Sudden Storms (13 page)

“I’ve never met a woman who spoke so indecently,” Rivers whispered.

“She’ll be gone soon enough. Mr. Dupree told me the family is merely on their way to Hunnerton and is just stopping for a moment to pay their respects,” Paxton explained. “If ya don’t mind now, Rivers…my fingers are turnin’ purple from you squeezing them so hard.”

Rivers immediately released her vice-grip on Paxton’s hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. She just upset me.” The terrifying visions bouncing about in her head needed to be spoken, and without waiting another moment she blurted, “She thinks you’ve some attachment to me, Paxton. She doesn’t like it. You should’ve heard her talking about spiders killing their mates! She means you harm. I believe that’s why the family is back. She means to hurt…”

“She’s just an insane woman, Rivers,” Paxton reminded. “She won’t hurt me.”

“She stabbed her own husband, Paxton! She thinks that way! She thinks like that awful spider!” Rivers pleaded.

“You gotta get over that spider, girl. Spiders are spiders, and they serve their own purpose on this green earth.” He smiled, seeming completely at ease. “Now, I gotta get back to this barn. You go find yerself a nice cool glass of lemonade. You’ll feel better.”

Rivers stood watching him walk away. She shook her head. Was he truly as blind as he pretended to be? Moments later, she was relieved to see the Dupree family climb into their wagon and drive away. Marianna had frightened her. For so long she had feared Paxton’s memory of Ruby. Now, she wondered if her fears were misdirected.

CHAPTER NINE

Jolee shut the kitchen door behind her and leaned back against it, sighing heavily. “Oh, Rivers,” she breathed. “He is so wonderful.”

Rivers smiled, sincerely happy for her friend. “He’s asked you, then?” she inquired.

“Asked me what?” Jolee puzzled. “Oh, no. Of course not, silly goose. He’s only just kissed me good night out under that big, dreamy moon.”

Rivers giggled. “Well, when you come down from flying around it, you just let me know.”

Jolee sighed again and sat down at the table across from Rivers. “Wasn’t that Mrs. Dupree simply frightenin’?” she asked. “She made my skin crawl. Just somethin’ about her.”

“She’s mad. Completely mad,” Rivers agreed. “Did you hear her going on and on about spiders? That is not natural.”

“And the way she was pinin’ after Paxton. I swear I saw her wipe the slobber from the corner of her mouth twice while she was starin’ at him!” Jolee embellished, lowering her voice.

“Jo!” Rivers scolded.

Jolee giggled. “I’m sorry, Rivers. But I’m just too happy to think on such dismal things as that ghastly woman.”

Rivers smiled once more. Jolee was truly in love and completely blissful. She wouldn’t ruin Jolee’s joyous moment by continuing to talk about her fears.

“He’ll ask you soon, Jo. I know he will,” Rivers sighed.

“And then you can marry my brother, and we’ll all live happily ever after,” Jolee offered.

Rivers forced a smile and asked, “You’ll marry Weston no matter what happens, won’t you, Jo? You won’t let anything stand in the way of it, will you?”

Jolee looked suspiciously at Rivers for a moment. Then, drawing in a knowing breath, she stated, “You’re in love with my brother, Rivers, and you’re afraid of him at the same time.”

“What?”

“You’re in love with Paxton. But ya can’t bring yourself to believe he loves you. Or maybe you’ve got some strange idea he’ll leave ya standin’ at the altar like he did Ruby.”

“Jolee, really now…”

“He won’t. It’s different with you. It’ll all work out. You’ll see, Rivers. You just have to let him go at his own pace,” Jolee begged. “He’s scared of it too.”

Rivers shook her head. “No, no, no, Jo. You’re in love and happy, and I understand that you want everyone around you to join in it with you. But you’re the one who has to see…”

“Well, good evenin’ there, girls,” Paxton greeted, letting the kitchen door slam behind him as he entered the room. “Which one of you capable women is gonna trim my hair ’fore I take my bath tonight?”

“Rivers,” Jolee volunteered, standing quickly and going to the cupboard. “I’ll fill your tub for ya. I don’t think Rivers is in any mood to find her backside soakin’ in the tub again.”

“All right then,” Paxton agreed, yawning. “Grab them scissors, girl, and cut these curls off. I’m lookin’ less and less like a man every day.” Paxton reached over his shoulders, taking hold of the back of his shirt and swiftly pulling it off over his head.

