“Utter nonsense. You think I could go there if I weren’t welcome?”
“You might be welcome, but other whites are not. I will not have you associating with Indians who are hostile to whites. It has obviously been a bad influence on you, and the influence will not continue.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“For God’s sake, Jessica, your behavior here is bad enough, but there, you apparently throw every civilized convention to the wind. I have never heard of anything so appalling as your bathing naked in a creek with an Indian in plain view.”
Jessie stood up so quickly that her chair went skidding backward across the floor. Bright spots of color stained her cheeks, and her eyes were wide and sparkling with fury.
“The bastard had to tell you that, didn’t he?” Jessie cried furiously. “And I suppose he told you about Little Hawk, too? Of course! That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”
“Jessica, calm down.”
“Calm down? When you’re threatening to take the ranch out of my control because of the distortions that bastard told you? What else did he tell you?”
“This much is certainly enough, don’t you think?” Rachel tried to keep her own voice down.
“No, I certainly don’t think it’s enough, not when he twisted innocent happenings into... what did you call it? The most appalling thing you’d ever heard of? What the hell is wrong with my taking a bath in a creek? I do it here every chance I get when I’m alone. There, the village is too close, and White Thunder accompanies me so I won’t be disturbed. He didn’t watch me, for God’s sake! He’s like a brother!”
“This Sioux brave was not like a brother,” Rachel said stonily.
“So I was asked to marry? So what? I refused. If you want to get on your high horse about something, ask your friend about what he conveniently didn’t tell you!”
“If there is more, I’m sure it will only confirm my opinion that you should not go there again, Jessica,” Rachel said quietly. “An Indian camp is still no place for a young white girl. I will not relent on this.”
Jessie glared, so furious she was shaking. Unfortunately for Chase, he picked that moment to step into the kitchen.
“There’s enough shouting going on to wake the dead. What’s the trouble?”
Jessie turned eyes on him as stormy as anything he’d ever seen. She picked up her plate and threw it at his head. He ducked, and it bounced off the wall to the floor.
“You rotten sonofabitch! You just had to get her all fired up, didn’t you? It wasn’t enough that you dragged me back here, you had to malign everything that happened! But you forgot to include yourself in those tales, didn’t you?”
“That’s enough, Jessie,” Chase warned darkly.
“Enough?” she shrieked. “You were the one so hot to carry tales to her! Why didn’t you tell her the rest of it? If she ought to know about my appalling behavior with the Indians, then she ought to know that her trusted friend seduced me—not once, but twice! I mean, if we’re going to wash the dirty laundry, we might as well include everything. Or wasn’t the loss of my innocence as important as my sinful conduct with the Indians? Bastard! When you start something, do it right!”
With that Jessie stormed past Chase, shoving him so forcefully that he slammed back into the cupboard by the door, shattering two of the glass panes. A moment later, the door to her room closed just as forcefully, the sound as loud as a gunshot.
“What’s going on?” Billy called from down the hall.
“Go back to bed, Billy,” Rachel ordered sharply.
He did, without question. Chase would have loved to do the same. The silence that followed was eternal. He was afraid to look at Rachel, afraid to see the accusation in her eyes.
Rachel waited awhile, giving him a chance to speak. When he didn’t, she said, “Was she telling the truth?”
He started to speak, but no words would come.
Rachel let out a small cry before she implored, “Chase, you didn’t! Not my Jessica!”
He winced but still couldn’t answer. He finally faced her. The look in her eyes made him feel about an inch tall. She didn’t wait any longer for an answer, but ran past him, crying.
Chase stood there for several long minutes. Was there anything he could salvage?
Chapter 23
“WHAT would you do, Goldy? Would you marry a woman just ‘cause you felt a lil’ guilty?” Chase asked.
The horse snorted. “Sorry, old fella. Forgot you don’t like to be called Goldy. But it was a good question, huh?”
Chase was propped against the wall in Goldenrod’s stall, sitting trustingly at the horse’s feet, a half-empty bottle of whiskey beside him. He’d found the unopened bottle in the tack room after searching high and low in the kitchen. It was undoubtedly Jeb’s stash. He would have to remember to replace it.
Opening the bottle again, Chase drained another half inch and eyed his horse seriously. “I mean, shoot, that lil‘ minx never made me feel bad, did she? It’s that damn Rachel who’s got me feeling like a louse. And you know what she’s gonna say soon as she gets ’round to it?”
Chase belched, then laughed. “Not that. No, Rachel’s gonna say, ‘You ruined her, now you marry her.’ You think she might hold a gun at my back? No, not Rachel. But she’s got another weapon, that damn face of hers, that damn look that says I stabbed her in the back.” He took a deep breath. “Why the hell don’t I just ride out of here?”
Chase tried to stand but didn’t succeed until he’d tried several times. He eyed his saddle on the railing as if it were an ornery critter giving him trouble. And it did. He couldn’t get it off the railing. Finally he leaned against it and spoke to his horse again.
“Looks like I might need to sober up first. But I’ll be back, Goldenrod. I’ll saddle you up, and then we’ll hit the trail. I can’t marry that hellion. It’d be like tying myself to a cyclone.”
Chase made his way out of the stable and around to the stream behind the house. He fell in and for a moment thought he might be drowning. The water was only a foot deep, however. After a considerable bit of splashing, he pulled himself to the edge of the stream and lay there, letting the icy water chill him.
Unbidden, an image of Jessie came to mind. Not the Jessie of tonight but of last night. She had been a tempest then, too, but a passionately loving tempest.
Would it really be so bad being tied to her? he wondered. She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. And wasn’t he tired of drifting? Rachel had said it was time he settled down, and, well, maybe it was. With some effort, couldn’t he tame the hoyden?
Jessie was too furious to cry but too upset not to. That left her with a choked feeling that was keeping her awake, tossing and turning. Being awake, she heard the soft knock clearly. She wasn’t pleased.
She didn’t bother to pull on a pair of pants but answered the door in the oversized long-sleeved shirt she usually slept in. She didn’t care what Rachel thought of that. In fact, she considered taking the shirt off and letting Rachel think she slept nude.
She was glad she hadn’t carried through with that rebellious thought, however, when the door opened to reveal Chase in the hall. Jessie slammed the door shut, but it hit his shoulder and bounced open again. She was forced to step back as he shoved his way in rudely, closing the door behind him.
“Get out,” she said.
“In a minute.”
“Now!”
“Keep your voice down, damn it. You’ll have Rachel in here, dragging us to the preacher tonight. She’s ready to. I need to sober up before that happens.”
“That won’t happen, not for any reason!” she assured him. “You stink! You’re drunk! Is that what gave you the courage to bust into my room in the middle of the night?”