Page 7 of Texas Honor

Lillian looked at her niece in wide-eyed shock. “Oh, Mari,” she said. Her ears told her more than she wanted to know as she stared at the horrified face of her niece. “Oh, Mari.”

“I think Mr. Jessup may need a little help, Aunt Lillian,” Mari began hesitantly.

“Prayer might be more beneficial at the moment, dear,” Aunt Lillian murmured nervously. She wiped her hands on her printed apron and cautiously opened the swing door to peer into the dining room.

Ward Jessup was just sitting up among the ruins of his table setting, china shards surrounding him. His suit was wet, and there was a puddle of water under him as he tugged his enormous frame off the floor. His eyes were blazing in a face that had gone ruddy in anger. He held on to a chair and rose slowly, glaring at Lillian’s half-hidden face with an expression that told her there was worse to come.

“She’s really a nice girl, boss,” Lillian began, “once you get to know her.”

He brushed back his soaked hair with a lean, angry hand, and his chest rose and fell heavily. “I have a meeting just after supper,” he said. “I sent the rest of my suits to the cleaner’s this afternoon. This is the last suit I had. I didn’t expect to go swimming in it.”

“We could dry it and I could...press it,” Lillian suggested halfheartedly, pretty sure that she couldn’t do either.

“I could forget the whole damned thing, too,” he said curtly. He glared at Lillian. “Nothing is going to make up for this, you know.”

She swallowed. “How about a nice freshly baked apple pie with ice cream?”

He tilted his head to one side and pursed his lips. “Freshly baked?”

“Freshly baked.”

“With ice cream?”

“That’s right,” she promised.

He shrugged his wet shoulders. “I’ll think about it.” He turned and sloshed off down the hall.

Lillian leaned back against the wall and stared at her transfixed niece. “Honey,” she said gently, “would you like to tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Mari burst out. “I went in to call him to the table, and I started looking at that beautiful artificial stream, and the next thing I knew, he’d fallen into it. I must have, well, backed into him.”

“How you could miss a man his size is beyond me.” Lillian shook her head and grabbed a broom and dustpan from the closet.

“I had my back to him, you know.”

“I wouldn’t ever do that again after this if I were you,” the older woman advised. “If it wasn’t for that apple pie, even I couldn’t save you!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mari said apologetically. “Oh, Aunt Lillian, that poor, brave man.” She sighed. “I hope he doesn’t get a chill because of me. I’d never be able to live with myself!”

“There, there,” Lillian assured her, “he’s tough, you know. He’ll be fine. For now, I mean,” she added quickly.

Mari covered her face with her hands in mingled relief and suppressed amusement. Ward Jessup was quite a man. How sad that he had such little time left. She didn’t think she’d ever forget the look on his face when he climbed out of the indoor stream, or the excited beat of her heart as she’d run from him. It was new to be chased by a man, even an ill one, and exhilarating to be uninhibited in one’s company. She’d been shy with men all her life, but she didn’t feel shy with Ward. She felt...feminine. And that was as new to her as the rapid beat of her heart.

CHAPTER THREE

“IDIDN’TMEANto knock you into the pool,” Mari told Ward the minute he entered the dining room.

He stopped in the doorway and stared at her from his great height. His hair was dry now, thick and straight against his broad forehead, and his wet clothes had been exchanged for dry jeans and a blue plaid shirt. His green eyes were a little less hostile than they had been minutes before.

“It isn’t a pool,” he informed her. “It’s an indoor stream. And next time, Miss Raymond, I’d appreciate it if you’d watch where the hell you’re going.”

“Yes, sir,” she said quickly.

“I told you not to let him put that stream in the living room,” Lillian gloated.

He glared at her. “Keep talking and I’ll give you an impromptu swimming lesson.”

“Yes, boss.” She turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen to fetch the rest of the food.

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