“No! Please!” the boy hollered.
“Now, you soap up. We bath up quite frequent ’round this house,” Paxton grunted, dropping the boy bottom first into the tub of water. “And ’cause I know you’re unusual bashful…I’m gonna leave ya in here…trustin’, mind you…trustin’ you’ll wash your own self,” he warned, pointing a finger at the boy. “I don’t wanna have to come back in here and scrub ya down, you hear?”
“Yes, sir,” the boy stammered. Paxton fancied for a moment the child was near to bawling. The boy better toughen up quick or he wouldn’t get nowhere in life at all!
“What in tarnation have ya done, Pax?” Jolee scolded as she saw her brother coming out of the bedroom, a triumphant grin on his face.
“That boy needs a good washin’, Jo,” he stated.
Jolee rolled her eyes and put her hands squarely on her hips. “So ya took it upon yerself to see he done it, is that it?”
Paxton nodded. “Shore ’nough,” he confirmed. Jolee shook her head and threw the flannels she’d gathered at him. “You’re too tender-hearted, little sis,” Paxton grumbled as he stomped away into the parlor. “A man can’t even put on his underwear in his own bedroom ’round here,” he muttered as he went. “Gotta be draggin’ every stray thing for miles around in here to patch up, don’t ya, Jo?”
“And you’re as blind as a bull with his eyes poked out, big brother,” Jolee retorted. Then going to the closed bedroom door, she said, “There’s a towel right there on the chest, Tommy.”
“Thank ya, ma’am,” came the timid reply.
“I’m goin’ on to bed now…you go ahead and slip out to the barn when you’re finished, all right? I’ll leave ya a clean pair of flannels out here, ’cause I know for a fact that Pax didn’t take the time to strip ya ’fore he flung ya in there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jolee Gray shook her head. Paxton—the man couldn’t see past the nose on his own face.
CHAPTER TWO
Paxton quietly opened the barn door. He was fairly certain what he suspected was true, and he was pure and simple enraged about it. Jolee was a good woman, and he didn’t like the idea of her kindness being taken for granted.
Holding his lantern high and looking around the dark interior of the building, he saw the little weasel. There he was! Sound asleep on a pile of straw over in the northeast corner like there wasn’t a thing in the world to worry about.
Paxton was careful where he stepped as he walked to where the boy slept so peacefully. Standing directly above the little beggar, he glared furiously. He hunkered down next to the brat and set the lantern aside.
It was just as he thought. Paxton could tell now, especially with the bulky clothing gone. Beneath a pair of his very own white flannels was the form and figure of a young woman—not an adolescent boy! He shifted the lantern upward a bit, and a frown wrinkled his brow as he examined the purely feminine features of the girl’s face. His dunking her in the tub must have washed off the dirt she’d no doubt purposefully applied to her face in order to hide her gender.
Even he, Paxton Gray, was profoundly impressed with what lay there in the straw. He’d never seen eyelashes so thick and long. Her lips were perfectly shaped and crimson as a cherry. Her hair was long and wavy, and he imagined when the eyes were open and no longer shaded by the ugly hat she’d been wearing—well, no doubt her eyes were beautiful in their brilliance, entirely enticing.
Shaking his head to dispel thoughts of admiration, he tried to replace them with the angry ones he’d entertained a moment before. Roughly, he took the girl’s chin in one hand.
“Wake up!” he growled. The thickly lashed eyes fluttered open, and a small hand gripped his own, trying to pry it from the lovely face it held. “What’re you about, girl?” he demanded. He was astonished then to feel a sharp object pushing against his stomach.
“Let go! Don’t you dare to touch me!” the girl cried fiercely.
Suddenly realizing what she must think his intentions were, Paxton chuckled and assured her, “Don’t flatter yerself, honey. I just don’t go in for liars sleepin’ in my barn.” He gripped her wrist, squeezing it as hard as he could.
“Ouch!” she cried out, dropping the knife.
