Authors: Sharon Sala
King's Ransom (8 page)
Her actions
startled him. He was so intent on negotiating the ever-present detours on the
downtown expressway that he nearly swerved into a large, orange barrel with a
single flashing light.
"Hellfire,"
he muttered, as he quickly righted his course and looked about to see how many
drivers behind and beside him were cursing his existence. "What was that
for, girl?"
His heart had
skipped at least two beats and was now doing overtime, trying to compensate. He
didn't know why the simple act had so upset him. Jesse had kissed him plenty of
times during her years at the Double M. But somehow this felt different. He
angrily squashed the thoughts that swiftly entered his mind. This was no time
to let his fancy wander. This was Jesse. He didn't think of her like that . . .
did he?
"Oh,"
Jesse sighed, her eyes dancing with delight. "It was for coming to get me.
For bringing me home. For just being you."
King smiled. He,
too, was glad she was home. She'd talked all during the flight about seeing
Maggie, her old friends on the ranch, and schoolmates. She'd delicately
not
asked much about
his confrontation with the negligent hospital guard. Jesse had talked about
everything and everybody except
King wondered why he was so conspicuously omitted. But before he had a chance
to ask, Jesse's excitement distracted his line of thought and it was forgotten
in the delight he felt as she turned in the seat beside him.
"We're
here," she announced, pointing to the two giant oak trees that stood
sentinel at the gate of the Double M Ranch.
Jesse's eyes were
shining, a mirror reflection of the clear, blue brightness of the
herself absorb the healing power of home—the soft, rolling hills that flattened
out into wide valleys, fenced off from the long, graveled road snaking between
the scattered stands of native trees—home! Everything was so dry, wilted, and
dust-coated. And Jesse thought she'd never seen anything as beautiful. Although
they rode in air-conditioned comfort, it was obvious by looking out of the
window, that this was just a stop-gap from the sweltering heat. They needed
rain.
too much. Then they would have to cope with floods. That was
The ranch and
outbuildings came into view as they rounded the last sharp curve and the stand
of post oaks. The many barns, sheds, granaries, and corrals where King's horses
reigned supreme were in tip-top condition. The. newly painted stalls housing
the Arabian brood mares gleamed painfully bright against the landscape of
quickly dehydrating vegetation. Jesse absently noted the height of prairie
grass behind the horse barns and knew the early spring rains had sparked quick
growth that was now close to being ready for harvest. Soon they would cut and
bale the natural prairie grasses for highly prized horse fodder.
The main house came
into view as they passed the first of the sheds where some of the farm
machinery was stored. Jesse couldn't suppress the quickening tears. It was so
dear and familiar. She'd spent the better part of her life growing up inside
those walls. Nothing looked different. It was still a long, rambling structure
that had been added to only once, when Maggie came to live.
Andrew McCandless
had been in dire need of someone to oversee King's teenage years and then
later, just when Maggie thought raising children was behind her, Jesse had
arrived.
The house was
cedar and brick with a verandah that ran the entire length of its front. It had
not been landscaped professionally, but the shrubbery around the house was
varied and healthy. Someone had been watering vigorously to keep it all looking
so green. The lawns had not suffered, and the trees and shrubs looked well
cared for. Jesse suspected Maggie had left all that to Will Turner, the
foreman. He had a real affinity for growing things and made no bones about his
expertise.
"There's
Maggie!" Jesse cried, and then choked back a sob. It was obvious she had
been expected. Several more people had gathered on the verandah, waiting to see
for themselves that their little Jesse was truly okay. "And I see Charlie
. . . and Turner . . . and Harvey and . . .oh, King," she whispered
thickly, trying not to cry.
He'd barely
stopped the car before Jesse was excavated from the
crowd of well-wishers. She was quickly hustled into the house away from the
heat, leaving King to deal with the luggage alone. He didn't care. He would
have carried suitcases for a month just to have her back.
King placed the
last of Jesse's bags on her bed so she would be able to unpack. Her hands were
still quite tender and she wouldn't have been able to lift them. He hoped
Sheila hadn't left out anything important. From the weight of the bags, he
doubted it.
King smiled as he
looked around the room. There were flowers on the dresser, on the bedside
table, even on the window seat. Maggie had possibly overdone it a bit. Yet he
knew how dear Jesse was to them all and suspected Maggie had sorely missed her
presence over the last three years.
Jesse LeBeau had
been the only female, other than Maggie, on the McCandless's domain for as long
as King could remember. She reigned supreme and it was obvious from the welcome
she'd just received that she still held the crown.
King looked
around, satisfied that all was in order, then closed the door to her room. He
followed the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and hurried to join the
crowd.
Everyone was
talking at once. King could hear the melee from the hallway and hoped it wasn't
too much for Jesse. He needn't have worried. Will Turner, longtime foreman of
the Double M, had Jesse in a seat of honor. She'd always been a small child,
and to keep her safe and out from under foot, whoever had been looking after
her would usually seat her on a corral rail or the back of a pickup truck.
Today it was the corner of the kitchen cabinet. Jesse was smiling, enjoying
their banter, and allowing their high praise of her actions to heal her wounded
spirit. Their praise would probably have angered severe feminists. But as far
as they were concerned, it was the highest honor they could bestow. They vowed
their Jesse had "fought like a man." She was a true heroine.
