The Lockwood Legacy - Books 1-6: Plus Bonus Short Stories

by Juliette Harper

  Of the many things that Kate had come to love about Clara Wyler, the fact that the old woman, at nearly 80 years of age, still took her coffee black and her whiskey straight was high on the list. When Clara learned about the events that led to the collapse of the cave in Baxter’s Draw, she had put only one question to Kate: “Did you kill that goddamned Yankee Marino?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kate had answered. “I did.”

  “Good,” Clara had replied. “I hope you made him hurt first.”

  For as fierce as Clara was in her devotion to Irene Lockwood’s girls, she had also taken the lead in organizing round-the-clock care for the dying George Fisk with equal vigor. Although the membership was down to just four now, the women who were the remnants of the town’s infamous Study Club were still a force with which to be reckoned.

  Mae Ella Gormley, Clara’s sister, continued to reign uncontested as County Clerk. She held the position so firmly in her blue-veined fist no candidate had dared to file against her in years.

  Wilma Schneider, the town’s formidable RN, retired after the death of her employer, and married lover, Dr. Walter Kitterell. The retirement seemed mostly a formality, however, since she spent her days tending to the sick and shut-ins all over town.

  Sugar Watson still ran Sugar’s Style and Spray on the courthouse square, but bemoaned the increasing absence of Aqua Net soaked bouffants among the younger women of the community.

  If asked about the state of coiffures in the 21st century, Sugar would opine, “There’s nothing to it. You just spend two hours making it look like your hair’s never been combed a day in your life.”

  Although not official “members” of the Study Club alumni association, Elizabeth Jones and Lenore Ferguson were still a vital part of this remarkable group of women.

  Elizabeth had spent the years since December 1957 in seclusion after “dying” in her previous life as Alice Browning. Her socially conscious mother staged an elaborate hoax to fake Alice’s death to hide both her disfigurement from the crash and the fact that she carried George Fisk’s baby.

  The accident was the trigger that set in motion the events that shaped all of their futures, including those of the Lockwood girls. Langston Lockwood, who nursed an obsessive love for Alice Browning all his life, carried out a decade’s long vendetta against his best friend, George Fisk.

  The campaign included taking Fisk’s fiancé, Irene Northrup, away from him and marrying her. Langston died never knowing Alice was living just 35 miles from the Rocking L as the recluse, Elizabeth Jones. And George was equally oblivious to the fact that local florist Lenore Ferguson was his daughter until just a few months earlier.

  In the time since, however, all the women had come together to care for George as he slowly died of congestive heart failure, and Pauline Fisk welcomed their presence. She, too, had been a victim of Langston’s need for revenge and freely admitted to having had an affair with him early in her marriage.

  With incredible self-possession, Pauline embraced Elizabeth warmly on their first meeting and whispered in her ear, “Thank God, dear Alice, you will make him so happy.”

  Now, on the day of his death, all the women, with the exception of Elizabeth, were in the Fisk home caring for Pauline just as they had helped her care for George.

  “Is Elizabeth okay?” Mandy asked over her shoulder as she worked with the refrigerated funeral cuisine.

  “Yes,” Clara said. “I went by there before I came over here. She and George had a lot of time to talk these past few months. God love her, she’s a practical woman. But you all should go by there on your way back to the Rocking L. She’ll be glad to see you.”

  Even though Elizabeth’s identity was known to the Lockwood girls, she had continued to live a quiet life of seclusion. No one in the town knew she was Alice Browning, and she was most comfortable in the company of the close friends who loved her so much that they no longer saw the twisted scars that covered the right side of her face.

  “We intended to go see her,” Kate said. “What can we do for Pauline?”

  “I think we’ve got everything covered,” Clara said. She and Kate were now seated at the kitchen table drinking their coffee. Suddenly, as if the idea had just occurred to her, Clara asked, “Where’s Jenny?”

  Although she tried not to, Kate hesitated for just a fraction of a second too long before she said, “She couldn’t come with us this morning.”

  Clara eyed her suspiciously. “What are you not telling me, Katie Lockwood?”

