The dog eagerly began licking at the eggs.
“See? Now you’ve fed Outlaw. That’s a good thing you did, Sadie Mae. We can’t let Outlaw go hungry, can we?”
She shook her head, smearing the dirt on her face when she wiped at her tears.
“Now, let’s clean you up, and you can help me gather more eggs. Your grandma sent me out here for eggs, and I don’t know a damn thing about wrestling with hens for them. I’ll bet you’re better at it than I am.”
She smiled a little and nodded. “I get eggs all the time for Mommy.” She looked down at herself. “What about my nightgown? It’s all dirty, and I’m all sticky. And I”—she rubbed at more tears—“I wet myself.”
“We’ll figure something out. Just stop crying, Sunshine, or you’ll make Grampa cry.”
She smiled more. “Big men like you don’t cry, Grampa.”
“Well, you just might be surprised.” He picked her up and carried her to a watering trough, pulling off her nightgown and dipping it into the water. He wrung it out and used it to wash her face and the sticky egg residue off her hands. He took off her panties and dipped her into the trough to wash her bottom and legs. She giggled from the cold water, but as soon as he took her out and started drying her off with the nightgown, she started crying again.
“Grampa, I don’t got a nightgown,” she lamented. “I don’t wanna be bare!”
“Sadie Mae, I said I’d fix things, remember?” Jake stood up and removed his shirt, then wrapped it around her.
“Grampa! It’s awful big!”
Jake took the end of each sleeve and rolled it several times until her hands appeared. “There. Now you’re all covered up until I get you another nightgown. We’ll hide the dirty one, and later, I’ll stick it in Grandma’s laundry. She has lots of you kids’ clothes. She’ll never know the difference.”
“But your shirt is dragging on the ground, Grampa.”
Jake wrapped her in his arms and stood up. She moved her arms around his neck again, hanging her head over his shoulder. “Now my shirt can’t touch the ground,” Jake told her. He walked with her to one of the barns, where he found Rodriguez raking out stalls. “Rodriguez, do me a favor. Go to the house and tell Randy that my daughter asked you to get a nightgown and some underwear for Sadie Mae. Tell her Evie told you she didn’t have any clean ones. But bring the clothes back here to me and don’t ask questions.”
Rodriguez scratched his head. “I do not understand, señor.”
“You don’t need to. Just get the nightgown and make sure Randy thinks it’s for Evie.”
Rodriguez shrugged and set the rake aside, heading for the main house.
Sadie Mae brushed a little hand over Jake’s back. “Grampa! You have owies! Does it hurt?”
Jake closed his eyes against the memories that didn’t visit him so often any more. He’d been so concerned about his granddaughter’s tears that he’d forgotten she’d never seen the scars on his back. He usually never took his shirt off in front of anyone but Randy, and rarely, his son and daughter. After some long talks with Ben and his grandsons, he’d let them see his back and explained how it got that way. Sadie Mae, my father did that to me. He beat me practically every day of my life until one day I killed him. How did he explain something like that to an innocent little girl? “Those are old owies, Sadie Mae. They don’t hurt at all.”
“What happened to you?” she asked, leaning back a little and putting her hands to his cheeks, frowning in innocent concern.
Satan happened to me. “A long time ago, I got in a fight with a big, bad bear, and he scratched me really bad with his claws.”
Her dark eyes grew wide with fascination. “Did you shoot the bear with your guns?”
“Yes, I did. And the scratches got better, and now they don’t hurt anymore.”
Her eyes teared again. “I’m sorry, Grampa.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I got better, and now it’s all okay.” He frowned. “How did you get out of the house without anyone seeing you? Who’s guarding the front door?”
“Uncle Terrel. I fooled him!”
Jake decided to have a talk with Terrel Adams. Ever since last winter’s incident, the ranch hands, whom the girls referred to as “uncles,” had been assigned to take turns guarding all three houses at night. Sadie Mae leaned close and whispered in his ear.