King remained
unseen in the shadows of the kitchen doorway and allowed himself the luxury of
watching Jesse. Her hair was dark and windblown, caressing her bare shoulders
with a careless touch. The pink thing she wore was something between a dress
and pants. King didn't know the name for the culotte-skirted dress, but he knew
he liked it. It was soft and clung in all the right places to very feminine
curves. Her long, bare legs dangled with carefree abandon. And, somewhere
between the front door and the kitchen, Jesse had stepped out of her sandals.
King smiled. She was truly home.
"Just look
at that," Turner urged. The men gathered closer as he held Jesse's injured
hands palm side up. "You got sand, little girl," he said gruffly, and
patted her knee. "We're real proud of you, Jesse. And your daddy would
have been, too. You've got real fightin' spirit. If I could just get my hands
on . . ."
Jesse threw her
arms around Turner's neck and kissed him soundly, stopping the threat from
being spoken. Then she jumped down from the cabinet and gave each of her old
friends the same blessing as they began to leave.
King wondered if
he'd looked as dazed and silly when Jesse had kissed him.
"Come on,
boys," Turner called, catching a glimpse of King's shadow in the doorway.
"Time to get back to work." He turned and waved as they filed out the
door. "Welcome home, girl. Don't you worry none. We'll take good care of
you here."
Jesse felt like
she'd been pulled through a "dust devil," one of
skips across prairies, sucking loose bits of sand and grass up into its tiny
vortex. She was hot, breathless, and as satisfied as she'd been in ages.
Jesse turned and
faced the elderly housekeeper who'd remained oddly silent through most of the
boisterous welcome. Tears rose, filling her eyes and blurring Maggie's image.
But Jesse couldn't stop the flow. She didn't have to pretend with Maggie. She
knew it all.
"Come here,
love," Maggie crooned, and gathered Jesse into her arms. "It'll be
all right. Time will heal everything he did to you. It will heal these,"
she gently patted Jesse's hands, "as well as what's inside." She
pointed to Jesse's breast. "Now, if you think you can stand it, I just
happened to have a big, double, chocolate fudge cake that's going begging.
Don't suppose you want to ruin your dinner?"
Laughter bubbled
from deep within Jesse's heart and pushed the fear and misery back where it
belonged. It did her good to hear the threat Maggie had thrown in their faces
over the years. Maggie had a tendency to bake the most mouth-watering treats in
the county and then tell all who entered her kitchen that they couldn't have
any for fear of spoiling their meal,
"How about my
dinner?" King teased, as he entered the room.
"Nothing
ruins your appetite," Maggie growled in a teasing fashion. "You may
as well sit down, too. But don't think I'm always going to be this easy. This
is a special occasion. We've got our girl back home, safe and sound."
Jesse smiled
lovingly at Maggie's attempt to lighten the emotionally charged atmosphere and
then flashed a conspiratorial look at King. It was all the prompting he needed.
Maggie rarely broke
a rule and, adults or not, King and Jesse delighted in being recipients of the
exception.
Jesse sighed,
replete from the ice cold milk and rich chocolate treat. It was good to be
home.
"
Maggie told Jesse, as she and King helped clear away the dinner dishes.
King had been
furtively watching Jesse's progress as she carefully scraped and stacked, doing
everything except actually carrying dishes to the sink. He knew she needed to
feel useful, but didn't want her to overdo things on her first day.
The look that
passed through Jesse's eyes, clouding their brightness, when
was something between revulsion and fear. Jesse's silence spoke loudly to his
instincts. He wondered, as he continued to carry plates and bowls to the sink,
what else was going on with Jesse that he knew nothing about.
Maggie's prattle
fell into the silence, using up the emptiness in the kitchen. She seemed to be
the only one unaware of her announcement's impact.
"He stopped
by a couple of days after King left for
Louis
your news, Jesse." Then Maggie looked up. Her words ended abruptly. She
sensed something was out of the ordinary, but didn't know what it was. She
shrugged and finished her message.
"Anyway, he
said he'd stop by tomorrow. I think he's a bit partial to you, Jesse,"
Maggie announced, and then couldn't resist rolling her eyes a bit at the
unlikely thought. "About the only person besides himself he cares
for." Realizing what she'd just said in King's presence, she blushed, but
refused to refute the truth of her words.
King grinned
wryly at Maggie, excusing her blunt statement as he'd always done. Maggie was
as much family as anybody on the Double M and she had a right to her opinions.
Unfortunately, this one was definitely on the mark.
The odd thing was
that King had always been aware of
almost flirtatious manner around Jesse. It had never bothered him before.
woman within seeing distance . . . even Maggie. But this time Maggie's words
hit King in a different way. He didn't think he liked the idea of Duncan and
Jesse at all. From the expression on Jesse's face, neither did she.
"I told him
not to come early," Maggie added, "but you know
"That's
fine," Jesse finally managed to say, aware King had noticed her hesitance.
"I knew I'd see him sooner or later."
King frowned. It
was such an odd acknowledgement of the impending visit. It seemed to him that
she viewed it as something to get over with.
"If you two
will excuse me," Jesse said, looking everywhere but at King. "I think
I'll turn in early. It's been a long day."