Bushedwhacked Bride (13 page)
“Great. That’s a beginning.” Jessica glanced at the
boys. “Do you know anything beyond your names?”
“‘Fraid not, ma’am,” Billy said.
“Well, no matter, at least we have a good starting point.
Now, Billy, we shall begin with you.”
He straightened his spine. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Look at this page with the alpha—that is, the ABC’s.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“These twenty-six letters are symbols—consonants
and vowels, that in various combinations make up all the
words we use.”
Billy appeared mystified and impressed. “Well, hot damn, ma’am.”
“None of that language now!” Ma interjected.
“Yes, Ma. Sorry.” Billy flashed Jessica a sheepish look.
“Now, I know this seems complicated, but it really is
simple.” Jessica pulled her pencil out from behind her ear.
“First, I shall point to each letter and say it aloud, and I
want all of you to repeat it.”
The boys dutifully followed Jessica’s cues and recited the alphabet.
“Very good,” Jessica pronounced afterward. “Now, Billy, I’m going to write your name here in the top mar
gin—”
“Hey, how come Billy gets his name writ first?” asked
Gabe.
“For heaven’s sake, you’ll all get a turn!” Jessica de
clared, almost losing her patience. “But any more bicker
ing and this lesson is over!”
“Yes, ma’am,” said a subdued Gabe.
Jessica began to print Billy’s name. “Okay, here we go.
B-i-l-l-y. Now, Billy, I’m going to hand you my pencil,
and I want you to circle all the letters in the alphabet that are found in your name.”
“Hey, that’s easy!” Billy quickly went about the task,
then frowned at the letter “l.” “Hey, ma’am that there let
ter is used twice in my name. Do I get to circle it twice?”
“Sure, why not.” After Billy finished, Jessica printed
Gabe’s name. “Now you, Gabe.”
With Jessica’s help, Gabe picked out the letters for his
name.
“Hey, it’s time for us to switch places now,” chimed in
Wesley.
“Yeah, so me and Wes can pick out our names,” Luke
added.
“Very well,” Jessica conceded. “We’ll change.”
She endured renewed pandemonium as the men moved
about, deliberately shoving one another and muttering in
sults. Then she helped Wesley and Luke pick out their
names.
“What next, ma’am?” chimed in Gabe from over her
shoulder.
“Next we move again,” Billy suggested gleefully.
“No—not again!” implored Jessica.
“Then, what?” asked Wesley. “We’re tired of letters.”
“Then we’ll try a few words, okay?”
The men grumbled but didn’t protest too much as she
explained the sound each letter represented.
Next she flipped to a page of simple text. “Okay, here we are.” She pointed at a word placed beneath an illustration of a dog. “Wes, I bet you can read this word.”
Wes scowled. “Well, lemme see. D-O-G.”
“Hey, that’s a dog!” chimed in Luke.
Wes scowled at his brother. “I was supposed to say it!”
“Well, you spelled it.”
“That don’t count. It ain’t the same as saying it.”
“So say it!” cried Jessica.
“Dog,”
Wes uttered proudly.
The other boys laughed. “Guess that must mean old
Wesley’s a dog,” suggested Billy wryly.
Amid more mirth, Wesley twisted about to glare at his
brother. “I ain’t no dog!”
“Wait a minute!” Jessica shouted, raising a hand.
“Wes, please continue. Try reading the simple sentence below the illustration.”
Wes scowled. “T-H-E . . .”
When he hesitated, she prompted him. ‘The.”
“
The.
D-O-G.
Dog..
R-A-N.
Ran.”
He snapped his fingers and grinned. “‘The dog ran.’“
“Excellent,” praised Jessica, clapping her hands.
At the sideboard, Ma let out a whoop of joy, pressed
hands to her bosom, and gazed heavenward. “My son’s
reading! He’s sure ‘nuff reading! Oh, thank you, Lord!”
“Yeah, Wes can read just like a four-year-old,” jeered
Billy.
Wes shot to his feet to confront his brother, punching a
finger at Billy’s chest. “You take that back, you little
snot.”
“Will not! You’re reading like a baby.”
Wes smacked Billy’s arm with the book. “And you
can’t read a’tall. You’re plumb ignorant as a cow turd.”
