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“You’d definitely put Garrett Bluff on the map.” He looked down into Jolie’s upturned face. Early-morning sunlight streaming through the windows lit the highlights of her strawberry-blond hair, turned her eyes more green than blue.
Wanting to stay longer, knowing he should leave, he shifted uncomfortably. “Guess I’d better make tracks. We’re behind on the gift shop project because I’ve been staying in Bozeman with Annie.”
He gave her a curt nod, spun on his heel and headed for the door without looking back.
MANDY HESITATED ATthe door of Benson’s Drugstore, wanting to buy a magazine, then walked past.
There was no chance she could go in without the clerks whispering about her. No one could have forgotten that last humiliating day she’d worked behind the soda fountain, when her dad had lurched into the store dead drunk and bellowed her name over and over.
She’d once overheard two men talking. One of them had complained that memories were held long in this town. Old scandals were rehashed forever, made darker and more dramatic with time. As well she knew.
If she stayed in Garrett Bluff, twenty or thirty years from now the same gossip would still follow her out of a room.
She’s one of those low-class Wheelers, you know. Abe’s girl. Got herself pregnant by a Maxwell, probably figured she’d get to live in that big house at Walking Stones Ranch. Goes to show the Wheelers don’t have the brains of chicken.
With a shudder, Mandy walked a little faster past the drugstore. If Agnes Benson noticed her belly...
Coming into town this morning had been a welcome change, but now that she was here, there just wasn’t much to do until Jolie took her back to the cabin at noon. Time could pass slowly in a town the size of this one.
Mandy wandered farther down Main Street, past the post office, to the street leading to the high school.
Looking down the block to its two-story brick facade made her think about Bobby, and the fun of being in school with Racey Taylor, her best friend.
Her heart heavy, she glanced at her watch and then headed toward the school. The students inside were all busy in class, still having fun with their friends, as carefree and optimistic as she’d once been.
With a sigh she sat on the massive front steps of the school and turned her face up toward the weak sunshine.
Maybe by the first week in July her baby would be here. The thought was scary, overwhelming...and even a little bit exciting. What would it be like having—
The sound—a very familiar sound—of an old Chevy truck coming up the street made her heart skip a beat.
She was on her feet in a split second, wondering why she’d ever left Main Street. Why couldn’t she have just sat at the clinic and waited?
There were blinds on most of the school windows, so maybe no one inside could see her.
Still, there were houses all around the school, and across the street a lady with a rake was in her front yard cleaning out the dried refuse of last year’s flower garden.
Mandy rose and started down the steps toward her.
Abe Wheeler pulled the truck to a rattling stop at the curb, right in Mandy’s path. Leaning across the seat of the truck, he cranked down the window. “Get over here.Now.”
I’m almost nineteen,she told herself. I don’t have to do what he says.She started to skirt the truck, giving it a wide berth.
The door squealed open on rusty hinges. As he climbed out, his narrowed eyes glittered beneath the shade of his beat-up old western hat. “I said,come here.”
The lady across the street shaded her eyes with a hand. “You need any help?” she called out to Mandy.
Abe spun on his heel to glare at her. “This here is my daughter, and she’s gotten herself into a lot of trouble.”
Recognition flared in the woman’s eyes when she got a good look at him, followed by a healthy dose of caution. She lowered her eyes, set aside her rake, and headed for her house.
Abe watched her disappear into the house, then he turned to Mandy with a satisfied smirk. “Respect.”
Mandy could think of a few other words that fit a little better.Dislike. Disgust. Anger.She kept walking, avoiding his eyes.
“You messed up big time, getting pregnant by some spoiled rich boy who don’t even give you the time of day,” he spat, starting after her. “You and me are dirt to that family. How does that make you feel?”
His words hit all too close to home. A sob rose in Mandy’s throat as she broke into a run.