“I snuck out my window. There is a little tree growing there, and I climbed down and I went around behind a shed.”
Her antics reminded him of when her brother, Little Jake, had crept out of the house once back in Guthrie and run down the main street to find his grampa, just when his grampa was in the middle of a shoot-out with wanted men. The kid had nearly gotten himself killed, and Jake had ended up with a bullet in the leg. For some reason, Evie’s kids seemed to have a penchant for sneaking out of the house. “Sunshine, why on earth did you do that?”
Sadie Mae wrinkled her brow and looked at him like he was being silly. “Because, Grampa, I was gonna surprise Mommy with the eggs.”
She spoke the words as though he should have understood, silly man. Jake kissed her cheek and held her close. “Don’t do that again, okay? Promise Grampa. It’s dangerous for you to run around by yourself.”
“’Cuz of bad people, like those bad men that took Gramma?”
“Yes. So don’t do that again, all right? We have lots of good men here to watch out for all of you, but they can’t do that if you sneak around behind them.”
“Don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not.” Jake saw Rodriguez returning with a nightgown.
“Your wife, she did not ask any questions, señor,” he told Jake, “but she say you better come back soon with the eggs or she will come out here herself and take a broom to you.” The Mexican grinned.
“I guess I’d better get back to the house then,” Jake answered, laughing.
“Sí, señor.”
“Rodriguez, I want you to go to Brian and Evie’s house and tell them I came and got Sadie Mae from Terrel to help me gather eggs. Tell Terrel he has to go along with my story. I’ll explain it to him later. I don’t want Evie to know that Sadie Mae came out here by herself. Understand? This is between you and me and Terrel.”
The Mexican nodded. “Sí, I will go and tell Terrel—and tell your daughter.”
“And tell Evie that Randy wants the whole family to come over for breakfast as soon as everyone is up and dressed, which they are probably already doing. It isn’t often any of us sleeps in around here. Too many chores.”
The Mexican nodded.
“And I think Ben and Stephen and Little Jake are all at Evie’s, too. Tell the boys to go milk the cows and bring a couple of buckets of milk to the main house, and then go to our house and ring the dinner bell twice. I was supposed to ring it and forgot.”
Rodriguez scratched his head. “That is a lot of things to remember, señor.”
“You’ll manage.” Rodriguez left, and Jake took his shirt off Sadie Mae and helped her step into her panties, then pulled the nightgown over her head. He grinned as he put his shirt back on, amazed at how big the family was getting. There were kids all over the place now, plus a new baby boy at Lloyd and Katie’s place and a new baby girl for Brian and Evie. Little Donavan and Esther made six grandchildren, and then there was his adopted son Ben. How in hell had he ended up with all of this?
Randy. It was all due to her and the way she loved him. He grabbed Sadie Mae around the waist with his right arm and carried her hanging sideways like a sack of potatoes. “Let’s get some eggs, Sunshine.”
The child laughed, her long, dark hair dangling nearly to the ground. Jake set the girl on a big rock outside the henhouse and picked up the empty egg basket. “You wait here.”
Just then he heard Randy hollering from the main house. “Jake, where are those eggs?”
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sp; He waved the egg basket. “I’m getting them!”
Randy went back into the house, and Jake turned to his granddaughter. “I’d better get those eggs before your grandmother comes after me with that broom.”
Sadie Mae giggled. “I can help, Grampa.”
“No, I want you to stay clean. I told your grandmother I’d get the eggs, and by God, I’ll do it.” He walked into the henhouse. Before the door closed, the rooster also strutted inside. Everyone in the family feared that rooster, also called Outlaw. The ornery bird hated men, for some reason, and every gun-toting, brave J&L ranch hand feared the creature.
