* * *
“WHAT THE HELL is wrong with Boone?” Clark asked on the way home. “I’ve never seen him so grim.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Keely said.
“I gave him the devil about that detective’s report. He swore he hadn’t put the man up to lying.” He glanced at Keely. “It’s hard for me to stay mad at him. But I’m sorry I couldn’t get us out of that drink.”
“It’s okay, Clark,” she replied. “He’s a bulldozer. It’s hard for anyone to say no to him.”
“Especially me.” He smiled. “When we were kids, Boone was always protecting me from the mean, older boys. He was never afraid of anything. I guess maybe he protected me too much. After our mom left, Dad was hell to live with. Boone took a lot of hits that were meant for me.”
“He loves you.”
“Yeah. I love him, too.” He glanced at her. “Boone said that Sheriff Carson was out your way.”
“Yes,” she replied. “I had to tell him what Dad did.”
“Excuse me?”
She bit her lower lip. Her father was a criminal. That was going to put Boone right out of her orbit forever. She was certain that Hayes Carson had already told him about Keely’s parents. The two men had been best friends forever.
“My father was a drug dealer, Clark,” she said quietly. “He supplied the cocaine that killed Sheriff Carson’s brother Bobby.”
“Oh, boy,” Clark said heavily. “You poor kid.”
“Now my dad’s back and he and his partner want money, lots of it…”
“I could give them whatever they want,” he said at once.
“No!” Her eyes were eloquent. “Don’t you see, the only way to stop them is to keep them hanging around while Mama puts the house on the market. The police might have a chance to catch them before they can hurt anyone.”
“Do you think your father would hurt you?” he asked.
Keely had never liked looking back. Her accident had hurt more than her body. When the little boy dropped into the lion pit, Keely’s father had been standing on the other side. He hadn’t made a move to help.
“Yes, he would, wouldn’t he?” Clark asked perceptively.
Keely drew in a long breath. It had been just after the court case that Keely’s father had brought her back to Jacobsville. He hadn’t said much to her, and he hadn’t met her eyes. She’d tried to tell herself that he’d only hesitated because he was shocked. But Keely hadn’t hesitated.
“I’ve spent all these years trying to pretend that he brought me back for my own good,” she said. “But I think it was because I made him ashamed.” She held up her hand when he started to ask a question. “I can’t talk about it, not even now. It’s so painful to think that my father was willing to stand by when a child’s life was in danger. I loved him. But he was ready to sacrifice me to save himself.” She looked up. “In the same situation, Boone wouldn’t have hesitated a split second. Neither would you or Winnie.”
Clark was solemn. “It’s hard to lose faith in a parent. I know. When our mother ran off with our uncle, we were devastated. Three little kids, and she just left.”
Keely was thinking that she would never have deserted her own flesh and blood. But she didn’t say it.
Clark smiled. “You’ll make a wonderful mother,” he chuckled. “Your kids will be spoiled rotten.”
She smoothed her right hand over her left arm. “No,” she said absently. “I won’t have children. I won’t marry.”
“A few little scars aren’t going to matter,” he told her.
She didn’t reply. He had no idea. She couldn’t tell him, either. She glanced at him. “I had a good time,” she said. She smiled. “Mr. Pendleton’s fiancée was a hoot.” She chuckled. “Do you think he’s really going to marry a woman who’s that blatant about social climbing?”
“I think, like me, he got into a physical relationship that blinded him to a woman’s true nature,” he said after a minute. “I hope he’s lucky enough to see the light in time.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I was watching Misty tonight,” he replied. “She was all over Boone, her eyes like dollar signs. She likes going first-class. She pretends to have money, but I don’t think she does. I think she’s putting on an act, to try to get Boone back. I hope he’s got better sense.” He gestured with his hand. “I saw myself when I looked at him. I was just as enchanted by Nellie. But what I saw was an illusion.” He glanced at her. “You won’t even let me give you emerald earrings, and you love them,” he said softly. “I’ve never known a woman like you.”
“Actually there are lots of them, and they all live in Jacobsville and Comanche Wells,” she teased. “Just plain unsophisticated little country girls who love animals and like to plant things and don’t think marrying a rich man is the greatest of life ambitions.”
He grimaced. “I’d never get one of those kind of girls past Boone,” he said with resignation. “He always expects the worst when I date anybody outside our own circles.”
That stung, but she didn’t say so. Clark had been kind to her. “I have to go,” she said. “I had a wonderful time tonight, Clark,” she added. “Thanks.”
“We’ll do it again.” He frowned. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded—about dating girls outside my own circle,” he added. “I always think of you as family.”
She smiled. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.”
He looked sheepish. “I guess you’d rather I thought of you as an eligible young woman?”
She shook her head. “I like being your friend.”
“I like being yours.” He bent and kissed her cheek. “If you ever needed help, you know you could ask me.”
She chuckled. “Of course I do. But I can take care of myself. Good night, Clark.”
“Good night.”
He watched her go into