“Now, you stand up here,” he ordered, pulling her to her feet. The physically dominant man doubled over in the next instant, however, when the girl’s knee met his belly with immense force, causing him to lose his hold on her. She darted for the barn door, but Paxton turned, catching her ankle and sending them both tumbling to the barn floor. As she kicked and thrashed, he pulled her toward him until she was fully beneath his heavy, overpowering body.
“You little devil!” he growled as he sat on her legs, catching both of her hands and holding them pinned to the ground above her own head.
“Let me go!” she cried out.
Paxton reached over to where a length of rope lay nearby and pulled it to him, first tying her hands together and then her knees.
“There now. If you’re gonna act like an ornery little heifer—I’m gonna treat ya like one,” he said.
Pulling her to her feet, he swiftly lifted her and flung her over one broad and very capable shoulder. He walked back to the straw pile and retrieved his lantern. “We’ll just see what Jolee has to say about all this now,” he muttered as he carried the girl back to the house.
“What’s all that racket?” Jolee asked as she rushed into the kitchen in time to see Paxton hauling something into the house. “Paxton Gray! What are ya doin’?” she cried as she realized what it was, or rather who it was, he had slung over his shoulder.
“We got us our own little outlaw here, Jo,” he said, striding into the parlor and dumping the girl carelessly onto the sofa.
Jolee looked at the poor young woman. Tears of anger and frustration rolled over her cheeks. Jolee turned to her brother and scolded, “What have ya done? Are ya crazy?”
Paxton looked at Jolee, bewilderment owning his expression as he stated, “It’s a girl, Jo.”
“I know it’s a girl, Paxton. Some of us ain’t as blind as you.”
“You know? What do ya mean? Ya mean ya knew all along it was a girl?”
“Yes! What have ya done…tied her up?” Jolee was horrified. Paxton could be so headstrong and severe. Immediately, she went to the girl and began tugging at the ropes about her knees and wrists.
“If you don’t beat all, Jo! What do ya mean lettin’ her go on like she was a boy?” he asked angrily.
“Paxton,” Jolee began, “I’m sure she has good reason to be dressed up so. I figured she’d tell me when she was good and ready. It sure took you long enough to tumble.” Then Jolee looked up at her brother as a curious thought struck her. “When did ya tumble?”
Paxton looked at the girl and frowned. “Ain’t never thrown no boy over my shoulder and into a tub that felt like that. Anyway, she looked at me funny when I was standin’ next to her in my towel askin’ ya for my flannels.”
Jolee looked at the girl, face crimson with humiliation and fear. “Well, I can’t get these ropes off, Paxton. Dang it all, ya tie ’em too tight,” she complained.
Paxton sighed heavily with exasperation and went to where the girl sat on the sofa.
“I only wanted work,” the girl explained, staring him straight in the eyes as he fumbled with the ropes binding her.
“Well, why didn’t ya tell Jolee that then? She’d a put ya to work in the kitchen or gatherin’ eggs,” he mumbled.
The girl looked up at Jolee. “I’m truly sorry for deceiving you, Miss Gray. I can only say that…that I had my reasons.”
Jolee smiled. “Call me Jo. You can’t be but a year or two younger than me, can ya?”
The girl winced as Paxton yanked the rope from around her knees. “I’m eighteen, ma’am,” she answered.
“Call me Jo. I’m twenty. See? We can be good friends.”
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud, Jo! She’s a drifter! Give her a meal and send her on her way
,” Paxton said as he wrestled with the ropes still binding the girl’s wrists.
Jolee noted the excessive and exaggerated insistence of her brother that she rid them of the girl, and she smiled to herself. “She’s gonna stay as long as she likes, Paxton. I need some female company. Especially after listenin’ to your borin’ chatter day in and day out.”
“Thank you, ma’am. But I’ll just be on my way now,” the girl said as she watched Paxton struggling with his own knots.
“You’ll do no such thing! I can use your help ’round here. Besides, you’ve obviously got nowhere else to get to right away, if ya don’t mind my sayin’ so,” Jolee prodded.
Paxton looked into the girl’s face for a moment. She looked quickly away.
