CHAPTER TEN
Jody stared at Joe as they headed toward the bank. She wasn’t used to being driven around. She didn’t say anything, because Benton probably believed men should drive and women should sit idly by and paint their nails. She looked at her own unpolished nails, then back at Joe. Usually she was alone in her car. But Joe was good company.
Memories of the night they’d spent together made her smile in spite of herself.
Joe looked at her just then and her smile faded. Their first night together might have been their last. Better to focus on the problems ahead.
“Left at the second light,” she said as they passed the city limit’s sign.
A few minutes later, Jody’s account manager waved them into the office. She fidgeted. She’d been here a few times, but usually managed everything online.
Efficient and pleasant, Ms. Ramos collected the paperwork she needed and returned quickly with thirty thousand dollars. She’d agreed to it and Joe had committed them to four times that amount, but Jody had to swallow a couple of times as she watched Benton count the bills.
“You’re buying horses?” Ms. Ramos chatted while Benton counted a second time. Jody didn’t really want to talk, but coming here had been deliberate; she wanted others to know in case Benton tried to back out.
“Sixty-three of them,” Jody told her.
“Reckon that does it,” Benton said, standing. “I’ll look for the rest Friday morning, Roberts.” He ignored Ramos’s outstretched hand and walked away.
“I’m sorry,” Jody apologized, “he—”
“It’s not your fault, honey.” Ms. Ramos walked with them to the door. “But I bet those horses will be happier with you.”
You have no idea. They shook hands with her and the bank officer smiled. “Jody, tell Eric hello for me, next time you see him.”
“Sure,” Jody answered automatically.
“We’re on our way to see him now,” Joe noted, and Jody glared.
“Really?” Ms. Ramos sounded delighted. And nosy, as she prodded for more gossip. She looked from Jody to Joe and grinned ear to ear. “So, will we be hearing some kind of announcement soon?”
“Maybe,” Joe answered.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Jody whispered as they left. “You know she thinks—she was checking my finger for an engagement ring!”
“Gotta love small towns.” He looked around. “I guess.” Then he stretched and handed her the keys. “Faster if you drive, since you know the way.”
Could the man read minds? Jody climbed into the cab without asking him. Better that he let her drive here than in Dallas. Sooner than she wanted, they were pulling up outside the sprawling ranch house where she’d grown up.
“He’s in the office,” Jody told him, leading him down a hall. “I’ll be right back. He’s expecting us.”
He nodded and stepped into the office, hoping Eric wasn’t armed and that Jody would come back. What exactly was he supposed to say?
Eric got up to shake his hand and motioned to a chair. The man looked old, Joe thought. And as if he expected to be hammered with bad news.
Jody came in and her stepfather merely nodded at her. No physical contact at all. How sad. It made him wonder how in the world he could take Jody home with him. His family would be on her like ticks.
She sat down in the empty chair, inching it closer to him than to Eric’s desk.
“How are you?” she asked formally, her hands clasped together.
“Fine. I got your text, Jody.” Eric shook his head. “I didn’t understand the damn thing. You want me to turn over your mother’s part of the ranch now because of what? You know she didn’t want that used until the ranch was sold or you inherited it outright.”
“But I need it now,” Jody argued. “You know if I could ask her, she would say yes.”
“So what’s the deal with you and Jody, Joe?”
Joe shrugged. “We’re trying to save some horses, including her horse—including Cowboy. But we’ve only got a few days and we need to put up some shelters and maybe separate some that need special attention. We just really need your help, Eric.”
“That’s not what I was asking, though,” he said to Jody.
She flinched. “We’re together. Not permanently. Neither of us wants that. But I won’t lie. Right now, we’re together.”
He sighed. “You know how I feel about that—and how Katie would have felt. She tried to tell you.” He turned his attention back to Joe. “When I married her mom, it was hell. At the time, there was still oil on the ranch. Fracking wasn’t a thing. Everyone—all the gossips, workers on ranches, especially the press—knew I was marrying her for money. I wasn’t. We loved each other. But you’re going to hear that, too, you know. And there’s not even much money to speak of, now.”