“Here ya go, Rivers,” Jolee said, handing Rivers a pair of scissors. “I’ve got to run to the outhouse for a minute.” She winked at Rivers and dashed out the door Paxton had only just entered from.

Paxton yawned once more, this time stretching his powerful arms out at his sides for a moment before lacing his fingers together at the back of his neck. Rivers tried to avoid surveying his perfectly sculpted chest, shoulders, and arms, but her eyes took their own interest to heart and glanced quickly, yet thoroughly, at the man’s well-developed torso.

“That old biddy ruffled your bloomers today, didn’t she, girl?” Paxton asked.

“She’s not right in the head, Paxton. And you know it,” Rivers snapped, stepping behind him and pushing on one of his arms until he let them fall to his sides. As she lifted a lock of his hair, intending to snip the end, she marveled at the feel of it between her fingers.

“She is. I don’t hold no argument with ya there,” he agreed. “But she’s not dangerous. You nearly squeezed my fingers clean off ’til she left.”

“I’m sorry,” Rivers sighed, snipping the end of the lock of hair and letting the trimming fall to the floor. “She just…she just…made me so uncomfortable.”

Paxton chuckled. “More uncomfortable than that tornado bustin’ up the barn above us the other day?”

Rivers submerged her hand into the thick sable locks at her fingertips, letting her fingers travel slowly through Paxton’s soft hair and reveling in the way it clung attentively about her fingers.

Paxton closed his eyes, his teeth clenched tightly together, as Rivers’s hand toyed with his hair. The girl’s touch was like lightning striking him squarely in the top of the head. If she only knew the effect her mere touch had on his heart and senses, she’d run for cover for certain. If she only knew how much self-control he had, she would have to admire him.

Pulling his hair through her fingers, she quickly snipped the ends. And then, an impulse she could not ignore overtook her. Taking hold of one sable-soft lock, she snipped it entirely too close to his head, quickly reaching inside her shirtwaist and placing the lock of Paxton’s hair inside her corset.

“Oops,” she exclaimed.

“Oops?” Paxton inquired suspiciously. “Don’t hack it up too bad, girl.”

“It’s fine,” she lied. Quickly, for his nearness to her was all too exhilarating, Rivers finished clipping the hair at the back of his head and moved to stand before him. Immediately, she found it nearly impossible to reach his hair, for his long, muscular legs stretched out in front of him.

“You’re gonna fall flat on your face or cut me bald doin’ it that way, girl,” he chuckled as he took her waist firmly between his hands. Pulling her toward him, he positioned her between his knees planting his feet on either side of her own so she could more aptly reach him.

Entirely unsettled by his extreme closeness, Rivers watched her own hands as they began to tremble and was nearly unable to steady them enough to continue trimming. At last, she snipped the last strands of hair and dusted them from her fingers. Then, she dared to look down into his magnificently handsome face as he tipped his head to meet her gaze.

Rivers felt her heart begin to hammer wildly, her breath quickening as she stared at him, unable to look away. Paxton’s hands left her waist, one of the powerful appendages reaching up and clutching the collar of her blouse. Pulling Rivers down and forward, Paxton’s mouth seized hers. Rivers was aware of the scissors slipping from her hand and falling to the floor as Paxton stood, gathering her into his dominant embrace, his mouth never leaving hers for an instant.

The dream-borne occasions in the past when Paxton had showered Rivers with his ravenous, capable kisses had been unimaginably blissful. Rivers had never in her life, prior to experiencing Paxton’s kiss, even imagined a man could have such an effect on her emotions, body—her very spirit. She knew there could be nothing in the world more desirable, more wonderful, and more completely exhilarating than his kiss. Until, that is, that particular moment. Paxton had taken hold of Rivers’s shirtwaist, pulling her into his embrace impatiently, all the while involving her in a kiss so hungry with uninhibited passion she feared her heart might burst and her mind might fail completely in its ability to remain sane.

The lock of his hair she had hidden inside her corset seemed to burn her flesh, making itself known as being part of him. Paxton’s mouth left hers and traveled to her neck, allowing her to gasp and fill her lungs with life-giving air. He’d literally taken the breath from her with his kiss, and she still found the breathing process a difficult one as his lips and mouth toyed with the sensitive flesh of her neck.

