Texas Lawman

by Ginger Chambers

  “Who were you running against?”

  “No one.”

  She laughed again.

  “So I suppose that makes you a constituent.”

  He’d never spoken to her like this before—almost flirtatiously. She held the phone closer to her ear. “Did you make any campaign promises?”

  “One or two.”

  “What were they?”

  “Well, one was to continue Jack’s—”

  A voice intruded in the background. Someone had entered Tate’s office and was in a rush to be heard. She heard Tate reply, then reply again. A brief time later, in a tone she now recognized as his official one, he said, “Jodie, I have to go. Somethin’s come up. I’ll try to give you a call later.”

  “That’s fine,” Jodie murmured, and before she got the last word out, he was gone.

  Jodie set the phone back in place. She felt bereft at having been cut off from him so abruptly, just when they were on the brink of moving beyond their pasts to...To what exactly? Where did she want this to go?

  She stepped out onto the porch and gazed at the courtyard, wishing that she could ride—do something! —to help make the time pass more quickly.

  Mae, sitting on the porch of the big house, waved her over.

  Jodie didn’t want to talk to anyone. But she couldn’t ignore her great-aunt’s summons.

  “You look like you need something to do, Missy,” Mae said bluntly. “And I’ve got just the thing.”

  Jodie braced herself. With Mae you never knew.

  “I’ve just got off the phone with Delores,” Mae continued. “Seems Erin’s been invited to one of those birthday/pool parties young kids like so much. She hadn’t told anyone about it because she’s concerned for her mom—doesn’t want to leave her with the baby so close to being born. But the girl’s mom called Christine to find out why Erin couldn’t make it—her daughter was really looking forward to her coming—and that’s when Christine found out. Now Christine wants Erin to go. Thinks she should have a little fun—you know how serious the girl is. Only there’s no way for her to get there. Dub and Morgan are off tendin’ to a problem at Indian Wells and someone needs to stay with Christine—”

  “I could take her,” Jodie volunteered, perking up.

  Mae immediately shook her head. “Oh, no. You’re not leaving the ranch. Not by yourself.”

  “Erin would be with me.”

  “Not on the way back. No, I have a better idea. You go stay with Christine and keep her company while Delores takes the girl.”

  Jodie needed action, not more sitting. But at least Little Springs was a change from the compound, and Christine was as much a friend as a relation. “All right,” she agreed, “I’ll do it. When?”

  “Right now. The party’s already started.”

  Jodie nodded and, thinking that would be the end of it, turned to go back to her house to collect her purse.

  “I’d say take the Cadillac, but your dad’s got it. Take one of the trucks, instead.”

  “All right.”

  “And Jodie—”

  Jodie turned fully.

  “—take care.”

  “Don’t worry, Aunt Mae. I will.”

  THE SHORT DRIVE to Little Springs gave Jodie a taste of the freedom she craved, enough to make her question how she could have allowed herself to be so at the mercy of other people’s discretion. She longed for the year she’d spent in Europe. Not having to answer to anyone. Not being told what to do or how to think.

  Yet her agreement to help Rio had been made freely, because she believed him. She couldn’t conceive of him hurting anyone lethally. In particular, not Crystal. The qualms she’d been suffering were due to pressure and worry. But then, why was she worrying so much? Tate would find Joe-Bob, Joe-Bob would straighten everything out, then Rio would be free and she’d be proved correct. Her fingers twisted on the steering wheel. She hoped!

  The new house sitting catercorner to Dub and Delores’s house was of similar design, equally low to the ground and with the same redtile roof. It had been built the year after Morgan and Christine’s wedding.

  Jodie pulled the truck to a stop in front and hopped out. Hearing soft laughter from within, she tapped lightly on the door and called, “Hello! It’s me—Jodie.”

  Footsteps hurried from the back of the house—Erin, in a bright red one-piece swimsuit with a white cotton coverup shirt. She looked as if she’d never suffered from the normal gaucheness of a young teenager. She had a natural grace and maturity that belied her tender years.

