“You’re assuming I’m looking for a lady in my life.”
Jackie poked him in the belly. “Bro, I’d love to have a man to warm me in my bed at night. Remember, we’re twins and think a lot alike.”
Tom chuckled and had a big belly laugh drawing the attention of the others. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “We do think a lot alike, but I don’t want a man in my bed.”
“Asshole! You know what I meant.”
“Look, I won’t try to hide my dislike for Sam. I was being nice since I thought we’d ditch her when we got here. Now you two want to bring the hussy into our family?”
Tom glared at his grandmother for the first time in his life. His face was flushed, and his head shook side to side. “Granny, was our mom a hussy who should’ve been run off the ranch?”
Granny B kept her temper. “Son, you’re old enough to know the truth. Your mom’s car broke down on Highway 66, and your dad helped her get the car up to the ranch against everything he’d been taught. She was dressed like a streetwalker and stole your dad’s heart. We later found out that she’d been with a punk drug pusher in Medford who caught her stealing from him. She was running for her life when your dad found her. She was hooked on the hard stuff and soon had your dad using. We’re just darned lucky you two made it into this world before they died. If the car wreck hadn’t killed them, the drugs would have.”
Jackie had tears rolling down her face, but Tom just stood there with fists clenched, biting his lip. “Granny, I know you’re telling the truth and will always love you, but try to give people a second chance. I don’t see any evidence of Sam using drugs, and I don’t have any desire to …uh ….sleep with her. All I ask is to give her a chance.”
“Son, I know you tell yourself that, but any young man would want a beautiful woman like that. I …”
“Granny, I lost the love of my life and am finding out she didn’t love me enough to stay at the ranch with me. I don’t need another girlfriend until I can get my head wrapped around the last months I was with Gwen. Trust me. When I find the right lady, I’ll introduce you to her.”
“Brenda seems like a great woman. You and her …”
“Jackie already tried that, and besides, Jim just died.”
“She was divorcing him,” Granny B blurted out.
“Put your quiver and bow away, cupid. I just want to keep us alive right now. There’ll be time for a relationship later.”
Jackie watched Tom walk away to be by himself. She saw Sam watching him, picked up her bedroll, and joined her brother. “I’m sorry about pushing Brenda on you. I’ll drop the topic, but if you find a single attractive man, please send him my way. I love you and Granny B, but a girl could use a little romance every now and then.”
“Trust me, Romance is highly overrated.”
“That sounds like sour grapes, big brother. You’ll fall in love again, and when you do, it’ll be a big fall,” Jackie teased.
Tom didn’t sleep much that day, so he took over guard duty most of the day while the others rested. Sam tried to engage him in conversation, but he begged off, telling her he needed some time alone. The morning was the coldest so far, and the sky was clear with only a few wispy white clouds above him. Tom could smell the numerous fires burning south of them. The odor was mainly from burning pinewood, but he caught a whiff of an acrid scent he knew to be from rubber or roofing shingles burning every now and then. He heard a few gunshots from time to time, but nothing worried him.
The sun was redder than usual, peeking through purple clouds as it set above the hills to the west. Tom heard someone stir in the camp. Brenda walked by with a roll of toilet paper in her hand. “Good morning,…,” she said before yawning.
“Watch for critters before you … you know.”
She laughed. “Thanks, there aren’t many creatures in our bathrooms at home or the dealership. I’ll get used to country life eventually.”
Tom saw her walk behind a clump of brush and disappear. A few minutes later, he thought about Gwen when he heard rustling from the bushes, but Brenda didn’t come into view.
He thought, I’d better check on her, but I don’t want her to think I was being a peeping Tom.
He walked over to the brushes and softly spoke, “Brenda, are you okay?”
He thought he heard a muffled reply, which made the hair on his neck stand on end. He drew his pistol and walked around the bush. The TP roll lay there, but Brenda was gone. He walked quickly down an animal trail deeper into the scrub brush and trees. The scent of smoke was much more potent as he proceeded down the path. It was also getting darker by the minute.
Then Tom heard two men talking. “Why did you bring her here?”
“You know why I stole her. I can trade her to Jock when we meet up with him. Until then, I can sample the wares.”
“Dumbass, there were several people in that group, and all of them were armed. Shit, we need to haul ass …”
The swoosh sound could barely be heard over the man’s voice, but his scream pierced the night.
