Disaster!
‘Don’t come in, I’m not decent,’ she called, putting her back against the door and pushing. ‘I’ll be down in a minute. Please tell your mom thank you, for me.’
To their relief the voices faded away.
Leo pulled himself together, wondering how much more he could stand. If holding her against him on the floor hadn’t destroyed his nervous system, watching her streak across the room like a gazelle had nearly finished him off.
But it had been useful in ascertaining one thing.
His rescue had been successful. There wasn’t a scratch on her anywhere.
She dashed into the bathroom and returned in a towelling robe, which mercifully enveloped her.
‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘You saved me from something very nasty.’
He’d gotten to his feet. ‘I’d better go before both our reputations are ruined.’
‘What am I going to say to Mrs Hanworth?’
‘Leave that to me. I don’t think you should go downstairs at all. Go to bed. That’s an order.’
He checked the corridor and was relieved to find it empty. But no sooner had he stepped out than Carrie and Billie appeared, almost as though they’d been hiding around the corner.
‘Hi Leo! Everything OK?’
‘Not quite,’ he said, horribly conscious that he was only half dressed, and trying not to go red. ‘Selena dropped one of the glass jars into the bath, while she was in it, and it smashed.’
‘Poor Selena! Is she still trapped in there?’
‘No, I got her out, and she’s safe,’ he said, wishing the earth would swallow him up. ‘I promised her I’d tell your mom about the jar. I’ll do that-er-just as soon as I’ve put on a shirt.’
He got into his room as fast as he could, trying not to hear two teenage girls snickering significantly. It was a sound calculated to freeze a man’s blood.
Delia reacted just as Leo had known she would, with sympathy and kindness.
‘What’s a jar?’ she said. ‘I’ll go and make sure she’s all right.’
She was back in a few minutes, sweeping into the kitchen to order food to be taken upstairs to Selena. She seemed to have spoken to her daughters in the meantime, for her attitude to Leo had developed a tinge of roguishness.
‘I gather you played knight in shining armour. And who could blame you? She’s a very nice-looking girl.’
‘Delia, I swear I never met her before today.’
Fatal mistake. Delia smiled knowingly. ‘You Italians are so dashing and romantic, never missing a chance with the ladies.’
‘What are those wonderful smells coming from the kitchen?’ he asked desperately, ‘because you are looking at a starving man.’
Mercifully food was allowed to drive out all other topics of conversation, and the only other person who raised the matter was Paulie, who nudged Leo aside and said much the same as his mother, except that he made it sound vulgar and offensive. When Leo had smilingly explained to Paulie all the unpleasant things he would do to his person if he ever mentioned it again, the matter was allowed to drop.
While he dressed for the barbecue Leo tried to get his own reactions in perspective. Despite her prickly defensiveness, for which he reckoned nobody could blame her, Selena was oddly appealing. But there wasn’t, at first glance, anything special about her. Even holding her naked body shouldn’t have been a big deal, since she lacked the buxomness he preferred in women.
Yet, mysteriously, something about her had got to him. He still couldn’t figure out what, but the sight of Paulie smacking his fat lips over what he thought had gone on in her room had filled him with rage. Leo, the most amiable of men, had only been restrained from violence by recalling that this was his hostess’s son.
Guests were starting to arrive, heading for the field where the big party was taking place, the same field where last night’s big party had taken place, and where there would be another one just as soon as someone could think of an excuse. Leo watched it from his window, grinning, anticipating the evening.
‘Ready for a great time?’ Barton hollered as Leo came down the stairs.
‘I’m always ready for that,’ Leo said, truthfully. ‘But can we call in at the stables first?’
‘Sure, if you want. But Leo, you don’t have to worry. She’s going to be all right.’
‘Elliot’s a he.’
‘It wasn’t Elliot I was meaning,’ Barton said, seeming to speak to nobody in particular.
The anti-inflammatory drug was evidently taking effect, and Elliot seemed contented. The way to the barbecue field led past Barton’s garage, and through the open door Leo could see Selena’s van, and the remains of the horse trailer.
‘That’s had its day,’ Barton mused. ‘The wonder is, how it lasted so long.’
Leo climbed into the van. What he saw there made him grow very still.
He thought of himself as a man who could cope with tough living, but the inside of her home shocked him. Everything was the barest and meanest possible. There was a couch just long enough for her to sleep, a tiny stove, a minute washing area. The best that could be said for the place was that it was spotlessly clean.
His own experiences of living rough, he realised, had been those of a rich man, playing with a kind of toy. However harsh the conditions, he could always return to a comfortable life when he got bored with playing. But for her there was no escape. This was her reality.
What could have made her choose the life of a wanderer, which seemed to offer her so little?
One thing was becoming horribly clear. The accident had robbed her of almost everything she had.
After that he had no chance to think gloomy thoughts. Texas hospitality opened its arms to him, and he rushed into them, enjoying every moment, and telling himself he’d have time to be exhausted later. What with plentiful food and drink, music and pretty girls to dance with, several hours slipped happily away.
When he could pause for breath he wondered how Selena was fixed? Had she eaten the supper Delia sent up, and was she hungry again?
He piled a plate high with steak and potatoes, tucked some cans of beer under his arm and headed for the house. But some instinct made him check the stables-just in case. As he’d half expected, Selena was there, leaning on the door of Elliot’s stall, just watching him contentedly.
‘How is he?’ Leo asked, looking in.
She jumped up. ‘He’s better. He’s calmed down a lot.’
She was better too, he could see that. Her cheeks had colour and her eyes were bright. He raised the plate to show her and she eyed the steak hungrily.
‘That for me?’
‘Well, it sure as hell isn’t for Elliot. Come on out.’
He found a solid bale of hay and they sat down together. He handed her a beer and she tipped her head back to take most of it in one go.
‘Oh, that was good!’ she sighed.
‘Well, there’s plenty more out there,’ he said, indicating the door with his head. ‘In fact there’s plenty of steaks too. Why not come out and join the party?’
‘Thanks, but I won’t.’
‘Still not feeling up to partying?’
‘No, I’m better. I slept well. It’s just-all those people, looking at me and thinking my voice isn’t right, and- everything isn’t right.’
‘Who says you’re not right?’
‘I do. This house-everything-it gives me the heebie-jeebies.’
‘You’ve never been in a house like that before?’
‘Oh, sure, plenty of times. Just not through the front door. I’ve worked in places like this, mopping floors, cleaning up in the kitchen, anything that was going. Mind you, I preferred a job in the stable.’
‘When was this? You talk like you were ancient, but you can’t be more than forty.’
‘More than-?’ She saw the wicked gleam in his eyes, and laughed. ‘I’d thump you if you weren’t sitting between me and the beer.’
‘That’s what I like,’ he said, handing her another can. ‘A woman with a sense of priorities. So, not forty