  Kate shifted uncomfortable in her chair and looked at Mandy. “You might as well tell her,” Mandy said. “Maybe she can help.”

  “Help with what?” Clara demanded. “What in the hell is going on here?”

  By the time Kate finished explaining what had transpired on the Rocking L over the weekend, Clara’s mouth was set in a firm line. “So the two of you have an idea where she is but you’re not telling anyone?”

  Kate nodded. “That’s right.”

  “And you’re going to go after her if you haven’t heard from her by the end of the week?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Now, you listen to me Katie, do not leave town without coming to the hotel and seeing me first,” Clara said.

  Kate frowned. “Why?”

  “Don’t ask impertinent questions,” Clara snapped. “Just promise me that you will not go after Jenny until you come talk to me first.”

  “Okay, Clara,” Kate said, still perplexed. “I’ll come see you first. I promise.”

  Outside the kitchen door, Jinx Brewer let a few seconds pass before she pushed into the room cradling a bowl of banana pudding in her arms. “Hello, Clara, Kate, Mandy,” she said when the women turned to look at her. “Can I just put this nanner pudding in here?”

  “Dear God, Jinx,” Clara growled. “Is that all you could come up with to bring?”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Clara,” Jinx bristled. “I was out of Jello and I only had my lunch hour to put something together. Some people work for a living, you know.”

  “What are you looking so damned happy about anyway?” Clara demanded. “You’re supposed to be here paying your respects to a dead man.”

  Jinx arranged her face into more appropriate lines. “I know,” she told them in a subdued tone. “I’m just having a really good Monday.”

  “Glad somebody is,” Kate said, getting up to refill her cup.

  For just those few seconds, all three women had their backs turned to Jinx and none of them saw the absolute look of elation on her face when she said, “Oh, cheer up, Katie. Maybe your day will get more interesting before the sun goes down.”

  101

  Kate and Mandy stepped out onto the front porch just as Rafe Jackson started up the sidewalk. His eyes met Kate’s and a slow smile spread across his features. Without missing a beat, the banker walked toward them.

  Kate came down the steps ahead of Mandy. She and Rafe confronted each other in the middle of the walk and neither seemed inclined to give the other the right of way.

  “Hello, Kate,” Rafe said. “I wonder if I might have a moment of your time?”

  “Rafe,” Kate said shortly. “Sorry, but we have to get back to the ranch.”

  “Oh,” he said pleasantly, “I think you can wait and hear what I have to say.”

  Kate set her jaw and lowered her voice. “I’m not standing out here in front of God and everybody and bandying about your opinion of Dusty. She works for me. She’s going to continue working for me, and that’s that.”

  “I don’t have any desire to discuss this in front of an audience either,” Rafe said, still smiling. “And it isn’t my sister I want to discuss. It’s your sister.”

  Suspicion clouded Kate’s eyes. “Get to the point, Rafe,” she said shortly.

  “I’d like to have a few words with you about Jenny,” he replied. “Unless you want what I’m going to say to you spreading all over town in the next half hour, I suggest you step aside with me.”

&nbs
p; Turning to Mandy, Kate handed her the keys to the truck. “Go on to the pickup, Mandy,” she said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Mandy looked doubtful, but she accepted the keys and walked away as Kate and Rafe moved out of earshot of the mourners in the Fisk front yard. “Out with it, Rafe,” Kate demanded.

  “It has come to my attention that your sister has left the Rocking L,” he said.

  Kate just looked at him and said nothing.

  “Ah, I see,” Rafe said. “This is to be a one-sided conversation. That’s fine. I know that your dear, delicate sister is having . . . emotional . . . problems with her fiancé and that she’s run away from home — again.”

  “Nothing that happens on the Rocking L is any of your business, Rafe,” Kate said. “Good day.”

  She moved to leave, but stopped when Rafe said suddenly. “I know the terms of your father’s will. If Jenny isn’t back one week from this coming Saturday, you will lose everything. Your precious ranch and all your money.”

  “Nice try,” Kate said, “but Jenny will be back long before then.”

  “Oh, will she now?” Rafe said teasingly. “Are you really so sure? The last time she left she was gone, what, ten years?”

