Lloyd and Jake both laughed, and Jake kicked Prince into a gentle trot. Lloyd and Jeff kept up.
“You behave yourself while we’re there, Pa.”
“I always do.”
“Yeah, well, Dixie loves your handsome ass, and you’re in a bad state.”
Jake smiled sadly. “I just need someone like Dixie to talk to. Don’t worry about it, Lloyd. And I’ll damn well tell your mother, because the woman always knows if I’ve been there. I don’t know how she does it.” He sobered. “She’ll understand.”
They rode quietly for a while.
Jake finally spoke up. “We’re just going to have some fun with Jeff.”
Lloyd knew his father was sick with worry on the inside. This thing with Jeff gave him something to laugh about. He needed to laugh.
“Your mother knows she can trust me,” Jake added. “In the morning, the horses will be well rested and we’ll head for Hell’s Nest.” He gave Lloyd a teasing glance. “Maybe I’m the one who should keep an eye on you. Like you said, you’re a married man now.”
“Hell, I’ve been so busy trying to get Katie pregnant, I’m worn-out.”
Jake laughed again, and Lloyd decided that if taking Jeff to Dixie’s would keep Jake in a better mood, then it could only be a good thing. Jake had a great laugh, the kind that made everybody else grin, but Lloyd knew there was a deep terror behind the laughter.
Twenty-six
“Well, if it isn’t the handsome outlaw!”
A voluptuous, rather plump, worn-down woman with painted eyelids walked off the front porch of a tidy two-story brick building.
“Dixie!” Jake called to her as he dismounted and tied Prince to a hitching post.
The woman walked up to him, and Jake put an arm around her bare shoulders. Jeff just watched in wonder, feeling awkward and uncomfortable…and curious.
“Give us a kiss, you worthless sonofabitch,” Dixie insisted.
Jake leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. She kept an arm around his waist and looked up at Lloyd. “And you brought the son again. Lord God, I don’t know which one of you is the best-lookin’.”
Lloyd grinned and dismounted. “Yeah, well, we’re both unavailable, Dixie,” he told her. “I got married a little over a month ago.”
“Don’t tell me!” She pressed a hand to Jake’s stomach. “I’ll bet she’s beautiful.”
“She sure is.”
“Well, it’s not fair that you two came here just to make us miserable havin’ to look and not touch.”
Jake laughed and crooked an arm around her neck, pulling her around to see Jeff. “That kid there is Jeff Trubridge, Dixie. He’s from Chicago and he’s writing a book about me. Maybe you’ll even be in it. What do you think of that?”
Dixie wrapped her arms around Jake’s middle as she looked Jeff over. “Well now, that depends if he makes me out to be a lady or somethin’ less than a lady,” she answered with a wink.
“And his opinion might depend on your hospitality tonight. The three of us are staying the night here, Dixie. We’re on our way to Hell’s Nest. Lloyd and I just need a room to ourselves, but Jeff there, I think he ought to have someone to sleep with, don’t you?”
“I’m sure we can work somethin’ out.”
Jeff reddened. “I’m fine with my own room, ma’am.”
“Oh, I think Dixie is too full up,” Jake teased, giving Dixie a wink. “I think you’ll have to share a room with somebody.”
“Jake—”
“You’ll live, Jeff. Get our gear and let’s go inside. Dixie makes great steaks. You can meet some of the other girls.”
“Jake—”
“Just get your gear, Jeff. You have a lot of things to write down after our visit to the Buckley place.”
Jeff gave up arguing. All three of them unloaded weapons and personals, and Dixie ordered a Mexican man who came from the house to take care of their horses. The man greeted Jake.
“¿Jake, me imagino que es las primera vez para este niño, ah?”
“Sí, Dominic. Necesita la experiencia para cuando tenga esposa.”
Dominic laughed and took the horses, and Jeff just shook his head, pretty sure the remarks were about him. He understood enough to recognize “necessary” and “experience” and “wife.” He followed Jake and Lloyd inside, where three younger women greeted them, one of them not much to look at, the other two decent but with painted faces and low-cut dresses that displayed plenty of bosom.
Dixie led them all to the kitchen, where two other men sat eating steaks and drinking beer. They both looked at Lloyd and Jake warily.