Cowboy Comes Home

She looked him straight in the eye.

“You don’t really believe that.”

He compressed his lips. “No, I don’t. But I’m praying as hard as I can that this will be just a juvenile overreaction to something that isn’t so terrible after all. God have mercy on that child if it isn’t.”

Twenty minutes later everyone traipsed back into the courtroom. The judge settled at the bench and spoke to the court reporter.

“On the record again, Mrs. Jubilo. All right. I’m denying bond. Lorna Lacey will remain in the custody of the sheriff’s department until trial. Mr. Carlisle, what I said before holds. If Miss Lacey wishes to withdraw her threat at any time, or wishes to confide in you or anyone else the cause for her behavior, the matter of bail will be immediately reopened.”

“Yes, Judge.”

“I’m also recommending that Miss Lacey undergo psychological counseling. I realize we don’t have psychologists growing on trees around here. In fact, I believe the only one we have is the school psychologist, and I’m not sure he’d be able to handle this situation. However, Sheriff Tate has kindly agreed to arrange for counseling in Laramie, and for a deputy to take Miss Lacey to appointments once a week. Any objections?”

None were voiced.

“Now,” Judge Williams continued, “while it is highly irregular, I’m going to put Miss Lacey in the personal custody of Sheriff Tate. By that I mean that she will spend her days in jail and her nights at the sheriff’s home with his family. This release will be contingent upon Miss Lacey promising to behave while in the sheriff’s custody. No fires, no running away, no nonsense of any kind. Miss Lacey, will you give this court your promise?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Anna heaved a huge sigh of relief. She couldn’t think of anything better for Lorna than to be in the custody of a man who had raised six healthy, happy daughters, three of whom were still living at home.

“Now,” the judge continued, leaning forward, “I’m going to take one more extraordinary step here. From now until this matter is settled, or until Miss Lacey explains her actions to my satisfaction, all of her contacts with any member of her family must and will be supervised by a member of this court or a member of the sheriff’s department. Is that clear?”

Both lawyers answered that it was, but the judge was more interested in Lorna’s reaction. “Miss Lacey, do you understand what I’ve said? You can’t see your family without someone from the court or the sheriff’s department there. How do you feel about that?”

Lorna lifted her head and looked right at the judge. “Good,” she said. “Except my sister. Can I see my sister?”

“How old is she?”

“Four.”

The judge hesitated. “Not immediately,” she finally said. “Let’s see how it goes this way first. We wouldn’t want to put your sister in a difficult situation, would we?”

To Anna’s horror, Lorna’s face drained of color.

“No,” the girl said hoarsely.

“No. I don’t want to see her at all.”

Francine Williams nodded slowly. “That might be best for a little while. Just one other thing, Miss Lacey. Every one of us in this courtroom wants to help you. Find one of us you can trust and give us the information we need to do just that. You are not alone.”

Five minutes later, Anna was back in her car. She had left Jazz in her cage at the office so she wouldn’t have to be left all alone in a cold car. It was, she decided, the perfect time to go get puppy chow and a collar and leash. Then she could pick up Jazz and take her straight home to a warm house.

But while she was thinking of Jazz, most of her attention was focused on what had just happened in court. Old wounds of her own had been torn open as she sat there, and she felt as if she were bleeding inside. Once upon a time, a judge had looked down from his bench at her and said almost exactly the same thing. He’d said, “We want to help you, but you have to trust us first.” Finally she had.

And somehow she had to get Lorna to do the same thing: trust someone. The sheriff. Reverend Fromberg. The judge.

Herself. It didn’t matter so much who, as long as it was someone who was willing to go to bat for her.

Distracted as she was by worry and seething emotions from her own past, she spent more than was wise at the grocery, buying Jazz the fanciest blue collar and leash, a big bag of puppy chow, a box of puppy treats, a small bone and several squeaky toys. She picked up some carpet cleaner that was guaranteed to remove pet stains, but talked herself out of a flea collar. At this time of year, it would be a wasted expense. She also picked up a few groceries.

