Proud Mary

by Bette McNicholas

  “We’ll do that in Amarillo. Manny and Jenny never had a honeymoon, and I thought if I put you in a motel, they could have the motor home to themselves tonight and I’ll stay in mine and watch the horses. Once we get to Amarillo, there will be no privacy. Besides, Jenny thought you ladies would like the luxury of a bath or shower, if you don’t mind sharing.”

  When Stede helped her out of the truck, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her searching for an answer, and she saw the twinkle of determination in them, until she could no longer suppress her grin. He’d never give up his quest and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to fail.

  She wanted him as much as she wanted him to want her. Suspicions concerning his renting the motel room crept into her mind and filled her with feelings of anticipation and uneasiness at the same time.

  Didn’t he know yet how he played havoc on her biologically, like a flow of electricity oscillating through her body?

  Chapter Eleven

  Carolina went into the motor home and packed some clothes for overnight along with her toiletries and brought her computer and things from the truck into the motel room. A few minutes later, Jenny joined her.

  “You can take your shower first, Jenny, I want to iron the skirt and blouse I bought today.”

  “The outfit’s perfect for tonight. Maybe they’ll have music and dancing. I’ll hurry,” she said.

  Carolina purchased an aquamarine full skirt with glass beads along the uneven hemline and a matching stretch cotton off-the-shoulder tee with a built-in underwire bra.

  After she and Jenny were dressed, Jenny said, “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  Carolina finished brushing her hair full and curling the ends when Jenny returned. “I have to put on these hoop earrings, then I’ll be ready.”

  “They’ll be perfect with your outfit. Wait ’til Stede sees you,” she said smiling. “I went to get my camera.”

  Carolina stepped into a pair of huaraches sandals and stared into the mirror.

  “I like the outfit, but I feel strange. I haven’t seen anything like this since I lived in Arizona. All of my clothes are businesslike and tailored. But this is more comfortable and fun.”

  Jenny had on a multi-colored full skirt and sandals and a peasant blouse and wore lots of beaded necklaces and a pair of hoop earrings also. “Ready?”

  They opened the door to the room and found Stede and Manny standing out front waiting. Manny whistled and Stede smiled and said, “Now I know what took so long. You ladies were worth the wait.”

  “He says that to all the women,” Jenny teased, receiving a kiss from Manny.

  Stede had made reservations and when they arrived at the restaurant, they were seated at a round table by the fountain in the center of the main dining room. The floors and tables were decorated in cobalt blue, yellow and white Mexican tiles and the tables were set with colorful placemats.

  The strolling mariachi band played romantic music while strolling around the room and the bright colored lanterns strung across the ceiling spun around in circles with the breeze from the fans. They were served authentic platters of delicious, spicy food that they shared, and that along with the light conversation, made the evening one of the most memorable for Carolina.

  After dinner Jenny and Manny returned to their place and Stede and Carolina strolled through the historic district of Albuquerque. Native Americans sat on blankets selling jewelry and trinkets and she had trouble deciding on what to buy, but with Stede’s help she settled on a pair of silver and jade earrings and she watched him with gleeful eyes as he bartered for the price.

  They held hands and took their time walking back to the hotel. All of a sudden, during a moment of silence, Carolina had the impression they were on a date and although she had not had many dates in her lifetime, she knew the good nights always had awkward moments for her and she expected tonight wouldn’t be any different.

  He interrupted her thoughts and said, “You’re very quiet. Are you all right?”

  “Yes. I’m tired. We had a long day. But I had a wonderful time and the food was beyond delicious.”

  “I enjoyed the evening, too. I’ll walk you to your door and make sure you’re safe. After you lock up, I have to go pay the hotel boy I have watching the horses and King. They’re out behind the motel on the lawn and I have to put the animals in for the night.”

  “What time are we leaving in the morning?”

  “I’ll knock on your door when I get up and after you’re dressed, you can join us in the motor home. We’ll have breakfast ready.”

  Stede unlocked the door to her room, and checked inside, while she waited, wondering how she was going to gracefully get him to leave. To her surprise, and perhaps a tad disappointed, he wasn’t intent on staying.

  For a moment she thought she had worried needlessly and that he hadn’t planned on kissing her after all, until he paused long enough as he headed out the door, tipped her chin up with his cocked forefinger and bent to give her a quick kiss goodnight before continuing on his way.

  Puzzled, she stood at the door staring at him and decided that kind of goodnight kiss, at least from him, was less than satisfying. Then he turned around and snagged her around the waist, pulling her closer to his body than she thought possible, and this time kissed her passionately, as if to prove not all good nights need be tame.

  The uneven glass bead hemline of her skirt swirled wide in the taking and then wrapped in blanketing folds around their legs as his mouth unerringly descended on hers, his kiss hot and demanding and thorough, bringing her to tiptoe in her huaraches as she stood in parentheses between his booted feet.

  She decided she much preferred this kind of kiss from him, and fanned her hands up the yoke of his blue chambray shirt and across his broad shoulders to encircle his neck, but to her dismay the kiss ended as abruptly as it had started.

