One Ticket To Texas

“That we do,” Kyle said. “And one of them lives upstairs. That’s Grandpa Pete again. Eighty-four years old and still rambunctious. Be right back. Look around the store and find yourself a dessert.”

Deciding to do just that, she was looking through the assortment of Twinkies, Ding-Dongs, and Little Debbie cakes when an RV stopped out front. An older couple in loud jogging gear came inside. He was balding and his jacket was stretched tightly over his rotund belly; she was rail-thin with badly colored black hair and wearing a plethora of diamond rings.

“Oh, look, Edgar. Isn’t this a charming little place?” To Irish she said, “We’re passing through on our way from the Gulf coast and decided to take the scenic route. I’m so glad we did. It’s just beautiful around here, isn’t it, Edgar? We wanted to pick up a few snacks, and—Edgar! Look at this. Carved Indians. Life-size. Wouldn’t one of these be just precious by our pool? And look at the price. Why, it’s a steal.”

“Mmmm,” Edgar said, not glancing up from the row of snack crackers he was inspecting.

With Kyle nowhere in sight, Irish pasted on a bright smile and went into her retail mode. “Aren’t they wonderful? The sculptor is very gifted. Have you seen the animals outside? The eagles are fantastic, and there’s one bear that you should see. A delightful conversation piece that was just finished. We call him Vince. Come, let me show you.”

When Kyle finally got Pete settled down and made it back downstairs, Irish was at the door waving goodbye to an RV. “Sorry I took so long, but my grandfather needed some TLC. Who was in the RV?”

“Corrie and Edgar.”

“Wanting directions to Dallas?”

“Nope. They came in for snacks. I sold them a carton of soft drinks, two boxes of crackers, three jars of peanuts, two jelly rolls, two little pecan pies, two life-size Indians, an eagle and Vince. I made change for their traveler’s checks from the register. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? You sold more in thirty minutes than I’ve sold in a week. They bought Vince?”

“Yep.”

“But his ear is missing.”

“That makes him even more charming. An original.”

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “I hope that you gave them a discount.”

“Certainly not. I didn’t know exactly how much the bears were since none of them had a price tag, but I charged fifty dollars more than the Indian was marked.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope. Don’t worry. They can afford it, and Corrie is thrilled with her new pool and garden sculptures. And quite frankly, I think they’ll look cute in her backyard. She’ll have an excuse to have a party when she and Edgar get home, and the pieces are delightful conversation pieces. I told her exactly how they were made.”

Kyle fought back a laugh. “Do you know exactly how they’re made?”

Irish waved off his question. “They’re carved with a chain saw. I showed them your work area and improvised some on the parts I didn’t know. I told you that Corrie was thrilled.”

“What about Edgar?”

“Edgar didn’t say much, but he was fascinated with the rattler in the terrarium. He offered to buy the snake, but I figured it wasn’t for sale. Anyway, I didn’t know how much to charge or if it had been defanged.”

Kyle burst into laughter. “I’m glad you didn’t sell Sam. Pete would have a fit. The snake and the arrowheads are the bulk of his museum. And no, Sam hasn’t been defanged.”

Irish shuddered. “I’m glad that I didn’t try to fish him out. They came before I got dessert. Want to split a package of chocolate cupcakes?”

“Sure.” As Kyle watched Irish talk, he grew even more enchanted with her. Not only was she one hell of a gorgeous woman, but also she was a delight to be around. Animated, fun and totally unaffected, she was the antithesis of the Hollywood types that he had escaped. Given her years as a much photographed model, he was surprised by her down-to-earth behavior and forthright attitude. “You get the cupcakes, and I’ll fix the coffee. How do you like yours?”

“Black for me.”

In a few minutes he joined her at the table. A chocolate cupcake sat on a napkin at his place; its mate sat in front of her. “I hope you don’t mind instant,” he said. “The stuff in the pot was sludge.”

“Instant is fine.”

They ate in relative silence. When she’d finished the last bite, she licked the chocolate off her fingers and sighed. “I love junk food, especially chocolate. I had to deny myself for years. I’ve gained fifteen pounds since I left New York.”

“They’re well disguised. You seem very slender to me.”

“Thanks.” She grinned. “Want another cupcake?”

“Let’s go for it.”

