“So what do you need, Mom? I mean, it’s nice you dropped by and all, but I took the day off of work so I could get some things done around here. I’m on edge waiting for Joe to call. And I know you well enough to guess that you didn’t just drop by to have my cheap coffee.”
Missy nodded. “I do wish you would serve that coffee I brought you from Africa.”
“Okay, that’s it,” Marybeth said angrily, pushing away from the table.
“Please, sit down,” Missy said. “I’m sorry I said that. Everything I say seems to come out as an insult, even when I don’t intend it to come out that way. Please sit down.”
Marybeth glared at her mother, pointedly looked at the clock above the stove, then back. Meaning,
Missy said, “I’ll get to the point. You know that friend of yours—Nate? The falconer who got in so much trouble a while back? I need to talk with him.”
“Why do you want to talk to Nate Romanowski?” Marybeth said, surprised.
Missy didn’t break her gaze. She
“Yes, you do.”
“Well, actually, The Earl thought of him,” Missy said, sipping and trying to conceal the displeasure she got from the last swallow of her daughter’s coffee. “I was thinking I’d take care of the problem myself.”
“What problem?”
“Bud.”
“What about Bud? He’s a ruined man. You ruined him. Why pick on Bud Longbrake?”
Missy said, “He can’t let go. He can’t move on. He just stays in Saddlestring and drinks the Stockman’s Bar dry every night. He tells anyone who will listen his pathetic story and he says terrible things about The Earl and especially me. He’s like a cancer.”
“A cancer you caused,” Marybeth said. “Mom, you broke his heart and
Missy made a tut-tut sound with her tongue. “The transfer was perfectly legal, sweetie. Men are so emotional these days. I long for the time when men were tough and stoic. Now all they do is cry and whine and vomit out their
Marybeth was speechless.
“Anyway,” Missy said, changing tack, “lately, Bud’s been calling the ranch and my cell phone. He’s threatening me. I want to hire Nate Romanowski to scare him off.”
“Nate doesn’t do things like that,” Marybeth said, alarmed.
Missy smiled. “Then there are obviously things about your friend that you don’t know all that well. You see, The Earl had some research done.”
Marybeth looked at the clock above the stove. “I’ve got to get some work done now. You’ve got to go home.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything to Bud,” Missy said. “All I’m asking is for you to pass along a message to Mr. Romanowski that I’d like to speak with him.”
“I don’t see Nate anymore,” Marybeth said. “He’s in hiding. There are federal warrants out on him, Mom,” she said, practically pleading.
Missy was undeterred. “Your husband talks to him. And Sheridan still does, doesn’t she?”
“I don’t know,” Marybeth lied.
Missy lowered her head slightly and smiled woman-to-woman. “Marybeth, if anyone can get Mr. Romanowski’s attention, it’s you. Do you forget what you told me a few years ago?”
Marybeth sighed and shook her head. “You never fail to disappoint. That’s why I don’t confide in you anymore, Mom. It’s like handing you bullets to use on me at a later date.”
“That’s a cruel thing to say. By the way, did Joe ever know?”
Marybeth’s voice got hard. “
Missy chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, dear, you still have so much to learn.”
“I have to get to work,” Marybeth said, pushing away from the table. “Besides, Nate’s in love these days. He’s different. He’d never consider your proposition.”
“Honey,” Missy said, “how do you think he makes a living? Haven’t you ever wondered about that?”
Marybeth had. But like Joe, she never wanted to find out.
“Let Nate make up his own mind,” Missy said. “He’s got a mind of his own, doesn’t he?”
Marybeth refused to respond.
“Just pass along the word,” Missy said, standing up. “That’s all we ask. Tell him we’ll make it more than worthwhile for him. You know The Earl. He’s fed up with Bud, and money’s no object. As for Nate, my understanding is his lady love has a toddler she’s raising on a teacher’s salary. I’m sure she could use some support.”
Marybeth snatched both cups from the table and took them to the sink so she could keep her back to her
