He watched Randy walking ahead of him, loved the yellow dress she wore and the gentle sway to her hips. He’d never loved her more than at this moment, for all she’d gone through to give him this beautiful family he didn’t deserve.
There was a time when he didn’t have a clue what love was about. Little Jake ran back to him, and it hit Jake that the boy seemed the epitome of the love he’d never known at that age. He drew on the cigarette again, shaking off ugly memories as he picked Little Jake up while keeping the cigarette between his lips.
“Can I smoke, Grampa?”
“Hell no!”
“You smoke.”
Jake scowled at him. “Little Jake, you and I need to have a good talk. I absolutely do not want you trying to be like your grampa in all the wrong ways.”
“Mommy says I should be proud you’re my grampa.”
“Yeah, well, your mommy sees a lot of things through rose-colored glasses.”
Little Jake frowned. “Mommy doesn’t wear glasses.”
“I’m talking about Mommy thinking everybody is good.”
“Aren’t you good?”
Jake shifted him to one arm and took another drag on the cigarette before taking it from his lips. “I’m good to grandsons who mind me. That means you can’t smoke, and you can’t say bad words in front of your mother. She is a very special woman with a big heart and a special faith, and she doesn’t like hearing bad words.”
“Sometimes you say sonofabitch in front of her.”
“Yeah, well, I try real hard to watch what I say around your mother, but I grew up hearing bad words, and nobody taught me not to say them, so now they come out of my mouth sometimes when I don’t want them to. You are young enough to start teaching yourself right now to watch what you say in front of nice people.”
Little Jake scowled. “Did you really kill your daddy like that man said in the courthouse?”
Jake set him on his feet and crouched in front of him, tossing his cigarette aside. “Little Jake, that’s a long story, and it’s not something we can talk about right now, okay? I promise to explain another time.”
Little Jake touched his face. “Was he real mean like Ben’s daddy was?”
Jake struggled with memories that once would have taken him into hell’s darkness. “He was a thousand times worse, Little Jake. Some people don’t know anything about love.” He kissed the boy’s cheek. “Not like I love you and your daddy and mommy and Lloyd and this whole family. We all know about love, don’t we?”
Little Jake nodded, throwing his arms around his grandfather’s neck again. “I’m sorry he was mean to you, Grampa.”
Jake rose and tucked the boy under one arm as they walked, causing Little Jake to squeal with glee at hanging off his grandpa’s side like a sack of potatoes. Jake couldn’t help wondering what it might have been like to have a father who’d loved him.
He took a deep breath and forced back the black memories, noticing Randy was surrounded by women asking questions. He set Little Jake down and told him to go walk with Stephen and Ben and not let go of their hands. He hurried closer to Randy, putting an arm around her. “Ladies, my wife is done answering questions. Thank you for your concern.”
“Thank you,” Randy told him, putting an arm around his back. “Jake, I can’t believe we walked out of that courthouse together.”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “I’m sure it’s due mostly to the power of our daughter’s prayers.” He decided not to mention Little Jake’s question about Jake’s father. He was determined not to think about that now. This was a time for happiness. He swept Randy up into his arms. “Let’s get to our room, woman. We have a private celebration ahead of us!”
* * *
At the railroad station, Brad Buckley, holding a hastily packed carpetbag, watched a young man run through the crowd.
“Did you hear?” the boy shouted. “That judge let Jake Harkner off and told him to go home!”
Several people in the crowd whistled and cheered. Brad watched from the steps to the passenger car he was boarding.
“Goddamn lucky sonofabitch!” he grumbled through gritted teeth. He climbed the steps and went inside, taking a seat. I’ll still find a way to make you pay for killing my father, Jake Harkner! I’ll do it right under your nose, and you won’t be able to do a damn thing about it, because if they find me dead, you’ll hang!
Twenty-nine
Katie helped Lloyd undress, pulling off his shirt. She ached at the bandages still wrapped around his chest. She hated the thought that there would be a scar, yet he was still so magnificent in every other way and getting stronger every day. “I hope this is our last night in this hotel room,” she told him.