  “That will have to do for now. Lock up,” he said, giving her his one-dimple smile.

  She dropped her hands to her side and in a daze watched with bewilderment as he rounded the corner of the motel to reclaim his animals.

  A little while later, when a knock came on her door, she hurried to finish changing and slipped her pajama top on but before she could ask who was there, Stede yelled, “I forgot something.”

  She smiled, thinking for sure he meant her, but when she opened the door, King was there, panting. “I thought maybe you’d feel better having company.”

  “Thank you,” she managed to say, laughing. Stede turned away and waved as he headed toward the motel lobby.

  She climbed in bed and patted the bedspread. “Here, King.”

  ****

  The next morning the four of them enjoyed scrambled eggs, toast and coffee. Cleaned up the kitchen and made sure everything was stored away tight before they set out and also made sure they had everything they needed for the trip before they left the comfort of the big city.

  Stede and Manny had been up early and fed and exercised the horses, cleaned out the stalls and filled up with gas and put fresh ice and water in the coolers. They made plans to meet in a rest stop for lunch where there was a corral to let the horses out to graze. If they made any last minute decisions to make any other stops or sightseeing side trips along the way, they would call one another.

  Traveling with animals and towing trailers made the trip longer than going by car, but the opportunity she had to be alone with Stede turned out to be priceless, once she got over the feelings she had about the night before and the kiss.

  He asked her about her job and she told him about some of the successes she experienced in researching her clients’ ancestors. One of her searches resulted in a family being related to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, one person was able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution and she discovered that one family in Maryland had relatives that fought on both sides of the Civil War. She also had a client who found a document of one ancestor who came to America with his brothers as an indentured se
rvant from Ireland, but he died before he completed his contract.

  Stede talked a lot about his love of animals, and the years of college he studied to become a veterinarian, but most of all he talked about the rodeo. And by the time they arrived in Amarillo, she actually looked forward to attending the rodeo to watch and experience the excitement he told her about first hand.

  The sun began disappearing over the horizon by the time they arrived at the fairgrounds and got the horses settled in a corral, exercised King and settled in, hooking up the trailer to water and sewer lines.

  After their chores were complete and Stede had unhitched his truck and cleaned out the horse hay nets. He showered and dressed and left Carolina with Jenny and Manny.

  “I have an errand to run. Get ready to go to dinner and dancing. Jeans will be great to wear. I’m going to introduce you to the cowboy nightlife,” he said, kissing her on the cheek before he left.

  She looked at Manny and Jenny and they shrugged. They had no idea where he was headed.

  When he finally arrived back at the motor home, she was alone waiting for him. “Manny said they were going ahead to wait in line for a table.”

  “Good idea. Maybe they’ll be seated by the time we get there,” he said, handing her a large package, wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine.

  “What’s this?”

  “A surprise. Open it.”

  “A surprise?” Carolina felt a rush of pleasure and curiosity and turned with excitement to lay the package on the bed. She made short order of the wrapping, enlisting the help of his pocketknife to remove the twine.

  Inside the large package was an outfit that screamed rodeo—a women’s pink western shirt, dripping with fringe across the bodice yoke and down the sleeves, the mother-of-pearl snap closures a match for those she had seen on some of his shirts, a pair of jeans that sparkled with tiny rhinestones down the outside of each leg and on the pockets front and back, along with a delicately etched silver concho belt, a white Stetson cowgirl hat, creased just right, and the most beautiful pair of hand-tooled white ostrich boots she’d ever seen, their shafts displaying stitched vines and a profusion of pink and yellow flowers.

  “Stede…”

  “I thought it would be nice if you had something special to wear when we get to the rodeo.”

  Her eyes welled with tears at this thoughtfulness, not to mention the expense he’d gone to for the boots alone, and the fact that most of her life she purchased everything for herself.

  The expression on her face went straight to his heart. “I had the feeling you haven’t had anyone in your life for a long time giving you gifts.” A muscle ticked along his jaw and he opened his arms.

  She walked into his embrace and closed her eyes, taking in the comfort he offered.

  “I’m sorry.” His deep voice rumbled beneath her ear resting against his chest. “I never meant to overwhelm you. You’re such a far cry from my former fiancée. If I’d given her that outfit, she’d have accepted everything I freely gave and expected more besides.”

  “Perhaps that unthinkingly comes from a lifetime of privilege. I count your dear grandmother remembering me at my high school graduation as privilege, and Margaret Rose, the woman I lived with in South Carolina, and her family gifting me with a watch for my college graduation and some money I used to buy a car. Beyond that, there’s been no one else.”

  “Now you have me.” Steed tilted her face up to meet his, mindful of the automatic way she was quick to defensively grab hold of his forearms as if used to having to dodge being struck.

  He paused, focused on her lips, giving her time to assimilate his intent. When her grip relaxed, he gently kissed her, and then rested his forehead against hers. “I plan on replacing your bad memories with good ones; you’ll have to trust me.”

  “This is such new territory. I constantly feel like I need to pinch myself to see if I’m awake and not dreaming.”

  “Oh, this is real—the warm, beautiful woman in my arms and the clothes.”

