"It's your part of the profit from the calves we sold last week." Hank laid his hat on the couch beside him. "I was riding by and decided to stop and give it to you." He made his stopping sound like an afterthought.
Kate wasn't fooled. "I don't want you to give me money."
"I'm not giving you a damn thing."
"I won't take it. Apply it to paying for some of the improvements your father put on Paradise." Kate was adamant.
"Damn it, Kate, you are one stubborn female." Hank seemed determined that she accept the check.
Obstinately, Kate continued, "Mamma told you about Suzie's coming marriage, didn't she? You're giving me this," She waved the check in Hank's direction. "because you think I need it to pay for the wedding." The truth was, she did.
"Is Suzie getting married here?" Hank raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You know she is, next weekend."
Out of the blue, Hank asked, "Would you like to go out with me tonight?"
Kate blinked. "What?"
Hank smiled, exposing strong white teeth that were vivid against his tan skin. "I'm asking you to go out with me."
Kate wondered if he were trying to distract her. "Why?"
His smile vanished. With heavy sarcasm, He replied, "I enjoy your charming company."
"You're not funny. Where?" Kate suddenly realized that the idea of going out with Hank appealed to her.
"I'm a member of a private club over in Medina County." Hank explained. "We can have a few drinks. They have a band, if you want to dance."
She didn't want to appear too anxious. "Is it far away?"
"It's a twenty minute drive. I'll pick you up about seven. We can have dinner there."
Remembering the exclusive country club she and Jim had belonged to in Dallas, Kate asked, "What should I wear? Is dress formal or informal?"
"Dress is anything you want to wear." Hank was smiling again. "Johnny Blue's is not what you would call an elegant establishment." His spurs jingled as he stood. "I'll see you at seven."
Kate followed him to the door. "You said it was a club." She waved the check in his direction. "Take this with you."
"Maybe I should have said honkey tonk." Hank didn't bother to stop, or turn. "The money is yours, Kate. Keep it, you earned it."
She thought about asking him how. Remembering what had happened at the line shack, made her change her mind. "It's too much."
"Be ready." Hank hoisted himself into his saddle. "I don't like to wait."
Kate stared after him until he ridden over the rise, and disappeared into the grove of trees beyond.
Much to her surprise, Belle didn't pry when Kate announced she was going out with Hank. "Did you tell Hank that Jim would be here over the weekend?"
"I did not!" Kate took a denim skirt from her closet, and held it up. "How is this Mamma?"
Tossing the stuffed panda aside, Belle sat on Kate's bed. "Not sexy enough. Why didn't you tell him?"
"I'm too old to look sexy." Kate hung the skirt back in the closet. "Why would Hank care if Jim came here?"
"No woman is ever too old to look sexy." Belle Punched the panda in its stuffed mid section. "The same reason he got upset when you spent the weekend with York."
"Mamma, help me decide what to wear." Kate had other things on her mind.
Belle refused to let go. "Are you going to tell Hank?"
"Mamma, don't start. Why should I tell Hank?"
"I think you're afraid to tell Hank."
Kate spun around. "Mamma, Damn it, I am not!"
Belle studied the ceiling carefully before saying. "Don't swear, Kate."
Kate stomped toward the door. "I'm going to take a shower." She marched down the hall way thinking that Belle knew exactly how to make her angry, and how to make her think. Maybe she should tell Hank Jim would be at Paradise for Suzie's wedding.
Johnny Blue's Club sat just off the highway intersection. Hank was right, it was certainly no country club. The low, rambling wooden structure looked more like a barn than a club. The loud music emanating from inside, could be heard for miles.
Hank parked far back on the parking lot. As they were walking across the gravel area. Kate shouted over the music. "Did you say this is a private club?"
"Not the way you are implying. There's a small yearly fee for membership." Hank opened the door. "You won't find the socially elite gathering here." He held the door open. "After you."
It took Kate's eyes sometime to adjust to the dark interior. As her view sharpened, she was aghast at what she saw. "This place is a bar." Her mouth fell open. "You brought me to a bar."