  “Jodie! Hi! Everyone’s on the back porch. Come on through.”

  Jodie followed the girt to the back of the house and smiled as she saw Christine ensconced like royalty in a white wicker chair cushioned with colorful pillows. A pitcher of lemonade and a book were close at hand, and the air around her was cooled by a gently rotating ceiling fan.

  “Now that’s the life,” Jodie teased, leaning close to hug her. “I didn’t know that all you had to do was get pregnant to get such special treatment.”

  “Ahh! I don’t feel very special right now,” Christine protested. “Mostly I feel huge.”

  Delores solicitously fluffed a pillow and repositioned it behind her daughter-in-law’s head. “It won’t be long now,” she assured her. “In a couple of weeks it’ll all be over.”

  “Mom,” Erin said, “I really don’t need to do this. I don’t care about pool parties or birthdays. Megan understands I’d rather be here with you.”

  Christine folded one hand over her swollen belly and reached for her daughter’s hand with the other. “It’s boring waiting. There’s no reason you can’t go to the party and enjoy yourself. I’ll still be here when you get back. When I had you, I had plenty of warning. And once I got to the hospital, it took another twelve hours before you decided to put in an appearance. Everyone’s going to get tired of twiddling their thumbs!”

  Mother and daughter smiled at each other, alike but not alike.

  “So go,” Christine urged. “Then come home and tell me all about it.”

  Delores spoke up. “Thanks for coming over, Jodie. I won’t be long—an hour at the most.”

  “Take all the time you need,” Jodie said.

  Delores patted her adopted granddaughter’s arm. “We’d better get you there soon or it’ll all be over. Don’t forget your gift for Megan.”

  Erin nodded, even as her expression remained doubtful.

  Christine squeezed her fingers. “Go,” she said again softly. “This’ll give Jodie and me a chance to gossip. She can tell me all the things about her trip she didn’t want to mention in front of Mae.”

  Everyone laughed, then Delores herded Erin through the house, and within minutes, the car started and pulled away.

  Christine wiped perspiration from her brow. “It would help if it wasn’t so darned hot,” she complained.

  “Do you want a cool moist cloth for your neck? Aunt Mae swears by them when anyone’s sick in summer.”

  Christine declined and patted the wicker chair next to her. “How about a glass of lemonade?”

  Jodie agreed, then settled into a chair. For a time both women were content just to sit in the relative coolness and sip their drinks.

  Christine sighed. “As you saw, I practically had to twist Erin’s arm to make her go. She’s so intent on helping me have this baby. It’s almost as if she’s still afraid we won’t stay here. I thought she’d have relaxed by now, that she’d have stopped worrying, but I guess she hasn’t.”

  Erin and Christine had lived a hard life before arriving at the ranch. They’d shifted from post to pillar until being taken in by Ira Parker at his home in Houston. Ira was the first person to take an interest in them and to help. Then he’d left them a share in the Parker Ranch.

  Jodie had been eighteen at the time, old enough to see all the layers in what had happened next. Christine’s determination to hold on to that share for the sake of her daughter, the Parkers’ stubborn insistence that onl
y a Parker could inherit. Then the astounding news that Ira Parker was, in fact, Christine’s father. Christine had wanted to leave after the discovery. But Erin, who’d fitted the ranch as if born to it, hadn’t wanted to. She was a Parker through and through, emotionally, as well as legally.

  A Parker on Parker land.

  The same as Jodie.

  Yet the sentiment Erin responded to so readily seemed to be missing in her. She was more like Christine than the other Parkers, because Christine hadn’t been raised steeped in her lineage. She’d come to it later, an outsider. An outsider like she herself had always felt.

  Jodie wanted to ask Christine if, after all this time, she’d grown into being a Parker. Or did she still feel an invisible divide?

  Only, Christine spoke first. “You’re very quiet,” she said, “and you seem tense. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this before. What is it, Jodie? Is there any way I can help?”

