Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

  “Don’t stay out in the sun too long,” she said, pointing at Hawk, then Pops, to indicate Hawk should enforce her order. She turned her palm out to Rio. “You stay with Pops, girl.” It was an unnecessary command. Rio had been at August’s side for the past six years, since she was a puppy. But she seemed to sense Pops needed to be looked after and had gravitated to the old man over the past few weeks, with August’s approval. They were both important to her.

  August stepped back into the glare of the noon sun and settled her hat onto her head as she surveyed her surroundings. The heat wave smothering the Panhandle remained relentless, the recent storms evaporating as quickly as they rolled through. But she loved this land. When she closed her eyes, she imagined she could hear the hooves of a thousand bison on the long, flat prairies and the songs of the tribes echoing off the red mountains of the Caprock. Everything and everybody important to her was here at this ranch. Maybe it was time to admit that Teal might be part of that, too.

  *

  The streets of the small town were inexplicably crowded with people and cars. Teal stared down Main Street. It was blocked to traffic and filled with tents and pedestrians.

  August cursed. “I forgot about the annual arts festival. I can’t believe so many people turned out in this heat wave.”

  “An arts festival? Do we have time to browse through the booths? I’d love to see what the local artists have to offer.” She hadn’t had to touch her savings since hiring on at The White Paw. In fact, she’d added a few paychecks to her stash and was about to pick up another check for the sale of her car. She could relax a bit because her short-term investments would mature in a few weeks and she could easily buy another car. Or truck. Maybe she should consider one instead. She’d ask Tank about it.

  August shrugged. “I need to see John Stutts to tie up some loose ends on the ranch property. You go ahead, and I’ll catch up to browse with you if he isn’t in his office.”

  Teal shook her head. “It’s Saturday. He won’t be working.”

  August gave her a smug look as she navigated side streets to reach Tank’s junkyard. “He’s an attorney. Of course, he will.”

  “Bet you a buck.”

  “Whoa there, Miss Big Bucks. Throwing that car money around already, huh?” August parked in front of Tank’s garage, and they both hopped out of the ranch truck.

  Teal shoved August playfully and skirted around her to enter Tank’s shop first. “Hey there, Tank.”

  “Hey, look here, fellas. Two beautiful ladies.” He pointed to his chest. “Come to visit me. Yep. Here to visit old Tank.” He turned to a group of three retired men sitting in the gossip corner. “But you better watch out for the blonde’s right hook.”

  “Very funny, Tank.” August smiled at the men. “How are y’all today?”

  “Good.”

  “Not too bad.”

  “Day’s getting better.” The last answer came with a wink.

  Teal smiled at the old guy. “Have you guys been down to the festival?”

  “Nope. Been there, done that.” The oldest of the three frowned. “Can’t even get lunch at the diner because of all the idiots coming in from out of town just to buy a few trinkets.”

  “Are you going?” the winker asked.

  “I’d like to browse through the booths,” Teal said.

  “Then look for my granddaughter. She’s selling pottery, and her friend in the same booth is selling blankets her Apache grandmother taught her to make.”

  “That sounds interesting. I’ll do that.” She turned to Tank. “But first, you have some money for me?”

  “I do. I got the fella to give me cash since you don’t have a local account and the nearest branch of the bank he draws from is thirty minutes away.”

  “Thanks, Tank. You’re awesome.”

  He hitched his jeans up. “Yep. That’s what the women tell me.”

  August hooted. “You wish. Did you forget about that time I caught you and Joey skinny-dipping?”

  Tank’s ears pinked and he glanced over at the gossip corner, then came around the counter to place an envelope in Teal’s hand and hustle them toward the door. “Thanks for coming by. Y’all have fun at the festival.” He pushed them out the door but lowered his voice for his parting shot. “I told you the water was extra cold that day.”

  Teal covered her mouth to stifle the laughter bubbling up as she realized what must have happened.

