Queen was in the kitchen when she heard Lenore Whittier's gasp of disapproval in the other room as she took note of the places being set at the dining room table.

"Yes, she is," Cody said, emphasizing the pronoun in the same manner that his mother-in-law had done. "This is not a formal situation, Lenore. I do not have hired help, I simply hired her to help… if you get my meaning."

His voice was low but firm. Lenore Whittier glared at her husband, Allen, for moral support and then frowned when he turned away. She recognized his look. His quiet disapproval of her actions angered her even more.

Queen took Cody's words to heart, blessing him silently for standing behind her when it would have been a smarter move on his part to play up to the grandparents, not alienate them.

Fresh from a shower and a change of clothing, she carried the last of the food to the table, then smoothed a wayward strand of hair back into the clip at her neck and straightened the skirt of her one and only dress.

The purchase had been an impulse during the day she and Will had gone shopping. Short sleeves and a scoop neckline on a calf-length skirt hadn't seemed too daring. Nor had the loose princess waistline and the soft yellow fabric with tiny white flowers interspersed across the design. It had been an unassuming dress until she'd put it on and transformed herself and the garment into stately elegance.

Luckily for the lady in the shop who'd made the sale, Queen had been unaware of the transformation; she only knew that it was the first new dress she ever remembered owning in her life. She loved the way the fabric moved with her body as she twisted and turned before the full-length mirror, but she had to remember her circumstances and the fact that she had yet to settle into a new life. When she did, then maybe she would be able to indulge in other new clothing befitting her lifestyle. But until she knew what that was, buying more clothes was not possible.

Queen took a deep breath. It was time. She cast one last glance at the dining room table, just to assure herself that everything was in place, and then walked into the living room in time to hear Cody ending the story of his being arrested.

"I suppose I have to understand your point of view," Lenore Whittier said. "But you must understand mine. How would it look if everyone back home found out that you'd been in jail?"

"But I didn't do anything wrong, Lenore! For God's sake, look at it this way: When I was shot down in the Gulf, how would it have looked if Hussein's army, instead of ours, had gotten to me first? I would have been under arrest there, too, you know. And just as innocent."