  “How do you know these things will fit?”

  He looked down at her and smiled. “I just do.” Releasing her, he said, “Go try them on, I want to see how you look.”

  Carolina gathered everything in her arms and went into the bathroom to try on her new outfit.

  A knock sounded on the door and Stede opened it to find his brother standing there. “Hey, cowboy! I wasn’t expecting you until later tonight.”

  “Yeah, well I got your e-mail and couldn’t wait to meet this woman you said you were bringin’. Where are you hiding her?”

  “She’s getting changed.”

  Stede and his brother exchanged bear hugs and laughed noisily.

  “Who’s with you?”

  “Jamie and John Charles are unloading the horses and equipment. Another eighteen-wheeler with broncs and bulls will be pulling in sometime during the early morning hours—maybe two or three a.m. I wanted to get in and get some rest because I have to help them get the trailer unloaded when they arrive.”

  When the door to the bathroom opened, Carolina stood there surprised to see a stranger. “I heard the noise out here,” she said, “but I thought Manny and Jenny must have forgotten something.”

  “Nope. Carolina, I’d like you to meet my brother, Chance.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I can see the resemblance. I’ve heard a lot about you, Chance. It’s nice to meet you, although your brother failed to mention you’d be joining us,” she said, raising her brows at Stede.

  “I wanted to surprise you,” Stede said.

  “Well, Stede, she’s prettier than you described, but I knew she had to be special for you to even mention her,” Chance said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Carolina. And from what I see, you’re going to fit right into the rodeo festivities.”

  “Thank you, I think.”

  “I’m going to phone Manny and tell him to get a larger booth.”

  “I’m gonna use your trailer to shower and clean up, Stede. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Then turning, he added, “Save me a dance, Carolina.”

  After he left, Carolina said, “I’ll go change.”

  Stede took her arm and turned her around to face him. “Don’t change. You look great and I want to show you off on the dance floor. Do you like the outfit?”

  “It’s wonderful.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you. You’re very thoughtful. I can’t believe how comfortable these boots are.”

  “You forgot the belt.”

  “I didn’t forget.” Carolina countered, her tone turning suddenly uncharacteristically chilly. She busied herself blousing the shirt over the waistband to better cover the empty belt loops. “I never wear belts.”

  He studied her for a long moment, then stepped close to her, threading his fingers through the loops on either side of her slender waist, filling the emptiness that Carl’s brutality surely caused, with himself. He brought her hip-to-hip with his body, knocking her hat off kissing her as though their lives depended on it.

  Drawn into the fiery vortex of his kiss, Carolina thought she’d melt away and even considered suggesting they skip dinner. “Ahem, you two. This cowboy is starving.”

  Together she and Stede came up for air, breathing hard.

  “Chance, I swear, your timing has always been off,” Stede grumbled, his gaze devouring her kiss-swollen lips and roaming over her softened features until their eyes met, trading new lovers’ secrets.

  Reluctantly he released her, looking more than a little pleased with his effect on her. He bent, picked up her hat, settled it back on her head and taking her hand in his, turned and faced Chance.

  “Let’s go then.”

  “Oh, I took King down to the corrals and left him with Jamie and John. He’ll get some exercise helping them take care of the horses and can bunk in with them if you want.”

  “Thanks, Chance.”

  “Do you compete in the rodeo, Chance?”

  “Yes and no. I
don’t participate on an individual basis, but I do compete in some teamwork. I’m a stock contractor mostly, Carolina. My men and I provide some of the horses, broncs and bulls. We raise them on the ranch and travel a lot. When you get to Texas, I’ll show you around and even take you out to the oil fields unless my wife steals you instead and takes you into Dallas to shop.”

  “Thanks. I’d rather see the ranch and oil wells, I can shop anytime.”

  “All right then, we have a date. I brought some high rollers with me this time, Stede, part of my new stock. Wait ’til you see them.”

  “What’s a high roller?” she asked.

  “That’s a horse that when it’s bucking, leaps high in the air and does its best to set that rider on his rear end. Sort of like the horse sayin’ buck off—a little play on words.”

  “Well I hope Stede doesn’t pull one of those when he competes,” she said, shooting him a worried glance. “I think he’d be safer and the ride smoother if he rode his Chevy Silverado. He loves that thing so much I think she may be his favorite girl. I know more about that truck than I do his family. To think I didn’t even know those trucks came with diesel engines.”

  “Well, now you’ve been baptized.”

  “I guess I have,” she said imitating a Texas drawl, enjoying the light conversation.

  On the way to the restaurant, Carolina, squeezed between the brothers, fought to keep from leaning against either man as Stede wove through traffic. She lost the battle, however, when he took a sharp turn that aligned her body against his, as if they’d suddenly been zipped together, and gave Chance more room on the seat, which he immediately took advantage of, leaving her no opportunity to regain the space.

  The brothers’ conversation flowed back and forth across her. Chance did most of the talking, bringing Stede up to date on everyone and everything at the ranch. But soon their words became mere background noise to her, as Stede’s arm gently brushed the side of her breast as he guided the Silverado around a curve on the entrance ramp leading to the beltway.