She wasted no time in getting another and ripping open the package. She handed one to him and demolished the other one in a flash. After licking her fingers again, she held her mug with both hands and sipped her coffee. Her eyes glazed as she stared at a spot over his left shoulder, and a wrinkle appeared between her lovely eyebrows.

“A problem?” he asked.

“A big one. I can’t go back to Washington until I...interview Jackson Crow. If he won’t return until Monday, I don’t have a place to stay. I was planning on being a guest at Crow’s Nest.” Her frown deepened. “Are those, uh, tepees outside inhabitable?”

He chuckled. “Well, the sheets and towels are clean and they don’t leak, but I doubt if they’re what you’re used to. They’re pretty basic. You would probably be more comfortable if you drove to Jacksonville or Tyler and stayed in a nicer place.”

“I can’t do that.” Her eyes still troubled, she ran the tip of her tongue back and forth over a small area of the mug’s rim. Kyle couldn’t take his eyes off that bit of pink, and as he watched, mesmerized, his imagination went wild. “You see, I’m, uh, a little short on cash. I was hoping that your tepees would be cheap.”

“The tepees? Cheap? Oh, they’re cheap. Very cheap.” Kyle almost stood up and whooped. He wasn’t anxious for her to leave just yet. “As a matter of fact, your commission on the sale to Corrie and Edgar would more than cover room and board here until Jackson gets back.”

Her eyes widened. “My commission?”

“Sure. And if you need a little extra cash, I could use some help around here until Alma Jane gets back tomorrow or the next day.”

“Help? Doing what?”

“Tending the store While I wield the chain saw. Or better yet, how would you like reading to an irascible old man? Pete’s big on reading, but his eyes play out after a while. The job wouldn’t pay much, but—”

“I’ll take it. But just until Jackson returns, you understand.”

“Fine. We have a deal.” He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. Wonder if he could persuade Jackson to stay in Dallas a few extra days?

The wrinkle between her brows disappeared, and she beamed. “Great. If you’ll give me a key, I’ll get settled in.”

Irish drove the Benz to the door of tepee number two and unloaded her luggage. She unlocked the door and cautiously peeked inside.

Kyle was right. It was very basic. Most of the furniture was made from bundles of twigs and sticks. There was a faded, but clean-looking, Indian blanket on the bed. The dresser was in its prime about the time of World War II, and two large paint-by-number oils were framed in rough wood and hanging on the walls. One was an Indian chief in full feather; the other, a spotted horse in a red desert. A wooden rocking chair, its seat made of taut cowhide with the hair still on, sat in a corner.

Irish sighed and hauled her things inside. “Home, sweet home.”

She checked the sheets and the bed. And the locks.

The sheets were crisp and fresh-smelling, the mattress amazingly lump-free and comfortable. The bathroom fixtures were old but immaculate. And most important, the locks were sturdy. The place wasn’t the Plaza, but the price was right, and it would do.

After she hung up her clothes and put her other things away, Irish changed out of her new outfit into jeans, a white T-shirt and a chambray shirt. A pair of sport shoes felt like heaven compared to the new high-heeled boots, which didn’t look too bad considering the punishment they’d had. A quick repair to hair and makeup and she was ready to meet Cherokee Pete.

Sounds of the chain saw came from the shed, and Irish figured that Kyle was back at work on another bear or a bow-legged cowpoke. She went inside the store and hesitated only a moment before she tiptoed upstairs. She didn’t want to disturb the old gentleman if he was still sleeping.

Following the noise of a TV, she went toward an open door off the landing, noting as she passed that the large painting on the wall there was an excellent copy of a Remington. And much more attractive than the Indian and spotted pony on her walls.

The room she peeked in was a large library. Straight ahead was a huge stone fireplace with another of the Remington copies hung on it and several Southwestern pots and such on the mantel. Two large leather couches flanked the fireplace and a coffee table, made from a slice- of a huge tree, sat between the oxblood couches. Additional pots and a statue of a breechclouted brave, much more finely wrought than the wooden ones downstairs, stood atop the table. Other wing chairs and leather club chairs with ottomans were grouped around the room. The place looked more like a gentlemen’s club than the upstairs of the junky trading post below.