When she stepped back outside, the first spit of sleet was falling, fine, icy crystals that stung her cheeks. The pavement was wet, still warm enough to melt the sleet. That wouldn’t last long. Hurrying, she emptied the shopping cart into her car and drove swiftly back to the office.

As soon as she opened the door, Jazz started barking, a high-pitched puppy yelp. Looking into the cage, she saw that the dog had had an accident. She cleaned it up swiftly and replaced the soiled paper with fresh newspaper. Then she put Jazz back into the cage and carried her out to the car.

The cage wouldn’t fit into her car, though. Finally giving up, she put it in the trunk, then took the puppy into the passenger compartment with her. Jazz insisted on curling up on her lap, but she didn’t think that would cause much trouble.

Then she tried to start the car. And tried again.

The starter whined, but the engine wouldn’t catch. What now? Sleet crystals were rattling against the windows of her car, warning her that the streets would soon be dangerous. Forcing herself to wait in case she had flooded the engine somehow, she counted seconds in the tick of ice on her windows.

The night was dark and empty. Funny, she thought as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, there had been a time when she had believed being out alone at night would protect her. Then she had discovered otherwise. The night was a time when predators stalked the young and weak. It was full of threat. At night she wanted to be safely within the walls of her snug little house.

She shivered as the night’s chill began to find its way into her jacket. Jazz whimpered softly, suggesting that she was getting hungry. Anna patted her gently and tried to start the car again. And once again the engine refused to turn over.

A tap on her window startled her, and she gasped, turning her head swiftly. Hugh Gallagher stood there, bent over to look in her window. “Car trouble?” he asked through the glass.

She rolled her window down an inch. “It won’t start.”

“I heard. The engine’s not catching. Let me lift the hood and see if the choke’s stuck, okay?”

“Thank you.”

Her gaze followed him as he walked around to the front of the car. Then the hood lifted with a protesting groan and he vanished from view.

He was a nice man, she told herself. He’d proved that already. She didn’t have to be afraid to be in his debt.

He rattled around under the hood for a few minutes, then slammed it closed and came back to her window. “It’s not the choke, Miss Anna, and I can’t see well enough to check anything else out. How about I drive you home and take a look at it in the morning?”

She hesitated. It wasn’t that she really had any option, but she hesitated anyway. It had been a long time since she had been comfortable getting into a car with a man. Any man. Even after all these years, she was still uneasy. But common sense won.

“If you wouldn’t mind. I have the dog and all these groceries….”

“No problem. My truck’s right across the street. Just let me bring it over.”

A couple of minutes later, he had her groceries and the dog cage loaded in the back, and Anna and the puppy in the front seat with him.

“I’m glad I happened to be having dinner at Maude’s,” Hugh said as he pulled out onto the street.

“So am I. I really didn’t want to call a tow truck. I can’t afford that expense right now.” Especially not now that she was going to have to get her car fixed. “I hope you didn’t interrupt your dinner to help me.”

“Naw. I was just finishing a piece of Maude’s elderberry pie. You ever have any?”

Anna never ate out; her budget wouldn’t allow it. “No, I’m afraid not.”

“Well, let me take you over there for lunch tomorrow, before she runs out of elderberries.”

Anna didn’t know how to answer that, because she wasn’t exactly sure what he intended by the invitation. Before she could think of anything to say, he went on.

“Did you hear about the fire at school today? They say the Lacey kid set it. Now, I don’t know folks in the county as well as people who’ve lived here all their lives, but I did see that girl a lot around the church, and she always seemed like a good kid to me.”

“She is. One of the best.”

“Well, I just can’t figure it.

Now, if it’d been Bobby Reilly, I would have thought it was just what you oughtta expect, but not that girl.”

“I know.” She felt her heart accelerating as they edged near a topic she didn’t want to discuss with him—or with anyone, for that matter. She didn’t want to have to tell anyone what she suspected Lorna’s problem was—at least, not unless she got some proof of it.

“You ask me,” he said, “there’s something wrong there, and it isn’t that girl.”

They eased to a careful stop at the corner, then turned onto Anna’s street.

“Gettin’ slippery,” Hugh remarked. “Guess I oughtta put the chains on after I drop you off.”