  August grinned at him. “Just kidding, buddy. I’ve never heard any complaints from Bunny.”

  Tank straightened and puffed out his chest at the mention of his wife. “Damn right.”

  They both laughed at Tank’s bravado and waved as they got back into the truck. August steered toward downtown and found an empty parking space near Stutts’s office. She gestured toward the colorful avenue of tents. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you.”

  Teal tucked her folded envelope of cash into her front pocket. She loved Southwestern crafts. She strolled through the booths, smelling homemade soaps and buying some gourmet dog treats for Rio, then suddenly became aware that she was being followed. She thought she saw the young man lift his phone and snap her photo, so she faced him and glared. His face reddened and he shrugged with an apologetic smile. She relaxed. She’d been followed by admiring boys a few times when she was a college student, and he looked young enough.

  She spotted a booth displaying pottery and Native American blankets and headed that way, but August intercepted her.

  “That didn’t take long,” Teal said, holding out her hand.

  August stared at Teal’s upturned palm. “What?”

  “I expect that John Stutts wasn’t in his office, and you owe me a dollar.”

  August squinted one eye at her. “Technically, I never answered your challenge for a wager, therefore no verbal contract was made.”

  Teal wiggled her fingers. “Fork it over, Counselor.”

  August shook her head but dug a dollar from her pocket and slapped it in Teal’s palm. “Just because I like you.”

  The festival crowd flowed around them as Teal tilted her head, her mouth suddenly dry. “Do you?” They both knew she was asking more than a simple question.

  August’s eyes softened and searched hers. “Yeah. I do.”

  Teal held her gaze. “I like you, too,” she said softly.

  August leaned closer. Good God. She was going to kiss her in the middle of this small Texas town. And, as those gray eyes darkened and drew near, Teal knew she was going to let her. She barely registered the clicking sound among the crowd noise.

  “TJ. TJ Giovanni.”

  Caught off-guard in a vulnerable moment, Teal reflexively turned toward the loud male voice. A camera shutter whirred as it recorded photo after photo.

  “I told you it was her.” The boy who had taken her photo earlier stood next to man with a real camera around his neck. He had media written all over him.

  She was momentarily frozen, then smiled at the man and approached. “I’m sorry. Were you yelling at me?”

  “That’s right,” he said, holding up his camera. “And this photo is worth a sweet twenty grand at least. The tabloids are still looking for you.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble, but you must have mistaken me for someone else.”

  “No, I haven’t. If there’s any question, I have face-recognition software that will confirm it.”

  August was instantly at her back. “I don’t know who you are, mister, but you can’t take photos of private citizens and publish them without their permission.”

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m Miss Crawley’s attorney, and I think you’ll want to hand over that camera so I can delete any photos you’ve taken of her right now.”

  He peered at Teal. “Crawley, huh? I can’t believe nobody looked for you under your old name.”

  Teal didn’t answer, but August held her hand out for the camera.

  The guy pulled back. “No can do. Your friend here is conside
red a public figure, so I can take her photo any time she’s in a public place and sell it to whoever pays my asking price. If you’re really an attorney, you know that already.” He turned back to Teal. “How about an exclusive interview, TJ? Don’t you want to tell your side of the story?”

  “There’s nothing to tell.” Teal turned and headed for the truck, but he followed.

  “Come on. You’re just going to let the good senator smear you all over Washington and come out smelling like a daisy? There’ve been rumors for years about her and her husband’s affairs, but nobody has been able to catch one of them until now.”

  August caught up to them and shoved the guy back. “Leave us alone.”

  “Roughing up the media, Counselor?”

  Teal tugged at August’s sleeve. “Let’s just get out of here.”

  They began walking again, but the guy kept dogging them.

  “Don’t be a victim, TJ,” he called as they climbed into the truck. He snapped several more photos of them as August slammed the truck into reverse and backed away with tires squealing out of the parking lot.