  Jodie blinked. She looked down at her white-knuckled hands clasped tightly in her lap and immediately broke them apart. “Oh, no, it’s nothing,” she lied. She wasn’t about to tell Christine about Rio. Christine might understand more readily than the others, but she didn’t need to hear anything so upsetting. She had enough to think about with the coming baby.

  “Is it something? Or someone? Like Tate?” Christine guessed.

  Jodie jumped as if she’d been shot, causing Christine to chuckle. “Good heavens! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  Jodie stood up and paced a little, which she tried to disguise as interest in a blooming plant, then a half-knitted baby sweater that Delores had put aside. “This is pretty,” she said, nervously fingering the soft pink yarn.

  She could feel Christine’s hazel eyes following her. “So it is Tate,” she said softly. “Morgan thought so. He told me you two were—”

  Christine stopped abruptly. So abruptly Jodie’s head snapped up.

  A light film of perspiration had broken out on Christine’s forehead and upper lip. But it wasn’t the continuing heat that made her smile with dawning delight.

  “What is it?” Jodie whispered, already having a good idea.

  Christine winced, held her side, then started to smile again. “I think...things are starting to happen.”

  Jodie hurried closer. “Are you sure?”

  Christine nodded. “But we should wait. Something like this happened over the weekend and it was a false alarm. I wouldn’t want to—” She winced again.

  “Do you want me to get Delores back? I can. I’ll call—”

  Christine struggled to her feet. “Jodie, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “But I think we should get going. Something tells me this isn’t a false alarm, and it’s not going to be at all like last time. This baby’s anxious to get here!”

  Jodie stared at her. She’d been too young when Gwen and Wesley were born, then away at college when her newest cousins had arrived. She had no experience with childbirth!

  “You think we should go?” she murmured blankly.

  Christine chewed her bottom lip and nodded.

  Jodie burst into action. “Do you have a bag packed? Do we need to bring anything else?”

  Christine motioned as they moved toward the door. “My case is in the front hall. We put it there on the weekend.” She caught her breath and had to stop walking.

  Jodie grabbed the bag and, as soon as Christine was able to move again, saw her outside and into the truck. “We’re going to make it to the hospital, aren’t we? I mean, you aren’t...”

  “I hope so.”

  Jodie groaned as she ran around to the driver’s side and jumped in. “We’ll stop by the compound,” she said as they started off. “Maybe Dad will have gotten back with the Cadillac. It’ll be easier on you than this old thing. We can also get some help. Harriet...Shannon. And someone should tell Morgan.”

  “I probably should’ve made plans to give birth here, but I wanted the hospital in Del Norte, even though it’s small. Erin had a little trouble breathing at first and I didn’t want...”

  Christine continued to talk, as if it was comforting to her, and Jodie listened, though most of her concentration was on the road ahead, trying not to hit too many bumps or dips.

  They created an uproar at the compound. All the women came running out as the pickup eased to a stop behind the Cadillac, now parked in front of Mae’s house. One look told everyone what was happening.

  Mae, as usual, took charge. “LeRoy,” she said to her nephew, who’d drawn guard duty at the compound, “go find Morgan. Shannon, go call the hospital, alert them and the doctor that Christine’s on her way. Harriet, you go with ‘em. From the looks of things, this is gonna be tight.” Her sharp gaze moved to Jodie. “And you just keep doin’ what you’ve been doing. I’d have your daddy drive, but Lord knows where he is. The man can disappear quicker than a flea on a monkey!”

  “Who’s gonna watch for the Hammonds?” LeRoy demanded.

  “I am,” Mae said fiercely. “Now get going! All of you!”

  They transferred Christine into the Cadillac as Mae gave her orders. But before starting off, Christine had a request of Shannon. “Be sure to call Erin and Delores. Tell them...” She didn’t finish the sentence. “They’re at Megan Cantfield’s, or they will be soon.”

  “I’ll find them. You just take care.”

  Jodie started the more powerful engine and the car leaped forward.

  The miles melted away as Harriet sat in the backseat with Christine, doing her best to keep her comfortable and offering encouragement. It seemed to take forever to get to Del Norte. Once or twice toward the end Jodie wasn’t sure if they’d make it in time, and she gave special thanks for Harriet’s calming presence.