Now Billy grew angry, shoving Wes. “You take that
back, Wesley Reklaw!”
“Will not!”
“Will so, or by damn, I’ll—”
“Stop it!” Just as the men were on the verge of swing
ing at each other, Jessica surged to her feet and shoved
them apart. “That’s enough. Both of you.”
Wearing a massive scowl, Wes thrust the book into Jes
sica’s hands. “I ain’t reading no more. That there’s a baby
book.”
“And I say you’re both
acting
like babies.”
“Well, babies or not, we’re through with larnin’,” Wes
retorted.
Jessica was at her wits’ end. “Oh, give me a break, will
you? I’ve dealt with two-year-olds who were more rea
sonable than you four. It’s bad enough that the Fates sent
me across time. Now I’ve been cursed with the task of
teaching four grown men with attention deficit disorder!”
Total silence fell at these words, the men exchanging
bewildered glances. Finally Luke whispered to Gabe,
“You got any idear what she’s babbling about?”
“Nope.” Billy twisted around to face his mother. “Ma,
you’d best check the lady here for a fever.”
Ma turned furiously on her sons. “Well, if she has one,
I’m sure it’s you varmints that gave it to her, bedeviling her
at every turn.” She lumbered toward the men, drying her
hands on her apron. “Go on, you rascals, get out of here.
School’s out for the day. Give the poor schoolmarm a rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Billy.
The four men all but tore out the door. That was when
Cole, still wearing his look of cynical amusement, sauntered in to join the women. But even as he opened his mouth to speak, his mother hurled him a blistering look
and waved a fist. “And not a word out of you, neither, you
heathen! You hightail it with the rest of them villains or
I’ll take my rolling pin to ya!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cole drawled back. Winking at Jessica,
he strode out the door.
Jessica sighed in frustration. “Guess I’m not much of a
teacher . . . at the primary level..”
Ma patted Jessica’s hand. “Now, honey, you’re doing
fine. It’s just them rascals is a real handful.”
‘Tell me about it.” Her expression discouraged, Jessica
held up the primer. “But they’re right that this book is
way too juvenile for them—much as I do appreciate your
lending it to me.”
Ma nodded. “Our neighbor lady used to tutor Cole
when he was only knee-high to a toadstool.”
“Well, the primer is about on the level of a five-year-old, so I can’t really blame the boys for calling it a ‘baby’
book. If only I had a more adult text. And I could use
some chalk and a blackboard—guess you’d call it a slate
here.”
Ma nodded. “Tell you what, honey. Let’s go into town
again tomorrow morning and see what we can find.”
“You mean it?”
“You betcha,” Ma said with renewed vigor. “If you’re
aimin’ to improve them rascals of mine, I’m going to help
you every way I can.”
Chapter Twelve
That night, Jessica was drifting off to sleep when she
heard the rocker by the window creaking, followed by a
feeble “meow,” and realized she wasn’t alone.
Gasping, she sat up in bed to see Cole sitting in the
rocker, his hard-muscled form outlined by moonlight as
he held and petted her kitten. Half afraid she was dream
ing, she shook her head, but his image didn’t waver one
bit. She also couldn’t hear the usual rhythmic grunts of
Ma’s snoring, and she realized Cole must have shut the
door between the bedrooms.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped.
“Your kitten missed you,” he drawled back.
“I’ll just bet!”
“So we decided to come for a visit.”
Jessica struggled not to feel charmed. “Don’t make excuses. You have to be the nerviest man I’ve ever known,
Cole Reklaw.”
He chuckled. “Don’t you want to come pet your kitten?”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk me. And get out of here—now.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll call your mother.”
“Will you? I had to shut her door just so we could hear
each other over her snores. Waking the dead would be a lot easier, I reckon.”
Jessica ground her teeth in frustration. She was tired
and not up to another confrontation. “Please don’t make
me waken her.”
“Will you?” he pressed.
She sighed. “No. I don’t relish watching her skin you
alive. Okay?”
He laughed.
“Now will you please leave?”
“No.”
“Damn it, Cole—”
“We have things to discuss first.”
“Do we? Like what?”
“Like the rough time you’re having trying to educate
my brothers.”
