Montana Mavericks 04 - The Once and Future Wife

by Paige, Laurie

  The gold loops she wore in her ears and the matching bracelet had been a gift from her father one Christmas years ago.

  She glanced at the clock. Five to six. She considered, then decided her waist purse was the handiest to use. It left her hands free, yet kept her money and wallet right in front of her where she could keep an eye on them.

  The county fairgrounds were five miles south of town. She arrived at ten after six, parked and dashed to the entrance. Judd was there, talking to an attractive woman.

  It wasn’t Maris Wyler—or whatever her name was, now that she’d married—but another woman who wasn’t at all like Maris.

  This woman looked very delicate. Her manner was demure. When she laughed and glanced up at Judd, then quickly away, she seemed shy.

  And very attractive. A Laura Ashley type in a floral print skirt with a white lacy blouse and a bow holding her hair at the back of her neck.

  Tracy felt a return of that odd emotion she’d experienced when she saw Maris pat Judd’s cheek on Monday. Before she had time to define it, Judd saw her. His smile disappeared like spilled milk among farm cats.

  She went forward, her shoulders squared as if going into battle. She forced herself to relax and smile calmly.

  Judd made the introductions. “Mary Jo, this is Tracy Roper. Tracy, Mary Jo Kincaid.”

  Tracy shook hands with Little Bo Peep, as she named her in her mind, disliking the sweetly feminine woman on sight. Which wasn’t at all fair or nice, but…

  “Oh, you must be the FBI agent,” Mary Jo exclaimed in a soft, almost breathless voice. “I just can’t imagine doing dangerous work like that.” She gave a delicate shiver and leaned against Judd’s arm as if seeking protection.

  “Dead people aren’t dangerous,” Tracy said bluntly. “Only the living.” She ignored the ominous frown Judd gave her.

  Tracy tried to place the woman. She knew the Kincaids fairly well. She and her father had collected their pioneer stories and read their great-great-great-grandmother’s diary of the trip west. There had been two sons, one of which was dead. She didn’t remember any daughters.

  “Mary Jo was the children’s librarian here. She and Dugin Kincaid were married last June.”

  “Oh.” Tracy noticed the diamond rings on Mary Jo’s left hand. A feeling like relief washed over her. Her smile became genuine. “I hope you’ll be very happy.”

  “Oh, I am. Dugin is just wonderful to me. Well, I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to judge flower arrangements in a few minutes. It was nice meeting you.” She hurried off toward the gate, leaving a trail of expensive perfume to mingle with the scent of popcorn and hot dogs from a nearby stand.

  Tracy glanced up to see Judd watching her with a definite look of hostility in his dark eyes. “Yes?” she said.

  “Mary Jo has had a hard time this past year. First an abandoned baby was found on her fiancé’s doorstep, then the body of a stranger was discovered during her wedding. And her father-in-law died two months ago. Jeremiah was a strong man and losing him turned the family upside down. Mary Jo is shy and doesn’t open up to people easily. I thought you might be friends.”

  Tracy fumed at his censorious tone. “Why should she need me when she has you for her champion?” she asked acidly.

  His eyebrows lowered like a thunderstorm about to start.

  Tracy backed up a couple of steps. “I have to find Winona.”

  “She’s at the vegetable-judging pavilion. She said to meet her there,” he told her. He reached into his shirt pocket. “Here’s your ticket.” He handed it to her.

  He, too, had changed clothes before coming to the fair. In jeans and cowboy boots, with a red shirt and denim jacket, he was incredibly attractive. He wore a Wind River hat, gray with a gray-and-black woven band. Not showy, but seductive just the same.

  Her heart seemed to be beating against her ribs all of a sudden. Jealousy, she thought. She was jealous of any woman he smiled at. She swallowed and tried to ignore the painful beat.

  “Who do I owe for it?” she asked, taking the ticket.

  He looked annoyed. “No one. I had a couple of free passes.” His smile was sardonic. “Perks of the office.”

  “Well, thanks.” She paused, not sure what to do. “I’d better meet Winona.” She hurried off without waiting for a reply.

