Man In Control

“Derek, how could you?” Margie wailed.

He tossed her the chicken and came forward to lift her up and kiss her saucily on the nose. “Now, now, you can’t expect me to be dignified. It isn’t in my nature. Hi, sprout!” he added, putting Margie down only to pick up Jodie and swing her around in a bear hug. “How’s my best girl?”

“I’m just fine, Derek,” she replied, kissing his cheek. “You look great.”

“So do you.” He let her dangle from his hands and his keen dark eyes scanned her flushed face. “Has Cobb been picking on you all the way home?” he asked lazily.

“Why can’t you two call him Lex, like I do?” Margie wanted to know.

“He doesn’t look like a Lex,” Derek replied.

“He always picks on me,” Jodie said heavily as Derek let her slide back onto her feet. “If he had a list of people he doesn’t like, I’d lead it.”

“We’d tie for that spot, I reckon,” Derek replied. He gave Margie a slow, steady appraisal. “New duds? I like that skirt.”

Margie grinned up at him. “I made it.”

“Good for you. When are you going to have a show of all those pretty things you make?”

“That’s what I’m working on. Lex’s girlfriend Kirry is trying to get her store to let me do a parade of my designs.”

“Kirry.” Derek wrinkled his straight nose. “Talk about slow poison. And he thought Rachel was bad!”

“Don’t mention Rachel!” Margie cautioned quickly.

“Kirry makes her look like a church mouse,” Derek said flatly. “She’s a social climber with dollar signs for eyes. Mark my words, it isn’t his body she’s after.”

“He likes her,” Margie replied.

“He likes liver and onions, too,” Derek said, and made a horrible face.

Jodie laughed at the byplay.

Derek glanced at her. “Why doesn’t he ever look at you, sprout? You’d be perfect for him.”

“Don’t be silly,” Jodie said with a forced smile. “I’m not his type at all.”

“You’re not mercenary. You’re a sucker for anyone in trouble. You like cats and dogs and children, and you don’t like night life. You’re perfect.”

“He likes opera and theater,” she returned.

“And you don’t?” Derek asked.

Margie grabbed him by the arm. “Come on and let’s have coffee while you tell us about your latest rodeo triumph.”

“How do you know it was?” he teased.

“When have you ever lost a belt?” she replied with a grin.

Jodie followed along behind them, already uneasy about the weekend. She had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be the best one of her life.

Later, Jodie escaped from the banter between Margie and her cousin and went out to the corral near the barn to look at the new calves. One of the older ranch hands, Johnny, came out to join her. He was missing a tooth in front from a bull’s hooves and a finger from a too-tight rope that slipped. His chaps and hat and boots were worn and dirty from hard work. But he had a heart of pure gold, and Jodie loved him. He reminded her of her late father.

“Hey, Johnny!” she greeted, standing on the top rung of the wooden fence in old jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved blue checked shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail. She looked about twelve.

He grinned back. “Hey, Jodie! Come to see my babies?”

“Sure have!”

“Ain’t they purty?” he drawled, joining her at the fence, where she was feeding her eyes on the pretty little white-faced, red-coated calves.

“Yes, they are,” she agreed with a sigh. “I miss this up in Houston. The closest I get to cattle is the rodeo when it comes to town.”

He winced. “You poor kid,” he said. “You lost everything at once, all them years ago.”

That was true. She’d lost her parents and her home, all at once. If Alexander hadn’t gotten her into business college, where she could live on campus, she’d have been homeless.

She smiled down at him. “Time heals even the worst wounds, Johnny. Besides, I still get to come down here and visit once in a while.”

He looked irritated. “Wish you came more than that Dane woman,” he said under his breath. “Can’t stand cattle and dust, don’t like cowboys, looks at us like we’d get her dirty just by speaking to her.”

She reached over and patted him gently on the shoulder. “We all have our burdens to bear.”

He sighed. “I reckon so. Why don’t you move back down here?” he added. “Plenty of jobs going in Jacobsville right now. I hear tell the police chief needs a new secretary.”

She chuckled. “I’m not going to work for Cash Grier,” she assured him. “They said his last secretary emptied the trash can over his head, and it was full of half-empty coffee cups and coffee grounds.”

“Well, some folks don’t take to police work,” he said, but he chuckled.

“Nothing to do, Johnny?” came a deep, terse voice from behind Jodie.

Johnny straightened immediately. “Just started mucking out the stable, boss. I only came over to say howdy to Miss Jodie.”

“Good to see you again, Johnny,” she said.

“Same here, miss.”

He tipped his hat and went slowly back into the barn.

“Don’t divert the hired help,” Alexander said curtly.

She got down from the fence. It was a long way up to his eyes in her flat shoes. “He was a friend of my father’s,” she reminded him. “I was being polite.”

She turned and started back into the house.

“Running away?”

She stopped and faced him. “I’m not going to be your whipping boy,” she said.