Daniel's Daddy. Stella Bagwell

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СКАЧАТЬ Jess was surprised at the pang of compassion shooting through him. For years, it had been rumored that Hannah’s mother once worked in El Paso as a lady of the evening and as far as Jess knew, Rita had never denied it. He remembered how everyone in Lordsburg had been watching Hannah, expecting her to follow in her mother’s illicit footsteps. It was no wonder, he thought, that she’d gone to such extremes to be as unlike Rita as she could be.

      “What happened?”

      Hannah said, “She died from heart complications.”

      Jess frowned. “So she’d been ill?”

      Hannah looked at him with the realization that he hadn’t known about her mother. “She was partially paralyzed. I think being immobilized for so long contributed to her heart disease.”

      He slowly shook his head. It was hard to imagine Hannah’s beautiful, vibrant mother being confined to a wheelchair, or even a pair of crutches.

      “What happened?” he asked. “I mean, how did she become disabled?”

      Hannah’s voice was quiet and matter-of-fact. “She was in a car accident about a year after you left Lordsburg.”

      That had been fourteen years ago! No wonder Hannah was still in this town, Jess thought. She’d stayed because of her mother.

      The information had him looking at her in a totally different light. “My father wasn’t one to talk much. He never gave me the news about what was going on around here. I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

      The sincerity on his face touched her. More than she cared to admit. Strange, she thought, how she’d come over here to offer her condolences and had wound up talking about her own loss.

      A sad little smile suddenly clouded her features. “So you see,” she told him, “I know what you’re going through now.”

      Maybe she did, Jess silently acknowledged. Only her mother hadn’t chosen to die like his father, who’d slowly poisoned himself with alcohol.

      Hannah pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. “Well, I really must go and I’m sure you have lots of things you need to do.”

      Jess rose, too, surprised at the faint sense of disappointment running through him. Spinster or not, for a few minutes she’d managed to take his mind off the fact that his father was really gone. He could have talked to her longer. About what, he didn’t know. They had nothing in common except they’d both been raised hard in this desert town and both had lost their only parent.

      Taking her coat from the back of the chair, Jess helped her into it. As he stood close behind her, he caught a subtle scent of lavender on her hair and skin. It reminded him she was a woman and told him that she wasn’t totally without vanity as he’d first imagined.

      As soon as Hannah felt his hands leave her shoulders, she stepped away from him and struggled to keep a hot blush from spreading over her face. It shook her to have him so close to her. Men didn’t touch her. And to have one like Jess do so, even in a casual way, was very disturbing.

      Walking around to Daniel, she passed her fingers gently over the top of his dark head. “I’m glad we met, Daniel. Perhaps before you and your father go home, you can come over and do that counting for me. I have a bird and a cat. You might like to see them, too.”

      Daniel perked up and looked eagerly at his father. “Can I, Daddy? Can I go see Hannah’s house?”

      “Maybe. If we have time,” Jess told him.

      She told Daniel goodbye, then walked out of the kitchen. Jess walked close behind her.

      “Thank you for the cake and coffee, Hannah. It was thoughtful of you,” he said.

      Pausing, she turned to him. “I wanted to do it,” she explained simply.

      “Not many people—” He stopped, looked away from her, then swallowed as the utter loss of his father swept over him once again. “When my father became a recluse, he lost touch with everybody around here. I’m glad you remembered him.”

      He looked at her then and Hannah was surprised at the ache of grief she felt for him. “Like I said, I wanted to do it, Jess. And if you…need my help for anything, let me know. I go to the cemetery quite often, so I’ll keep an eye on your father’s grave for you…if you’d like.”

      Once again, he was struck by her genuine kindness. There weren’t too many people like her left in the world. People who did things for others simply out of the goodness of their hearts and not for something in return.

      “I’d appreciate that very much,” he said, feeling more awkward than he could ever remember. He’d never been around a woman like Hannah before and he wasn’t quite sure that he’d behaved as he should have. But what the hell, he’d be leaving in a couple of days. He’d more than likely never see Hannah again. Besides, when had it ever mattered to him what a woman thought about his manners? Women were something to be enjoyed, not worried over, he reminded himself.

      She reached out her hand. He extended his and she quickly shook it. “Goodbye, Jess,” she said, her eyes shyly skittering away from his. “And good luck to you.”

      “Goodbye, Hannah.”

      She turned to continue toward the living room. Jess took a step after her. “I’ll see you out,” he said.

      She shook her head. “No. That’s not necessary. Enjoy your coffee.”

      Jess stood and watched her go on out the door. What a strange visit, he thought. And how different Hannah Dunbar was from the vague memories he had of the pale, skinny girl who sat alone in the school cafeteria and ate her lunch out of a brown paper bag. The girl he’d sometimes winked at just to see her blush.

      The memory caused a corner of his mouth to curve into a wan smile. Maybe he remembered more about Hannah Dunbar then he realized.

      Chapter Two

      By nightfall the rain had stopped. Jess took Daniel to a nearby café where home-cooked meals were served smorgasbord-style. Jess was glad to see Daniel hungry and eating his fried chicken and accompanying vegetables. He’d been afraid the trip up here and the ordeal of the funeral might have upset Daniel, but thankfully his son seemed to be taking it all in stride.

      They had ice cream for dessert, then Jess, deciding neither he nor Daniel was ready to go back to the old house just yet, drove the two of them out on the interstate for a few miles. The desert highway was more or less empty, other than a freight train headed west. Stopped at the railroad crossing, Daniel watched the long line of cars until it disappeared into the far darkness. After that, Jess turned their truck back toward Lordsburg. He still had a lot of things in his father’s house he needed to go through and the sooner he could get it done and over with, the better he’d like it.

      “Can we go to Hannah’s house now?” Daniel asked, breaking into his father’s dismal thoughts.

      Surprised by the request, Jess looked at his son. “You must have really liked Hannah,” he said.

      Daniel nodded. “She was nice.”

      “You think so, huh. Well, I think she thought you were nice, too.”

      Daniel СКАЧАТЬ