“He won’t have to stay here long, Rachel. A week at the most, until he can sit a horse without opening up his wound. A week isn’t that long.”
Rachel’s eyes were stonily unsympathetic. “But why did you bring him here?”
“Look, I don’t like this any more than you, but there was no one else to look after him. I couldn’t just turn my back on him, could I?”
“How did he get hurt?”
“The thief who was robbing him panicked and stabbed him in the back.”
Rachel lowered her eyes. “Well, I suppose things like that are to be expected,” she said harshly, “
considering his occupation.” It was the most condemning remark Jessie had ever heard from her.
“You knew he was a gambler, Rachel. It didn’t seem to matter to you before.”
“He is not the boy I used to know,” Rachel said coldly.
“It’s none of my business what kind of man he is, Rachel,” Jessie said. “And it’s none of yours, either. He’s not answerable to either of us.”
“Well, that’s a fine attitude after what he did to you,” Rachel said tearfully.
“Are you ever going to put that to rest?” Jessie demanded. “What Chase and I did, we did together. You’re the only one crying over it!”
“If you feel that way, why didn’t you marry him when he asked you?”
“His asking came a bit too late,” Jessie replied bitterly. “He didn’t want to marry me, and I knew it. Whose pride would have been served if I had accepted? Only yours, Rachel.”
Rachel’s voice turned soft suddenly. “You mean... you would marry him if he loved you?”
Jessie shook her head. “Where on earth do you get these ideas? That man doesn’t love me. I mean no more to him than any of his countless other women.”.
“Are you so sure, Jessica? He may very well love you now but hasn’t realized it yet. He did stay in town instead of moving on,” she pointed out.
“To get drunk.”
“But why, unless he loves you so much he—”
“Are you defending him? I wish to hell you’d make up your mind!”
Rachel looked away. “I’m not defending him, not in the least.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it, because I wouldn’t marry a no-good, carousing—”
“So you do care!”
Jessie could have pulled her hair out by the roots, she was so exasperated. She leaned forward and banged her fist on the table, her cheeks high with color.
“I don’t care! I care so little that he can starve to death before I’ll put one foot in his room again. He’s in this house, but I’m not going near him, not going to set eyes on him again. Now, you brought him here in the first place, so he’s your responsibility. You tend him!”
Rachel stood up stiffly, rigid. “I refuse to care for the man who ruined my daughter.”
Jessie’s mouth fell open as she watched Rachel walk away from the table. She jumped up, tore around the table, and followed Rachel up the hall. “I am not ruined! Do you hear?”
“I cannot help but hear, you’re shouting so,” Rachel replied without stopping. “But it does not change the facts. I won’t help him.”
“But he’s your friend!”
“Was my friend,” Rachel said stubbornly, stopping at her door. “If someone must see to him, get Kate to do it. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“Of course she’d mind!” Jessie rasped. “You can’t foist him off on her.”
“And you can’t foist him off on me, Jessica,” Rachel countered coolly, going into her room and closing the door.
Twenty minutes later, Jessie carried a platter of food into Chase’s room. It would have done her a world of good if he had been awake so she could vent her spleen at him, but he was sound asleep. She simply left the food on the bedside table, made sure he was warmly covered, and left the room.
Chapter 30
CHASE was enjoying his convalescence, even if the only cheerful face he saw was Billy’s. In the mornings, the boy would bring him breakfast and stay to chat for a while. Too, Chase was seeing Jessie every day, and he definitely liked that, sour-faced though she usually was.
He called the situation poetic justice. After all, he was laid up because he’d gotten drunk and couldn’t defend himself, and he’d gotten that way because of Jessie. So wasn’t it just desserts that she should have to care for him?
Jessie didn’t think so. She did everything in her power to show him how much she resented having to wait on him. His pride should have been stung. He should have reacted angrily. But he didn’t. He was amused by her tongue-clicking, her sighs, her brusque manner. She was acting the martyr, yet she might have sent Billy in with his evening meal, or asked him to hold the mirror while Chase shaved in the afternoons. She might have sent Jeb in to change his bandages or sponge him down. But she didn’t do any of those things. She even changed his bedding, which was usually Kate’s job. In fact, the only thing Jessie didn’t do was bring him breakfast.
He didn’t see her at all in the mornings. No one did, according to Billy, for Jessie was leaving the house much earlier than usual, heading out to the range. After only two days, he found himself listening for her return, listening for the sound of her voice when she wasn’t in his room. If she was late, he fretted. If she was early, he was delighted.
He could hear Rachel occasionally, too, but she never came near him. She made her displeasure felt without directing those accusing blue eyes at him. She even cornered Jessie one day outside his room where he could hear them clearly, and demanded to know when he would be leaving. Rachel must have been quite surprised to hear her reply that he would leave when he damn well pleased. He was certainly surprised to hear Jessie take his side. Of course, she had done it just to go against Rachel. Anything to go against her mother, he knew that. Still...
After a week of convalescence, Chase knew he had no business staying in bed any longer. His wound had closed nicely, and he had his strength back. He could undoubtedly sit a horse with only a little pain. It was time to leave the Rocky Valley, and this time not even stop in Cheyenne. Jessie had packed all his gear in his hotel room and brought it here, including the considerable amount of money he’d won during those few weeks gambling in town. The man who’d robbed him had gotten away with only the pocket change he’d been carrying that day.
He had more than enough money to head back East and then book passage to Spain. And that was what he should do.
But that wasn’t what he wanted to do. He wanted to continue seeing Jessie every day. He had gotten used to her in this last week, seeing her in an entirely different way. He’d come to understand her a little better.
They say the young can see things clearly, he recalled, and young Billy had hit it right on the head that day when he’d said Jessie only tried to act rough and mean because she thought she had to. Anger seemed to be her only defense. She used it to hide hurt, confusion, fear.
Chase knew her better. He could see the frightened girl inside trying desperately to be independent, trying not to need anyone. She’d needed someone once and had been hurt terribly by it. When he saw her in that light, he wanted to draw her into his arms, to hold and protect her. But tough little Jessie would never stand for that. No, her defenses would have to be breached first, and those were defenses built up over ten years. A king-sized effort. Was any man up to it?
Chase knew he had too many strikes against him. It was too much to hope for—Christ, did he hope for it? He wasn’t sure. The only thing he was sure about was that he didn’t want to leave yet.