“That might be wise.” God, how she hated this stilted conversation. How she hated being so uncomfortable with men that she couldn’t think of anything to say to keep the ball rolling. How she hated being the prisoner of hurts that were so old they ought to be almost forgotten.

He turned into her driveway, and she felt the tires slip and spin on the icy pavement as he braked to a halt and switched off the ignition.

“You stay right where you are,” he said. “I’ll come around and help you out. Those shoes you’re wearing don’t look like they’ll give much traction.”

They wouldn’t, she thought. They were a pair of cheap pumps she’d bought just because she had to keep up appearances at work.

Hugh climbed out and came around to her side. He opened the door and reached for her elbow to steady her. “It’s like a skating rink. Hang on to me.”

Even with all her caution, her feet slipped anyway, and he caught her around the waist. All of a sudden there was nothing between them but a squirming puppy and the layers of their clothing.

He smelled good, Anna realized with astonishment. He smelled really good, like freshly cut wood and soap. His arm around her felt powerful, but the way it held her was not at all frightening. She ought to feel trapped and terrified, but instead she felt…strange. As if the world had stopped between two heartbeats.

Then he backed off a little, giving her space but keeping his arm around her waist.

“Let’s get you onto the porch. I’ll bring your groceries in.”

A few moments later she was safely inside her snug little house, watching Hugh Gallagher carry her groceries and the puppy cage inside. It took him two trips, and he insisted on putting everything in the kitchen while she stood there like a dolt, silent, clutching the puppy to her breast as if the poor little thing was a lifeline.

She ought to do something, say something. Make some gracious gesture to thank him. Instead she was feeling shell-shocked by today’s events, and by the realization that she didn’t want Hugh to go. She wanted him to stay. For the first time in her life, she actually wanted a man to stay. Was she losing her mind?

“Would you…would you like some coffee?” she asked in a rush as he prepared to leave.

He smiled, and she was struck by the warmth of that simple expression. “Thanks, but I drank four cups at Maude’s. Tell you what. Promise to have lunch with me tomorrow. I’ll bore you to death with my plans for the youth ranch, and we’ll call it even, okay?”

She couldn’t say no. The word absolutely refused to come to her lips. “All right,” she heard herself say.

“One o’clock?”

“That’s fine.”

Then he walked out into the night and left Anna alone with the realization that she had just made a date with a man.

She, Anna Fleming, had made the first date of her entire life. She should have been exhilarated, but instead she wondered if she’d just made another one of her gargantuan mistakes.

Jazz appeared to be pleased with her new environment. As soon as Anna set out bowls of water and food, the puppy dug in, in her eagerness making a minor mess that made Anna smile.

But she couldn’t smile for long. It was as if the shadows in the corners of the room were whispering to her, trying to call her back into the nightmares of her past. It was because of Lorna, she decided. She was watching her own nightmare unfold again through the child.

Remembering the roster she had put in her purse, she left Jazz eagerly eating and went to get it. She had to call the other girls from the youth group, to see if any of them had a hint of what was wrong in Lorna’s life. If she could find a key, any key, she might get the girl to open up to her.

The first two girls had nothing new to offer, but then she got through to Mary Jo Weeks.

“It’s awful, Miss Anna,” Mary Jo said. “I’ve been crying on and off all day. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know how bad it was.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, bad enough that she would set a fire. I heard one of the teachers say he thought Lorna meant to stay in the room until the fire killed her. It’s terrible!”

Anna hesitated, aching for Mary Jo, but not wanting to give the girl empty platitudes. Finally she said, “We can’t know that, Mary Jo. That’s just somebody’s speculation.”

“But what’s going to happen to her now?

Is she going to jail?”

Jail, Anna thought, could be better than some things, but not many. She couldn’t say that to Mary Jo, though. “At present she’s going to be staying with Sheriff Tate’s family, until we find out what’s going on.”

“That’s not so bad, then. But what do you think is wrong?”

“I don’t know, not for sure.

But I need you to help me, Mary Jo. I need every little thing you can remember that might give me a clue to what’s wrong here.”

“You’re trying to help her?”

“Of course! There are a lot of people who want to help her. I don’t know anyone who wants to see her go to jail. But unless we find out what the problem is, she may have to.”

