CHAPTER 19
All of the noise in the city vanished. It was like Josiah had stepped straight into a locked room made of six-inch steel. “Where’s Lyle?” he demanded, more directly than he had ever spoken to Pearl.
“Sleeping. He was tired.”
“He doesn’t know you.”
“We didn’t have any trouble,” Pearl said, never once breaking eye contact with Josiah. There was a strength about her that was just as present as her physical beauty, and Josiah found it easy to understand why so many men were in pursuit of her affections. “I’ve been around children before, Josiah Wolfe.”
He took a deep breath. “Where is Ofelia?”
“She had to return home. There has been a tragedy in her family.”
“What?”
“Her daughter is very sick. The details are thin. To me, at the very least.”
Josiah knew almost every member of Ofelia’s family. They were just like family to him, as well, even though there was a divide of culture and language. Ofelia’s daughter, Lita, was older, had children of her own, and had taken over the midwife duties around Tyler when Ofelia had come to Austin with him. The sickness had to be serious for Ofelia to leave Lyle.
“I feared she was dead,” Josiah said.
“The daughter?”
“Ofelia. I don’t know what I would have done.” Josiah took a deep breath and settled the Colt back into his holster. “How did you come to be here, to care for Lyle?” Josiah asked.
Pearl wiped the tear from her eye. “I feared you were dead once I heard of your capture by the Comanche.”
“Oh.” It occurred to Josiah then that the tears were for him. Pearl was relieved to see him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, so he turned away, saw Scrap Elliot jump off his horse and run toward the house, gun drawn.
“Easy there, Elliot,” Josiah yelled out. “Everything is fine here.”
“You sure?” Scrap said, his attention quickly drawn to Pearl. It seemed like he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Yes.”
“Ma’am.” Scrap doffed his hat, swinging it low, overacting the gentlemanly role by more than a tad.
Pearl Fikes smiled, then laughed slightly. “It is good to see you once more, Ranger Elliot.”
Scrap looked embarrassed, almost bashful, when he stood back up. He held his tongue and didn’t say anything. His manners around women were always precarious and uncertain, as far as Josiah had seen.
“Why don’t you take the horses back and tend to them,” Josiah said to Scrap.
“Gladly.”
Scrap grabbed the reins of both horses and stalked off. Pearl chuckled again, though this time it looked like a nervous reaction. “I’ve offended him,” she said.
“Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s as sensitive as a baby’s skin in the sunshine.”
“I should apologize.”
“He tries too hard. Trust me, the next time he sees you, all will be forgotten and forgiven.”
“If you say so.”
Josiah looked past Pearl, inside the house. There was no noise, nothing stirring. He longed to see Lyle but didn’t want to wake him.
“How did you come to be here?” Josiah asked, his voice soft. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
“Juan Carlos came for me. He did not think he could care for the child and was opposed to leaving the boy with strangers in ‘Little Mexico.’ He and Ofelia know a lot of the same people, but they are very unfamiliar with each other, so coming to get me seemed even more appropriate to Juan Carlos than caring for a child himself. If one can imagine.”
Josiah chuckled then. “No, I can’t imagine that he’d be a good candidate to watch over Lyle. Where is Juan Carlos? I would like to see my old friend.”
“Who knows? You know Juan Carlos. One minute he’s here, and the next he’s gone. You never know when he’s going to show up next.”
“It’s been months since I’ve seen him. July, before we ventured into Lost Valley.”
“I worry about him. His age will prohibit his adventures one of these days,” Pearl said, wistfully.
Josiah silently agreed. But he also knew that Juan Carlos was the kind of man that lived for adventures, and he would most likely die in the middle of one of his great escapades rather than wasting away on a deathbed. “How long have you been here?”
“Since last night. There was no word of your fate. I was prepared to wait as long as it took.” Pearl was facing him now, standing less than a foot away. In one easy step that couldn’t have been done more gracefully if she had been a professional dancer employed at the Opera House, she snuggled up into Josiah’s chest, her arms fully around him in a tight embrace. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.”
Josiah was surprised but didn’t resist, didn’t pull away. He welcomed her embrace and was immediately intoxicated by her sweet smell and the feel of her body against his. A thousand emotions shot through his entire body. Finding Pearl waiting for him on his porch was the last thing he had ever expected. Molding his body to hers in a moment of welcome and relief was beyond belief.
Pearl cocked her head to Josiah. Her beauty was breathtaking. He kissed her. Kissed her long and hard, like she was his lover and he’d fought through an entire war just to return to her. She responded in kind, the kiss wholly returned.
Questions floated away, the answers unimportant at the moment. The entire world—past, present, and future—fell away. Feelings began to surface inside of Josiah that he had restrained for a long, long time. And it was then that his body began to respond to his own desire just like his heart had, and he pulled away from Pearl as quickly as she had embraced him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “Don’t be.”
It was then that Josiah sensed something else, a presence behind him. He turned just in time to see Scrap stalking off again, this time shaking his head in disgust.
Josiah was sure the boy had witnessed the entire moment with Pearl, and he was certain that that would lead to nothing but trouble. Serious trouble.
At his young age, Lyle wasn’t old enough to know or understand why his father had been away longer than he was supposed to have been. For all Josiah knew, Lyle had barely missed him, had been unaware of his extended absence since there was a normalcy to it. But Lyle reacted happily when Josiah woke him. The two-year-old—almost three-year-old—boy squealed in delight once the sleep was wiped from his eyes.
“Papa! Me alegro a verte!”
Josiah looked at the boy oddly. He didn’t understand a word his young son had spoken to him.
“He said he’s happy to see you,” Pearl said. She was standing at the doorway and must have seen the confused look on Josiah’s face.
“I’m going to have to talk to Ofelia.”
Lyle jumped into Josiah’s arms.
Pearl shrugged. “There are worse things than a boy learning to speak two languages. Especially here.”
“It might cause him more trouble than it’s worth when he’s older.” Josiah didn’t mean to sound harsh, but his tone must have been harder than he’d intended because Pearl stepped back.
“I’m sorry. He’s your son.”
“Papa!” Lyle shouted again, not giving Josiah the opportunity to respond or apologize.
Josiah smiled then. “It’s good to see you, too, son. It’s good to see you again.”
“Don’t go,” Lyle said.
“I’m home now.”
The boy shook his head. “Don’t go. Missed you.”
Night had fallen. Scrap had disappeared. And Josiah had no choice but to see Pearl Fikes home. He did not take the time to wash the trail off himself, or to settle into being home. There was no way he was going to just thank Pearl and send her on her way . . . but seeing Scrap, realizing that the embrace had been witnessed, had been a public display with them standing on the porch, made Josiah extremely uncomfortable.