  This was bad, so bad. August said nothing the entire twenty-minute ride to the ranch. When they arrived, she banged out of the truck and strode into the house without waiting for Teal.

  Teal climbed out of the truck slowly, her heart seizing. How could they be happy and carefree an hour ago, staring into each other’s eyes and nearly confessing their feelings, and now their bond had seemed to vanish. She had to go to August and explain. But explain what exactly? That she’d purposefully concealed her identity? That her notoriety would probably put August and everyone at the ranch in danger? Maybe she should just leave. One of the guys would drive her to the bus station. But she couldn’t go without talking to August.

  August wasn’t in her bedroom, the kitchen, or the den. Teal finally found her in the office. She’d Googled TJ Giovanni and was reading the news accounts.

  “August.” Teal propped against the door frame and stuffed her hands in her pockets to hide their trembling.

  August kept her eyes on the computer screen, refusing to look at her. “Well, looks like I just can’t get out of my own way, can I? Sucked in again by a pretty face.”

  “No. I’m not Christine. This isn’t the same.”

  August whirled the chair around, her gray eyes dark as a thunderhead. “Isn’t it? You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t. I am Teal Crawley.” She couldn’t stop the tears welling in her eyes. “Giovanni is my mother’s maiden name. When I was a college student applying for jobs, I thought it sounded more professional. TJ Giovanni was who I thought I wanted to be, but since I’ve been here—”

  “God almighty. I can’t believe I missed all of this on the national news. I was just so wrapped up in what was happening to my law firm.” August stood, her voice rising with her. “You had to know the danger you were putting me and the guys—BJ, Pops and all the others—in if you were discovered.”

  “I didn’t know at first. I read the articles and knew you were a witness in a trial, but I didn’t realize you were in real danger. Not until you explained the situation to all of us. By then, I’d found a home here.” Her hand shook as she lifted it to touch August’s cheek. She needed desperately to connect with her, to make her understand. “I’d come to care for you and couldn’t bring myself to leave.”

  August jerked away and then slid past Teal to escape the office. “I need to be alone to figure out what to do next.”

  Teal waited until she heard the front door slam, then ran to see where August was going. She watched her stride into the barn, then emerge a short time later on horseback. She sighed. At least she didn’t go tearing off in the truck to get drunk somewhere or drive carelessly and end up in an accident.

  She wandered into her bedroom, the room where she hadn’t slept in more than a week. It was the first place she’d felt safe since that awful day Lauren had left her stunned and naked. The gash in her heart widened as she faced the reality that she had to leave this haven. The tears came slowly at first, leaking from her eyes and trailing down her cheeks. Then she fell onto the bed, buried her face in the pillows, and sobbed.

  *

  The sun was setting, and August felt like her life was sinking with it as she guided the stallion into the barn. She’d played out a dozen different scenarios, but only one option was actually viable. She had to leave. She was the one bringing danger to the ranch, to the men she cared about. To the woman she couldn’t bring herself to hate.

  She loosened her mount’s girth and leaned against him, inhaling the familiar and comforting scent of horse sweat and damp leather. He lowered his head to nuzzle her leg.

  It’d been surprisingly easy to walk away from Christine, even as destroyed and pathetic as she’d appeared in that jail visiting room. She’d lied to August, concealed things that destroyed their practice and could have landed August in jail with her. But, worst, she’d morphed into a person August didn’t know—one who traded sexual favors, willingly at first, with Reyes in exchange for power and money. Their intimacy had meant so little to her that she had shared it with someone else.

  What was Teal’s crime? August hadn’t shared everything with her at first either. She’d let her work here without explaining the danger. If she’d told Teal before their attraction had taken hold, would Teal have stayed? She might have opted to leave, knowing what it would mean if the media tracked her here.

  Damn. No matter how much she wanted to walk away from Teal with the same sense of justice she’d felt when she left Christine bruised and pitiful in a prison jumpsuit, she couldn’t. And the toughest part was still to come. She had to convince Teal to stay, to look after BJ, Pops, and the ranch while she gave herself up to Pierce Walker and witness protection for God knows how long.