Sadie Mae then heard loud squawks and a string of bad words coming out of her grandfather’s mouth—the kind of words her mother had told her she should never say. She covered her mouth and giggled at the cursing and squawking that was going on inside the henhouse, glad her grandfather wasn’t wearing his guns. Maybe if he got mad enough, he would shoot some of the poor hens, and he did get really mad sometimes, but only at bad people. Still, he hated that rooster as much as all the other men did.
Jake finally emerged from the henhouse, holding up a basket of eggs. He had scratches on his face and feathers in his hair. “Let’s take these to Grandma,” he said. “We’ll tell her I went to Evie’s and got you first, and you helped me gather the eggs. No one will ever know you snuck out.”
Sadie Mae stood up on the rock and clapped her hands, her dimples showing as she smiled with joy. “You won’t tell?”
“I won’t tell.”
“Grampa, you’re all scratched up!”
“Yeah, well, I’ve had worse injuries, but that rooster should be grateful you love him, because if you didn’t, I’d be carving him up right now for dinner.”
Jake kept the basket in his left hand so he could pick up Sadie Mae with his right arm, keeping her feet away from his wound. Ignoring the pain he felt carrying her and the eggs, he headed for the house, thinking how this was one of the best mornings he could remember.
Nineteen
The family bedlam of eleven people sitting around the table—and two six-month-old babies babbling gibberish and rolling around on a blanket in the nearby great room—was music to Jake’s ears. He noticed Lloyd and Katie and Evie and Brian watching Randy curiously. She was as much her old self as ever, ordering Katie and Evie to set out platters of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, and biscuits.
“Mom, you’re doing too much,” Evie urged.
“I am just fine. I haven’t done all the cooking in a long time, and I’m enjoying this.” She looked at Lloyd. “And you, young man, are staying here today and not doing chores or riding off to round up strays. Let the men take care of it.”
Lloyd took a chair next to Katie and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “Mom, you know chores can’t wait around here.”
“Yes, they can,” Randy insisted. “You were gone six days just coming to get me and your father, and it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to get the whole family together at the same time. Besides that, you’ll be herding cattle to Denver soon, and that means you’ll be gone again, and for a good two or three weeks. Please stay home today with Katie and the children. Maybe we can have a picnic later. Just the thought of you going back to Denver after last summer gives me the shivers, but at least we know no one will be there waiting to—” She didn’t finish her sentence.
Lloyd studied her closely as she set a basket of biscuits on the table before taking a chair. “What’s going on?” he asked her. “Mom, is something wrong that you need me to stay here?”
“Nothing is wrong. I’ve never been better, and that’s why I want all of you to stay home today. It’s going to be a nice day, so let’s all take some family time.”
Lloyd looked at Jake. “Is she okay?”
Jake grinned. “She’s just fine.”
Lloyd frowned at the scratches on Jake’s cheeks. “What the hell happened to your face? It’s all scratched up.”
“It’s a long story. We’ll talk about it later. Let’s just be glad your mother is back to her old self, which means I’m getting bossed around something awful. I’m going to have to figure out how to rein her in.”
“Did you do something? Say something? Did Mom put those scratches on your face?” he asked teasingly.
“Hell no! And quit asking questions. Just eat.”
The rest of them took their seats.
“Are you better, Grampa?” Little Jake asked.
“Much better.”
Little Jake grinned and nudged his cousin Stephen. “I told you he was okay. Grampa’s tough.”
“Heck, I know that,” Stephen answered. “How did you get those scratches on your face, Grampa?”
Jake was not pleased with the literal chicken fight he’d had earlier. He scowled at the looks of unquenchable curiosity on everyone’s faces.
“I had a run-in with an angry rooster this morning.”
Sadie Mae giggled, and Jake winked at her, a grin replacing the scowl. He put a finger to his lips for Sadie not to tell.
“Gramma, are you happy now?” Tricia asked, innocently blurting out the question everyone else was secretly wondering.
Randy looked at Jake and smiled. “I am very happy, and things are going to get back to normal around here.”
Lloyd and Evie looked at their father.
“Daddy, what’s happened?”