Floor to ceiling shelves in polished wood took up most of the available wall space, and they were filled with books. Her gaze followed the bulging shelves until they came to an alcove at one end of the room, to a hospital bed beside a window, to a pair of dark eyes watching her.

She smiled. “Hello. I’m Irish Ellison. May I come in?”

“Looks like you’re in already. Come closer and let me get a good gander at you. These old eyes ain’t what they used to be. Irish, you say? Never heard nobody named that except it was a nickname.”

“It’s my real name. My mother was mostly Irish and a romantic,” she said as she crossed the room to the bed.

He reminded her of an older, more wiry version of Willie Nelson. His hair was thinning on top, but the sides hung in long gray braids. The skin over his high cheekbones was leathery and wrinkled, but his dark eyes flashed with vitality, and Irish doubted if they missed much.

He held up a remote control and pressed it. The TV sound died. “I’m Pete Beamon, but everybody calls me Cherokee Pete. Called me that as long as I can remember. Half Cherokee from my mother’s side. M‘wife was Irish. Honey-colored hair and blue eyes she had. Beautiful woman, like you. Been gone forty-three years next November. She was a schoolteacher. Taught me how to read after I was grown. We started collecting these books over fifty years ago. Come, sit down here.” He pointed to an easy chair beside his bed. “Tell me what a pretty gal like you is doin’ in these parts.”

“Don’t let me interrupt your—” Irish glanced to the wall where the television was and startled. Instead of a single TV, a bank of six screens were mounted there. Two were blank, but two showed the interior of the store downstairs, and two others scanned the outside grounds. “But that’s—”

“Surveillance. These old eyes don’t miss much. You take a hankerin’ to my grandson?”

Irish cleared her throat and tried not to squirm. “He’s—he’s very attractive, but I’m not interested.”

Cherokee Pete gave a little bark of laughter. “That’s not what I saw. I like the cut of you, Irish Ellison. Could tell that right off. Tell you what. You marry my grandson, and I’ll give you a million dollars.”

Three

Irish laughed at the old man’s joke. “He’s a handsome devil. Don’t tempt me. Anxious to be rid of him, are you?”

“I’m anxious to have some great-grandkids before I kick the bucket. Not a single one of my grandsons is married. Ain’t natural. Kyle tells me you’re going to read to me some.”

“If you’d like.”

“Course I’d like,” Pete said. “Just cause I’m older’n dirt don’t mean I can’t appreciate the company of a beautiful young lady.”

“What would you like for me to read?”

Pete picked up the book lying on the bed beside him and handed it to her. “I’d like to hear the rest of this. I was near ’bout finished when my eyes played out. Need new glasses, but it will be a while before I can get to the eye doctor now that I busted my hip. Kyle says he’ll take me in a couple of weeks.”

Irish looked at the big volume. “John Grisham’s newest. You a fan of his?”

“He’s right good when I’m in the mood for his kind of book. I read purt near everything from shoot ‘em ups to philosophy. My grandkids know I like readin’ so I get a lots of books for Christmas and the like. Marker’s where I left off.”

She opened the book at the page where the tasseled leather strip lay and started to read the last few chapters.

Kyle stood at the door and listened to Irish’s beautifully modulated voice as she read to the old man. John Grisham had never sounded so exciting to him.

Or so sexy.

He didn’t pay much attention to the words of the narrative, only her tone, which oozed over him like warm buttered honey. When a bit of dialogue came, she changed her voice slightly to take on the character, then switched back to the slow, sensual utterances.

At last she paused, then said, “The end.”

Grandpa Pete cackled. “A million dollars! Yes, siree, a million dollars. No. Make that two million.”

Irish laughed, and Kyle rushed in before his grandfather started writing out a check. Pete was very generous with people he liked. “I see that you two are getting along,” Kyle said.

“Like a house afire,” Pete said. “This one’s a keeper. Danged if she can’t make that book come alive as good as one of them New York actresses.”

“I heard,” Kyle said. “You are very good. Ever consider acting?”

“Early on,” Irish replied. “I majored in drama for two years, but I dropped out of college and went into modeling instead.”

“Modeling?” Pete asked. “I thought Kyle said you was a writer.”

“I am. I don’t do modeling anymore.”

“Was you in the magazines like that Cindy Crawford or Claudia what’s-her-name, that foreign gal?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t quite in their league. How do you know about Cindy and Claudia?”