“Oh, no! I don’t want that to happen to her—ever!” Mary Jo started crying again, and Anna waited patiently, making soothing sounds. There was never just one victim, she thought bitterly. There were always others.

When the young woman had her tears under control, Anna asked her if she remembered anything, anything at all, that seemed unusual.

“Well, I thought it was weird when her dad wouldn’t let her come over to spend the night anymore. I mean, we’d always been best friends, and at least once a month I’d sleep at her place or she’d sleep at mine.”

“When did that stop?”

“About a year ago, I guess. But what was so weird was that he’d let me come over there, but he wouldn’t let her come to my house. I asked Lorna why, but she just shrugged and said nobody could explain parents. My mom and dad started to feel insulted by it and didn’t want me to go over there anymore after a while.”

“I can understand that.”

“Well, it made me mad, so a couple of times I made ’em let me go anyway.”

“Did anything strike you as unusual?”

“Not really.”

Anna felt something brush against her leg and discovered the puppy had joined her and was looking up at her with hopeful eyes. Bending, she scooped Jazz onto her lap. “This is a harder question, Mary Jo, and I want you to think very carefully about it. When you spent the night with Lorna, did anything happen that made you feel uneasy? Did anything seem not quite right? Anything at all?”

“Hmm…” Mary Jo was silent for a bit. “Well…it sounds silly, but her dad made us get ready for bed at eight o’clock. I mean, we always used to stay dressed until we went to bed, but the last few times he insisted we get ready before we watched TV. I thought that was kind of weird, but parents can be crazy sometimes, you know?”

“I know.”

“Anyway, that just seemed stupid to me, but…” She hesitated. “This sounds awful, Miss Anna, and I don’t want you to think poorly of me.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Well…” Mary Jo drew a long breath. “I don’t have a sick mind or anything, but it just made me uncomfortable to see Lorna running around in front of her dad in those baby doll pajamas. She didn’t put on a robe or anything. My dad would have a fit if I sat around in the living room dressed like that.”

It was now Anna’s turn to draw a deep breath. Her heart accelerated. “But he didn’t say anything or do anything?”

“Not about her running around like that. But then she was acting funny. I couldn’t figure it out. It was like she didn’t want to be dressed that way, either. She kept her arms all folded up and scrunched herself into a corner of the couch, like she wanted to hide. And she didn’t say much after that. Her dad got on her about being so gloomy. She just kind of ignored him, and then he tried to tickle her out of it. Tried to tickle me, too, but not much. I figured that was because I wasn’t one of his kids and he didn’t think it would be right. But he tried to tickle her, and she said the weirdest thing.”

“What was that?”

“She said, ‘Don’t touch me.’ And then she looked at him like she was gonna kill him. It sort of scared me. I didn’t know she hated her dad that much.”

Anna drew a shaky breath. “Thanks, Mary Jo.

You’ve been a great help.”

“Really? I hope so. Oh! I just remembered one other thing. The last time I was over there, she had this big old pipe wrench under her bed. I asked her what it was doing there, and she told me she was afraid of burglars coming through the window. Did you ever hear anything so crazy?”

Anna had.

Under her own bed she had kept a hammer. It required a lot of effort for her to find her voice. “Thanks, Mary Jo. This is what I needed.”

“Good. If I think of anything else, I’ll call you. But you know, Miss Anna, I haven’t been over there since. When my dad heard that Mr. Lacey had tried to tickle me, he flat put his foot down about me ever going there again.”

“Your dad is right, Mary Jo. Absolutely right. Don’t go over there again.”

When she hung up the phone, her hands were shaking. She looked down at the little puppy curled contentedly on her lap and tried to drag herself back to the present. But it was so difficult. Memories long buried were beating on the doors of her mind, demanding recognition.

Sleet rattled sharply against the window, and the wind moaned sorrowfully. A draft snaked across the floor and wrapped around her ankles, causing her to shiver. She needed to change. She needed to get into something warm and comfortable, and make herself some dinner. She needed to get busy so she could take control again and push the memories away. And she needed to figure out what she was going to do about Lorna.

It was going to be a long night.

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