“No, ma’am,” she said.
“For cryin’ out loud! Now we’re an orphanage,” Paxton muttered as he untwisted the last knotted piece of rope.
Jolee laughed. “He ain’t all pickles and vinegar the way he likes to pretend. Now, what’s your name?”
“Rivers. Rivers Brighton,” the girl replied.
“Well, Rivers Brighton…I guess ya got yourself a champeen here in my sister, Jolee,” Paxton grumbled.
Jolee watched as her brother straightened his stance and looked down at the girl. Looking to Jolee he said, “I suppose she does get awful tired of my belly achin’.” Then he turned back to the girl. “But from here on out you be right upfront with us about everything.”
“I’ll leave in the mornin’,” the girl stated, standing and making to move past him.
Paxton caught her arm. “Hold on there, proud little Patty,” he said. “I still got this rope in my hand. If Jo wants ya to stay, she means it. We got an extra room off in the back across from mine. You can stay in there. Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but I don’t believe in women toughin’ the elements more’n necessary.”
“Pax…you’re as subtle as a thundercloud,” Jolee sighed, slapping his hand so he released the girl. “Now, you’re gonna stay on here and help me out. I’ve got green beans and peas comin’ up in a week or two, and I can’t put ’em all up myself.” Jolee took one of the young woman’s hands in her own and squeezed it. “You’ll stay and keep me company…won’t ya, Rivers?”
The girl looked quickly at Paxton, who was already sauntering off to go back to bed. “I really don’t think I should stay. I just…” she began.
“You’ll stay,” Jolee stated.
Rivers looked back at her and smiled. “I have to earn my keep,” she insisted.
Jolee laughed. “Oh, you will! Don’t worry about that.” Then linking her arm through Rivers’s, Jolee led her back to the spare bedroom.
CHAPTER THREE
“It seemed safer that way,” Rivers explained, answering Jolee’s question.
“You mean from…men with…bad intentions?” Jolee asked.
“Yes,” Rivers admitted softly.
“I’d do the same. Here, beat these eggs for me.”
Rivers took the bowl of eggs and began beating them with a fork as she watched Jolee turning the bacon in the skillet.
“Are ya runnin’ from somethin’, or just travelin’?” Jolee asked.
Rivers liked Jolee even more for her bluntness. She had a “get straight to the point” kind of attitude.
“My daddy was a traveler. I’ve been riding trains with him for about two years. He passed on a couple of months back,” Rivers answered.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jolee sympathized. “Your mama’s dead too, then?”
“Yes. I lived with my mother’s parents until two years ago. Then daddy came and took me with him. He said I was old enough to fend for myself if something should happen to him.”
“Sounds mighty excitin’!” Jolee lifted the bacon out of the skillet and, taking the bowl from Rivers, poured the eggs into the fresh, hot bacon grease. “Hoppin’ trains and all. You must’ve had some excitin’ adventures.”
“I suppose,” Rivers admitted.
“Well, Jo…how’s our little bull manure shoveler this mornin’?” Paxton asked as he sauntered into the kitchen, snapping his suspenders into place over his bare torso.
Rivers was feeling a bit more courageous in that moment. Bravely, she turned to face the man. She had no intention of letting him get away with such a mocking remark. “I’m just fine, thank you, Mr. Gray,” she remarked. “In fact,” she continued as she set a plate piled with griddlecakes on the table and motioned with her head for him to sit down, “I feel like I could put up with just about anyone today.” Somehow, knowing they knew the truth about her had renewed Rivers’s confidence in her independence during the night.
“Gettin’ a little big for our britches this mornin’, ain’t we?” Paxton muttered as he sat down and began to eat.
Rivers blushed, humiliated with his thinking her ungrateful.
“You ain’t forgot the boys are comin’ over for cards tonight, have ya, Jo?” he asked his sister.
