“Go away, Belle. This doesn’t concern you.’’ Austin’s eyes never left mine.
“Well, it concerns me,’’ came a familiar voice, accustomed to authority. “That’s my sister you’re messing with.’’
Maddie.
“Oh, honey, nothing’s worth getting yourself into this kind of trouble over. Give us the bottle.’’
Marty.
“Yeah, give it up,’’ said a voice I didn’t recognize.
I saw Austin’s eyes flicker behind me, to where Belle and my sisters stood, along with an apparently growing crowd. People rustled closer, moving toward us through the grass. A new voice joined the chorus.
“I know criminals, Austin, and you’re no criminal. Besides, I don’t think a pretty girl like you really wants to go to jail.’’ Carlos chuckled softly, and he switched to Spanish. “Dámela, niña. Give it to me.’’
At that, Austin lowered the bottle to her side. She shrugged at me a little, like she was embarrassed, whispering, “I’m sorry, Mace. I don’t know what gets into me. I really didn’t want to hurt you. I just wanted to scare you.’’
Mission accomplished, I thought, my heart still pounding.
“Besides,’’ she leaned in close, “Trey’s the asshole, not you. I should have gone after him.’’
“Again?’’ I asked.
Austin didn’t answer, just gave me a hard-to-read smile.
“Okay, okay,’’ she said, raising her voice to the advancing crowd. “Show’s over. Nobody’s hurt.’’ She carefully laid the jagged bottle into Carlos’ outstretched palm. “I’ll just be on my way.’’
“Not so fast,’’ Carlos said, no chuckle in his voice now. “You know, just threatening Mace with that bottle is assault. All she has to say is she was in fear of bodily harm, and we can get one of the local deputies over here to arrest you.’’
Now Austin was the one who looked scared.
“Please, Mace.’’ She put a hand on my arm. “My grandmother’s sick. I’m the one who’s been taking care of her. It’ll just kill her if I get into that kind of trouble.’’
I wanted to say she should have thought of that before she started swinging a broken beer bottle. But then I looked at Austin’s face. She seemed stricken, sorry. I remembered how nutty Mama had acted when Husband No. 2 cheated on her—following his car, calling up her rival, smashing a piece of butterscotch pie into his face at Gladys’ Diner. Jealous women do crazy things.
“Well, Mace?’’ Carlos said. “Do you want to press charges?’’
The whole crowd was hushed, expectant, awaiting my answer.
“No.’’ I heard Austin exhale. “No harm done. Let’s just move on.’’
She put her mouth close to my ear. “Thanks, Mace. I won’t forget it; I owe you one.’’
___
Belle had initially seemed so calm when I was in danger, but now she was a mess. With her arms wrapped around her knees, she was sitting on the big boulder, crying and rocking to and fro. Carlos crouched next to her, patting her shoulder and murmuring words no doubt meant to be reassuring.
My sisters and I stood a distance away, conferring. “You’re the one he should be comforting, Mace,’’ Maddie sniffed. “Can’t you act a little more upset?’’
Marty chewed on her lip, nodding in agreement.
“You two know me better than that,’’ I said. “What am I going to do? Throw up my hands and start sobbing? Besides, it’s all over now. Austin’s long gone. I’d look ridiculous.’’
“Belle doesn’t look ridiculous. She looks sweet and fragile,’’ Maddie said.
“And needy,’’ Marty chimed in.
We were the only ones left in the clearing. The crowd had dispersed. Once Austin knew she was off the hook, she’d high-tailed it out of camp. Trey took off after her, and that was the last we’d seen of him. As far as I was concerned, those two deserved one another. Some couples feed on drama. They were probably off somewhere, having hot, make-up sex.
At the thought of sex, I focused again on Carlos and Belle. An image ran through my mind of the times he and I had made love. Soft caresses. Soulful kisses. Hot, but very sweet. And then, in my fantasy, Belle’s body took the place of mine. Her hips moved under him; her mouth pressed against his. I felt a pain in my gut like a horse kick. In that instant, I knew I wasn’t giving up. I wanted Carlos back, and I was ready to fight for him.
I strode toward them over the pasture, hard stobs folding like paper under my boots. My sisters rushed to keep up. When I arrived beside the big rock, I plopped myself down as if I belonged there. My sisters followed my lead.
“Well, that was close with Austin, huh?’’ I said. “I’m really glad all of you arrived in the nick of time.’’
“You probably could have taken her, Mace. You’re about twice Austin’s size,’’ Carlos said.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
“No, no . . . I was really scared.’’ I added a shudder for good measure. “Belle, you seemed very brave when you ordered her to hand over that bottle.’’
“Very brave,’’ Marty echoed.
Maddie slapped her on the back. “We were proud of you, Belle.’’
I thought we might be pouring it on too thick, until Belle raised hopeful eyes.
“Were you?’’ she asked. “I was trying to help Mace.’’
“And I appreciate it,’’ I said. “So, why are you so upset now? I’m fine. Everybody’s fine.’’
Belle wiped at her teary cheeks. “After it was over, I just started thinking about all the terrible things that have happened, and I got so sad. Daddy dying, Doc getting shot, my brother caught up with that awful woman.’’
For a moment I wondered if she meant Wynonna.
“Austin is so bad for Trey; and he really needs somebody good right now.’’ Belle looked at Carlos. “We both do.’’
I wasn’t about to let her go there.
“I can think of a few other bad things that have happened,’’ I said. “Marty almost got bitten by a rattlesnake. I nearly got flattened by a truck hauling oranges. And the horse you trained went nuts and almost killed Mama.’’
Belle waited a beat. “I feel so awful about Shotgun, Mace. How’s your mama’s ankle? Any better? I know Doc told her to stay off it.’’
When she mentioned Doc’s name, Belle started sniffling again.
“See?’’ She gulped back a sob. “I can’t stop thinking about poor Doc. Do you think he’s going to make it?’’
Carlos said, “They’re doing everything they can.’’
To me, it sounded reflexive, like it was something he’d said to friends and families of a hundred crime victims in Miami. But the words seemed to cheer Belle. Marty placed a gentle hand on her arm, and then went in for the kill.
“You know, Belle, we heard something strange from Wynonna. She told us you knew Shotgun was terrified of bees. Why didn’t you say anything about that after he ran away with Mama?’’
Belle furrowed her brow in confusion. “Of course I knew he hated bees. All of us did. What’s that got to do with anything?’’
“That’s what set him off,’’ Maddie said. “Bees.’’
A look of surprise raced across Belle’s face. Then, realization.
“No one said a word to me about bees.’’ Her voice rose in anger. “I had no idea that’s why Shotgun took off with your mama.’’
“Oh, sure,’’ I interrupted. “Mama’s told her bee story to everyone in camp, most of them twice, and you hadn’t heard word one about it?’’ My tone was sharp, just as I intended it to be.
Carlos put up his hands like a referee. “Wait a minute, Mace. Let Belle finish.’’
“Yes, Mace, why don’t you shut your mouth and listen?’’ Belle displayed a trace of that Bramble family haughtiness. “That way, I could tell you this is the first I’ve heard of your mama and bees. Rosalee didn’t mention it when I stopped by to apologize. And people haven’t really been coming up to me to share the latest gossip. I guess that happens when someone has suffered the loss of a loved one.’’