  Judd let her go. He watched her long, slender legs striding purposefully toward the gate. She handed over the ticket, got her hand stamped and went inside.

  She couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

  He snorted cynically. Since that episode in the cottage, she stayed a cautious distance from him, as if she thought he couldn’t be trusted around her.

  He couldn’t. That’s what made him mad as hell. And another thing—he’d been flirting with Mary Jo, on purpose, knowing he was doing it and knowing that Tracy could see them talking while she crossed the parking lot and approached them.

  His skin seemed too small for his body all at once, as if filling with needs too long denied. A clamoring hunger in him was growing and pushing to be let out. He clamped down on the unwanted desire. Not Tracy. No way. Never again.

  Shaking his head, he walked more slowly toward the entrance. Winona had asked him to eat with her and Tracy. He didn’t want to.

  Tracy stirred up too much…tension in him. Yeah, his libido was real tense when she was around. He smiled grimly at the joke, but didn’t find it all that funny.

  Tracy saw Winona standing by an arrangement of gourds and pumpkins on a tray. The fall decorative display had a red ribbon for second place on it.

  “Is this yours?” she asked. “It’s lovely. Congratulations on the ribbon.”

  “It’s only second place,” Winona said grumpily. “I’m glad to see you. I’m hungry enough to eat a bear, hide and all.” She smiled and reached over to straighten an ear of Indian corn.

  Her hand brushed against Tracy’s.

  Tracy heard the gasp, then felt Winona sway. She put an arm around her. “Winona? What is it? Are you ill?” She wasn’t sure if the psychic was having a vision or a heart attack.

  “Rocks,” Winona whispered, leaning heavily against Tracy, nearly making her stagger. “No, one rock…coming down hard…falling…falling…anger…furious anger…”

  Tracy felt a strong arm slip under hers. Judd took Winona’s weight easily and held the rotund body close until the spell was done. Their eyes met over the shorter woman’s head.

  “I have her,” Judd said in a soft rumble.

  Tracy caught Winona’s hand in hers and rubbed gently.

  Winona pulled away as if hurt. Her eyes snapped open. “Who have you touched?” she asked in a weak tone.

  Tracy shook her head. “It must have been the bones. I found more of them this afternoon.”

  Winona nodded. She seemed to be okay.

  “What did you see?” Judd asked.

  “It was strange,” Winona told him, her expression once more serene. “There was a rock, hitting something…or someone…I couldn’t tell about that. Just this rock, flying through the air and hitting, then hitting again, only downward this time.”

  “Hmm.”

  The two women waited while Judd thought about it.

  “The bones,” he said to Tracy. “Maybe it was murder, after all.” He turned back to Winona. “If you get any more visions, I want to know about them, no matter how remotely connected you think they are or how odd.”

  “All right. Now, about some supper.”

  Tracy noticed Winona didn’t point out her second-place win to Judd. It came to her that the woman had a small streak of vanity of her own. She smiled and walked with the two back to the hot-dog stand.

  The incident was forgotten as the three of them got their meal and found a table. The detective, Sterling McCallum, and his wife were in the food line behind them. Tracy knew Jessica Larson McCallum from before. Her father had tried to help Thadd when he was found. The couple was pushing a lovely, happy baby in a stroller. She looked eager to expl
ore the world. Tracy smiled though she couldn’t help remember another child so eager for adventure. Judd invited them to join him, Winona and Tracy at their table.

  “Two women,” McCallum mused after he and his wife sat down and introductions were made. “How do you rate that, Boss?”

  “Just lucky,” Judd said with that lazy grin that caused a shaft of longing to go through Tracy. When he shifted his chair to make room for the couple, his arm brushed hers.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” Jessica McCallum told her husband. “You have enough going with the two women you’ve already got!” She took Jennifer out of the stroller and handed the toddler to her husband.

  He cradled his daughter in one arm. She looked up at him and nestled sleepily. He smiled and tweaked a lock of her hair, but Tracy saw the tenderness in his eyes as he glanced from his daughter to his wife. She recognized the look of a man who was well satisfied with his lot in life. The tough detective had two soft spots, it seemed.

