Love’s Sweet Revenge(128)

Randy turned her head and kissed his cheek. “Yes. Just a few minutes ago, in so many words.”

“I’d rather show you than tell you.”

“Are you just needing to prove something in case I do share notes?” she joked.

“Woman, I don’t have many years left to keep up with these younger men.”

Randy laughed lightly. “The day a man who reeks of sex can’t—” She stopped and broke into laughter. “I can’t even begin to picture it. You can prove yourself later. I have pie to serve, so go sit down.”

He kissed her lightly. “I’m going outside for a few minutes.”

Randy set the knife aside and looked up at him. “Are you all right?”

“I just need to go out and clear my head. You cut me a piece of that pie, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He kissed her again and spoke softly into her ear. “And you rest up this afternoon, because you won’t get much sleep tonight.”

“Save it for after we’re gone, Pa,” Lloyd jabbed.

Jake just shook his head and walked past them and out the front door.

The jovial atmosphere around the table faded a little.

“Is he okay, Mom?” Lloyd asked. “Should I go out there?”

“No. He’s fine,” Randy told him. She walked to the icebox to get some milk for the boys.

“Did I make him feel bad?” Little Jake asked.

“No, Little Jake. I think you made him feel very good, and sometimes it’s hard for your grandfather to accept the good things in his life.” She glanced at the doorway, hoping she was right.

Outside, Jake lit yet another cigarette, his mind and heart reeling with memories he preferred not to stir. But he couldn’t avoid explaining everything to Little Jake and the boys. A lot of it was in Jeff’s book, but not some of the ugliest details. He leaned against a support post on the veranda and drew deeply on the cigarette, hearing a wolf howl in the distant hills even though it was midafternoon. More laughter came from inside the house, and as always, he wondered how long he could hold on to those he loved most. Hearing a wolf howl in daylight was unusual, and he couldn’t help feeling as though it was some kind of bad omen.

He straightened and threw his cigarette down when he saw Cole charging toward the house on an unsaddled horse and pulling another horse with him.

“Jake!”

Jake stepped off the veranda. “What is it?”

“Trouble down at the bunkhouse. I’m scared Pepper will get himself killed.” Cole slid off the horse. “I figured I’d get here quicker if I didn’t take the time to saddle up. And with this bum leg, I’m not much of a fast runner.”

“What the hell is going on?”

Cole stepped closer, glancing at the house. “Well…it’s about your daughter. One of the newer men said as how little Sadie wasn’t really Brian’s kid, claimed she was the… Hell, I’m sorry, Jake—he said she was fathered by one of them men back in Oklahoma. Pepper lit into him and—”

Before he finished, Jake was back up the steps and through the front door. He grabbed his guns from the hook and began strapping them on. “Lloyd, come with me!”

Lloyd immediately scooted back his chair while Jake grabbed Lloyd’s gun belt from where it hung nearby and tossed it to him.

“Jake, what is it?” Randy asked.

“I’m not sure. But you women stay here, understand?” He quickly tied his holster straps around his thighs. “Brian, you make damn sure all three women and the girls don’t leave this house.”

“Can we come, Grampa?”

“You’ll have to run fast, because we’re going to the far bunkhouse, and Lloyd and I are taking horses.”

Jake charged out, Lloyd right behind him, still buckling his gun belt. The boys excitedly flew out the door after them. “Stay out of the way!” Lloyd shouted as he and Jake took off, riding bareback toward the bunkhouse.

The boys raced each other across the lawn and jumped over a fence in an effort to keep up.

Randy hurried to the front door and saw Cole walking away. “Cole!” she shouted. “What’s going on?”

“Just a little tussle, ma’am. Nothin’ Jake and Lloyd can’t handle. You know how men can be.”

Randy watched him limp away as Jake and Lloyd and the boys disappeared around a barn. “Oh, I know men, all right,” she said softly.





Thirty-two


Jake and Lloyd charged up to a shouting match outside the bunkhouse, two men holding back an enraged Pepper, and three holding on to one of the newer men, Clyde Pace. Two other new hires who’d shown up with Clyde—Ronald Beck and the other named Tucker—stood nearby, rooting Clyde on. No one knew if Tucker was the third man’s first or last name.