  “Is there a point to all of this?” Kate asked tersely.

  “There is,” Rafe said. “I really don’t want to have to call any of this to Judge Wilkins’ attention, so here’s what you’re going to do for me. You’re going to fire my sister and get her to leave town. And in exchange, I do nothing with this information.”

  “And if I refuse?” Kate asked, glaring at him.

  “I will be forced to speak to His Honor and I will have the pleasure of watching you ruined,” he said. “Either way, it’s a win for me.”

  “You go to hell.”

  “If I do, you’re going with me,” he said in a cold voice. “It looks like that arm of yours isn’t your only handicap. Your beloved sister always has been a little off, hasn’t she? But then, crazy runs in the Lockwood family.”

  Kate looked at him darkly. “Are you done?”

  “Yes,” Rafe said, the genial smile returning to his features. “It’s really a simple matter, Kate: Pick your loyalties. Your sister or mine. You have 12 days to decide. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go see the grieving widow.”

  When Kate reached the truck, she got in the cab and slammed the door just hard enough that Mandy said, “Uh-oh. That didn’t go well, did it?”

  “It did not,” Kate said, starting the ignition. “Rafe Jackson knows the terms of Daddy’s will and he knows that Jenny’s left the ranch because of trouble with Josh.”

  Mandy’s eyes widened. “How in the world could he know all that?”

  “I have no idea,” Kate said as they pulled out onto the street, “but he says if I don’t fire Dusty and make her leave town, he’ll go to Judge Wilkins and force a review of the will.”

  “What are you going to do?” Mandy asked.

  “I’m going to have a talk with Dusty,” Kate said. “I need to know exactly why she and Rafe hate each other so much.”

  Back at the ranch, Kate found Dusty in the barn saddling Dixie. “Hey,” Kate said by way of greeting. “Where are you headed?”

  “Nowhere, really,” Dusty said. “Still just getting the lay of the land. I thought I’d ride up toward this infamous Baxter’s Draw.”

  Kate opened Bracelet’s stall and let the mare out. “I’ll come with you,” she said. “I could use some air.”

  The two women talked about George Fisk’s passing and things in general until they were through the pasture gate. Then, Kate shifted in the saddle to look at her friend. “I ran into your brother at the Fisk house,” she said.

  “Oh hell,” Dusty groaned. “Is that why you suddenly wanted to take a ride with me?”

  Kate laughed. “No,” she said. “I really do need some fresh air, but I do need to tell you what Rafe had to say.”

  Dusty listened in silence as Kate related her conversation with Rafe. “Is he right about the will?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Kate said. “None of us can be gone off this place more than 60 days in a calendar year, and no more than 14 of those consecutively or all this goes to the state.”

  “Who monitors that?” Dusty asked.

  “No one until now,” Kate said. “But Rafe is threatening to call it to Judge Wilkins’ attention, and that old bastard is such a stickler, we’ll have a mess on our hands sure as the world.”

  Dusty blew out a frustrated sigh. “Well,” she said, “I guess that’s that. Time for me to get my ass back to California.”

  Kate reined Bracelet to an abrupt stop. “The hell you will,” she said shortly. “What’s wrong with you, woman? The Dusty Jackson I’ve known for 30 years never knew the meaning of quit. And you’re just ready to go belly up because your brother is making noise? Enough is enough, Dusty. You need to tell me why you and Rafe hate each other so much so we can figure out what to do about all of this.”

  Drawing her own horse to a halt, Dusty said, “Give it up, Katie. Rafe is just like Mama. He always gets his way. He’s got you over a barrel.”

  “The man hasn’t been born that can get me over a barrel that easy,” Kate snapped. “Especially not with everything I’ve been through in the last two years. Goddamn it, Dusty. Talk to me. You’ve been dancing around this subject since we were girls. Let me help you.”

  Dusty looked at her silently, seeming to be weighing her options. Kate recognized the old defensive distance in her friend’s eyes, but didn’t blink or look away from it. The two women simply sat there in the saddle staring at each other until Kate saw the fight bleed out of Dusty’s body.