The old man winked. “Told you I read purt near everything. Even look at one of them women’s magazines now and then. You know, now that I think on it, I believe I’ve seen your picture somewheres.”

“Not for a couple of years. Would you like to start another book?”

“Not right now. I think I’ll take a little nap or maybe watch Oprah. You and Kyle run along and get better acquainted.” He winked meaningfully at Irish again. “If you know what I mean.”

She laughed. “Not on your life.”

As Irish and Kyle walked downstairs, he asked, “What is my grandfather up to now? He hasn’t made any indecent proposals has he?”

“No. We were just joking. He offered me a million dollars if I would marry you. Then he upped it to two.”

“My God!”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t take him seriously. I know that the proceeds from this place and his monthly Social Security check haven’t made him a millionaire, but he’s an old dear anyway. If he were rolling in dough though, I might have to give his offer serious consideration.”

Kyle’s step faltered. “Oh?”

She smiled. “I’m sure that I’m not the first woman to tell you that you’re an extremely attractive man. And two million dollars would make you darned near irresistible.”

His step faltered again. “Money turn you on?”

“Green is my very favorite color. As I said, you’re an attractive guy in lots of ways, but you’re safe from me. No offense intended, but I plan on marrying a rich man.”

All sorts of alarms started going off in his head. “That so?”

“Yep.”

“What about love?”

“Oh, I don’t want just any rich man. I want one that I can love, of course. But being able to sleep soundly without worrying about security generates a lot of affection.”

Her tone was light and teasing, but Kyle sensed an underlying agenda that prompted her attitude. What was it that worried her at night? He wondered if it had anything to do with the scars on the left side of her face. The faint lines were almost imperceptible. With her skillful makeup, nobody but a professional giving her as close a scrutiny as he had would have detected the slight traces.

He ached to ask her more, but now was not the time. Instead he chuckled and said, “I’ll drink to that. Do you mind watching the store for a while? I need to check some things with my grandfather.”

“No problem.”

He turned and hurried back upstairs.

When Pete spied Kyle, he said, “What are you doing up here? Why ain’t you down courtin’ Irish? I like her, son. I like her a lot. She’d make you a fine wife. You’d have good-looking kids.”

“Aren’t you rushing things a bit?”

“Nope. I knew right off that your grandmother was the woman for me.”

“Well, I’m different,” Kyle said. “I need a bit more time. And there’s a hitch with Irish.”

“A hitch?”

Kyle sat down beside the bed and blew out a big breath. “It seems that she wants to marry a rich man.”

Pete gave a hoot of laughter. “Then you’re in good shape there. Besides the ten I gave you, how many million did you have at last count?”

“That’s not the point. You see, I could be very interested in Irish, but I don’t want somebody who looks at me and only sees dollar signs.”

Pete nodded. “I get you. So you’re going to lie to her?”

“No. Yes.” Kyle dropped his hat on his knee and ran his fingers through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t want to fall for a gold digger. For the moment I’d just as soon that she not know that you’re wealthy or that I’m wealthy or—”

“Or that you’re a plastic surgeon.”

“Right. Or that Jackson is your grandson and my cousin.”

“Why is that?”

Kyle grinned. “Because I’m going to see if I can stall Jackson and that bunch of his in Dallas for an extra day or two. I don’t want Irish tempted by all those men and all that money until I can get a toehold in her affections.”

“Won’t she suspect something if she sees the oil wells on the property?”

“If she mentions it, I’ll tell her that they belong to Jackson or somebody. She won’t have any way of knowing that the land is yours. Will you play along with me?”

“My lips are sealed. As far as I’m concerned, you’re nothing but a shiftless bum, and I’m one step away from food stamps.”

“You don’t have to go quite that far.”

Cherokee Pete’s eyes twinkled. “I do believe you’ve taken quite a liking to our Irish already for you to go to so much trouble.”

“I’ll admit that she intrigues me.”

Pete cackled. “Intrigues, hell. She’s got your juices pumping. I ain’t so old I can’t remember. Check that roast you put in the oven, then go on down there and get to courtin’.”

Kyle decided to do just that.