  Tracy was touched by their happiness. Her gaze met Judd’s. He looked at her so intently that she became flustered. She squeezed her hot dog. Mustard flew out the end and landed on her silk top.

  “Here,” Judd said. He picked up a napkin and dipped it in a cup of water. He slipped his fingers under the edge of the silk shell and rubbed the spot. His efforts only made it worse.

  “Try spit. It might take most of it out,” Winona advised.

  Judd moistened the napkin with his tongue and went back to work.

  Tracy felt the heat radiating from his hand into her flesh. Although he hardly touched her and his hand was a respectable distance from her breast, she kept getting hard, stabbing jolts of electricity all the way down her torso.

  Her breath became jerky. In fact, her lungs were hardly working at all. She could feel sweat popping out on her forehead. “Don’t.”

  Her protest apparently didn’t register with him. He wore a frown of intense concentration as he worked on the stubborn spot.

  When the tip of her breast clenched into a tight bead, perfectly visible under her bra and top, she grew desperate.

  “Stop!” she said, the word coming out as a shrill cry.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her and Judd. His long fingers were still inserted under the edge of her blouse as he, too, went still. For a long second, they sat frozen into place.

  She wished she could sink out of sight right into the ground.

  A brick red flush swept up Judd’s face. He released her blouse as if it were a hot coal.

  “I think that’s as good as you’re going to get it,” Jessica announced. She deftly changed the subject. “Sterling said you found some more bones today. Did they go with the others?”

  Tracy was grateful for the new topic. “Uh, yes. I feel sure we’ll find more. It looks very promising.”

  The conversation became general after that. Later, she and Judd went with the McCallums to the rides while Winona spotted Lily Mae Wheeler and went to talk to her. They all tried the Ferris wheel, then paused by the carousel.

  Tracy was totally surprised by Jessica McCallum. She teased her husband unmercifully. “I’d like to ride the merry-go-round, but the horses will probably run off when they see you coming.”

  “I promise not to sit on one,” he shot right back. “Although I might sit on you before the evening is over if you keep up the wise remarks.” He gave her a menacing scowl that didn’t frighten her in the least.

  He bought five tickets and handed two to Judd. Judd looked at Tracy with a question in his eyes. She drew a deep breath and got in line behind the other couple. Judd stood behind her.

  It was with trepidation that Tracy stepped up on the carousel platform. Jennifer chose a blue horse with a silver mane. Sterling lifted Jessica up on it so that she and their daughter sat sidesaddle. He stood beside them, his arms placed protectively on either side of his women. Jennifer laughed but waved at everyone.

  “Let’s take a swan boat,” Tracy suggested.

  Judd nodded.

  They climbed in and sat on the wooden bench. In front of them, two girls, about nine, squealed with delight as they leapt upon two unicorns, which were white, with golden horns projecting from their foreheads.

  “Beautiful mythical creatures,” Judd remarked as the music speeded up and they started turning.

  “Yes.”

  He had taken her to a carnival in July, nearly seventeen years ago to the day, a few weeks after they’d met. They had been on the merry-go-round when she’d suddenly become nauseated. He’d swept her off the unicorn she’d been riding and signaled the man to stop. In the privacy of his car, when she felt better, he’d questioned her gently. They had realized she was most likely pregnant.

  “I should have taken better care of you,” he’d blamed himself.

  He’d gone with her to face her parents and tell them they wanted to be married right away. Six weeks after they’d met, they were married. Their son had been born in March.

  For nine years, the marriage had been good.

  Then one autumn a freak accident had destroyed their happiness. They had lived in the same house another year, but it wasn’t the same. Unable to bear the mockery their lives had become, she’d asked for a divorce. Judd had moved out of the house while the legal arrangements were made. When the divorce was final, she’d left town, never intending to return.

  The merry-go-round completed one full turn and started another. She thought of life, going around and around. Going nowhere, it sometimes seemed. That was her life.