Jake dished a big piece of ham onto his plate. “None of your business.” He handed the platter to Stephen, who sat on his right. “Eat up, Stephen. You’re a growing boy.” He noticed his son and daughter exchange a look of surprise, and he knew they were filled with questions.
Randy began loading her plate with food, and practically every person at the table quietly stared at her.
“Mom?” Lloyd asked. “Are you really going to eat all of that?”
“I most certainly am.” Randy looked around the table. “For heaven’s sake, you’ve all been after me to eat better, so why are you staring at me like I might die any minute? You should be happy.”
“We are,” Evie answered, “but just yesterday you—”
“That was yesterday,” Randy interrupted. “And I’ll have you know that I was up at two o’clock this morning eating too. I had ham and eggs and biscuits, and I’m already hungry again.”
All of them looked at Jake.
“That tonic she’s been taking must work wonders,” Brian told Jake, smiling teasingly as he spoke.
“I guess it must,” Jake answered.
“Something tells me Pa is the tonic,” Lloyd joked.
Jake just grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Evie, we’ll let you say grace, as you always do. We should have thought of that before we passed the food.”
Evie looked warily at her father. This was twice he’d asked her to say grace, something that was nothing short of a miracle. She glanced at her mother again. Randy was watching Jake and smiling. “Oh my gosh,” Evie muttered. “Everyone hold hands.”
Jake grasped Lloyd’s hand on his left and Stephen’s on his right. Evie thanked God that her mother seemed better and her parents happier, thanked Him for the beautiful day, and “we thank Sadie Mae for finding us so many eggs.”
On that, Sadie Mae let go of Tricia’s and her father’s hands and clapped a hand over her mouth, giggling.
“Amen,” Evie said quickly, frowning at Sadie Mae. “Sadie Mae, you shouldn’t giggle during a prayer. It’s a nice thing you did, going out this morning and collecting those eggs.”
The child burst into even more giggling, watching her grandfather, her dark eyes dancing. “Grampa got the eggs!” she burst out.
“Grampa?” Lloyd exclaimed. He looked at his father. “You gathered eggs?” He laughed. “Now we know where those scratches came from! You’ve never even been inside that chicken coop! Did Mom order you to do that?”
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Jake watched his granddaughter. “Sadie Mae, you’re a tattle-tale.”
The little girl couldn’t stop giggling over her wonderful secret, nor could she keep from telling it. She put her hands to the sides of her face and laughed even harder. “Grampa said a whole bunch of bad words too!” she revealed. “And chickens were flying all over and squawking really loud. And Grampa threw the rooster out the door, and he came out with feathers in his hair and a whole bunch of eggs in the basket and a mean look on his face!”
Jake scowled at his granddaughter. “Sadie Mae, I should come over there and tickle you till you can’t stand it.”
“Pa, I’m surprised you didn’t shoot some of those hens!”
“If I’d had my guns on, I would have. A couple of them are lucky I didn’t wring their necks and bring them in the house for Randy to cook.”
They all burst out laughing and passed around more food.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Mother, but I like it,” Evie told her father. “But really, Daddy, did you have to use those bad words around Sadie Mae?”
Jake cut into a piece of ham. “You know me.”
“God help us,” Lloyd muttered before picking up a cup of coffee.
“Son, I will have you know that last night your mother said I was the nicest man in the world.”
Lloyd literally spit out his coffee, and everyone at the table broke into laughter. The children wiggled and laughed, and Randy just smiled, but she gave Jake a warning look.
“Don’t you dare say another word, Jake Harkner.”
He leaned back in his chair, chewing on the ham and giving her a look that said it all. She would be in trouble later tonight. She wanted to cry at the realization that she truly did feel stronger. She didn’t need her husband to be constantly at her side, because he was constantly at her side—in spirit. They hadn’t connected that way in a long time.
“I can read off a long, long list of men who would argue against you being a nice man,” Lloyd teased.
The Last Outlaw Page 15