  “I’m afraid you won’t believe me, Katie,” Dusty said in a tired voice. “It’s why I’ve never told anyone, and I’m not sure telling you now will help anything. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since those days.”

  “Honey,” Kate said, “you’re my oldest friend. I love you like my own sisters. What in the world do you think you could tell me that I wouldn’t believe?”

  The other woman looked down at the ground and asked uneasily, “Can we keep riding while we talk? I don’t think I can look at you and tell this story.”

  Without a word, Kate urged Bracelet forward and Dusty fell along beside her. They rode in silence for almost five minutes before Dusty said, “I don’t know how old I was when it started, but I don’t think we were in school yet.”

  Kate said nothing, but a cold dread moved up the back of her neck. She already knew what Dusty was going to tell her.

  “At first Rafe would just come in my room and . . ..” She swallowed hard. “He’d just look. I pretended to still be asleep. And then he started touching me. I was 10 the first time he . . . the first time . . . ”

  Silently Kate looped the reins over her saddle horn and held her good hand out to Dusty who took it, entwining their fingers tightly. “He hurt me,” she said quietly, “and he told me he’d hurt me more if I ever told.”

  “How long did it go on?” Kate asked.

  “Until I got big enough to hurt him back,” Dusty said. “You remember that black eye I had when we were freshmen?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mama and Daddy went out somewhere,” Dusty said. “Rafe came into my room expecting to have himself a high old time. I hit over the head with my bedside lamp. He beat the hell out of me when I told him I was going to tell Daddy what he’d been doing to me.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Kate said. “Did it stop then?”

  “No,” Dusty said. “Rafe . . . got what he wanted that night and then he told Mama and Daddy I snuck out of the house and got in a fight with some other girls to explain the bruises. I was grounded for a month.”

  “I remember,” Kate said.

  “The next time Rafe came in my room,” Dusty said, “I let him get on top of me and then I put a pistol right between his eyes and cocked it. He told me I didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger and I a
sked him if he really wanted to take that chance. I guess he didn’t because he got off me. And that was that.” She hesitated, and then said hoarsely, “I would have killed him to make it stop. By then I didn’t care what happened to me. I just wanted him to stop. I . . . I still sleep with a pistol under my pillow.”

  By this time they’d reached the dry creek bed. Kate drew Bracelet up and stepped out of the saddle. She moved around and looked up at Dusty. “Come on,” she said. “We need to talk about how we’re going to deal with your bastard of a brother.”

  When Dusty dismounted, she stood awkwardly in front of Kate, unable to meet her eyes. “You believe me? Just like that.”

  “Of course I believe you.”

  Still not looking up, Dusty said, “I wanted to tell you back then, but I felt so . . . dirty.” Her voice broke on the word and she began to sob as Kate drew her into a hug.

  “He’s the dirty one, honey,” Kate whispered. “You didn’t do anything. You were just a little girl. You’re not going anywhere. The Rocking L is your home. Rafe’s dealing with grown women now. Something tells me he’s not up to the task.”

  Dusty let out a choked laugh and pulled away, meeting Kate’s eyes. “I’ve never told anyone what I just told you,” she said simply.

  “How does it feel?”

  “Like the weight of the world just rolled off my shoulders.”

  Kate smiled. “Honey, that’s what sisters are for,” she said. “I had to learn that all over when Jenny and Mandy came home. As far as I’m concerned, you’re one of us now. You don’t have to carry anything alone ever again.”

  Dusty nodded, unable to speak, and followed Kate over to a small grouping of boulders. They sat quietly together as Dusty regained her composure. Finally she said, “You have to go get Jenny.”

  “I know,” Kate said. “But I can’t leave until we get George Fisk buried on Wednesday. We can get away with one missing Lockwood at a funeral that big, but if I’m not there, no more than I ever leave town, people will talk.”

  “What do you think about what happened with Josh?” Dusty asked.

  “I think the man was just tired and had a mad fit,” Kate said. “God knows I’ve cussed a windmill and thrown a few pipe wrenches in my time. But I’d bet my life that he’d never do anything to hurt Jenny.”