  Ahead of them, Tracy saw Sterling lean over and listen to something his daughter babbled. He laughed. Jessica kissed him on the cheek. He turned her face with a finger under her chin and claimed a quick kiss on the lips before tousling Jennifer’s curls.

  The tenderness between the other couple caused an ache to start deep inside Tracy. Once, she’d had that.

  When she looked at Judd, he was staring off into the darkening sky, his jaw set in a hard line. Anger, raw and hurting, roiled in her. She wanted life to be different. She wanted all it had promised those many years ago. She wanted to start over….

  Clenching her hands together, she forced her thoughts away from those lines. It didn’t matter what she wanted. Life couldn’t be lived over and adjusted to suit one’s idea of happiness.

  She would never hold another child in her arms. After Thadd’s birth, she’d had a severe infection that had left her barren. She and Judd hadn’t been able to conceive another child, although they’d both wanted a brother or sister for their son.

  Judd touched her hands. He gently pulled them apart and held her right hand, rubbing it between both of his. “Don’t think on it,” he murmured soothingly. “Let it go, Trace.”

  Gradually, the feelings subsided, and she felt only the ever-present tinge of sorrow that colored her days. She stared at Judd in wonder. The harshness was gone from his eyes, and he looked at her in…pity?

  She pulled her hand away. She didn’t need pity from anyone. What had happened had happened. A person had to go on. She knew that. She was getting on with her life.

  Was she?

  Yes.

  “I’m all right,” she assured him. She smiled to show him. After the ride, she said good-night to the McCallums, having decided to return to Winona and talk to her for a while before returning to the cottage.

  Lily Mae and several others sat at a large table where they’d left the older woman. The widow, wearing three-inch-long blue-and-purple earrings that matched her colorful knit pants and top, introduced Tracy to everyone and told her something of each person’s life. “Tracy is the FBI expert investigating the murder on the reservation,” she finished.

  “Murder has not been established,” Tracy hastily corrected.

  “Well, everyone knows that’s what happened,” Lily Mae asserted with an authoritative air. “Why else would a skeleton be there?”

  “People die of lots of things,” Judd said, coming to stand beside Tracy.
“A woman choked on a hot dog last week down in Big Timber and was nearly asphyxiated before the medics got it out.”

  Lily Mae peered at her hot dog, then shrugged. “There are worse ways to go.” She finished off the last bite while the other women laughed or looked shocked, according to the way they viewed Lily Mae and her outrageous quips.

  Tracy smiled. Maybe she’d have her father down next weekend for a home-cooked meal and invite the widow-divorcée, too. Her eyes went to Judd. No, she wouldn’t invite him.

  “Winona, I think I’ll go home now,” she said. “How would you like to go out to dinner tomorrow night? I thought I’d try the new pizza place I saw near the library.”

  “That sounds fine. I’ll come by your house around six.”

  “Good. Well, good night. It was nice meeting all of you.” She smiled at the group, then headed for her car.

  Judd accompanied her. “It’s dark,” he said when she glanced at him. “A woman shouldn’t be in the parking lot alone.”

  “I’m sure no crook would dare impose on your territory.”

  He lifted one black eyebrow at her mocking tone. “The fair brings in a lot of strangers.”

  They walked past the rows of cars. He was right, she realized. A dark parking lot was a lonely place. “How do people like Lily Mae come up with so much gossip, or in this case, the truth?”

  “You have evidence of murder?”

  “No.” She paused at her car. “But Winona’s vision—that rock hitting someone. I think she’s seeing something connected with the bones. It’s happened twice now, both times after I’ve handled the evidence. I think our mysterious victim was killed by getting bashed with a rock.”

  Judd drummed his fingers on the top of her car. “Well, if a rock did it, there’s no shortage of weapons in the area. Or the county.” He nudged a half-buried rock in the hard ground of the parking lot with the toe of his boot.

  Tracy yawned. She hadn’t been sleeping well that week. Maybe tonight she’d get a proper rest without waking and lying in bed for hours, thinking of the past.

  “Judd, thank you for earlier. When we were on the carousel,” she added when he looked at her questioningly.