“No, Paxton. Though I wish I could,” Jolee winked at Rivers. “You and I will have to escape to somewhere or another tonight, Rivers. Once a month Paxton and all his smelly men friends get together on a Saturday night and play cards. Now mind you…I don’t let them gamble anything worth much…they use buttons or chore favors or somethin’. But they’re plum irritatin’, so I usually hide out somewhere.”
“My friends don’t smell any worse than yours do,” the man mumbled.
Rivers couldn’t help but admit inwardly that even as grumpy as he seemed to be, he was so handsome it didn’t matter. It was difficult not to constantly gawk at him.
Then he addressed Rivers. “You oughta get Jo to lend ya a dress or somethin’ to wear ’fore the boys get here. Maybe one of ’em will think you’re worth lookin’ at, and ya can get yerself married and be taken care of.”
Jolee scowled at her brother, handing Rivers the glass of milk she had intended for him.
Rivers took a deep breath. Turning to Paxton she asked, “Do you think so? Do you really think one of them won’t care that I’m so helpless and dumb? Do you really think one of them will find me acceptably pretty enough, maybe?”
Paxton looked up at her, his eyes narrowing. “Could be. I wouldn’t go bettin’ my life on it, but ya never can tell. Some men are taken in easy-like by a young female. Whether or not she’s a beauty.”
Rivers was furiously hot with anger. She had not a shred of tolerance at his talking down to her. And in the next moment, she simply poured the cup full of milk into his lap.
Slamming the empty cup down on the table in front of him, she shouted, “How dare you? First of all, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself! I don’t need some smelly old man to do it for me! And second…if your friends are as brutal and arrogant as you are…what woman on earth with any sense in her head would want one?”
Paxton stood up very slowly. “Jolee,” he began calmly, “your little lyin’ pail of pig slop just poured milk in my lap.”
Rivers was instantly intimidated. He stood so tall and strong before her. The muscles in his arms and chest tensed, overemphasizing each powerful curve. Jolee simply put her hand over her mouth and tried to stifle her laughter.
Paxton glared at Rivers. “You poured milk in my lap,” he informed her.
“You…you deserved it,” she choked out.
Then, in the next moment, as he picked her up and tossed her over one shoulder, she began squealing and beating on his back. Her efforts were useless, however.
“Paxton! Paxton Gray! You put that girl down, do you hear me?” Jolee cried, following as Paxton strode toward the kitchen door.
“My friends ain’t old or smelly, girl! And it may be that I am a little rough…you’re probably one of them girls who like men with lily white skin, smellin’ of rose water, and wearin’ curls in their hair! Now, in case you ain’t never met one, real men smell like sweat! They’ve got calloused hands and hair that ain’t combed out all nice an’ purty!” All this he bellowed as he opened the ki
tchen door, furious as he strode out of the house and toward the creek.
Realizing his intentions, Rivers endeavored to struggle harder. “You put me down this minute!” she cried.
“Real men are too tired to go through all that silly courtin’ business! They work from before sun up ’til after it’s long gone! Then they fall into bed too worn out to care if they sat out on the front porch swing sparkin’ a girl that night or not!”
“Paxton! Don’t you do it!” Jolee shouted as she followed him toward the creek.
“I was just tryin’ to be nice to ya in there! I don’t doubt my friends would take one look at you and swear off women for good! And you go and pour my milk in my lap. Well, I figure it’s time ya had another bath!” With that he let her fall bottom first into the creek.
As Rivers sat in the water, the flannel underwear she still wore soaking wet, she looked up at him. She was humiliated, hurt, and angry.
Without further thought of consequences, she reached up, grabbed the waist of his trousers, and, with every ounce of strength in her, yanked him forward. In the next moment, his massive form came crashing down on hers, followed by an enormous splash. He was sitting beside her in the creek.
Rivers stood up, dripping wet, with tears flowing down her cheeks. She tugged at the flannel underwear now clinging wet and heavy to her skin.
“Whether or not I’m pretty and dainty, Mr. Gray…I am a woman! And you should treat me as one! Men like you are one reason I began dressing like a boy! If you don’t want me here, tell me now! I’ll be on my way.”
Sudden Storms Page 2