Hank guided Kate to a table near the back of the long room. "Don't be a snob."
Over the raucous music, Kate shouted, "I'm not a snob, but this is not what I was expecting."
Hank pulled a chair out from a small table. "Would you like a beer?"
"I guess so." Looking around the dark, crowded room, Kate thought how different it was from the elegant River Walk restaurant where York had taken her.
Hank sat across from her, signaled a waitress, and raised two fingers.
"Do you come here often?" Kate watched two men rack up pool balls on the table near the door.
"Once or twice a week. I can relax here."
The waitress put two beers on the table. "Would you care to order now, Hank?"
Hank nodded, then took a sip of beer. "I'll have the hot tamales."
The waitress stood, pencil poised, pad in hand, waiting for Kate to order.
Kate turned the beer bottle around in her hands. "May I see a menu?"
"The menu is hot tamales, hamburgers or hot dogs." The waitress stuck the end of her pencil in her mouth. "Which will it be?"
Kate thought this was the least likely place to relax she had ever seen. "I'll have a hamburger."
The waitress wrote down the order, then hurried toward the bar.
"Some menu!" Kate complained, as she used her forefinger to trace the rings her beer bottle had made on the table.
Hank took a long swig of his beer. "Don't you like this place?"
"It's different."
"That's not what I asked."
"Did you bring me over here to pick a fight?" Tension flicked through Kate's chest, slid down her spine.
Hank pushed his chair back. "We can fight anywhere. I brought you here to dance." He led her onto the dance floor. "I like the feel of you against me."
How perfectly she fit into his arms. How easily she moved with him across the hardwood floor. The feel of his muscular thighs rubbing against her legs caused a quick surge of desire to flame through her. Remembered ecstasy brought a blush of color to her face.
Hank laughed, wickedly. "You're blushing, Kate."
She pulled back. "I am not. It's hot in here."
"I hadn't noticed." He pulled her back against him.
She could feel the hard evidence of his arousal pushing against her. She moved seductively against him. "Hank, I think..."
"This is not the time to think, Kate. We have to get out of here before I get arrested and you get...Let's go."
"Where are we going?"
They were through the door before Hank answered. "Somewhere near. I'll never make it to the line shack."
From the depths of her passion scrambled brain a thought surfaced. She should object. Instead, she amazed herself by pointing to the flashing neon sign above them. "There's a motel behind the club."
Without a word, Hank pulled around Johnny Blue's and under the canopy that covered the entrance of the motel office. Sliding from the car, he promised, "I'll be right back."
Through dry lips she teased, "Hurry."
He did. In less than five minutes he was back, swinging a key around his index finger "Room 16 awaits us." He drove to a room near the back of the motel compound.
Neither of them spoke as Hank unlocked the door, and held it open for Kate.
Once inside, Kate hooked her shaking thumbs in the pockets of her jeans. "I never did this be
fore, went to a motel with a man, I mean."
His gritty voice scraped across her nerve ends as he pulled her into his arms, and whispered into her hair, "I have to, Kate."
She wound her arms around his waist. "I want you to."
Kate had always believed that the phrase, 'swept away by passion', was a figure of speech, not a matter of fact. She had been wrong, so very, very, wrong. Her fingertips moved to the top button of Hank's shirt, as he covered her lips with his demanding mouth.
She had never known this kind of hunger before. Nothing mattered now except the man who moved his hands over her trembling body. The touch of his mouth on her throat sent a shiver of delight down her spine.
The tingle of expectation heightened the joy of undressing him. "I never did this before, either." The confession sounded over the sharp click of his belt buckle. "I never wanted to."
He was hard muscle against her skin, the taste of honey on her tongue, and the smell of musk in her nostrils. The sensations met, mingled, and jumbled, like the patterns in a kaleidoscope, to tilt her senses.
They fell, completely bare, and locked in a tight embrace, onto the bed.
With smooth, liquid movements, Hank positioned himself over her. "You're a wonder, Kate, a miracle." Entering her body, he began to thrust slowly, and with tantalizing intent.
