He would put it off as long as he could. After all, Jessie was not pushing him out the door. But once he left this room, Rachel would. Damn, but he hadn’t remembered Rachel being such an unforgiving woman. Trouble was, she loved Jessie too much. It was too bad Jessie didn’t realize that. He wagered that, deep down, Jessie felt the same way. And their rift was at the heart of so much, it would take a miracle to mend it. Chase wished he had that miracle.
Today Chase was having a bath, a longed-for hot bath, with Billy and Jeb’s conspiratorial help. The thing was to get the water to him without Rachel knowing that he was well enough to get into a tub unassisted. They managed it, with Jeb heating water in the clothes tub out back and passing it through Chase’s window to Billy. Billy thought it was great sport, keeping a secret from his mother. Chase wanted it kept from Jessie as well, for he didn’t want her confronted with the truth of his mobility.
It almost worked. But today was one of the days Jessie happened to come in from the range early. They were both quite surprised when she walked in on him as he sat in the skinny barrel. She recovered more quickly than he did and continued on into the room.
She was still wearing her chaps. Her clothes were dusty; her hat was caught by the string around her neck. It was the first time she had come into his room without first cleaning up. But Chase didn’t think of that, too embarrassed to think of anything but how to explain himself. He was thankful that Jeb and Billy had left him alone.
“Does Rachel know about this?” Jessie asked casually, indicating the tub.
“No.”
“You’re going to get your wound all soft. How long have you been in there?”
Chase couldn’t seem to think straight with her eyes fixed on him. “Not long.”
She came right up to the barrel and stuck her finger in the water. “Too long, anyway. How many other baths have you sneaked without my knowing about them? Have I been sponging you off in the evenings only for your amusement?”
“Come on, Jessie, this is the first time.”
“But I wouldn’t have known about it, would I? I mean, there wouldn’t have been any evidence if I’d come home later, would there?”
He was guilty of intention, and she knew it. He couldn’t tell if she was angry or not. He was also acutely aware that he was naked and she was standing right next to him.
He cleared his throat. “It’s no big thing, Jessie. Water hasn’t touched the wound or not much. Where’s the harm in my having a decent bath?”
“None, I suppose,” Jessie conceded. “And seeing as how you’ve removed your bandage and are already in the tub, you might as well get your back washed, too.”
“Jessie—”
“Lean forward, Chase,” she ordered firmly. “You do want a decent bath. And I can wash your back without getting the wound too wet.”
It was easier to comply than to argue, but he wished to high heaven he knew what was going through her mind. She wasn’t acting normal. She hadn’t said one harsh word, hadn’t made the slightest fuss about his being out of bed. She was too calm. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Worrying about that, Chase didn’t even take notice of what Jessie was doing behind him until she was finished and she commanded, “All right, stand up now, and I’ll rinse you off.”
“I can do it,” he said quickly.
“And you’ll get water all over the floor, too,” she pointed out. “That tub doesn’t have the widest of rims.
In fact, I’m amazed you could squeeze into it.”
“I hadn’t planned on any help.” His embarrassment made him curt.
“Well, you have it anyhow.”
“Will you get out of here, Jessie!”
She laughed softly. “You’re not embarrassed to display a bit of that handsome body, are you? It’s not as if I haven’t seen you in the all-together before this.”
“That was different,” he retorted.
“Why? Because I was unclothed, too? Well, I’m not about to strip down just to appease your male dignity. Now stand up like a good boy, and let’s get this over with.” Then she added teasingly, “I promise not to take advantage of you, if that’s what has you worried.”
Chase looked over his shoulder to glare at her. She really was amused. It wasn’t often he saw humor dancing in her eyes, turning them a lighter, brighter turquoise.
He stood up and felt the cool water dribble down over his body. Jessie was pouring it over him, and it felt so good.
“There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” she said, mischievously giving his backside a pat.
Chase gasped, but he was immediately draped in a towel and thought it best not to comment. He turned to look at her, but she was walking toward the bedside table where a stack of clean bandages was kept.
“If you’ll come over here, I’ll get you wrapped up again—if you think it’s still necessary.”
Chase grimaced. She was saying he was well, that there was no reason for her to tend him any longer.
Next she would be asking when he planned to leave.
With the towel wrapped around his waist, he came over to the bed and sat down so she could bandage him, anything to prolong her presence for what would probably be the last time he would have her to himself. He watched her intently as she leaned forward to place the folded cloth over his wound, then began to wind clean strips around him to hold the bandage in place. She was uncommonly gentle about it for once. That, and the unusual way she was behaving, stirred his curiosity almost uncontrollably.
“Why all the tender treatment?” he ventured at last.
She quirked a brow at him. “Tender?”
“You know what I mean.”
She shrugged and looked back at the bandage. “I don’t know. I guess, since this will probably be the last time I’ll see you, I figure there’s no reason we have to part on a sour note.”
Chase shook his head. “You’re kicking me out today, just because I took a damn bath?”
She looked at him sharply. “Don’t be ridiculous. It doesn’t matter to me how long you want to pamper yourself. I just figured, now that you’re able, you’ll want to be on your way.”
“So we are to part as friends, huh? Just how friendly?” He grinned, running a finger up the side of her thigh.
She slapped his hand away. “Not that friendly.”
She stepped a careful distance away from him, and Chase laughed. “Come now, Jessie, I don’t bite. You must know that by now.”
“Do I?” she retorted, her eyes turning hard as stone.
He frowned. They were both remembering what he’d done to her the night before he left. “I thought you had forgiven me for that.”
“Well, I haven’t.”
“You never mentioned it.”
“Was I supposed to shoot you while you were laid up?”
“You’re not going to shoot me, Jessie,” he said confidently.
“I think you had better drop the subject,” she replied stiffly.
“I am sorry, you know. I just wasn’t myself that night.”
“I said drop it!”
“All right,” he sighed, her mercurial moods too much to fight. “What brought you home early?”
“I came to tell you I won’t be tending you any more. I see now that I won’t have to feel I’m deserting you, since you’re so much better.”
“You really are angry, aren’t you?” he said, sure that was meant as a barb.
Jessie drew herself up. “I’m not being spiteful. I’ve got more than thirty cattle dead on the south range and a water hole that’s apparently been poisoned. I’ve got no time to be spiteful.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. The only reason I rode in at all was to tell you I won’t be around for several days. The poisoned hole has to be fenced off, and the cattle have to be herded up and brought closer to home. They’ll have to be guarded day and night for a while. With the others not back from the drive yet, I’ll need every hand on the range, including myself.”