Taking his face in her hands, she gasped, “Paxton, please.” Directing his face forcefully, she pulled it from her neck so he stood gazing into her eyes. “You…you don’t have to do this. Weston told me today he intends to ask Jolee to marry him very soon,” she whispered. Letting her thumb caress the precious dimple at the corner of his mouth revealed as he grinned ever so slightly, she added, “You can quit trying to convince her that…”

Rivers was interrupted by the startling and somewhat shrill breaking of glass as an enormous rock hurled at them from outside the kitchen window. It landed on the floor at her feet.

“What in tarnation?” Paxton mumbled as he released Rivers, instantly striding to the door, angrily throwing it open and staring out into the darkness.

Still weakened from his kiss, Rivers clutched the back of the nearest chair and watched as Paxton peered out. “Jo?” he called. “Jo?”

At that moment, Jolee appeared in the doorway. “What on earth?” she asked, entering the kitchen and staring at the large rock and shattered glass strewn on the floor. “I heard someone runnin’ off, Paxton…but I couldn’t see…”

“Stay here,” Paxton ordered. Without looking back to them, he stepped out of the house and into the dark.

“What happened, Rivers?” Jolee asked, retrieving the broom from its place behind the kitchen door.

“We were…I was cutting Paxton’s hair…and that rock just came crashing through the window,” Rivers stammered. Her skin began to prickle at the knowledge being fed to her mind by her sixth sense. “It was Mrs. Dupree, Jo. You sense it too, don’t you?”

“Oh, come on, Rivers,” Jolee argued, though Rivers did not for a moment miss the involuntary shiver wracking her friend’s body.

“She’s obsessed with your brother, Jo. You know it as well as I do.”

Jo bent down, pushing the rock out of her way and sweeping the glass into a pile. “You’re obsessed with my brother, and you don’t go throwin’ rocks through folks’ windows,” she teased.

“What do you mean by that?” Rivers snapped.

“Oh, Rivers,” Jolee giggled. “I’m only teasing. But you have to admit, I’m a very kind sister. Why do you think I left you in here to cut his hair? I know how bad Paxton likes to corner you by himself. Shoot, I feel the same way about Weston. Our time alone together is very precious.”

Rivers’s heart began to break. She felt as if it were literally bleeding to death somehow. She had to confess—Jolee had to know the truth.

“Jo…he only pretends to…to be interested in me because he’s been afraid you wouldn’t marry Weston if…if you thought he would be alone. He…he wanted you to think he…he and I…he wanted you not to worry about him,” she explained.

“What?” Jo asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re teasing me, right?”

“No,” Rivers admitted. “He asked me to stay until you were married because he was afraid you’d feel guilty about leaving him alone and not marry. He’s only been…he’s only been pretending all the time.” The confession hurt, caused Rivers’s very soul to ache. With speaking the words aloud to Jolee, she’d realized how thoroughly she’d been fooling herself where Paxton was concerned. It was all a scene, an act in some horrible play. Even their moments alone—no doubt he’d just figured on enjoying himself while waiting for Jolee and Weston to marry.

“Rivers, Paxton would never use ya like that,” Jolee scolded.

“Yes. I would,” Paxton affirmed as he reentered the kitchen.

Jolee looked from her brother to Rivers and back. Then, reaching out and taking Rivers firmly by the shoulders, she said, “He’s lyin’, Rivers. I don’t know why, but he is,” she pleaded.

“Well, at least you know the truth. And you will marry Weston, won’t you?” Rivers asked, forcing her lips to curve into a pleading smile.

Jolee looked to Paxton angrily and answered, “If for no other reason than to spite my brother, yes!” Then to Rivers she said, “He’s lyin’, Rivers. He’d never let ya leave him. There’s somethin’ he’s not tellin’.”

Rivers sighed, smiling and feigning relief.

“Well, at least the truth is out. No more play-acting. I’m tired. You don’t mind if I leave you with this mess, Jo?” Without waiting for an answer, she left the brother and sister standing in the kitchen together, went to her room, and bolted the door firmly behind her.

Going to her wardrobe, she reached deep into its belly, retrieving the pair of boy’s pants and the shirt she’d worn when first she’d arrived at the Gray farm. Mechanically, she removed her dress and petticoats and slid her legs into the trousers. As she watched her own fingers fumbling with the buttons of the shirt, her attention was captured by the lock of Paxton’s hair tucked inside the top of her corset. She removed it, drawing it to her lips and kissing it gently before replacing it near her heart.