The passion that refused to be denied converged, flowed, and grew. They moved as one rhythmic entity, edging nearer and nearer to complete ecstasy.
With consummate abandon, they clung to each other, climbing, reaching, soaring, flying. As absolute rapture caught them, they writhed, twisted, convulsed in the agonized throes of blissful fulfillment.
Slowly, with ebbing exhilaration, they drifted back to reality, holding on to passion's afterglow, touching, savoring; hand over hand, mouth against mouth, body beside body.
After a long moment, Hank stirred. "Kate?"
She suspected if she moved, she'd melt and run. "Yes?"
"You were wonderful."
"So were you."
Hank pulled a blanket over their nude bodies, then drew Kate very near to him. "Sleep now."
Kate woke slowly to see sunlight pouring through the low window. A night light still burned on the table near the door. As she turned her head, she realized it lay on Hank's broad shoulder, with her hair spreading like a flame across his arm. Hank's other arm was thrown carelessly across her bare breasts. She nudged him with her elbow. "Good Lord, Hank, it's morning. Wake up."
He opened his eyes and pulled his arm from under Kate's head. "I feel like that Mack truck hit me again."
Kate jumped to her feet. "Mamma must be frantic."
Hank rolled over, pulling the blanket with him. "Forget about Mamma."
"Will you get out of bed? I have to go home."
He held his arms out. "Come back to bed. Check out time here is eleven."
Kate bristled. "I won't ask how you know that."
He tumbled from the bed and stood before her in all his magnificent nudity. The muscles in his arms rolled as he reached for her. "Don't fight it, Kate. It's bigger than both of us." A note of deadly seriousness lurked behind his bantering tone.
"Are you crazy? I have to get home."
He pulled her against him. "Please, Katie."
She made a halfhearted attempt to escape. "No, Hank."
His grip tightened. "Yes, Kate."
"But..." His lips stopped her protest.
Her last sane thought was that she was helpless to refuse him anything he might ask.
They barely made the checkout deadline. "Mamma has probably called the police by now." Kate handed Hank his comb as she climbed into the car.
"By now Mamma knows what happened." Hank put his keys in the ignition.
"How could she know?" Maybe Hank was right.
"Mamma's not stupid."
Over the sound of meshing gears, Kate contended, "I didn't say she was."
"Fasten your seat belt, Kate, and don't argue. I'm in no condition to win a fight with you now." Hank pulled the pickup onto the freeway.
They drove down Highway 35 in complete silence. Hank seemed lost in his own private thoughts. There would never be a better time to tell him that Jim would be coming to Suzie's wedding this weekend. "What makes you think Mamma knows we..." She cut her eyes in his direction. "What happened?"
"Your mamma is one shrewd lady."
"I could tell you something that might change your mind." Looking at Hank's profile, Kate noticed the shadow of a beard growing there. "You need a shave."
"I'll shave when I get home. Tell me about Mamma."
"She let Suzie talk her into inviting Jim to Paradise for the wedding." Kate felt like a traitor, letting Mamma take the blame for Jim's approaching visit.
The tightening of a muscle along his unshaven jaw line was the only sign that Hank might be upset. "How long has it been since you've seen him?"
Kate didn't know if she should be relieved or disappointed. Obviously, Hank didn't care if Jim was coming to Paradise. "Almost two years."
"Then there shouldn't be any problem. Time has a way of taking the sting out of personal differences." Hank never took his eyes off the road.
She had thought he would be angry, considering his reaction to her spending the weekend with York at Rio Medina. Instead he was indifferent. The answer was not difficult to surmise. Hank didn't care that Kate had been with another man, his concern was that he had been bested by his old rival and enemy, York Taylor. How quickly truth could shatter illusion. "How would you know that? You've never been married."
"Observation, and common sense." Hank braked his car. "Open the gate."
Why should she feel so hurt and betrayed? Hank had never expressed more than a casual, purely physical interest in her. And he had been more than honest. He didn't make promises he wouldn't keep. She hurried to open the gate, welcoming a reason to get away.