  She turned to grab the stallion’s halter from its hook but froze at the dark silhouette standing silently in the arch of the barn’s entrance. Teal.

  August hated the distance between them. She wanted to pull Teal into her arms, to turn back the clock and erase the past afternoon. But she was acutely aware of the sweat that trickled down her bare arms, leaving wet tracks in the fine sheen of red dust on her skin. She was a dirty mess, literally and figuratively. Distance was exactly what she needed. Part of her was afraid that if she touched Teal, she wouldn’t be able to leave. She’d have to stay and take their chances if Reyes’s men found her.

  Teal’s voice shook when she spoke. “I’m packed, but the guys refused to drive me into town before I told you I was going.”

  August returned the halter to its hook and slid her hands into her pockets so she wouldn’t reach for Teal. “I—” She wasn’t sure how to begin. “I’m the one who has to leave.”

  “August, no.” Teal’s quick response was choked. “This is your home. I’m so sorry.” She turned to the side, and because she was no longer backlit in the doorway, the dying light revealed her tears.

  The tenuous control that kept August from running to her faltered, and August reached deep for her lawyer persona. Teal was practical. She’d make that argument. “I’ve thought this out carefully, Teal. Reyes’s men are looking for me, for the evidence I have. No matter what leads them here, I’m still the one bringing the danger to everyone.” She shifted her feet, hesitating over the next part. “So, I need to ask a favor. I need you to stay. BJ isn’t young, and Pops shouldn’t be left alone all day every day while the men are out working. His heart is weak, and he forgets things. He could end up burning the bunkhouse down.”

  Teal wiped her hands over her face and took a few tentative steps toward August. “No. Stay, August. We’ll face it together like we all planned before.”

  August wouldn’t be swayed this time. This was best. She’d been weak before to let them talk her into staying. “No. I’m not going to endanger anyone else.”

  “But where will you go?”

  She sighed and stared down at her boots. “I’m going to call Pierce Walker, the DEA agen
t, and let them put me under witness protection until they can lock Reyes away.”

  “How long?”

  She shrugged. “It could be months, or several years. Depends on how good Reyes’s lawyers are at delaying trial.”

  “August, no.”

  Teal’s warm hand on her forearm undid her. She looked up into brown eyes, soft and pleading, and drew Teal into her arms. She closed her eyes and tried to memorize the perfect fit of their bodies together, the soft scent of Teal’s shampoo, the silky texture of her hair against her cheek. “I’ve already decided, but I need to know you’ll keep things safe here until I can come back.”

  Teal’s arms tightened around her. “I can’t stand the thought of you leaving, but I’ll do anything you need of me.” Teal lifted her head from August’s shoulder, tears again wetting her cheeks. “I…I’m so scared for you. Promise you’ll be careful and come back. You have to come back.”

  At that moment, August knew she would. They needed to sort out so much more. Teal’s past. August’s future. Secrets they each kept from the other. But more than the ranch, more than her chosen family here, she was staring at her reason to find her way back to The White Paw, no matter how long it’d take. “I will,” she said, lowering her head and sealing the promise with a brush of her lips. It wasn’t enough. Teal opened willingly, desperately as their kiss deepened and conveyed feelings, swore vows they couldn’t yet put into words.

  Suddenly Rio jumped against August’s legs and nearly knocked them to the ground. “Rio, what the hell?” August struggled to catch Teal and steady them both. Rio barked sharply and ran to the other end of the barn, where Pops was leading Teal’s big bay in from the paddock.

  “You gotta hurry,” he said. “Tank called. Reyes’s vermin are headed this way.”

  August was confused. “What are you doing?”

  “The best way to hide from those city rats is to head for the country. We done figured this out.” He ducked into the tack room and returned with the bay’s saddle, dropping it at August’s feet. “Both of you need to skedaddle.”