Page 51 of The Promise of Jenny Jones
Now they both looked at her. Jenny glared back.
“You know your mama wouldn’t want you to say words like that,” Ty said. Lifting a hand, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind Graciela’s ear. “And I know your father and your grandma Ellen sure wouldn’t want to hear a pretty young lady cuss and say bad words.” He paused and sent Jenny a scathing stare. “I’ll bet Jenny doesn’t want you to say fricking either.”
Sucking in her cheeks, Jenny tilted her head and gazed up at the sky. The stars were fading, but not Marguarita’s star. Marguarita’s star was always the last to go. A cold, steady beam glared down at her.
Okay, Marguarita,Jenny thought,so she’s starting to talk like me. What did you expect? You knew I wasn’t any fancy-talking bluestocking when you chose me. Mule skinners are famous for cussing; it goes with the job. This isn’t my fault.
Yes it was. Marguarita knew it. She knew it too.
“Jenny?” Ty called to her in a voice stiff with righteous indignation. He had her pinned in a corner. No way was he going to let her squirm out of this.
Jenny lowered a scowl to the kid. “He’s right. Don’t say fricking anymore. Next time I hear you cuss, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap. You hear me?”
Graciela’s chin lifted, and her eyes flashed blue-green outrage. “That’s not fair.Yousay it.”
Ty grinned, watching her shift her weight from boot to boot.
Red dots flamed on her cheeks, and she kicked dirt at the embers in the Mexicans’ campfire. She narrowed her eyes to slits and hissed at Ty. “You think you’re so superior and self-righteous. Well take a look around you, cowboy.” She flung out her good arm. “We got two dead cousins here. Are you worried about your precious niece looking at two dead and bloody bodies? No, you’re all worked up like some prissy preacher because she used a cussword. Maybe your frick—” She slid a frown toward the triumph spreading over Graciela’s smug expression. “Maybe your stupid priorities aren’t where they should be. EvenIknow kids shouldn’t be sharing a campfire with two dead bodies.”
She had him there, all right. One look at the color in his face told her so. He came to his feet like a shot and spun Graciela so she faced away from the dead cousin in the bedroll.
“All right. This isn’t the best situation. But listen and hear me good. You are never in your life going to find a man less like a prissy preacher,” he snarled. “If my niece wasn’t here, I’d show you the kind of man you’re dealing with.”
The smoldering stare he swept over her body shot a hot shiver straight to Jenny’s toes. My God, he was a fabulous man. As hard as a railroad spike. She couldn’t believe that a man like this had developed a hankering forher.
Almost dizzy with pleasure, she swaggered toward Graciela and clasped her arm. “Time to go, kid. Let’s ride.”
The kid gazed up at her with teary, reddened eyes, and Jenny guessed she hadn’t slept more than an hour since the cousins snatched her. “Are we going to bury Jorje and Tito?”
Jenny considered. “You think we should?”
“Hell no,” Ty snarled.
“I didn’t ask you.” She looked down at Graciela. “It’s your call. But before you decide, I have two words to say. Snakes. Choking.”
Ty strode forward. “You can’t ask a child to make that kind of decision. It’s too much responsibility.”
“No it isn’t.” She tapped a finger on top of the kid’s head. “What’s it going to be?”
Graciela lifted her chin, squared her little shoulders, and walked toward the horses.
“Wrong horses,” Jenny called. “Ours are over there.” Graciela spun and marched back toward her. As she passed, Jenny gave her shoulder an approving pat. “Good choice.”
“Yousay fricking.” Graciela glared, then continued toward the horses.
Jenny frowned. This was going to be a problem. Glancing up at the pale sky, she imagined she spotted Marguarita’s star still gazing down at her. If it was possible for a star to look pissed, this star did.
All right. I’ve lost the kid a couple of times. I’m sorry about that. But I’ve got her back, haven’t I?She narrowed her eyes on the sky and thrust out her chin.Now, about this cussing. I am what I am. You can’t expect me to change my ways just to please a kid. Hell, you must have said fricking a time or two, didn’t you?
She couldn’t imagine it. No cussword had ever tainted Marguarita’s lovely ladylike lips. And Marguarita would have dropped into a swoon at the sound of a cussword scorching her small daughter’s tongue.
A heavy sigh whistled up from deep in Jenny’s chest, and she smacked a fist against her thigh. She just hated being responsible for a kid. It changed everything. And problems kept popping up like dogs in a prairie village.
When she reached the horses, Ty had already mounted, holding Graciela on the saddle in front of him. “If we set a good pace, we’ll reach the railroad in time to flag down the next northbound.”
“And if we miss it?” she asked sourly, shading her eyes against the glare of dawn.
He shrugged. “Then we hole up in the nearest village and catch the morning train.”