He and Irish spent the rest of the afternoon in the store, waiting on the occasional customer and talking about everything from favorite colors to politics. They found that, despite a difference in their backgrounds and the fact that he liked blue to her green, they had a lot in common. In fact, after gazing for a spell into those lovely emerald green eyes of hers, he was beginning to change his mind about blue. Green was enchanting.

At dinnertime, They went upstairs and Kyle checked the roast that he had prepared earlier under Pete’s tutelage. He poked the meat with a fork, then poked the carrots, onions and potatoes. “That looks done to me. Does it look done to you?”

“I’m no expert, but it seems to be.”

“We’ll declare it done. Want a salad?”

“Sure,” she said. “I can make salad.”

They both pitched in to chop the vegetables, and Irish prepared a tray for Pete. While she took the tray to his grandfather, Kyle set the kitchen table for them. He started to put a candle in the middle, then decided that was pushing it a bit. He dug around until he found a cheap jug of burgundy and an expensive bottle of chardonnay. He put the chardonnay in the refrigerator and unscrewed the cap on the burgundy.

Irish returned as he was taking glasses from the cabinet. The Baccarat crystal stems that Kyle had given his grandfather on his last birthday were next to the jelly glasses. Kyle smiled, shook his head and poured a little from the jug to taste.

“Not bad for the price,” Kyle said. “Grandpa Pete isn’t much of a wine connoisseur. Will this do?”

“Sure. I’m not too fussy myself. Truthfully, some of the stuff that’s supposed to be so fine tastes like medicine to me.”

After dinner they cleaned up the kitchen together and got Pete settled down watching a John Wayne movie on cable.

“I guess that I’d better mosey on back to my tepee,” Irish said, smiling. “Thanks for dinner.”

“My pleasure. Want to take a walk first?”

“Sure.”

Outside the evening was still pleasantly warm, even though it was October. The air carried the crisp smell of pine trees and the watermelon scent of fresh cut grass. In the gathering darkness, crickets and tree frogs tuned up. Irish had noticed earlier that everything was still green; even the hardwood trees mixed in with the pines showed no signs of fall. She commented that the weather surprised her. “When does it get cool here? When do the leaves change?”

“Depends on what you call cool. Brief fronts begin pushing through beginning about now. The temperature will drop a few degrees, then warm up again in a day or two. We rarely get a frost before November, sometimes later than that. The leaves start turning about then, too, but because of the weather and because we have so many pines, autumn here is nothing like New England. A few trees are colorful—sweet- gums, tallows, some elms and oaks. Most of the others that lose their leaves stay green until frost, then turn brown and shed in November or December. By March they’re leafing out again.”

Because of darkness outside the range of the tall vapor lights, they didn’t wander far from the trading post and their walk was more amble than exercise.

As they strolled by the shed, Irish said, “I see that you’ve started a new bear.” She stepped inside where the strong odor of fresh sawdust and wood shavings scented the air. She rubbed her thumbs over the roughcut ears of the bear that stood as tall as she. “I felt so terrible about making you ruin the other one that I was relieved when Corrie bought it.”

“Nothing for you to feel terrible about. It was an accident.”

“Is this what you did in California, carve bears?”

“No. I, uh, did a different kind of sculpting.”

“What kind? Clay?”

Kyle gave her a vague answer, and she gathered that he wasn’t comfortable talking about his time on the West Coast. She could understand that; she wasn’t too comfortable talking about the last couple of years she spent in New York.

He ducked and entered the shed to stand beside her. The space suddenly became smaller, the raw wood smell more pungent. One of his thumbs traced a path over the bear’s ear, a path that was parallel to the course her thumb took and only a millimeter away from touching hers.

The space grew smaller still. His scent mingled with the woody aroma and his closeness bombarded her senses until his presence loomed larger than life and seemed to crackle and glow in her awareness.

Jerking her thumb back, she tried to step away from him, but she bumped against the bear’s outstretched paw. Finding herself penned between the bear’s paws and Kyle, she glanced up, her mouth open to deliver a clever quip.

The words vanished from her mind.

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly his head lowered. “May I kiss you?” he asked as his lips came closer and closer. They stopped when they were a hairsbreadth from hers.

Her heart began racing, and his breath against her skin sent tingles of excitement over her. A part of her wanted to shout, “Yes!” Another part wanted to smack him for putting her in such a bind and growl, “No!”