“Don’t remind me,” she said wearily. “And you weren’t helping at all, standing there laughing like the very devil.”
“You should give up on that bunch.”
“Why? You jealous?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, forget it. I don’t give up that easily.”
“Maybe I don’t, either,” he replied softly.
She groaned. Lord, she had asked for that one.
“You could use a little schooling yourself, sugar.”
Sure where he was heading, she protested, “Cole—”
“Like in how to properly sit a horse.”
Pleasantly surprised, she laughed. “You’ve got me to
rights there.”
“Where are you from that you have no notion of horse
back riding?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Ah, so you’re being a lady of mystery again. That’s mighty tempting to a man.”
“And you have to be the most easily tempted man I’ve ever met.”
He chuckled. “Lord, you’re sassy. I’ll have to give you some riding lessons, though.”
“Yes, that might be useful,” she replied tightly.
He fell silent for a moment, and all she could hear was
the creaking of the rocker. Then he continued in more thoughtful tones, “You know, I’ve been thinking about
what you said yesterday, Jessie. How I don’t respect
you.”
“Indeed,” she agreed. “Case in point, you are sitting in
my bedroom right this minute, like a great big lug—de
spite the fact that I’ve repeatedly asked you to leave.”
Ignoring her complaint, he murmured, “I do respect
you, Jessie. I even respect your trying to reform those
wayward brothers of mine. It means a lot to my ma, you
know.”
For once Jessica couldn’t doubt his sincerity. “Thank
you.”
“I’ve been thinking about what else you said—how I don’t want you knowing my secrets.”
“Have you come to share them?” she taunted.
“Maybe I’ll tell you one,” he replied.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Today when you were teaching the boys, it did bring back memories of when I was just five, and was tu
tored by the neighbor lady, Mrs. Joiner. That was one of
the best years of my childhood. Mrs. Joiner was from
back East, well educated, and she had two of the prettiest
little blond daughters you’ve ever seen in your life. I
learned a lot in the time we had together, and the girls and
me had a lot of fun playing.” He sighed. “Then that whole
family caught scarlet fever, and all four of them died.
Why I was spared, I’ll never know.”
As he paused for a moment, obviously struggling
against emotion, she whispered, “I’m glad you were.”
“Are you, sugar?” For once Cole’s words lacked the
usual blatant insinuation. “I’ll never forget my ma at the
funeral, sobbing over those two little caskets. ‘They’re
angels,’ she cried. ‘Angels gone straight to heaven.’“
Jessica’s heart twisted at the image. “I’m truly sorry,
Cole.”
“Well, you know what these times are like,” he went on
more philosophically. “I’ve lost two fathers, countless friends. Surely you’ve lost some of your own people.”
That statement gave Jessica pause. She might well
have lost her “people” forever. The thought made her
throat tighten with emotion, and made her feel closer to Cole than she wanted to feel.
“Yes, I’ve lost a lot,” she managed. “Like both sets of grandparents when I was younger.”
“And when you lose folks, you must realize how im
portant it is to grab what pleasure we can in the here and
now.”
“Ah,” she murmured cynically. “Why do I suspect a
new turn down the primrose path? You’re not much of a
sagebrush philosopher, Cole—not with motives so
transparent.”
He chuckled again. “I may be more of a thinker than
you know, sugar. You’ve already got me ready to admit I
haven’t been a very good example to my brothers.”
“No!” she exclaimed in mock disbelief, and they both
laughed.
“I admire what you’re doing, Jessie, even though I fear
the path you’re taking us down is more dangerous than
the one we’re bound on now. I respect you, anyhow—and
I still want you. Have no doubt about that.”
Feeling aroused despite herself, she shook her head.
“Cole, you’re such a contradiction, trying to convince me
your motives are noble, then all but admitting they’re
not.”
“Jessie, any man who’s not six feet under is gonna
want you. As Billy is fond of saying, ‘that’s just the facts,
ma’am.’ Would you find me more noble if I dressed up
my desires behind candy, flowers, and sugary compli
ments, maybe eloquent proposals of marriage? Truth is, those that want you, including my brothers, all want the
same thing as me. I’m the only one being honest about it.”