  The hospital was a small one-story structure set back off the town’s main street. It was able to handle minor to serious emergencies, but for anything requiring specialized or prolonged intensive care, patients were transferred to hospitals in larger cities.

  Jodie pulled the Cadillac into the emergency entrance, and Christine was whisked away quickly by the waiting attendants. Harriet went with them, leaving Jodie to follow after she’d parked the car.

  Away from prying eyes Jodie finally gave in to her anxieties. One tension-filled situation had been piling on another, and it was too much. She started to shake and tears rolled down her cheeks. Rio, Tate, the Hammonds, her place among the Parkers, her unexpected responsibility for a mother and child’s well-being.

  Moments later she dried her cheeks. One situation at least had already been solved. Or was in the process of being solved. Christine was now safely at the hospital about to have her baby.

  Jodie hurried inside, only to find she had to stay in the waiting room. Harriet was the only family member allowed to be with Christine until Morgan arrived.

  “Is she having the baby yet?” Jodie demanded of the nurse.

  “We’ll let you know.”

  Jodie took a chair and restlessly flipped through a dog-eared magazine. Minutes later Harriet hurried in. “Jodie, after all that rushing, it seems little Elisabeth isn’t as anxious to arrive in the big bad world as we thought. It looks like Morgan and Erin are going to have time to get here, after all. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “Yes, wonderful,” Jodie echoed.

  “I’m going back in. I just had to come out and tell you...’cause I knew you’d be wondering.” She glanced around the austere room. “Not exactly a cozy place, is it?”

  “It’s fine,” Jodie said.

  Harriet squeezed her hand. “Why don’t you go get a cup of coffee or something? Nothing’s going to happen for the next half hour—at least, that’s what the nurse says.”

  “Tell Christine I love her.”

  Harriet beamed. “I will.”

  Jodie thumbed through the magazine some more, then tossed it aside. Maybe coffee would be good.

  Only, the small cafeteria the hospital boasted was closed and the remaining option was machine coffee.

  Jodie g
rimaced and went outside. When she’d parked the car she’d seen a café a short distance down the street. She was sure she could get a cup to go and bring it back to the waiting room.

  She made her way to the café, received her order and was on her way back when a pickup truck that had just passed screeched to a halt, made a violent U-turn and raced back. Jodie froze as the occupants jumped out and rushed toward her.

  “It’s her! I told you it was her! Can’t miss that red hair!” a rough voice cried.

  Someone grabbed her arm, making her spill the coffee. The hot liquid scalded her fingers and she gave a small squeak of pain.

  Other hands grabbed her, as well, trying to pull her off her feet.

  Her survival skills kicked in. She twisted and turned, and when that didn’t do any good, she threw the remaining hot coffee into one of the men’s faces. By now she’d recognized them—the Hammonds!

  Her action was met with a howl of outrage, and this encouraged Jodie to continue resisting.

  “Catch hold of her!”

  “Get—Don’t let her—”

  “Stop it, bitch! All we want to do is talk to ya. Not...”

  Another car sped toward them, one with flashing lights and a wailing siren. Curses were snarled and the fingers on her arms tightened. Then she was let go, but not before someone gave her a hard shove that sent her sprawling to the ground.

  She banged her knee and her hip painfully, then rolled over just as the Hammonds leaped back into their truck and took off down the street.

  The front of the patrol car dipped as the brakes caught. The driver was out in a second. Tate!

  He was on his knees beside her as she struggled to sit up. “Don’t move. Does anything hurt?”

  Jodie was sputtering, her temper temporarily getting the better of her. “It was them! Did you see? All I was doing was walking along and—”

  “Jodie! Don’t try to stand up. You might be hurt more than you think.”

  “I’m not hurt, just dented,” she snapped as she got to her feet. Her knee and hip stung and throbbed, and the fingers on her left hand were tender.

  “Come on, give me your arm. Put it around my shoulders. The hospital’s just—”