This Loving Land - Dorothy Garlock [32]
Mary squirmed out of Sadie’s arms and made for the door.
“Not without your dress, you!” She dived for the child and carried her back to the bunk. “I’ll swear to goodness, I don’t know what I’m goin’ to do with you. Ain’t you got no shame?” To Summer, she said, “I’m thinkin’ we should get started on that garden, Summer. It’s the right time of the moon. My mama always planted ground roots, taters, turnips and the like, when the moon was gettin’ bigger.” Sadie didn’t want to think about the McLeans or their tall, flint-eyed foreman. She had had foolish dreams, in the dark of the night, but this was morning and he was gone. The planting would crowd him out of her mind.
Ellen made her displeasure known to Jesse by her silence. She had the feeling she had been firmly put down in front of Summer, and she didn’t like it at all. The humiliation, she reasoned, was hers for letting the scene between her son and Jesse erupt. She had always been a little thrilled by the wild, violent streak in Jesse, especially when it surfaced on her behalf. The cold, ruthless, calculating way he went about disposing of an adversary had, up to now, made her proud of his devotion to her; but when he turned that quick, hard, dangerous strength against Travis, it was another thing.
Silence was Ellen’s only safety while she plotted what tactics she would use to deal with Jesse. Up until that last disgusting scene, Summer had been impressed with Travis. He could charm the skin off a snake when he set his mind to it. His desire to taunt Jesse about the dance-hall girl had just carried him away, that’s all. And Jesse, damn him, had just about ruined everything!
The northwest road meandered along the dry creek bed before turning toward the foothills. The countryside around them lay utterly still. Beneath the June sun the buggy was like an oven, causing Ellen almost as much distress as her impatience with Jesse. She sat tense and silent in her corner, all too aware of her companion’s scowling brow silhouetted in bold profile against the horizon. He had not moved, except to flick the reins, since he took his place beside her and propped one booted foot upon the guard rail.
“I don’t understand you, Jesse. Really, I don’t. That was a terrible thing you did to Travis. You’ve humiliated him so he’ll never want to see Summer again. And all because of that girl.”
He turned to look at her. “You heard what he said. He’s lucky I didn’t break his neck.” The calm voice seemed somehow not to go with the tight lips.
Ellen wondered, at that moment, if she had ever really known this big, silent, relentless man.
“He just got carried away, Jesse. He was funnin’, like he does sometimes.” She looked up at him and allowed a teasing grin to tilt her lips. “You know, Jesse, you’re making me think that maybe you have been slipping off to town, that Travis is right.” Her soft laugh was to accent the absurdity of her words. Jesse continued to look at her and she sobered. “I didn’t mean that, dear. I know you would never take up with a woman like that.”
“A woman like what?” he asked quietly.
“You know what I mean,” she said patiently. “That girl is a saloon woman. She is common and coarse. I can’t imagine why Summer allows her to stay there. I fully intend to have a talk with her about it. I could hardly believe it when Travis told me who she was. Travis said that . . .”
“Travis says too much, Ellen.”
“You just don’t like him, do you, Jesse? You’re jealous of him.” Ellen’s temper was rising. “You never tried to be a friend to him, to show him how to keep the respect of the men. You belittle him, and make all his boyish pranks seem much worse than they are. I sometimes wonder about you, Jesse. How many other beatings have you given him that I don’t know about?”
“Several.” Jesse stared straight over the horse’s back and Ellen gasped at his calm answer.
“He’s just a boy! He’s no match for you in a fight.”
The cool look he gave her caused Ellen to draw another quick breath.
“He’s no boy, Ellen. He’s a twenty-five-year-old man, who acts like a spoiled kid a grabbin