“And that’s why I’m so little impressed with the mo
tives of any of you.” She eyed him in supplication. “Cole,
I’m tired. Will you leave?”
“No, we got other matters to discuss.”
“Like what?”
He inclined his head toward the open window. “Like
maybe what a fine sight the stars are, and how pleasing
the new moon is. If you listen, you can hear a screech owl
hooting, and the wind rustling the pines.”
Treacherously charmed, she cleared her throat.
“Thanks for the lessons on night sounds—”
“Oh, far as
night sounds
go, I haven’t even begun to
teach you, sugar.”
His words set her trembling. “Will you please go?”
He fell quiet, and the kitten mewled again. “Not till
you come pet your kitten. It’s downright mean of you to
ignore her.”
“Very well.” Jessica got out of bed, hastily shimmied
into her wrapper, and crossed the room. Heart thumping
at Cole’s nearness, she reached out and scratched the kit
ten’s head, smiling as she heard the tiny creature purr.
“There.”
His fingers closed over her wrist. “That isn’t enough.
She needs a slow, gentle stroking.”
“Cole, stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“You know what!”
His voice was deep, wicked. “Pet her right.”
“Oh, very well.” For a few moments she stroked the
kitten and listened to the rising crescendo of her purring.
“She needs a name, you know.”
Startled, she glanced up, and her eyes met his vibrant,
dark gaze. “She what?”
“What are you aiming to call her?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought.”
“You’re not a very responsible kitten owner.”
“I never asked to be a pet owner.”
“Well, you are one now. And you need to name her.”
Jessica thought for a moment. “If I name her, will you
leave?”
“Maybe.”
She sighed. “Very well. I’ll call her Inkspot.”
“What kind of name is that?”
“I think it’s a fine name, and it suits her.”
“Spell it.”
“What?”
“You spelled out my brothers’ names today. Now you
can spell out the name of your kitten.”
“If you aren’t the most exasperating—”
“Spell it.”
“All right! I-N-K-S-P-O-T. Now will you kindly
leave?”
He grinned. “Sure, sugar. Just as soon as you kiss me
good night.”
“What? That’s not fair. You said you would leave—”
“I said maybe.”
“Well, forget it.”
But even as she started off, he grabbed a handful of her
wrapper. “Hold it.”
“Cole!” Fuming, she twisted about to face him.
He extended the ball of fur. “Take the kitten.”
“No.”
“Take her.”
Jessica took the kitten.
His voice turned husky. “Now c’mere, darlin’.”
Jessica almost dissolved at his sexy words, so sinfully
drawled, but still she managed to stammer, “N-no.”
He pulled her down onto his lap.
The sensation was unbearably erotic, being hauled
down against Cole’s hard body, with only two flimsy lay
ers of handkerchief linen separating them. His scent thrilled
her senses and his strong arms held her cap
tive. The breeze wafting through the window was cool
and fragrant with night scents, urging her to cuddle
against his warm strength. And the kitten purred loudly,
only adding to the sensual ambiance.
When Cole’s seductive lips just brushed her cheek, Jes
sica thought she would come unglued. “Cole, please let
me up.”
His large hand gently stroked her middle, sending heat
radiating downward. “Your voice is trembling, sugar. Am
I getting you all rattled?”
“I said let me up!”
“Not till you kiss me good night.”
“Damn you!”
His voice held a note of sadness. “Jessie, why do you
always fight me, when you know you want me, too?”
That question compelled an honest response. “Not everything I want is best for me.”
“Oh, honey,” he murmured in silky tones that left her
melting deep inside, “you’re wrong.”
Her resistance in tatters, Jessica looked up at Cole,
only to wince at the blaze of passion in his eyes.
“I’m waiting, sugar.”
Drowning in frustration and desire, Jessica lifted her
lips toward his.
It was all the encouragement Cole needed. His mouth
closed over hers in a kiss of raw sweetness. When his
tongue eased between her lips, then plunged deep to rav
ish her mouth, rapture surged through her in torrid
waves that staggered her as she felt her control spinning
away.
Breathlessly she pulled away. “Cole, please—”
“Jessie, admit you want more. Want
me.”
“No.”
“Really?”
Cole’s large hand cupped her breast, and Jessica was
staggered with desire. She could not summon the will to fight him.