“I told you we’re not marrying!” Jody snapped.
“But where do the two of you plan to stay? What are you going to do with a bunch of sick old horses?”
“We don’t know yet. We’ve thought about setting up a non-profit foundation but all the rules and regulations…the horses have to be moved by Saturday at midnight, Eric.” Joe shrugged. “It’s a lot to ask.”
“And we need to stay here. We wouldn’t ask you to look after a bunch of horses you didn’t want,” Jody added, her tone calmer. “We can stay in my room.”
“You know I can’t say yes to that,” Eric protested. “Look, I’m downstairs. And I know there’s not much point in asking young ‘uns to live like we used to. I’ll help, Jody. But you have your room. He has the room next door. You can do any damn thing you want, but you have separate rooms.” He flushed. “Whether or not you use them.”
Jody looked down at her knees, then up at the ceiling. Tears stung, but she managed to blink them away. She always had trouble defending positions when someone opposed them. She finally looked at Joe, who looked slightly embarrassed by the whole discussion.
“Joe?”
“Honestly? I think two rooms will work just fine, Jody.” He smiled, hoping she didn’t misunderstand. “We don’t know how crazy things might get. We might need the space.”
“We can’t move in until the horses are here, anyway,” Jody noted, standing. “Can we fit all sixty-three in the home pasture, the corral and the barn?”
Eric nodded. “Pasture’s big, and if we’re going to move some to the back pasture later, I’m sure it’s better than what they have now.”
“Yeah,” Joe agreed, tersely. “And it won’t be a problem for your stock?”
Erich shook his head. “Nah. The cattle won’t be bothered.”
Jody stood. “We have to go to Dallas. We’re coming back—when, Joe? Thursday? Then we can come help check fences and bring in supplies. The horses will start coming in Friday. I hope.”
“Might not be ‘til Saturday if Benton gets his way,” Joe muttered. “He’s betting we can’t pull this off.”
“Have a safe trip,” Eric said stiffly, shaking Joe’s hand.
“Thank you, Eric.” Jody took a step forward. For one crazy moment, the urge to hug him overwhelmed her. Just as quickly, she moved back. She hadn’t ever been able to hug him. If she did, all he could do would be wonder why it had taken her sixteen years.
***
“Now what?” Joe asked, as she drove back towards Calumnias. She hadn’t given him a choice, just gotten back in behind the wheel. He suspected she needed the distraction. Concentrating on the road and traffic should help her get over the encounter with her stepfather. If not, then probably after she met the fourth of his five siblings, she wouldn’t have the energy left to worry about anything. He smiled. Good thing Derek was in Europe at a medical conference. He was the outgoing brother. The others were just…Roberts.
“What’s funny?” she asked, when he chuckled.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he retorted, still grinning. “But you will. After Dallas, you will.”
“Sounds threatening. Are we just going by my house, or—”
“I have all my stuff in the truck. Old habits die hard. Anything else I need, we’ll pick up in Dallas.”
“So just to the house?” she pressed.
“Why don’t we stop at the next place and grab a bite? Then we’ll go pick up what you need.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t sound thrilled,” he noted, leaning his head against the door to watch her. “Did you have something else in mind?”
She didn’t look at him. “Maybe,” she admitted.
He laughed. “Almost straight home, then,” he agreed. “But let’s take something to eat anyway, so we don’t have to stop as soon. We may need to make up a lot of lost time.”
***
Four hours later, Jody leaned back and closed her eyes as Joe merged onto I-35.
“We should have a fairly smooth trip,” he predicted. “We’ll probably beat rush hour.” He pulled around an eighteen-wheeler. “Unless we stop anywhere.” He shot her a quick grin. “For anything.”
“Not happening,” Jody murmured. “Does this thing have music?”
He pushed a button and music flooded the cab. The wrong music. Jody blinked and turned toward the passenger window, but he’d seen her eyes well up.
“It’s just a song,” he said gently, reaching to change tracks.
“I know. But I always cry when I hear “For the Good Times.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised. But he hoped she didn’t believe in bad omens. Or know that sometimes he did.