A dozen dissenting thoughts raced through her head as she lifted the latch on the gate, and pushed it open. Past experience had taught her that forever could vanish overnight, and love could fade like a sweet dream of youth. Never again, she vowed, as she closed the gate behind Hank's pickup, would she make the mistake of holding on when she should let go.
By the time she got back into the pickup, she had gained control. "Do you think Billy Jack could make my ride tomorrow?"
"Sure," Hank agreed, "And the next day, too. That will give you the weekend to be with your family." He stopped his pickup beside the house. "Do you want me to come in with you?"
"What ever for?" Kate opened the car door.
"Are you up to facing Mamma alone?"
The man was a complete paradox. He was perfectly willing to let her spend a weekend with her ex-husband, and he worried about her confronting Mamma? "I can cope. Mamma's bark is worse than her bite."
Seeing Mamma perched on the arm of a chair as she entered the living room made Kate wonder if she had spoken too soon. "Hello, Mamma."
"Do I know you?" Belle folded her arms across her chest, and turned her head to one side.
"Mamma, don't start."
Belle scowled. "You look familiar. But it's been so long since I've seen you."
"Mamma, stop it. We're expecting guests, and I have to make my ride today." Kate sat on the couch, and stretched her legs out in front of her.
"Why didn't you ask for some time off? Doesn't sleeping with the boss account for anything?"
"Mamma!" Kate swallowed her indignation. "He gave me tomorrow and the next day off."
Belle's scowl turned to a grin. "I hope you properly thanked him."
She hadn't. "I forgot."
"You can find a fitting way to show your gratitude tomorrow when he and Aunt Cat come to the wedding."
"I didn't invite them to the wedding, Mamma. I thought about it, but under the circumstances I think only the family should be here."
"Not to worry, Katie baby." Belle slid from the arm of the chair. "I invited them."
Surprise
brought Kate to her feet. "Mamma, you didn't."
Belle rounded innocent eyes. "Of course I did."
"Why, Mamma?" Then she knew. "You really do hate Jim, don't you?"
"With a passion."
It was useless to argue. Mamma had invited Hank and Aunt Cat. There was some small hope that they wouldn't come, but that seemed unlikely. "Mamma, You did this because you knew it would infuriate Jim."
"Why should Jim care if your boss comes to your daughter's wedding?"
Kate headed for the front door. "Mamma if something happens to spoil Suzie's wedding, I will never forgive you." She kicked the screen open. "I'm going on my ride."
"When you get back Suzie and Jim and the Gardners should be here."
Time enough to think of that when they put in an appearance, Kate decided, as she hurried toward the barn.
The dust stirred by Suzie's low slung sports car as it pulled into the yard, told her that time was now. Kate's heart leaped into her throat. Bracing herself, she began to walk toward the vehicle.
It was like something out of a surrealist dream, seeing after all this time, the man who had been the center of her existence for a quarter of a century. He had changed. His hair was thinner, and feathered with silver. His shoulders were stooped.
As he advanced toward her, she saw that crow's feet tracked around the corners of his eyes, lines creased his face. A sorrow, deep and undefined, tightened Kate's chest. She wanted to cry.
Jim took a hesitant step in Kate's direction. "Kate?" His voice cracked.
What had she opened herself up for? "Hello Jim. Welcome to Paradise." She watched, as moisture gathered in his eyes.
"Kate!" His voice was a hoarse whisper.
So many emotions met and mingled inside her; regret, sorrow, pity, and most of all, a sense of irreplaceable loss.
Neither of them could find words to say. They stood, staring at each other, as old sorrows throbbed through the awkward silence.
Suzie's too bright greeting broke the painful hush. "Mom? We left early. David and Silas will be here soon."
"Yes, of course." Kate hugged her daughter.
"Where's Grandma?" Suzie asked defensively, as her hand caught Jim's arm.
Sudden empathy sprang up between mother and daughter. "She's inside. Don't worry."
That was good advice. Kate wished she could take it. A swarm of butterflies fluttered through her stomach as she caught the door, and held it open. "Mamma, Suzie and Jim are here."
Barri Bryan - Return to Paradise.html Page 25
