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“I just talked to someone at the hospital.” The cigarette tasted too pungent. He stabbed it out in the desk’s ashtray. “He’s in surgery now. They’re talking about multiple broken bones, possible spinal injuries, collapsed lung, and a concussion.” There was no emotion whatsoever in his voice, but Jessy wasn’t fooled.
“You’ll want to shower and change clothes before you leave,” she said. “You can’t go to the school looking like that. It would only frighten your sister more.”
“There isn’t any easy way to tell her.”
“There never is,” Jessy agreed. “Maybe by the time you’re ready to leave, your wife will be back so she can go with you. A woman might cope better with Cat’s tears.”
“How did you know? How did you get here so soon?” His eyes seemed to take her in, just now realizing she should have been elsewhere.
“The telephone lines across the ranch were all busy from the minute you left South Branch. I came as soon as I heard.” There was no reason to tell him that she had bolted from the calving sheds and stopped at her place long enough to throw on some clean clothes when she’d learned there was no one with him. Maybe it wasn’t her place and maybe it wasn’t proper, but she didn’t give a damn about that.
His hand reached up to touch her face, as if to make certain she was real. In the next second, she was being gathered into his arms and crushed hard against his body. She could feel the awful tension in him and pressed herself more fully to his length, trying to absorb some of it. His face was buried in her hair.
“I can’t believe it, Jessy.” His mouth moved against her hair, the words issued in a hoarsely painful voice. “I just can’t believe she’s dead.”
“I know,” she whispered and held him all the tighter, crying for him because he wouldn’t cry for himself. She felt the shudder that racked his shoulders.
The smell of her was sweet and strong, striking deeply into him. While all around him hung the cloud of death, here was life. He tightened his hold on it and moved his head to drink deeply from its full cup. He kissed her roughly, unable to slake his thirst or find a bottom to the well that poured back. There was pain, urgency, and the vitality of life all wrapped together in a harsh embrace.
He tasted the wetness of her tears and drew back, breathing raggedly. She quickly lowered her head and wiped them away before he could see them clearly. He bent his head, trying to see the glitter in her eyes and identify the tears, but she pulled back with a short, sharp shake of her head.
“You’d better get cleaned up.” Her voice was low but even.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ty left the study. The telephone rang, and Jessy answered it. The phone call was the first of a series of inquiries that came. Jessy told them all she knew. After the last phone call, she walked into the large living room to see what was keeping Ty. As fast as the news was traveling, there was a risk someone at the school might learn of it and inadvertently say something to his sister.
The front door opened, and Jessy swung sharply around. A tall, lean cowboy was pulling off his hat. “Repp, what are you doing here?” She crossed the foyer.
“Does Cat know yet?” The concern in his eyes was apparent.
“No. Ty’s going by the school to pick her up. He’ll tell her then,” she explained.
“Do you suppose it. . . Do you suppose it would be all right if I was there, too?”
“Yes. I have a feeling Cat will need you.”
“Thanks.” He fingered his hat, then set it firmly on his head. “I’ll wait outside.”
As Repp Taylor opened the front door, Tara was crossing the porch. She threw him a surprised glance; then her gaze lighted on Jessy and darkened. Repp held the door open for her and waited until she was inside before going out himself.
The silence stretched between the two women for long seconds as they studied each other. A tension lay heavily between them, a tension time would never erase. Tara’s vibrant looks and poise allowed her a dominance against which Jessy was reserved and silent, yet alert to every change in the woman’s expression.
“What are you doing here?” Tara demanded with thinly concealed hostility. Her dark glance flashed by Jessy to the stairwell. “A policeman stopped me and said there was some sort of family emergency. Has Ty been hurt?”
“Not the way you mean,” Jessy replied. “There was a plane crash. Maggie’s dead, and Chase is critically injured.”
“How terrible!” Just for a moment the shock of the tragedy pushed aside her other thoughts.
“Yes, it is. Ty is upstairs now, changing clothes so he can leave immediately to pick up Cat at school and go to the hospital in Helena.”
“I suppose you’ve been consoling him.” Her tone was quick and hard.
Jessy didn’t bother to respond to that statement. “If you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Calder, I’11 be leaving. Now that you’re here I won’t be needed anymore.”
“I don’t think you were ever needed,” Tara said sharply, her chin lifting at a higher angle.
“Yes. I was.”
Tkra stiffened at the tone. “You sound very sure of that.”
